Simply Ming

>> MING: Hey, Ming Tsai here, we're on the road, this time in Monterey, California, literally God's country.

We're going to meet a great chef out here, Paul Corsentino.

But we're first going to go to the Monterey Abalone Company to see how they farm raise delicious, sustainable abalone.

>> The abalone, it's kind of like a scallop or, like, maybe like calamari.

But it's a very luxurious kind of steak.

>> MING: Paul's then going to go back to Salt Wood Kitchen and Oysterette and grill up some beautiful abalone with a shiitake bok choy salad.

I'm gonna take that same abalone and steam it and do my version of an Asian abalone Rockefeller.

So we just crunch up the rice, put some crispy rice right on top.

It's coming up right here, right now, on Simply Ming.

>> MING: Chef Paul, Ming Tsai.

Nice to meet you, man.

>> Nice to meet you, yeah.

>> MING: Real pleasure.

Hi, I'm Ming.

>> Hey, Andrew.

>> MING: Andrew.

Nice to meet you.

>> This is my abalone connection here in Monterey.

>> MING: Awesome.

Look at them.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Beautiful.

>> Beautiful.

And we're just, you know, we're just discussing the size of these ones and the age on them.

>> MING: And what kind of-- what kind of abalone are these?

>> So these are the California red abalone, of which there are... there are seven species of abalone in, in the state.

>> MING: Right.

>> And the red abalone has a long history of fishing in, in this state.

It's the largest and longest-lived species of abalone in the world.

>> MING: And for those that don't know, you eat everything?

Obviously not the shell.

>> Yeah... >> MING: And you probably don't eat the mouth, right?

Or you cut the mouth out... >> Yeah, you want to cut the mouth out.

>> MING: Right.

>> I actually encourage people... >> MING: I mean, in China we eat it all.

Everything but the shell.

>> Yeah.

Yeah, and you know, you're paying for the abalone live in the shell, so... >> MING: Right.

>> And the visceral mass makes up a significant portion of the weight that you're paying for, so you might as well enjoy the whole thing.

>> MING: It's a great-- I love the texture.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> MING: It's got more of a bite to it than like, clam and oysters, right, because it's so... >> Yeah, and if you've never had abalone, it's kind of like, kind of like a scallop, or, like, maybe like calamari, but it's a very luxurious kind of steak... >> MING: Right.

>> ...that you get.

>> And it's got a very distinct taste that is...

I find it to be very appealing.

>> MING: Yeah.

Oh, I love abalone.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Awesome.

So, tell me about your process.

How does it work here?

>> Well, we start off our abalone at our hatchery at Moss Landing Marine Labs, which is just 15 miles up the road.

>> MING: Right.

>> And we make our babies.

And it takes them about ten months to get about the size of my thumbnail.

>> MING: Wow.

>> And then we bring them here and we feed them till they reach market size.

I have a... >> MING: Oh, let's see.

>> This board here that is... kind of shows you, just like, the progression of the abalone.

>> MING: So this is-- that's a one-pounder?

>> This is like our one-pounder, and that's like an eight year-old abalone... >> MING: Eight years!

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Wow.

>> I mean, they could grow faster than that... >> MING: Right.

But still, it's a long time.

>> It's not like an oyster or a mussel... >> MING: Right, right.

>> ...which are also mollusks, like the abalone.

And, um, those things are filter feeders, abalone are grazers, and so it actually-- we have to, like, physically get the food to feed them.

>> MING: Chef, I think we gotta go cook.

>> Let's do it, man.

>> MING: Andrew, thank you.

>> All right, yeah.

Thanks for coming.

>> MING: You are a wealth of knowledge, I appreciate it.

And you have the abalone already, chef?

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> MING: Oh, you're going to grab some for... (laughing) >> Yeah, let's pack these up.

>> MING: We'll pack these up.

All right, let's go.

Thank you, Andrew, this is fantastic.

>> All right.

>> MING: All right, Paul, what's your dish?

>> So we're doing a grilled abalone with grilled shiitake mushrooms and a bok choy salad.

>> MING: Awesome.

>> So, the first thing we'll do is we'll do the apple pure.

>> MING: Apple pure... >> So we're using a little bit of Granny Smith apples, a little bit tart... >> MING: My favorite.

>> So they go well with the grilled flavor.

>> MING: And what's in this, what's here?

>> And a little bit of white wine as well, to kind of give it more acidity.

>> MING: So just peel?

>> Correct.

>> MING: White wine.

>> And then we're gonna-- once we peel them, we're gonna slice them as thin as we can.

That way they cook quickly.

>> MING: Okay.

>> So, in the meantime, once you do these apples... >> MING: Yep.

>> I'm going to go ahead and start on the lobster vinaigrette that's gonna go with the abalone.

>> MING: Okay.

So just thin slices?

>> Yeah, exactly.

>> MING: So, the lobster vinaigrette.

Tell me about that, what goes in there?

>> So, the lobster vinaigrette is going to be a lobster stock that we make in-house.

>> MING: Okay.

>> And you don't have to use necessarily homemade lobster stock, you could buy a seafood stock or something like that.

>> MING: Right.

>> And then we're gonna do equal parts of the lobster stock and apple juice.

>> MING: So for those that do make lobster stock at home, you're taking the lobster heads, right?

>> We're roasting them.

>> MING: You roast them, and what else do you add?

>> We add mirepoix-- carrots, celery, onion, a little fennel.

>> MING: Right.

>> And then a little bit of tomato paste, and a lot of brandy.

>> MING: But you can-- you can buy lobster stock at good fish mongers... >> Correct.

Absolutely.

>> MING: And would fish stock work?

>> Fish stock would work.

You know, and that's why we put the apple juice in it.

Because the apple juice, when you reduce any type of seafood stock, because it's in the ocean, it tends get quite salty.

So what we do is we add the apple juice, and that sweetens it out a little bit.

>> MING: All this there, chef?

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> MING: Okay.

So that's it, just apples and vinegar.

>> Yep, apples and white wine.

>> MING: Oh, I'm sorry, white wine.

Okay.

>> Yep.

And then go ahead and let that cook.

>> MING: And was that a sav blanc, chardonnay, or what?

>> That is a sauvignon blanc.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Again, sticking with the tart things.

>> MING: All right, so those, those will both take what, ten... five, ten minutes, to cook down?

>> Yeah, give or take, yeah.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Exactly.

>> MING: Awesome.

All right, what's next?

>> So the next thing we'll do is, we can go ahead and do our shiitake mushrooms.

>> MING: Okay.

>> And we grill those as well.

And we're grilling-- everything right now, on almond wood.

>> MING: Right.

>> Which is from California.

>> MING: And I love the name of your place.

So, Salt Wood and Oysterette.

>> Salt Wood Kitchen and... >> MING: Salt Wood Kitchen and Oysterette.

>> Correct.

>> MING: And an oysterette is a place that serves lots of fresh oysters.

>> Correct.

Lots of seafood, lots of oysters.

>> MING: Awesome.

>> So we're just gonna simply treat these mushrooms.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Just a little bit of... a little bit of oil.

>> MING: Is that just canola, or... >> Just canola oil.

>> MING: Yep, okay.

>> And you could certainly use grapeseed, something relatively neutral.

>> MING: Any... >> Little pepper, a little bit of salt.

>> MING: Okay.

So this is kind of part of the salad?

>> Correct, yeah, so we're gonna grill these off, and then julienne them into the salad as well.

>> MING: Right.

>> So we've got to like, you know, we like to add smoky flavor components to a lot of our dishes here at the restaurant.

>> MING: I would think so, with a quart of wood a day... >> Yeah, we don't just have this grill, we also have, you know, we have a smoker in the back, too.

>> MING: Oh, you do.

>> And out there we use mainly oaks, oak wood.

So, a different flavor profile.

>> MING: So, what-- you find the difference between, oh, do use cherry as well?

Or are you... >> We do mainly, predominately almond and oak.

>> MING: Awesome.

Okay, so we got shiitakes going, apples cooking, lobster stock reducing.

>> Yep.

>> MING: All right, What's next?

>> Next we're gonna go ahead and do our abalone.

>> MING: Okay, awesome.

Our hero.

Buddy, that's so cool.

It's just how they-- how they farm those abalone, that's sustainable.

>> Absolutely.

100% sustainable.

All these things eat is kelp.

Tons and tons of kelp.

So we're just gonna kind of-- kind of similar to shucking an oyster, but you're just gonna come underneath and detach it from the muscle underneath.

>> MING: Yep.

And abalone, as you know, chef, is one of the easiest hardest things in the world to cook, right?

>> Correct.

>> MING: Because you overcook it, it's like rubber bands.

>> Correct.

>> MING: You just can't get through it.

And you undercook it, it's... it's not that delectable.

>> You know, and clearly the fresher the better, obviously, right?

>> MING: Right.

>> So we're gonna clean this up a little bit right here.

>> MING: Right.

You know, so, you don't take the muscle?

>> We leave this on.

>> MING: You leave it all?

>> You just, take you a little bit off here.

>> MING: Right.

>> And we tend to-- we pound it out a little bit.

>> MING: You do, okay.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Do you score it to pound it, or you just... >> We don't.

We just pound it a little bit.

>> MING: Right.

>> We don't have to pound it a lot because we marinate it, and through that marination process... >> MING: Okay.

>> ...it kind of breaks down a little bit more.

>> MING: All right.

But that's... this is your marinade here?

>> Correct.

To the marinade we add we add a little bit of chopped ginger, chopped garlic... >> MING: Uh-huh.

>> We put a little olive oil in with.

>> MING: Okay.

>> We have some miso paste.

Then we have yuzu and sesame oil.

>> MING: A lot of Asian influence in this dish.

>> You know, we tried to just stay American, but sometimes it just happens to go Asian, you know.

>> MING: Hey, power to you, chef.

No complaints on my end.

>> So, before we do the marinade, we like to pound the abalone just a little bit.

And-- because the marinade is gonna tenderize it.

>> MING: Right.

>> But we're just gonna do a quick pound on these... >> MING: And that does help.

>> So it's going to bring a little bit more... >> MING: Tenderized, yeah.

>> And it gets your frustration out, too.

>> MING (laughing): I play squash.

>> So, just give it a quick pound.

>> MING: Yeah.

>> And this is gonna tender-- it's good if you're having a bad day, just pound away.

>> MING: (laughs) >> But you don't want to kill the things.

>> MING: Right.

>> They're already dead.

>> MING (laughing): They're already dead.

(pounding) >> MING: That's a good trick, though.

I mean, we do that with chicken breast, we do that with pork... >> Yeah, exactly.

Scaloppini, tenderized.

>> Exactly.

>> MING: Yeah, it does, it does grow.

>> So before we put the abalone in there, you might want to make our marinade.

>> MING: Okay.

>> So... so we've got our, our ginger.

>> MING: Yeah.

>> We have our chopped garlic.

>> MING: I was wondering why the garlic-- I was like, "Man, you really pured your garlic..." >> We were frustrated that day, too.

>> MING (laughing): Yeah, but you do it with olive oil, so... >> And then our miso paste.

>> MING: That's shiro miso, looks like?

>> Yep.

>> MING: Yellow miso.

>> Mm-hmm, correct.

>> MING: Okay.

>> And that's gonna give it some seasoning, that umami flavor.

>> MING: Right.

>> And then we have our yuzu juice.

>> MING: Okay.

Want me to whisk this for you, chef?

>> Yep, please.

>> MING: Okay.

>> And that yuzu juice, again, is gonna break it down.

>> MING: Yeah.

>> And then just a touch of sesame oil.

>> MING: Sesame oil, yes.

>> That way when we grill it, it doesn't stick to the grill.

Perfect.

And then we just throw that in there.

>> MING: Oh God, that's so good.

>> And then we just let that marinate overnight.

>> MING: 24 hours?

>> Correct.

>> MING: So it really almost breaks it.

>> Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

So then we don't add anything else.

When we grill, we don't season or anything after that.

>> MING: Right.

Awesome.

>> Great.

So, now we have our... >> MING: Let's see, so this is-- those have been marinated 24 hours.

>> Color changes a little bit... >> MING: Yeah, look at the color change.

Look at that.

Yeah, it does, it did-- it gets cooked.

>> Correct, exactly.

>> MING: Kind of like ceviche.

>> Exactly.

And if we want, we can go ahead and pure these apples as well.

>> MING: Okay.

Take these apples off, let them sit here for a sec.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> MING: So then, how long do these take the grill?

>> Fast.

Like maybe three to five minutes.

>> MING: Three to five minutes?

All right, let's get them there, then we just-- we pure, we're good.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

And we try to do it on the hottest part of the grill.

>> MING: Okay.

>> 'Cause it's quick.

>> MING: And since there's sesame oil, you don't need to add anymore oil.

>> Correct, exactly.

>> MING: I love-- just, you know there's gonna be a good smoky charcoal flavor from there.

>> That's the deal.

That's exactly the deal, yeah.

>> MING: Awesome.

Okay.

And how much do you allow-- how much further that needs... needs to go down?

>> This needs to go down...

It's halfway right now, so it needs to go sec.

>> MING: Okay.

All right.

So we're going to take a quick break, we're going to get this lobster stock down.

We've got our abalone grilling, we're going to make a little apple pure.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Plate up the dish.

>> I'm excited.

>> MING: Looks good, chef.

Looks good.

Stick around.

>> MING: Chef, it's been like, four minutes.

These abalones are looking absolutely fantastic.

>> Awesome.

>> MING: Can I help you?

Yeah, they look awesome.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: How about these shiitakes?

>> Shiitakes are ready to go, man.

>> MING: Yep.

Beautiful.

So you have vegetarian and you have sea abalone.

>> Correct.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Here we go.

So, what we're gonna do with these guys, we're just gonna slice them up.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Not super thin, medium-sized thin.

>> MING: Okay.

>> We want to have a little texture to them, so kind of just like this.

And those are going to get mixed with our bok choy.

>> MING: Okay.

I'll do that for you.

>> If you want, we can go ahead and pure this apple, the apples as well.

>> MING: Okay.

Awesome.

So this is like a room temp salad?

>> Correct.

Yes, Absolutely.

>> MING: All right.

And then the abalone you keep whole or you slice those later or what do you do?

>> The abalone we're slicing right now.

>> MING: You're slicing that, too.

Okay.

Awesome.

God, they're so tender.

When the knife goes through it so easily... >> Yeah.

>> MING: Love that.

These smell so good.

>> I love that char flavor that you get from it, it's amazing.

>> MING: Yep.

>> It goes really well, and then it's... it's going to mix very well with that, uh... the lobster vinaigrette that we're going to make.

>> MING: So good.

All right, so do this first?

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> MING: Okay.

>> So, try not to get any of that liquid in there, but you're gonna get a little bit... >> MING: Oh, you don't want the liquid, okay.

>> You're going to need some of it, to... to emulsify.

>> MING: So, again, this is just apples and sauvignon blanc.

>> Correct.

>> MING: So simple.

>> You know, there's a lot of ingredients to this dish, but they're all prepared quite simply.

>> MING: Right.

>> I would say that's kind of our mantra here at Salt Wood.

>> MING: Simple.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Let the ingredients sing.

>> Exactly.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Awesome.

>> MING: And salt, pepper, nothing?

>> A little bit of... a little bit of salt.

Little bit of salt.

Not a lot, though.

(blender whirring) >> MING: Go ahead, chef.

Super smooth?

>> Yeah, yep.

Let her rip.

>> MING: Let her rip, all right.

Almost like soup.

Looks good.

>> Good.

>> MING: And pour it right into here.

Okay.

>> MING: Let's see what this looks like here.

Oh, yeah, it's like a... ah, that looks awesome.

>> There we go.

That should be nice and... >> MING: You're doing molecular gastronomy without any... >> (laughing): Exactly.

The old school way.

>> MING: Old school way.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Okay, here, you want to rinse that out, chef?

You're gonna make your lobster emulsion also in a blender?

For the greens... >> Mm-hmm.

So we have a little bit of blanched bok choy, and we just cut them into small bite-sized pieces.

>> MING: Okay, let's do that.

I'll wipe this out for you.

So you're... are you making it to like a syrup the lobster sauce?

>> Almost, yeah, exactly.

Pretty close to that, yeah.

These will come down quite a bit.

And then so the bok choy we're gonna cut up a little bit smaller.

And then all that we do with this bok choy is we just did a quick blanch on them.

Blanch meaning we boiled them in salted water... >> MING: Right.

>> And then pulled them out and put them in a seasoned ice water as well.

>> MING: Seasoned ice water.

>> Yeah, I always feel that if you put... You know, people always know to season they're boiling water.

>> MING: Yeah.

>> Then they put it in ice water that's not seasoned.

So it kind of pulls out some that salty flavor.

>> MING: Chef, I learned something today.

>> There we go.

>> MING: My day is complete.

I've never thought of that.

>> It depends on the vegetable, too.

But I find that bok choy takes in a lot of... it likes salt.

>> MING: It definitely does.

Lengthwise?

>> Yeah, there we go, why not?

>> MING: Okay.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: I like chef just watching me do the prep work.

That's okay, well, I told you I was your sous chef, so that's good.

>> I'll do all the work next time.

>> MING (laughs): Well, you do have to do the lobster stock.

>> Yeah, which is coming nicely.

We're gonna... as soon as we're done with these I can help you out with that.

We'll go ahead and do the lobster emulsion.

Do you want to throw those in a bowl?

And then we can go ahead and make our emulsion.

>> MING: Okay.

All right.

>> We just throw those all in the bowl together.

>> MING: All right, so you've got shiitakes, abalone marinated, and bok choy.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Beautiful.

>> Great.

And now we can pull this off and go ahead and put this in our blender.

>> MING: Here you go.

Like so.

>> MING: So then what do you add to this?

>> So we have a little bit of mirin.

>> MING: So just a tip, guys, put your blender on low with hot liquid.

Get it started slowly, right, because you don't want that hot liquid coming up.

>> Otherwise you have lots of decorations all over your kitchen.

>> MING: Then you can turn it up-- all right, chef, go for it.

>> Okay.

>> MING: All the way?

>> Yeah.

(whirring increases in volume) >> MING: So that's... that is?

>> That's our rice vinegar.

>> MING: Okay.

>> A little bit of a mirin.

>> MING: Okay.

And then we're gonna emulsify it with a neutral oil.

In this instance we're gonna use a vegetable oil.

(whirring increases further, then decreases) >> MING: Vegetable oil.

I love it-- so no butter!

>> No butter.

Again, I'm trying to keep it nice and clean, you know, >> MING: Very Monterey-ish, so to speak.

>> Nice and clean here.

And that's it.

>> MING: That's good?

>> Yup.

(whirring stops) >> MING: Awesome.

Oh, my God that smells so good, chef.

>> Great.

>> MING: In here?

>> Uh... a little bit in there.

That's... that's gonna be our dressing.

There you go.

>> MING: Okay.

Love it.

This dish looks so good, chef.

>> Could use a little bit more.

>> MING: So if you couldn't get abalone... >> Mm-hmm.

>> MING: ...could you do this with shrimp or...?

>> Shrimp would be great, yeah, shrimps, scallops... >> MING: Or clams or lobsters-- scallops, okay.

>> Yeah, for sure.

>> MING: Even salmon, right?

>> Why not?

>> MING: As a matter of fact this could be a great vegetarian with just mushrooms.

>> Shiitake mushrooms itself.

And then even king oyster mushrooms work really well as well.

>> MING: Oh, I love king oysters.

>> And then we throw in some... we pickled some carrots, and green papaya, and daikon.

>> MING: Looks like... it looks like the base of the banh mi sandwiches I do.

Right?

>> There you go.

>> MING: There you go.

Chef, I appreciate the nod to Asia.

Fantastic.

>> The next thing we're going to do just a little bit of that puree in the base.

>> MING: I love how it's so still fluffy.

Right, you can see the air bubbles.

>> Absolutely.

And then we're garnish it just right on top there.

>> MING: Looks so good, chef.

So simple.

But you're right, I love you said that.

A lot of ingredients, but the most complicated ingredient was the abalone and you can substitute the seafood.

And you have like apples, and onions, and daikon.

>> And then you can garnish with something... anything you want.

We have a little bit of a dulse seaweed.

It actually comes from Monterey Bay as well.

>> MING: And you just fry it?

>> Yup, fried it.

That's the dish.

>> MING: That looks awesome.

>> MING: All right, before we sit down to the table at that fireplace can you be my sous?

>> Absolutely.

>> MING: We're gonna make a quick abalone dish as well.

We're gonna steam it instead.

But on fire.

>> Cool, very cool.

>> MING: Stick around.

That dish looks so good.

And abalone....

I can't... >> Nice and tender, a little sweet.

>> MING: It's the most tender I've ever had.

And that marinade really works.

All right, I'm doing same abalone.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> MING: Although, chef, grab me some, will you?

We got...

I think, I think mine a little bit smaller.

In my head, smaller's more tender, it doesn't necessarily translate.

But instead of me shucking it, I'm actually going to steam them.

So what I'm doing is kind of a... if you would, like an Asian Rockefeller, but there's no cream, kind of like you're keeping it light.

I'm using ginger, garlic, and fermented black beans.

Then I'm gonna saut the greens.

These greens are gonna be-- it's red and green leaf-- they're going to actually steam the abalone.

>> Wow.

>> MING: And then gonna saut it.

So what we're gonna do first, very simply, is take our abalone, just lay them on our greens.

Just a little bit of seasoning, not a ton.

Just a little bit.

And that very end we're gonna flash it with a little bit of hot oil just to give it some translucency.

>> Cool.

>> MING: So one secret when I steam-- and here we just have a wok with a steamer-- is I add tea.

>> Very nice.

>> MING: Because I like to tea steam.

because, as you know, water has no flavor, but steam actually has some flavor.

So I'm gonna go ahead and add some tea in there.

And we'll just lay this right on top, and this will probably take about, I don't know, maybe six minutes?

>> Yup.

>> MING: So tea-steamed abalone.

All right.

What we're going to do now is just go ahead and prep.

Chef, you want to just mince me some garlic?

>> Absolutely.

>> MING: I'm gonna take some fermented black beans myself.

I'll mince some here.

As you know, chef, these are incredibly strong flavors-- fermented black beans, right?

>> They're delicious.

>> MING: And I love them, so I'm gonna go really small.

This is twice what I really need quantity wise, because it's just so, so strong.

But umami bombs, right?

>> Exactly, exactly.

>> MING: Umami is that super dense flavor we like.

>> And because they're fermented they have a... they're quite salty.

>> MING: They're so salty, exactly, so you really...

I'm not going to need a lot of salt for this... for this dish at all.

>> And that's kind of the same thing with these abalone since they were farm raised in the ocean.

They're already kind of pre-seasoned for you.

>> MING: Yes.

>> That's why you didn't need to put a whole lot of salt into them.

>> MING: I agree.

All right, so a little bit smaller on this.

All right, that looks pretty good.

Then do a little bit of ginger here.

I'm just gonna peel some ginger.

Traditionally in Chinese cuisine when you have a whole fish-- you've seen it-- you flash it with peanut oil, right?

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I'm gonna use your... you have a little olive oil, canola oil blend, and we're gonna flash with that.

Just 'cause it gives it a nice little richness, I think.

So we just need a little bit of... >> Is that enough garlic for you?

>> MING: Oh, that's plenty.

Yeah, a little finer mince, chef, for me.

A little bit of ginger here.

And I think we're good to go.

It's a very simple dish.

I have one simple garnish, which is just crispy rice.

All right, so I am pretty good.

We got our abalone going... going hard.

Soon as this is ready, gonna heat some oil with it as well.

I need about two or three minutes on the abalone, when we come back, we're gonna put this together, saut this, and flash the abalone.

Stick around.

All right.

Chef, it's have been about eight minutes.

Check out these abalone here.

>> Beautiful.

>> MING: Oh, yeah, baby.

>> They look delicious.

>> MING: Look at those.

So these, we're gonna go ahead... See, they already... they come right out, they fall right out of their shell.

Right?

So we do two of those like that.

Put two like this.

See all this red and green lettuce, chef, I want you to just go ahead and julienne this.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Maybe squeeze a little of the water out, and that's gonna be kind of our garnish on these oysters.

And then when I'm going to do is in this pan, with a little bit of butter, just a touch... We're gonna then add some ginger... >> Nice.

>> MING: Some garlic, some fermented black beans, and a little more pat of butter.

Get this cooking.

(sizzling) All right, chef, give me those greens there.

Oh, yeah.

Some buttery greens.

>> Definitely a nice play on the Oysters Rockefeller.

>> MING: Yeah, right?

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Okay.

Finish that.

>> Little bit more.

>> MING: And here I have a hot pan.

Just gonna add a little bit of this olive oil-canola blend, right?

Just a touch, just to get this hot, and then we're gonna be able to flash... flash this... these abalone.

All right, in about two minutes, this Rockefeller "sauce" is gonna be done.

We're gonna put it on top and a little crispy rice garnish.

>> Sounds great.

>> MING: Stick around, two minutes.

All right, chef, you see after a couple minutes.

See how it's nice and well... >> It really came together nicely, yeah.

>> MING: So again, a little bit of butter, but not a ton.

That was like a tablespoon.

But this is just gonna give it a nice little bite.

>> Let the abalone speak for itself a little bit.

>> MING: Yeah, exactly.

But I want just a little bit of texture.

And that texture comes from this.

Have you had these before, chef?

>> Yeah, couple times.

>> MING: Crispy rice, right?

>> Yeah, amazing.

>> MING: So we just crunch up the rice and just put some crispy rice right on top.

On top of the abalone like that.

Like this.

All right, chef.

>> Looks great, man.

>> MING: Now we get to do what you and I are really good at-- >> Yeah, eating.

>> MING: Eating and drinking a glass of wine.

All right, let's go to the table.

>> Sounds great.

>> MING: Here we go.

Cheers, chef.

>> Cheers.

Thank you.

>> MING: What wine is this by the way?

>> So we have a Monterey County sauvignon blanc.

Nice and crisp.

>> MING: So good.

So... going to be so perfect with this.

>> Yeah, pairs very well with this.

>> MING: I love Monterey.

Monterey you have golf, you have ocean, you have wine, and you have seafood.

>> And you have wine.

>> MING: And you have wine.

(both laughing) All right, let me try this abalone.

Looks so good.

Oh my God!

It is so tender.

The umami of your miso comes straight through.

The marinade is so good.

And I love the bok choy crunch.

Oh my God, that's so good.

>> The steamed abalone's really nice.

>> MING: How did it come out?

>> Mm-hmm, really good.

Just like Oyster Rockefeller, but with abalone, it's really cool.

>> MING: Let's see how we did here.

Oh!

>> Really good.

>> MING: His is better.

I think the genius of your dish is that apple puree.

>> Gives a little sweetness.

>> MING: It gives you that sweetness.

Actually makes the abalone taste sweeter.

Chef, continued success.

Fantastic.

This is a top-notch New York restaurant in the middle of Monterey.

>> There you go.

>> MING: I hope all of you people live down here appreciates it and get yourself to Salt Wood Kitchen and Oysterette.

That's a mouthful.

>> It is.

>> MING: And, as always, thanks for watching.

Peace and good eating.

Cheers.

>> Cheers.