So Cal Iron Chef Report Battle# 294 September 10, 1999 "King of Tetsujin Tournament 1st Round: Tokyo-X Confront" Greetings, Iron Chef Fans: This is the first round of "King of Tetsujin Tournament" originally aired in Japan on September 5, 1999. Prologue: --------- Kaga started Gourmet Academy to achieve the "state of art" of culinary. He now feels the original goal is accomplished and it is time to close the Kitchen Stadium and say farewell to his tetsujins. But before that, he still has one more task. To make the Kitchen Stadium forever memorable by hosting the "world's greatest chef" and have one of the tetsujin confront him. The king of tetsujin must be selected for the right to the final battle. This week starts the tournament to do just that. The King of Tetsujin battle. The first round ties are as following: [A SPOILER!!! If you do not want to know the combination, do not read further!!] S P O I L E R ! *** 1st Round Pairings *** Iron Italian Katsuhiko Kobe vs. Iron Chinese Kenichi Chen Iron Japanese Masaharu Morimoto vs. Iron French Hiroyuki Sakai The first battle is between our Italian and Chinese Iron Chefs. This is going to be the final battle for one of them. The visiting guests are also special: On Italian side, there are who's who of Japanese Italian chefs and also the members of "Seria A", the group of Italian chefs in Japan, including my favorite chef, Mario Fritolle cheering from the balcony. This is also the first time I've seen Kobe's family, including his lovely wife, Kaori. Over the other side, Chen's family and the pictures of his deceased parents, Kenmin Chen and Yoko look on. Chen said last (and only time) his mother came to KS was when he was battling his elder pupil, Kumagaya (who battled Chen in Japanese prawn -- Shiba ebi confront), which he remembered was very tough. Kumagaya was also present in tonight's battle. In addition, retired tetsujins were also present. The first Iron French Yutaka Ishinabe was there, also to serve as the judge. I saw Komei Nakamura, the second Iron Japanese chef there, too. And one of the guest judge was Sumo Grand Champion Akebono (who is the first non-native born Japanese grand champion), who was so excited for having the chance of tasting two of the greatest chef's creations. Theme Ingredient: ----------------- Tokyo-X. What the hell is that, you might ask (like I did). It is a special breed of pork developed by crossing three breeds of pigs (Beijing black pig, Berkshire, Durock). The sight of the pig, white skinned with black spots all over) does not look so appetizing, but it is supposed to be the highest quality meat, suitable for one of the last iron chef battles. The whole sides for one pig, plus two pigs worth of innards including hearts, livers, kidneys. Dishes: ------- Iron Italian Katsuhiko Kobe Kobe, who says "happy to be able to challenge Chen-san" will focus on his motto: "Gusto di Mamma -- Mom's flavor". He jumped up the stairs to grab his half of the pork (needed the help from one of the assistants) then went right in to chop them apart. - Tokyo-X Four Flavor Hors d'oeuvre Kobe prepared four kinds of hors d'oeuvre to start the course. o Sweet and Sour Pork Balsamico Sauce Against Chinese pro, Kobe threw Italian style of the popular Chinese dish. Balsamico's sweet/sourness is different from the original, which gives a fresh impression. o Liver Paste Canape finalized to the mellow but deep flavor. o Shabu shabu stuffed tomato Tomato's sour flavor enhances the boiled pork. o Egg plant wrapped Filet Perfected the juicy flavor of Tokyo-X. The dish looked impressive, but tasting was not shown. - Smoked Pork Soup with Beans and Cabbage A special kind of wheat is used to enhance the flavor of this soup dish. Kishi said of the dish, "After the boiling, the meat still does not lose firmness. It is very flavorful". - Papparadelle Meat Sauce Papparadelle is a thick, flat pasta that tangles with sauce well. Kobe made this ordinary looking pasta dish with the special meat sauce made of Tokyo-X. But looks can be deceiving, and the word applies to this one. Judges were sold. Retired Iron Chef Ishinabe, who I expect to be more critical, said "This tastes very Italian. It's as if I am in Toscana". - Roasted Tokyo-X What's a pork battle without a roast pork? Kobe utilized rare and hard-to-get marble pork meat and roasted in the oven with herb and vegetables. The juicy flavor of perfectly roasted meat comes out from every bite. It matches with the simple sauce truffles very well. And that's proven by each and every judges' one word comment. "GOOD!!!". Kishi added "If a pork is roasted like this, it tends to get so soft, they melt. But this one keeps meat's firmness, yet so tender". Judging from the way they looked, Kobe did it real well tonight. The recipe was so involved, I couldn't tell how some cooking was done; for example, I saw Kobe sauteeing pork kidney and foie gras, but I never knew which dish he used it. Iron Chinese Kenichi Chen "Today, I'll prepare real Sichuan dishes!", Chen declares. He implies that on normal battles, he milds up the flavor to match judges' tastes, but tonight, he'll do it for real. "You'd better be prepared, since it's going to be real hot". But the Sumo Grand Champion Akebono says "Oh, I LOVE spicy dishes!!! Looking forward to it". His declaration for real Sichuan wasn't just kidding; during the cooking, cameraman actually choked on the spices he was using. Said the reporter, "It IS going to be real hot!" - Loose meat and Innards Four Flavor Hors d'oeuvre Chen's appetizer dish also consists of four kinds of involved recipes. o Marinated Heart and Kidney Enjoy the crispy texture of pork heart and kidney, for Chen somehow eliminated the innards odor. o "Cloud White" meat Great light flavor. Have no idea how it was prepared. o Pork Belly Sausage One of the first thing Chen started working. For a simple looking appetizer, this one involved lots of work. o Sauteed Pork with Sun Flower Green What appeared to be sunflower leaf is sauteed with sliced pork. Ishinabe said of this dish: "The sausage is great. Innards are perfect". - Szechwan Style Tom polo Temple is a Eastern Chinese style of meat dish. Against Kobe, Chen prepared pasta in Chinese style for this dish. The balance between meat juice and melting fat is just about perfect. All judges' were sold on this one. "Tastes good". "Great". Grand Champion Akebono had this to say: "I'm glad I really didn't fill myself up with the previous dishes, I had to eat this!" Well, it was not like he left any part of Kobe's dish, either. But then, he does not have ordinary stomach, either. - Sauteed Filet of Pork Cho-syu-jiang Sauce The flavor of Tokyo-X is deeply concentrated in this dish. Served with a special sauce of complex flavor using Cho-syu-jiang. Sorry, no tasting of this dish was shown. - Hazy Soup Clear soup with flake of eggwhites. The aroma of pork fills up your mouth pleasantly. Nice, soft texture is Chen's art. Sorry, no tasting of this dish, either. - Mapo Tofu Everyone knows what this is. But then this is no ordinary Mapo. This is the recipe Chen was taught directly from his father, Kenmin. He was dead serious preparing this, and had to push back the reporter who kept asking him questions. "Please be quite for a while. I mean it!" The result was unmistakably Sichuan. You will get hooked to the spicy flavor. Ishinabe said "The aroma of pork comes out of this spiciness". And finally, Tenmei Kanoh concluded "Even though Chen is always kindly smiling, his cooking style is definitively manly. As opposed to Kobe, whose style is so gentle, feministic". So do you like macho, or feminine cooking? Judges: ------- Tenmei Kanoh-- Semi regular judge: a photographer by profession. Momoko Kikuchi -- Guest Judge: Actress Akebono -- Guest Judge: Sumo Grand Champion Asako Kishi -- Semi regular judge: culinary critic by profession. Special Guest Judge Yutaka Ishinabe -- Retired Iron French Chef. Arguably the best French chef in Japan. Owns and runs three restaurants, to my knowledge. And Now the spoiler!!! Don't read this if you don't want to know. S P O I L E R ! ! ! It was the display of great cooking by both party, but only one can win. Iron Chinese Chen won. Kanoh Kikuchi Akebono Kishi Ishinabe Total -------- -------- --------- ----- -------- ----- Kobe 19 19 19 16 16 89 Chen 20 20 20 19 17 96 The score was 5-0, but this is in no way the lack of effort and achievement by Kobe. It was simply that Chen was so much superior. Doing this report for over a year and trained myself to systematically organize what the chefs are doing to prepare what, I can tell tonight's cooking by both parties were one of the most complicated one. Either chef could have beaten any other challenger with dishes like tonight's. The sad thing is, of course, this is the last time we get to see Kobe and his sparkling Italian food. Next week, we'll lose another. Either one that might be, it would be a sad day. But I hope to see them go with high notes with battle like this night. Well then, till next week, Ciao. -ICR