So Cal Iron Chef Report Battle# 277 April 30, 1999 "Green Onion Confront" Greetings, Iron Chef Fans: This is the report on "Green Onion Confront", aired originally in Japan on April 30, 1999. Recap: ------ This is the half-hour overtime between Yuusuke Yamashita, representing Tadamichi Ohta's Party of Heaven and Earth, and Iron Japanese Masaharu Morimoto, after the dead even tie last week (ref: Battle# 276 "Tarako (Cod Roe) Confront". We are watching this one week later, but the chefs, judges and commentating crews are all stuck in the Kitchen Stadium for extra hours. This is only fifth time the half-hour over time is played for the show. Since I do not recall covering any OT in my previous reports, I will describe it briefly. In case of a tie, the chefs are given a new ingredient and 30 minutes to prepare the dishes based on it. Since the battle takes place right there at the same time, judges already are full stomach, and the other non-theme ingredients are somewhat depleted. These things are consideration. Besides, 30 minutes fly away quickly. This is the first time Morimoto had to endure this ordeal, and he was not enjoining at all. He was quoted as saying "Oh, no, I really don't want to do this... Why couldn't the judges decided black and white?" [ In the "Complete Book of Iron Chef -- Iron Chef Daizen", Morimoto confessed this is the toughest expierience he had to go through as a tetsujin. -ICR] Theme Ingredient: ----------------- Japanese Green Onions (negi). The long ones, not the round onions Westerners love. The show is originally aired in Japan at the end of April (and taped somewhat earlier). Unlike in Southern California, April in Japan is still somewhat cool, if not cold. In such weather, the onion (negi, as Japanese calls it) core is pretty sweet and tasty. It is up to the chefs to utilize that quality. At the beginning of the battle, Hattori revealed that they prepare the ingredient for the OT every time, and usually not getting utilized. He was glad to see that it was not in vain this time, though he was not glad to work OT (he was repeatedly saying "We didn't get to taste the last tarako dishes. We are hungry"). Dishes: ------- These two chefs are simply amazing. In just 30 minute time (which means most of their cooking was shown on the screen, unlike usual, where more than half are spliced away), they prepared four dishes each, all of which are quite involved. They were working at the speed and precision of a surgeon. Challenger Yuusuke Yamashita Yamashita prepared four dishes that are somewhat heavy looking. Since judges were no longer hungry, this was risky approach. On the other hand, since his dishes are to be tasted first and Morimoto the last, this may be part of his strategy.... - Steamed Tile fish, Green Onion Flavor Bitter flavor of rape blossoms (Nano-hana) and sweetness of tile fish are lightly combined with aroma and flavor of green onion. The texture of onion enhances the flavor. Judges were impressed that onion was indeed the main ingredient for this dish. - Sauteed Duck and Onion In Japan, if you say duck, you need green onion. You just have to have the two together. But the way Yamashita prepared this dish was anything but routine. He stick the long piece of onion into the duck meat, sauteed on the skillet, then cook in the soup made of Worcester sauce and ketchup. By sauteeing onion directly, it emits a unique aroma. The thick sauce matches the duck meat well. Morimoto was also planning to use duck meat, but when he learned Yamashita is doing this dish, he changed the plan; "I won't do that, then". The expert judge Hosogi was impressed that Yamashita made this dish in just 30 minutes, let alone other three. But the congressman Kurimoto thought the dish was little too heavy, too sweet. - Green Onion and Grated Root Soup Iron Chefs know that our friend Jeff hates grated root; that's why they use it often (ha ha), This time, Yamashita made a soup with bonito stock and grated root (tororo), and accentuated the flavor and texture using the green onion. Judges liked it in general, but Hosogi felt it was too light to follow the heavily flavored duck dish. - Sauteed Sirloin Onion Sauce Sauteed sirloin of beef was served with plum sauce boiled down with sake wine and the pile of thinly sliced green onion. It was tasty, but judges felt the onion became just a garnish and not the main part of the dish. Overall, one of the guest judge pointed out that preparing four dishes took away some of the finesse away from the chef. Perhaps he should have concentrated in a fewer dishes. Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto Morimoto described green onion as "hateful", probably means it is hard to make a main ingredient out of it. Nonetheless, he just spontaneously prepared four dishes without so much as stop and think. His dishes are simpler and lighter than Yamashita's. But seriously creative. - Tempura Onion Morimoto skewered round sliced pieces of green onion and deep fried tempura style, then served with oyster sauce. Two of the guest judges were totally sold on this simple dish. - Onion Soup with Foie Gras Morimoto said his motto is "not to waste his creation". He brought out the broth he made when he prepared "Tarako and Lobster 'Armored' Stew" last week and added foie gras cut in cubes and round sliced onions. Said Yamashita: "I don't use left overs. That would be too stingy". All judges really digged this dish. They all said "Delicious. This is ultimate!" [Later in the Daizen book, Morimoto confessed this left over stock really saved him -ICR] - Steamed Onion and Scallop, Chinese Style Scallop was steamed with thinly sliced onion, so the onion will absorb the scallop flavor. He poured hot oil on top just before serving to add special aroma. The judges loved the spiciness of onion that accentuate the texture and flavor of this dish. - Onion Fried Rice True to his conviction, Morimoto used steamed rice he prepared last week (i.e., hour or so ago) to cook this fried rice made with egg and green onion. He then poured over Chinese style soup to give an appearance somewhere between chazuke and gruel. While he was preparing it, Ohta-san, the on-the-arena-level commen- tator asked Morimoto that if it is too simplistic to do fried rice when he just did the chazuke last week; Morimoto simply yelled "Who cares? I got no time, out of the way!". Tough life. Live coverage guys. Now, by this time, Morimoto felt judges are full, so he thought to skip this dish. But by the request from judges, he served it after all. They said it was sweeter than it looked, but tasted very good. And Now the spoiler!!! Don't read this if you don't want to know. S P O I L E R ! ! ! The judges gave it to Iron Chef Morimoto. The vote was 3-1 in favor; only Hosogi voted for Yamashita. She said both utilized the material to the fullest extent. She felt Yamashita did more complicated dishes, and that was the factor for her vote. On the other hand, Morimoto prepared four dishes where green onion was indeed the main ingredients. Compared to that, for two of the four dishes Yamashita prepared, the onion seemed like just a garnish. It also seemed like a victory for Morimoto, who carefully considered the stomach condition of the judges and prepared lighter dishes than the challenger. Ohta (who was caught making utterly dissatisfied face after the judgment) was interviewed afterward saying "too bad. I'll look for a one with more stamina next time". Kanda, Ohta's mentor, was a bit more gracious. "That was a historic battle. I am very deeply moved". Anyway, Morimoto successfully snapped the losing streak at two, and OPHE is now 1-4. Since Ohta pledged to keep attacking Morimoto until they gain the lead (that won't happen at this rate), I'm sure they'll be back. But not for a while. Meanwhile, stay tuned for next week when Chen takes on another famous Chinese restaurant, Kihachi. Ciao. P.S. Yours truly will be out of the country for a couple of weeks. I will try to send out the report for the next week, but no promise. I will certainly miss couple of weeks after that. Sorry in advance. -ICR