>> MING: Hey, this is Ming Tsai.

Welcome to Simply Ming at Home.

I'm so psyched about today's show.

Why?

'Cause my two favorite people in the world, Mom and Pops, are in the house.

We're in Hawaii and we're gonna be making hot pot-- huoguo in Chinese.

It's the best way to eat as a family.

Of course, Master Henry's here.

I got David here, as well, shooting us.

We're also gonna make a little shrimp wonton to go in the hot pot.

I'm gonna show you properly all the great noodles and veg that go into it.

It's gonna be a family affair right here, right now, on Simply Ming.

♪ ♪ >> Simply Ming is brought to you by Subaru of New England, proudly celebrating 50 years of love.

Authorized retailers at SubaruOfNewEngland.com.

Here's to the next 50 years and beyond.

>> MING: Aloha, as we say.

You know this gentleman here.

I got my Pops, and of course, you know Master Henry.

We're gonna be making hot pot today.

How are you?

>> I'm great, thank you.

>> MING: Good to see you, Pops.

And we have Mom, she's already at the table waiting to eat hot pot with us.

And David's even going to join us at the end.

All right, so, this is everything that goes into a hot pot.

We have enoki mushrooms and maitake.

We have actually this awesome fresh lotus that's peeled.

We're gonna cut that up.

Some beautiful fresh bamboo shoots, a little bit ginger that's gonna go in the hot pot to season the broth, but also in our shrimp wontons, which we're gonna make for the hot pot.

Whatever veg you have, some beautiful watercress, some spinach, cilantro, scallions, tofu.

And then of course, Napa cabbage.

All right.

Hey, Pops, grab the shrimp here for me, grab that.

We're gonna make a shrimp wonton first.

So, Henry, you're gonna be the master of disaster with this.

>> Oh, this is gonna be fun.

(laughs) >> MING: Pops, mince me a little bit of ginger, please.

So, and this shrimp wonton dish, guys, is pretty easy.

Here, Hen, why don't you just chop up some shrimp a little bit.

We're gonna mince ginger.

We're gonna add a little bit of chopped cilantro.

Which I'm going to do right here.

And then we get a little bit of chopped scallions, and it just all gets pulsed really lightly in a food processor.

So it's a very simple wonton.

It's a dumpling.

Here are some great scallions here, as well.

>> So you want a rough chop on this?

>> MING: Yeah, rough chop, because you're gonna, you're gonna pulse it in the food processor.

>> Okay.

>> MING: So the scallions and cilantro we're going to add to the pulsed shrimp and the ginger Pops has got going on there.

All right, that's about it.

We have what, six shrimp or so?

Yeah, that's good.

I'll give a little bit more scallions.

So, how have you been, Pops?

How's life here in Hawaii?

So, my parents live here in, at Kahala Nui, here in Honolulu.

It's a beautiful retirement home.

And why, what's the number one reason you moved to Kahala Nui?

>> Well, it's the people here.

People here are the nicest and the facility is great.

>> MING: And... (speaking Mandarin) >> Yeah, yeah, the food.

All kinds of food.

>> MING: It's, like, I don't know, it's 70%, 80%, 90% Asian here at Kahala Nui?

So, if there's that many Asians, it's gonna be delicious food, right?

>> Right.

Right.

>> MING: All right, so, that's good.

Henry, pop that-- that's plenty, pop that in there.

All right, Pops, yeah, that's good.

Take some of your ginger.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: So, here, in this food processor, guys, we're just putting some ginger.

Actually, just maybe... Just a little bit more ginger, Pops.

Do a quick little... All right, I like it...

I know Mom likes ginger.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: All right, so that, that's perfect.

So now we're just gonna pulse that, Henry, give it a pulse.

That's pretty good.

Perfect.

Pops, Christmas came early.

We're gonna give you this food processor.

Oh, I know, say no more.

Say no more.

(laughing) Let's go ahead and take this shrimp out.

And to this we're gonna add... Hey, Henry, grab me a little sesame oil from the table over there, please.

From Nainai, grab that.

We gonna, a couple of drops of sesame oil.

That's... Obviously, you don't have to add sesame oil if you're not, if you're allergic to it, but we like it.

>> Here you go.

>> MING: So add the scallions.

Add the cilantro.

Add a dash of sesame oil.

Henry, find me a little bit of salt, please.

All right, guys?

So here.

This we just mix.

A little bit of salt, Henry.

Thank you.

All right, that's it.

So this is a very simple shrimp filling.

Because Pops, when, when we've had hot pot before-- and by the way, in Japan, it's called shabu shabu, right?

It's the same thing.

>> Right.

Right.

>> MING: What do you traditionally put in all your, in your hot pot?

>> Well, we put in, you know, all the vegetables you show, and also the meat, different type-- pork, chicken, seafood.

>> MING: Lamb.

>> Lamb and all the different types.

Whatever you want.

And that you're going to see them, we have them here.

And so that's, that's something they do in different parts of China.

They do it all, in some places very, very hot, in Xi'an and Sichuan.

And they really have a really hot, hot, hot in seasoning.

>> MING: Right.

>> It's all red.

>> MING: We've actually went ahead and made two broths.

So you can use just water.

So, hot pot is a boiling broth, usually.

It could be chicken-based or beef-based.

We have a hot pot that's 50/50, right, Henry?

So we have hot, hot broth on one side.

Spicy-hot, that is, with chili.

And on the other side, we have a more neutral broth for Mom, we just put cinnamon and star anise.

So I'm gonna add a little bit of egg.

And then here, Henry, give us a touch of water for our egg wash.

So just a little bit of egg, guys.

This is a good binder for the shrimp mousse.

Okay?

And the other half of the egg we're gonna use for the egg wash. All right, Pops, I just want to show the people how you make wontons.

And, Henry, you, too.

And I will...

I will, as well.

I'm pretty sure you and I do it the same way.

>> Yeah, you like to do the, the smash it against the cutting board.

I'm more of a just crimp it kind of guy.

>> MING: You're talking about smashed shumai.

Yeah, we're not doing smashed shumai.

You need a little bit more filling than that, Pops.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I get the spoon.

>> MING: You're not gonna chintz Mom out.

So guys, you gotta...

Egg wash two sides, right?

Fold that over to get a triangle.

That's how I do it.

Is that what you do, too, Pops?

>> Well, yeah, there are different ways, and you fold it backward, and whatever.

>> MING: All right, let's see.

So, Pops, they're the same.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: And then I go, I go backwards underneath.

>> Yeah, yeah, okay.

>> MING: Like a pope's cap.

That's how I do it.

>> Oh, you're doing the, uh... God, what is that called, rangoon?

>> MING: Uh, yeah, it's called a wonton, actually.

(all laughing) >> I don't know, that's just how we made the rangoons back at... >> MING: But in this country, we call them wontons.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

>> MING: But, you're right, crab rangoons are folded the same way.

This is also tortellini or tortellono, right?

It's really the same thing.

And the only difference, honestly, is, this is a wonton wrapper, right?

They call it a pope's cap, too, right?

See that?

>> It's a funny hat design, I got to say.

>> MING: We can't, can't put too much filling, right?

>> No, no.

>> MING: 'Cause it come out.

>> That's right.

>> MING: Awesome.

Do you remember that time we were in...

I told you this story once, Henry, we were in Beijing.

Remember when we had the hot pot?

>> Oh, yeah, we had hot pot in the Great Wall.

>> MING: But what year was that?

>> Oh, that was 1982.

>> MING: Wow.

I don't think you were around, Henry.

>> That's 30, 30 years ago.

>> (inaudible) >> MING: It was, it was quite interesting.

This is way pre-COVID and all that.

But it was, um... Communal hot pot, right?

>> Right.

Right.

>> MING: So...

This one's a little bit too wet.

Communal hot pot had a huge, it's probably eight people around, and there was just a little border, right?

>> Right, that partition... >> MING: That partition that separated me from my dad on my right side, and a complete stranger on my left side.

But there was a partition, so my meat and stuff I never lose, or my noodles and my veg.

But the broth was the same for everyone.

Which, as an American-- I was really young, right?

I was, like, that time was... >> You were in high school.

>> MING: Yeah, so, you know, I was, whatever, 16 years old.

A little...

I was a little squeamish.

Would you do that, share broth?

>> (chuckling): I don't know, yeah, honestly.

>> MING: So in my head, it's boiling at 212 degrees.

So, if there was anything in it, it would be killed.

But I mean, I don't know, no one there in China had an issue with it, right?

>> No.

>> MING: It's... it was just, I thought...

It was a little bit...

I think now during COVID, I don't know if people are going to be sharing broth.

>> Probably wouldn't do that today.

>> MING: Yeah, probably not.

But it was delicious.

And the thing I love most about it, just like shabu shabu, that's the Japanese way of saying it, where they use Kobe beef and whatnot, is that you get to eat what you want.

Even if you're a vegetarian, you can still eat hot pot.

I mean, that is chicken broth or beef broth.

It could be just water, but you could just eat, you could eat your noodles and your veg and be done with it, right?

Or if you're a carnivore, you could be eating Kobe beef, or lamb, or pork belly, which is what we have here.

And, you know, in my family we eat everything, so... All right.

Yeah, my...

When you fill them too full, they just kind of explode.

Okay, these look pretty good.

Two, three... All right, here we go.

Like this one is good.

This one's a little bit too big.

This must be yours, Henry.

>> Yeah, probably.

(chuckling) I think one of mine exploded.

>> MING: All right, Pops, you...

Pop's looks pretty good.

Okay, this is... Are these yours, Henry?

Are you doing this straight?

Straight popes?

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Okay, these look great.

Mom, you good over there?

>> I am fine.

>> MING (laughing): Okay.

>> Thank you, I'm still here!

>> MING: All right, we're going to do... You are definitely still here.

And you're going to be on in two seconds.

So the last other thing.

Pops, let's go ahead and cut up this báicài.

You do the honors?

>> Yeah.

>> MING: So all of this veg, guys, we're gonna bring all this to the table.

Henry, why don't you cut this tofu up for me, please?

>> Sure thing.

>> MING: Clean this off.

Get rid of those, please.

>> Okay.

>> MING: And I'll put this over here.

So... and grab a bowl for me there, Henry.

Okay, that's plenty, that's plenty.

We just don't have enough room for all our fantastic food.

So here we're going to have the báicài.

Put this here.

>> Right.

>> MING: We're just piling it on this tray, guys.

The more veg... we're very...

Certainly in China, we love vegetables.

So we're going to have all this veg.

And Pops, do you think the best part of hot pot is actually the broth that we drink at the end?

>> Oh, yes, that's right.

>> MING: So we cook in the broth, again, we're putting meats or seafoods, or shrimp wontons, all of this great veg.

>> Right.

>> MING: And then at the end, you get to ladle broth.

So here, this is lotus, guys.

I don't know if you've ever seen this before.

This has been peeled.

This is a delicious root that, I don't know, do you... What's your favorite way of cooking these?

>> Well, just put in a broth, because it has a special texture.

>> MING: Yeah, it's really, it's crispy and... How else would you say, it's just, it's crispy, right?

And I love them-- quite often in, this is a Chinese dianxin, the dim sum, that they stuff it, right?

They stuff it with pork.

So they actually stuff the whole thing with pork and they cut them into big ol' pieces and fry them.

I think that's awesome, too.

>> How big do you want these tofu?

>> MING: Cut it in half and then pieces.

Individual kind of chunks.

Okay, awesome.

So we got, again, all our veg-- let's check out our meat.

Here, Pops, let me just clean your board off here real quick.

All right, let's look at all these meats here.

We have... >> About this big or...?

>> Yeah, smaller.

>> MING: Perfect, Henry.

All right, well, Yeye says smaller.

Check these out, guys.

So this, there's amazing Asian markets here in Hawaii, also, also on the continent in the United States, as well.

But here at this Korean store, we have lamb, really thinly sliced lamb.

You have beautiful pork belly.

Look how nice and fatty that is.

And this is a extremely thinly sliced fatty, fatty beef, as well.

All right?

So we got this.

Henry, you're gonna grab...

Here, Pops, let's go to the table.

We're gonna get...

I'm gonna grab all three.

Pops, you grab those two, Henry you grab this.

All right?

All right, let's go, guys.

So we're gonna set up to the table, guys.

We're gonna move a couple of lights here.

And the star of the show... (imitating fanfare) The queen!

Yay!

>> Hello, hello.

>> MING: All right, so here, here's our hot pot.

So, here we have the two broths, guys.

We have a... where's that ladle?

>> Pops?

>> MING: There it is.

So this is a spicy one.

This has chili in it.

And these, these red... (speaking Mandarin) >> (speaking Mandarin) >> MING: Yeah, what's that in English?

Like... ginkgo, ginkgo nuts.

So we have gingko nuts, right?

We use chicken broth, non... A low-sodium chicken broth in water, 50/50.

I think it's just a better taste.

And here is plain chicken broth and water, and all I did, Mom, 'cause I know you like it, I put one cinnamon... >> Yes.

>> MING: One cinnamon stick in there and just one star anise, right?

So, that will give it some really good flavor.

All right?

So, once this comes to a boil-- and review, what you've not seen, here we have... A Korean noodle, used, sweet potato noodles, here we have regular, just wheat noodles.

We have chopped scallions and chopped cilantro.

We have soy sauce, we have sambal, and the way you do hot pot, and this is the most fun, so you can use peanut butter or sesame butter to make your dipping sauce.

So I'm going to just pass this to everyone.

I'm gonna put a little bit of peanut butter.

There's something called zhimajiàng, right, Pops?

The, uh... >> Sesame.

>> MING: Sesame paste-- what do you like, Mom?

>> I mix the two together, I like both.

>> MING: Right, so I like, I like both, too, right?

So I'm gonna add a little sesame oil to my peanut butter.

There you go, Pops.

And I'm gonna add some cilantro, add some scallions.

I'm going to pass all the condiments to you guys.

A couple of soy sauce here, guys, right?

Again, to each his own, like, I know my mom's not gonna want spicy, so she's not going to have...

I'm gonna add a big thing of sambal.

Mom, you want a little jiàngyóu?

All right, so I'll give my mom a little bit of soy sauce.

>> That's good.

>> MING: All right, Mom, scallions and cilantro, right?

>> Yes, scallions, yes.

>> MING: Scallions and cilantro, all right.

>> So you're really just adding the ingredients to make your own soup.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: This is to make your own dip for the meats and whatnot.

Henry, you want some soy sauce?

>> Yes, please.

>> MING: Here, Henry, give you a little cilantro.

>> Yes, please.

>> MING: Okay, so...

The other key tool, so it's great to buy...

These are, these are, like, $50, guys, in the Chinatown, right?

This is a plug-in unit.

There's induction burners you can use, there's, you can even use, like your grandma had, the old tall kind of skillet you cook eggs and bacon in?

That would work, too-- anything that can boil broth.

Um, the... the cassette-feus, which are the propane things, work great, too.

They could just put a big, big pot in the middle.

That all works.

This is particularly good, because there's two compartment and it's low.

So if you had a pot that was this big, it's really hard to get in there and you can burn, you can burn your wrist.

>> I can't, I can't even... >> MING: Yeah, well, at your, at your Yao Ming height, Mom, you may not be able to get in.

And you can see this is almost boiling.

Then the other key for hot pot is this: you have to have your little basket.

Because I'm gonna put a piece of meat in here, or I'm gonna put a piece of tofu, I want to put it in and make sure I get to keep it.

So everyone gets their own basket.

Otherwise, if I just put meat in here, boom, Henry is going to be grabbing it for me, as will David.

So what we're gonna do first, since it's coming to a boil... We all love noodles in this family.

Which noodle do you want?

Do you want the sweet potato or the... wheat?

>> Sweet potato.

>> MING: Sweet potato for you, Mom?

All right, so we'll just put this in and let that come to temp, and we'll put these noodles in this one, and let them come to temp-- ooh, there we go, thank you.

And then I'm going to put in a couple of these... Lotus.

>> Oh, I love these!

>> MING: I bought that specially for you, Mom.

>> I didn't know you had lotus.

>> MING: Yes, come on, this is V.I.P.

And here we have the fresh bamboo shoots, yóu mèn sun, so fresh bamboo shoots in.

>> That is great.

>> MING: Which is equally delicious, right?

>> Yeah, yeah, good.

>> MING: And because we can, we're gonna put a little bit of the maitake mushroom, which I know is one of my mom's favorites.

>> Yes, I love that.

>> MING: Super-good for you.

Super-high antioxidant qualities, guys.

And that a great Japanese mushroom called enokis.

>> Yes, they are equally good, they are great.

>> MING: So this... >> You need a different texture.

Some a little crispier, some crunchy, and soft.

So when you eat Chinese food, you put it in your mouth, you go, "Mmm..." (laughter) You smell and taste everything.

>> MING: Yeah, but Mom, I don't know if it's specifically Chinese food.

I bet you do it with Japanese food, too, Mexican, Italian.

(laughter, indistinct chatter) Maybe.

(laughs) All right, so I just cover this, let it come to a boil.

What you want to do is, the mushrooms are raw, right?

So you want to really cook that, and all this other veg, this watercress and spinach, that cooks so fast.

We usually eat the veg towards the end.

But you want to get this to a really rolling boil, so then we could eat all the meats.

>> Right.

>> MING: Right?

>> Yeah, this is, this is great.

>> MING: So here's a very, here's a very political question.

Is shabu shabu better than huoguo?

Or is huoguo better than shabu shabu, in your opinion?

That's Chinese versus Japanese, hot pots.

>> You go first.

>> MING: You go first.

(laughter) >> No, they're essentially the same.

The only difference... >> MING: Aw, yeah... >> The only difference is, there are some vegetables that are different.

>> MING: Right.

>> But the process is exactly the same.

>> MING: Right.

>> And they have the different sauces and they will have tofu, for sure.

They have different meats, and I think in Japan, they have more beef than would be in China.

>> MING: And they are incredibly expensive Kobe and Wagyu, right?

>> Yes, yes.

>> MING: But I agree with you.

How about you, Mom, which one do you think?

>> I think the Chinese has a little more different ingredients.

>> MING: Yeah.

>> So the taste is different.

Your broth, to me, is the most...

I just wait for the broth.

>> MING: Right.

>> Put a little noodle in there... eh.

>> MING: I agree.

(laughter) >> MING: Oh yeah, baby.

>> The best part for me is after we're eating and taking it off, I'm getting the steam on my face.

>> MING: That's why you're... >> Best facial.

>> MING: My mom has never Botoxed and never will in her entire life, because she doesn't need it.

>> I just eat out of hot pot.

>> MING: At your ripe age.

Okay, so Mom, you want lamb or pork, pork belly, or beef?

>> Give me a little lamb.

>> MING: A little lamb, okay.

Okay, here, Henry, grab her a little... Whatchamacallit-- no, her basket.

>> Yes.

>> MING: Okay, here we go.

There you go, all right, there you go.

Hey, use this one, Mom, this is the less spicy.

Hen, you wanna try some lamb, too?

>> Ooh!

>> Oh, would you like me to do it for you, Nainai?

>> Yes, please.

>> MING: Okay, Pops, you want some lamb?

You want to try that?

Awesome.

Okay, Henry, I'll give you a little lamb, too.

I haven't... Of all the red meats, lamb is my favorite, of all the red meats.

>> I love lamb.

>> MING: They call, they call duck...

They call duck a red meat, but duck is really poultry, so... All right, Henry, I'll cook your lamb for you.

>> Oh, thank you.

Would you like to give the audience a little education on why it's called shabu shabu sometimes?

>> MING: Henry, why don't you tell it?

You know the story.

>> All right, I've heard it plenty of times.

So the reason that it's called shabu shabu, at least from what I've heard, is that-- would you like me to put this in?

>> Put it in, thank you.

>> Got you.

Is that that's actually how long you time for cooking these thin slices of meat.

Because they're so thin, they cook almost instantly in the boiling broth, that you-- all you have to do is go in and just wave it around in the broth long enough to say, "Shabu shabu."

>> MING: We have a phone call.

Mom, you want a little bit of noodles?

>> Just a tiny bit.

>> MING: Okay.

Oh, we have another phone call-- tell him I'm busy.

Okay, okay.

Here you go, Mom.

>> Good.

>> MING: There you go, awesome.

>> Wonderful.

That's wonderful.

>> MING: All right, okay, I'm gonna grab some-- Henry, you want these?

>> Oh, please.

>> MING: Here's some... Bring your bowl over, I got you a lotus and some noodles.

There we go.

So as you can tell, guys, that thick sauce we made earlier, which had the, you know, the peanut butter, the almond butter... >> Yes.

>> MING: Once you add wet noodles like this, oh, my God, it cooks so much faster.

And now, while we're here, since this is so nice and boiling, I'm gonna go ahead and add a big handful of spinach.

>> Oh, yeah, that will just wilt.

>> MING: That will wilt in no time.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: And while we're at it, we're gonna add some Napa cabbage.

Because again, the broth is just going to continually get better and better.

And I have to say it, and I will say it for all of us, we used to eat a lot more meat than vegetables.

Now we're eating more vegetables than meat, so... >> Yeah, you need, like, tofu, and you can just make a whole vegetarian, as well.

>> MING: Oh, absolutely.

>> But we don't do that, because there are meat eaters, they will take one piece of tofu.

"Okay, I got my vegetarian food," and they'll dig in on the meat.

>> MING: All right, like, look at this bite here, guys.

This is a little piece of lamb with my noodles, put it in my spicy sauce.

>> Oh, hot sauce.

>> MING: Oh, yeah, baby, let's go.

(slurps noodles) >> Great for, like, creating your own, your own peanut noodles, >> MING: Yeah, oh, my God.

>> And literally, it's okay to slurp in one bite.

You're supposed to inhale noodles, as well, like what he did.

>> MING: So David Tsai is going to join.

We have a seat there.

>> Hey.

>> MING: Okay.

>> MING: Nice matching shirts.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> I was wondering-- all of a sudden, he got a new shirt.

(laughter) I assume Dad can keep the shirt?

>> MING: Oh, yeah, Dad gets to keep the shirt.

Here, a little sambal, Henry, or David?

You want some scallions, right, and cilantro, David?

Awesome.

There you go.

Give you a little soy sauce, jiàngyóu.

>> You can use both hands to do... >> MING: There you go.

>> ...anything, you know, because you need two hands to serve the food, the meat, and usually you cannot have one hand.

You become paralyzed.

>> MING: Oh, we got to put our shrimp on here.

Henry, grab this.

So we got to put our wontons in, almost forgot.

So traditionally, there's fish balls, right?

How do you say that, Yeye, in Chinese, those fish balls that usually go in here?

Don't-- be careful, Mom.

>> Yú yuán is fish ball.

>> MING: Oh, yú yuán, yeah, that's right.

>> (speaking Mandarin) >> MING: Yú yuán.

Yuán, yuán means round.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: So yú yuán's fish balls, basically, and then... All right, so let's get that in.

Those, I think those-- how long do you think those wontons are gonna take, Pops?

Probably... >> A little... >> MING: Give you some veg there.

>> Thank you.

>> MING: Thank you.

I bet you it'll take-- the shrimp balls will probably take three minutes, I would think?

Six minutes?

They were raw.

>> Yeah.

>> They have meat in them, right?

>> No, it's just shrimp.

>> MING: Okay... >> Just shrimp?

>> MING: Yeah.

>> Shrimp you can eat raw, so that's what I use.

>> MING: Sure!

All right, guys, unfortunately we have to go, but I'm going to show you, this is the shrimp wonton.

Let me just take a bite.

(slurps) Show you what they look like inside-- they're so delicious.

Oh, my God, hey, Pops, nice job on the wontons.

All right, guys, listen, we have to go.

Xiè xiè, xiè xiè-- this was big.

It's so awesome to have a three-generational hot pot.

Mom, you look awesome.

Pops-- my Pops is 91 and three-quarters?

92?

>> Yeah.

>> MING: 92, working full-time still.

So that's an inspiration for us all.

So from Hawaii, thank you so much for tuning in, and as always, peace... >> And good eating.

>> And good eating!

(laughter) Good eating!

>> MING: Peace!

>> And good eating.

>> MING: There you go, all right, guys, be good.

Xiè xiè, zài jiàn.

>> Bye-bye.

>> MING: Bye-bye, thanks, Kahala Nui!

For more information on Simply Ming, including upcoming guests and more, visit us online at ming.com/simplyming.

>> Simply Ming is brought to you by Subaru of New England, proudly celebrating 50 years of love.

Authorized retailers at SubaruOfNewEngland.com.

Here's to the next 50 years and beyond.

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