MING: This week on Simply Ming, I have a great buddy on the show, Jay Hajj.

He is the creator of an institution here in Boston called Mike's City Diner.

It has been here since 1995.

Born in Lebanon, he cooks some amazing food.

Not just eggs and pancakes, he's actually gonna do a classic street food called manakish with three different toppings.

Oh my God, dude.

Again, I've never been to Lebanon, but this tastes like Lebanon to me.

I'm going to take my own version and kind of do a Japanese pizza called okonomiyaki.

Oh, that smells good.

Oh, my God... MING: Don't know if it's going to be as good as yours, Hajji, but we're going to try.

And use the same ground lamb that Jay Hajj is using.

We're cooking at home, right here, right now, on Simply Ming.

♪ ♪ MING: Hajji, nice to have you, man.

Nice to see you, chef, thank you.

MING: Good to have you here, buddy.

So psyched to try your "Lebanese pizza," right?

Great to see you-- manakish.

MING: Manakish-- but before, I'm going to make a tasty rosé cocktail with cider, is that all right?

Sounds good to me.

MING: Okay, let's go.

So do me a favor, fill me about that much ice here, please, and then top these with ice.

Sounds good.

MING: So, a little falernum, right?

Yeah?

MING: It's a fantastic spirit, just a touch.

Right, you smell that, right?

Smells good.

MING: Love it.

This is a vodka-based drink with a little bit of rosé apple cider.

I'm gonna go for three ounces of vodka here.

Like that.

So how's life, everything good?

Things are great, how about yourself?

MING: Awesome.

How many-- I just have to know, because I want to know-- how many eggs... how many eggs have you used in your career at Mike's City Diner?

Well, I don't know how many eggs, but I'll tell you, we use about 15,000 eggs a week.

MING: 15,000 eggs a week?

Eggs a week, yeah.

MING: Holy, by the way, that was a little lime juice, this is a little bit of ginger syrup.

15-- really?!

Yeah, a lot of eggs.

MING: And you charge a lot of eggs.

A little bit of bitters, right-- so it's lime juice, ginger syrup, a little bit of bitter, just like that.

Looks great.

MING: Easy, that's it.

Right.

Start drinking.

MING: Well, we're gonna shake it up, make it nice and cold first, right?

Because we have to do that.

Yeah.

MING: I can't... 15,000 eggs?

And you crack them yourself?

All myself, yeah.

(laughing) MING: So how many times do you have twin eggs?

How many times do I have what?

MING: Twin, twin yolks.

Do you know that I raise chickens?

I have those daily, the double yolks, but at the restaurant, no.

MING: Does that actually mean anything when it's a double yolk?

I don't know.

I just actually checked this morning, I had an egg like... looked like an ostrich egg almost.

MING: Have you ever had triple?

No, never had a triple.

MING: I opened up...

I opened up a dozen once, and out of the dozen, there were eight twins.

But that seems weird to me.

Wow.

MING: Right?

Probably it's the beginning of the... MING: How pretty is that?

Beautiful, beautiful.

MING: I wanted you to...

I asked Jay Hajj to wear a pink shirt for me.

I did bring one, but they wouldn't let me wear it.

I guess it was too pink.

MING: It was... there's no such thing as too pink.

Not when you have a pink cocktail.

All right, Hajji, to you.

Thank you, sir.

MING: Cheers.

Cheers.

MING: Cheers.

Yeah, that is some good stuff.

MING: Not bad, right?

Refreshing?

Very good.

MING: Shall we go make some manakish?

Let's do it.

MING: Come on, let's go.

Dude, I'm so excited about your Lebanese pizza, manakish.

Manakish.

MING: Let's see it, how do you do it?

Well, we're going to start with the dough.

So we have some all-purpose flour here.

We'll add a little salt to it, a little oil.

MING: Extra virgin.

Extra virgin olive oil.

Activated yeast.

MING: Okay.

There we go, work it... MING: So far so good.

Yeah, so we'll work it a little bit and then we'll add the water, you know, slowly.

MING: It's room temperature.

Yeah, on the warm side, actually.

MING: Yeah, okay.

So basically like any other dough.

It's a simple pizza dough.

You don't even have to make it, you can just buy a store-bought pizza dough.

MING: And, like most pizza doughs, after you make it, it needs to rest?

It needs to rest for about ten hours.

First you let it rest for two hours, then you divide it and ball it, and then you let it rest for another six to eight hours.

MING: So how long do you actually work this for?

Uh, probably about five or six minutes.

MING: Okay, all right, we're gonna let this work out, and we'll see what this looks like in five minutes.

There we go, let's see how it is now.

MING: Yeah, about five minutes, looks awesome.

Dough actually looks great, nice.

MING: Nice and soft, right?

Yeah.

MING: And it's warm so that's why you use warm water, right?

That's right, and it helps it rise faster.

MING: Right, and then how many manakish will this make?

Well, it depends.

This will make... Now, it depends how big you want to make them.

Usually they're about this big and thin, but at home, I like to make them big so the kids can divide them in half.

MING: And how long do you let the balls rest?

Well, you let this rest for about two hours in an oiled bowl, and then after you ball them, you let them rest for about six to eight hours.

MING: Okay, awesome.

So they can stretch nicely.

MING: All right, so that's our dough, so we have ones resting right now?

Beautiful, yeah.

MING: All right, here, I'll take that for you.

Beautiful.

MING: Then let's start.

Tell me about your first topping, please.

So the first topping's lahm bi ajin.

The meaning of it is "meat and dough."

What we have here is some beautiful lamb, actually a little bit on the fatty side, but it's what we want.

MING: Yep.

Paprika, cinnamon, cumin, pepper and tomato paste, and garlic.

And we're gonna mince this onion and tomato.

MING: I can do that for you.

Finely minced.

MING: And this you put on raw?

And then we put that on the dough raw and then we cook them together.

MING: And what's your second topping?

The second one is za'atar; za'atar is thyme, sumac, and sesame, with a little bit of cumin.

And we just mix it with a little bit of olive oil, extra virgin olive oil.

MING: That's it?

And that's it, and you put it on.

That's a great vegetarian manakish.

And the cheese just has the feta, whole milk mozzarella, a little Aleppo pepper, and some butter to bind it up, and that's it.

MING: Awesome.

I think we're ready to go.

MING: Let's, let's start chopping, then.

Beautiful.

MING: So what do you do with those tomatoes?

I'll start with the tomatoes.

MING: You want this, what, fine mince on this?

Yeah, fine mince, yeah, please.

Yeah, both halves, yeah.

MING: Both halves.

So do you make this all the time at home?

Every Sunday.

MING: Every Sunday?

Well, almost every Sunday, yes.

MING: You want this with the lamb?

More minced?

Yeah, a little bit... a little bit more if you don't mind.

Just a little bit.

MING: I can do that for you.

Yeah, there we go.

And you want some... you want garlic minced, too, I see?

Yes.

MING: So this is really fully flavored.

Más?

That's great.

MING: Okay.

All of it, in with the lamb.

Yeah, that is looking nice, fatty lamb, which I'm sure... Usually, lamb you want it lean, but in this... for this dish... MING: And just minced garlic, right?

Yes, sir.

MING: All right.

So I love this, because this could be turkey, this could be dark chicken.

It could be anything, exactly.

MING: It could be pork, it could be beef.

I use beef at home, yeah; you don't even have to make it, you can just buy a regular pizza dough from the store and use that.

MING: Okay, garlic, tomatoes.

Here we go.

MING: All right, what else?

Let's put the seasoning in.

MING: Okay.

The pepper, tomato paste?

All pepper, paste in.

MING: Get you a big spoon here.

So that was cumin and cinnamon, right?

Cumin, cinnamon, paprika... MING: Okay.

Pepper... Let's do it by hand.

You really got to bind them together really... MING: I was wondering if you had any... Like a meatloaf, almost.

MING: Got it.

There we go.

(mixture squishing) MING: That's the sound, that's the binding sound.

There we go.

MING: All right.

May I do the second dough, is it just literally...

This is za'atar, yeah.

So mix the oil.

MING: Okay.

This is, like, my new favorite spice.

I mean not that new, but I've used it for the last couple of years.

Yeah.

MING: It's so good.

It's great in everything.

MING: And this you literally just brush on?

Actually, that's a perfect ratio right there.

MING: All right, there is topping one, topping two, and topping three.

And now for topping three.

MING: Here you go, my friend.

So what's that-- mozzarella?

Yes, sir, let's mix kind of... get it, also, now.

MING: Feta, it looks like.

Feta.

MING: And chilies, the Aleppo?

Yup, put the Aleppo in, all of it.

MING: Nice.

Why do you like Aleppo?

You know what, it has a nice peppery sweet taste to it.

It's a little spicy, but not as intense as cayenne.

MING: Right.

And it has, like I said, nice kind of a sweet...

There's a sweetness to it.

MING: I love...

I love Aleppo.

MING: It's such a great chili.

Not all chilies have to blow your head off, right?

Yeah, the reason why you want to start with soft butter is to bind everything together like this.

MING: Nice.

Dude, I'm so excited.

All right, so we have three toppings.

You have the za'atar, you got the fantastic lamb, and then we have the cheese.

And this is the cheese, yeah, this is... MING: All right, so we're going to get our... We're going to make manakish out of it.

MING: We're going to get our balls of dough and start rolling out some manakish.

Beautiful.

MING: Got to see this, got to see this.

Those look good, dude.

The dough is ready.

MING: So plastic to keep it dry?

Keep it dry or just oil it, whatever you want.

So now we're going to roll them out.

MING: Okay.

Again, we're going to use-- this is about eight ounces.

Usually... Usually they're smaller, but I'm going to make them big like I make them at home.

MING: Can I ask you a question?

Yes.

MING: Pomegranate molasses, does that go in your dish?

No... yes, that was supposed to be for the meat, we forgot to put it in.

Can you... MING: We, we forgot?

Yeah, I know, I forgot.

MING (laughing): You forgot, okay.

Just wondering, all right.

Do you mind mixing it in?

That's very important, because it adds a little bit of... MING: I love... pomegranate molasses is sweet, and tart, and it's like soy syrup, right?

It's got a great flavor to it.

It does, we use that in everything.

MING: All right, does that look good, chef?

Yes, sir-- yes, chef.

All right, this is how big we want it.

You have a sheet pan, let's oil a sheet pan a little bit.

MING: Yes, sir.

Virgin?

Yeah, spread it out a little bit, there you go.

MING: This is so great.

I love this, dude, 'cause anyone can do this at home.

Oh, yeah.

MING: It's like a sushi-rolling party, right?

Anyone can put whatever they want on it, right?

That's right.

So here we go.

So we'll make the lahm bi ajin first, the lamb meat one.

MING: 'Cause it takes longest to cook, right?

It takes... yeah.

Beautiful.

So you don't just put it in.

You got to kind of bind it, like, just kind of push it into the dough.

MING: Oh, interesting.

Yeah.

MING: So it cooks into it.

Yes, kind of.

You want the fat to go in.

MING: I like that technique there.

You've done this before.

Once before.

MING: I'm a little disappointed you're not making some hummus, because you have a great new book, right?

Yes.

MING: Called?

Beirut to Boston.

MING: Which is a great name for a book.

They wanted to name it first The Jay Hajj Cookbook, which would have been real... MING: You would have sold four copies.

And I would have gave those four copies away.

(Ming laughs) Then not too thick and not too thin.

And let's put this in the oven, chef.

MING: We cranked it all the way-- 505.

Beautiful.

MING: And how long is that gonna take?

Usually on a hot sheet pan, and this is not, about five or six minutes; it should take about seven minutes.

MING: Okay, number two.

So let's do now the za'atar.

Yeah.

MING: Let me see if I can spread your oil more thinly properly for you this time.

There we go, that's great.

So this is one of my favorites, too, za'atar, especially with a little fresh herbs like mint and parsley and a little tomato and cucumber on top.

MING: 'Cause this is the most simplest, is that why you like it?

So what does their oven look like in Lebanon?

The what?

MING: Is it like a pizza oven?

No, the ovens, no, it's like a pizza oven but all gas, usually, they don't have the wood, yes.

It looks a little bit cheaper than the ones you see here.

All right, so the za'atar, same thing, extra virgin olive oil.

MING: So what is it again?

It's thyme, sesame.

MING: Right.

A little cumin and sumac.

MING: Which, sumac by itself is really strong.

It's really good, yes.

MING: But it's strong.

I tried to use straight sumac, it's a strong flavor.

This smells so good.

Doesn't it?

I mixed this this morning.

Is this the one I mixed or... MING: Yeah!

This is all you.

So you could buy this pre-done in any Middle Eastern store.

I usually like to make it because I like people... You know, my own, you know I like to extra-toast the sesames, and put... MING: Which is just like curry, right?

In India there's 50,000 curries, right?

Yes, same thing in the Middle East, and every town has a different za'atar.

Every country, as well.

MING: That's looking good.

The lahm bi ajin is looking good.

So now we'll do the cheese, the jibneh.

Should kind of press like little indentations into it at the end so it won't bubble, but now we'll just keep an eye on it.

MING: Okay.

Oh, that's interesting.

But you don't go all the way through.

No, no, yeah.

And then plus all the oils and the fats kind of just rest in those little craters.

MING: So again this is mozzarella, feta, and then creamed butter, right?

Yeah, creamed butter with some Aleppo pepper.

And this one you don't have to press as much.

You kind of have to flake it in even though it's all binded.

MING: Right.

Let it melt.

MING: I mean, I'm gonna love the lamb one the most, but this one I'm going to love.

Oh, this is really, really good.

MING: So mozzarella's from what part of Lebanon?

Mozzarella?

Well, in Lebanon, we don't use mozzarella, we substitute it... MING (laughing): I would think so, I would think so.

I thought you were serious for a second.

(both chuckling) Here we go, all right.

MING: In?

Put that in, yeah.

MING: All right, so the lamb takes the longest?

The lamb takes the longest, yeah, but the lamb is looking great, the za'atar's looking great, so let's close it.

And we'll see what happens.

MING: Smells so good.

So about five, six more minutes?

I would say five, six more minutes for the first one to come out.

MING: Then we get to eat manakish.

Oh, Hajji!

Looking good, looking good.

Look at the lamb, the lamb is done.

MING: Looks awesome.

There we go.

MING: So about ten, 12 minutes all day?

No, about six minutes, seven minutes.

You don't want this crispy like a pizza.

You want it kind of soft.

MING: You don't want it crispy like a pizza.

No.

Much as I love my pizza crispy, when it comes to manakish... MING: Very nice.

Beautiful.

MING: Oh dude, this looks so good!

It's amazing.

So the reason why we don't want it crispy, usually you fold it in half when it's small and you eat it like a sandwich.

MING: Right.

But now we're gonna kind of cut it in slices.

This is a little bigger than average.

MING: You go, I don't know what...

I don't know how you... We'll just cut it into four.

MING: Awesome-- here, I'll do that.

So tell me about the garnish, you have some slaw there.

You know what, with za'atar and cheese, mostly, we love to put like kind of raw vegetables in-- tomato, parsley, mint.

In this case, I made a little slaw with just a little bit of lemon juice and olive oil.

And I got a little labneh, too.

Usually with the za'atar... MING: Make me up one, dude.

I'm so hungry, they look so good!

Here we go, we have some tongs.

We'll go with little tomatoes.

MING: These look so good.

We don't want to put a lot.

MING: So labneh is like Middle Eastern sour cream...

It's like a cream cheese.

Yes, but more sour, and yes, and we usually store it in olive oil in a jar for months.

With the za'atar, I'm going to let you taste one with a little labneh on it, too.

MING: I'll have one here right now, dude.

Here we go.

And you don't have to put vegetables.

I like to put a little vegetables.

MING: Mmm!

How's the cheese?

MING: Oh, my God, that is so good.

Isn't it good?

MING: I love that it's soft.

With the lahm bi ajin, just a little squirt of lemon, maybe cayenne pepper-- that's all we need, but I did put a little spice in it.

MING: Mmm, mmm, mmm, that's what... You should eat your own stuff, dude.

Here we go.

MING: See how you did.

That is unbelievable.

The cheese really comes through, especially that Lebanese mozzarella.

Mmm.

MING: So good!

But I... you know what I love?

I love the softness of the cheese.

It's not like, with pizza, I can't eat it soft.

I think this... MING: Sorry, I'm so rude, I didn't pour you some wine.

I was going to say, I didn't want to say anything.

MING: I know, you're looking at me, like, "What are you doing?"

Yeah.

I'm winking at you.

(Ming laughs) MING: I just thought you were happy to see me.

So the camera won't see me.

Beautiful.

MING: Australian blend.

Nice-- Shiraz?

MING: Shiraz.

Cheers.

MING: Cheers, to you, buddy.

Cheers.

Oh... fantastic with the za'atar.

MING: Going to try this last one.

Put a little labneh on mine, too.

MING: Oh, my God, dude.

Again, I've never been to Lebanon, but this tastes like Lebanon to me.

It's really good.

He's really good.

All right, stick around, I'm going to do my version... That's not good for TV... yeah, show me your version.

MING: It's an okonomiyaki, it's a Japanese tradition done in a pan.

♪ ♪ Hajji, that was awesome.

You got to try it.

All right, so I'm doing what's called okonomiyaki.

I can't wait.

MING: Which in Japanese literally means, you know, make it like you like it.

So at these restaurants in Japan and Tokyo all over, they have these huge kind of griddles.

Yeah.

MING: And they make this, like, thick crepe, if you would, in front of you.

Traditionally it's seafood with cabbage and egg and you make a batter.

Well, you inspired me with lamb, so I'm going to make a lamb okonomiyaki.

Just half of it, super-fine shred, please, all right?

Yes, chef.

MING: So we start with all-purpose flour.

We have four eggs.

Have you ever had okonomiyaki?

I have, I love it.

MING: It's so fun.

It's a great way to eat.

Yes.

MING: And we use just a little baking powder, right?

To get it nice and fluffy.

You want a fine shred?

MING: Fine shred.

So just a touch of baking powder.

All right.

And then the liquid you use is dashi.

So dashi's the Japanese mother fish stock.

Yes.

MING: Made from bonito, which is this, right, bonito fish flake.

Oh, I love it.

MING: And kelp, it's called kombu.

And that's the mother fish stock.

So if you don't like fish, you want to keep it more savory with meat, you can just use beef stock or chicken stock.

But use something that's not water.

And this gets... You want it pretty runny, like a pancake batter.

Because we're going to add all that cabbage, and I'm going to add lamb to it, which is not traditional, right?

And lamb is going to, of course, cook and get all the fat.

The one I inspired you with.

MING (laughing): The one you that you inspired me.

Can you get that going, please?

Yes, sir, yes, chef.

Is that fine enough?

MING: That's very fine, well done.

All right.

It's a fine job.

MING: We're going to add a little bit of honey.

Just some sweetness; it'll help it caramelize.

And then traditionally there's kind of a Worcestershire mayonnaise... Worcestersh...sh...sh...sh... MING: Worcestershire is so hard.

Usually it's a mayonnaise thing on top.

Yeah.

MING: I'm going to add that little flavor profile of Worcestershire in the batter.

All right.

Nice.

MING: You can keep cutting, sir.

You sure?

MING: Yes, please.

I don't have enough already, right?

MING: Yeah, that's good, stop.

Perfect.

So then we mix this in.

You mix this together, right?

MING: Mix this all in.

Mm-hmm.

MING: Add me some lamb, please, sir.

What do you need?

MING: That lamb.

All or just a little?

MING: Give me two-thirds of it; no, four-fifths.

(laughing) MING: Okay, good, just put it in, there we go-- nice.

Now you can also actually slice me some scallions.

Yes, sir.

MING: I'll take the whites first-- scallion whites are stronger.

I'm gonna put them in this dish, and then I'm going to take the greens and use it as garnish.

You know what shiso is, Hajji?

Yes.

MING: So this beefsteak plant.

So that's...

The one that look like grape leaves?

MING: Yeah, they look like grape leaves.

Inspired by grape leaves-- exactly.

Tastes like...

I don't know, tastes like basil met cilantro met mint.

I love... yes.

MING: Okay, this is looking pretty good.

So, as you can tell, it's mostly veg and meat, and the batter is kind of just the glue to put it together.

All right, so now I need some good seasoning here.

Some salt.

Black pepper.

All right, give me those scallion whites, Hajji, and we're good to go.

Perfect.

Parfait.

All right.

This, because there's raw lamb in it, is going to take ten to 12 minutes to cook, probably about six minutes a side.

All right, so we have-- oh, wait, one last thing, Hajji, I forgot.

Put my beautiful... Like I forgot my pomegranate syrup.

MING: Charred-- you know what these chilies are?

Called longhorn chilies.

Got a good spice.

I just wanted to char it to give it some extra...

They smell great.

MING: ...flavor, right?

This has a good kick to it, seeds and all.

Actually, my son Henry, at a great restaurant, Gourmet Dumpling, we go, and they do longhorn chilies with beef.

Dumplings?

MING: No, it's a stir-fry.

He crushes it.

Sounds great.

Where's that place?

MING: Right on Beach Street in Chinatown.

Yes, I think I've been there.

MING: When in doubt, go to Chinatown.

All right, here we go.

So, grape-seed oil.

(sizzles) Good amount of oil there, Hajji, because you don't want this to stick.

So this is about, this is at least... You make it like a kind of a pancake?

MING: Yeah, this is at least two... two portions' worth.

All right.

Lay this in there like that.

Oh, yeah, baby.

That looks... smells great.

MING: This is going to be awesome.

Okay.

So I would say it's going to be about four... no, probably six minutes a side.

Really pack it in there.

I want to get it nice and caramelized, and then we'll flip it.

Nice-- do you flip it with the pan or... MING: Six minutes we're going to flip it.

Same as the one... MING: I hope you're hungry.

Don't go away.

All right, Hajji, it's been about four-and-a-half, five minutes.

Give it a good flip.

Beautiful, look at that.

MING: Look at that, how good does that look?

All right, let's chop up-- come on, chop-chop, help me out.

Which one-- this?

MING: That.

Sliced?

MING: We're gonna make a tzatziki here.

Do you want me to kind of... MING: So full-fat Greek yogurt.

Lemon zest.

Nice mince there.

Yes, sir-- yes, chef.

MING: Oh, that smells good.

Oh, my God.

MING: Don't know if it's going to be as good as yours, Hajji, but we're going to try.

All right, let's mix that up.

Nice, I like how you get in.

Perfect.

Garlic?

MING: Yeah, one day I'm going to give you your own board.

(Ming chopping) Perfect.

Like that.

Awesome.

Shiso.

Beefsteak plant.

Love it, tastes like basil met... ...mint.

Mint, yes.

MING: Like that.

I like my garlic extremely fine.

MING (laughing): Good.

Awesome, little salt and pepper.

So this is going to be the topping of the lamb okonomiyaki.

Smells good.

Oh... MING: Inside, sir.

Beautiful.

All righty.

More garlic the better.

MING: Awesome.

Salt.

Amazing.

MING: Pepper, all right, Hajji.

I think we're there.

That looks amazing, as well.

MING: Come on down, come on down here.

A little bit longer-- two minutes.

You're sure you don't need a job flipping eggs?

MING: Two minutes, this is going to be ready.

Look at that, baby.

Chef, that looks amazing.

MING: That's what we're talking about.

I'm sure it's not as good as mine, but it looks amazing.

(Ming laughs) MING: Oh, yeah, look at that.

It smells amazing, too.

MING: That's what we're talking about.

Wow.

MING: Shiso, cucumber, garlic... Tzatziki.

MING: ...tzatziki.

Also a great Chinese dish.

MING: A traditional Chinese, exactly, from the northern parts of China.

Of course.

MING: And the perfectly cut scallion green.

You had to ninja-cut that, yes, beautiful.

MING (laughing): A ninja-- bon appétit.

Thank you.

MING: It's hot.

Temperature-- it's gonna be hot and spicy, too, actually.

Two longhorns is a lot of longhorns.

I know what I think-- what do you think?

Fantastic!

It really is-- wow!

MING: Pretty good, right?

I didn't get the recipe, I'm going to get the recipe before I go.

MING: You will get the recipe.

Hajji, you're the best.

Thank you so much, cheers.

MING: Thank you for watching the show, and as always, peace and good eating.

Ciao.