Japan Original Airdate: 4/15/1994
Episode: 24
The Challenger: Munetaka Takahashi, Kyoto cuisine specialist. He is the youngest head chef of his restaurant's 180-year history (he started at the restaurant, Ikumatsu, at just 29), and was selected by the chairman of the Kyoto Chefs' Association, Yutaka Yamane. He's the first Kyoto cuisine chef to battle in Kitchen Stadium.
The Iron Chef: the Dean of the Iron Chefs, Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi. Son of Chen Kenmin, widely revered as the God of Szechuan cuisine. Chen himself is nicknamed the "Szechuan Sage" on the show.
The Battle:
Our guest commentator for today is actress Mayuko Takata.
Takahashi marches into Kitchen Stadium, tailed by Yamane and Kayoko Kubo, Ikumatsu's manager. It's apparently a surprise to everyone that Ikumatsu is opening their doors to be examined under a microscope such as this...and without further ado, Kaga calls upon his three Iron Chefs.
"Even my Iron Chefs should be intimidated by a top chef from Kyoto expert in accentuating natural flavors," the Chairman says. "Who will it be?!"
To Kaga's eternal query, Takahashi answers:
"CHEN-SAN, PLEASE!" So the match is set: Kyoto vs. Szechuan. This is gonna be a good one.
"Among different schools of Japanese cuisine, Kyoto cuisine is one of the toughest to survive in," Kaga says. "One open position at a famous kitchen means a long line of chefs waiting outside. A line that looks like...'that plant' after rain. This thought gave me a hint. And the ingredient happens to be in season."
The veil is removed, and today's theme...well, aside from Kaga shouting its name--TAKENOKO--at the top of his lungs, I think this picture says it all...
Well, one of the chefs today will be scoring the touchdown Kaga's signaling...Both chefs give him a weird look...strange Chairman is strange.
Our strange Chairman booms forth--well, sounds more like a growl, but anyways--"ALLEZ CUISINE!", and the Takenoko Confront (Bamboo Shoot Battle, to us anglophones) is underway!
Apparently there are a couple of types on the stand: some that have been lightly boiled, and some that have been dug out of the ground earlier in the day.
"If we had a bamboo festival, I'd call you the 'Bamboo Princess,'" Fukui tells Takata, who giggles at the compliment. There goes Fukui again...and the viewers heave a collective sigh.
Prep work commences...Takahashi has guji, or tilefish, out on his side already as he mows through some bamboo shoots.
"If by looks, he's got the upper hand today," Takata says of the challenger. Well, not like looks aren't a part of every Iron Chef competition...it's too bad I'm referring to the food itself, not the people preparing it. By that logic, Michiba would've been a goner a long time ago...
Hey, keep your shirts on, I'm kidding. Not long after that, though, Ohta has the first report of the day: Chen has broad beans, unshelled prawns, ice fish, mayo, dried scallops, and--to everyone's surprise--bananas! "Chen can't afford any monkey business right now," Fukui jokes, perhaps reminding him (rather painfully) that he lost to a woman last time out!
The challenger is peeling bamboo shoots into an obi, or sash pattern, while the Iron Chef is carving "turtle shells" into this...which he mows through and fans out.
Hattori bets on a steamed dish as Takahashi fillets that guji from earlier, while he thinks Chen will stir-fry the chicken he's hacking apart. And as Takahashi dunks a metric assload of bonito flakes into a pot of water, 15 minutes are already gone!
They're noticing Chen is a little down, a little too serious today. Usually he likes to mug for the camera a bit, but he's not doing that! And again, there they go with bringing up his loss to that female chef! Poor Chen, can't catch a break. At least he hasn't actually called them out on calling him out...
Takahashi has three different pots on the stove, each containing different cuts of bamboo shoots--the obi, the half-moon, and shredded, to enjoy the texture in different ways (says Hattori). Meanwhile, back on the other side, Chen's smothering something over the bamboo shoots he was mowing through earlier, and Fukui can't believe it--Takata called it!
Kuchiko, or dried sea cucumber roe, is being smoked on the challenger's side, and Chen has the bananas and bamboo shoots covered in cornstarch. We see the filet of tilefish going into bowls on the challenger's side, and Hattori's predicting he's going to steam it, adding one of the three shapes of bamboo shoots to that. Fukui thinks it'll be the shoestrings (shredded), imagining a wave motif for that dish. Hattori doesn't believe it.
"If you're PICASSO, maybe..." he wails.
"Hey, imagination's the word today..." Fukui shrugs.
And we've shrugged off half the battle already! Chen has his dried scallops--which have been rehydrated--in addition to bamboo shoots, Japanese peppercorns, mayo, mustard, and hot pepper spice, beginning to plate.
Takahashi is beginning to plate as Ohta interviews the challenger's bosses. Kubo thinks he's doing very well, and won't challenge him to win, but do his best. Yamane's simply impressed, thinking Takahashi is in control.
Speaking of Takahashi, he's got prawns, seaweed, and the obi shoots plated. Chen is decorating one of his--the fanned-out shoots and the paste inside from earlier laid over asparagus.
Fukui called it--the shredded shoots are going over the guji, although the panel is still trying to figure out how the waves are factoring into the picture. Anyway. The obi is now cut up into pieces, and he's laying dried nori over top of that--the commentators speculate it'll be for a sushi roll. Ohta confirms that he's trying to make sushi rice, but the cooker apparently "didn't do a very good job, and he's quite upset." Ohhhh boy.
20 minutes left, and the half-moon shoots are off the heat. They suspect nigirizushi, and Chen has himekawa (or the husk at the tip of the shoot) as a decorative vessel. A kinder, gentler Chen? Possibly, or at least the commentators say...
15 minutes left now, and Takata's on a roll, as she correctly predicts (again) sushi rice--looks like he'll be trying a three-flavor sushi rice--kuchiko in one, bamboo shoots in another, and what looked to be some kind of seaweed in the third. Don't quote me on that third one, though--all I know is that it was green.
Chen's unloading his wok, which had bamboo shoots and tien-mien-jang spice. That goes on the shoot wrap with asparagus. And Takahashi's rolling his sushi.
And Chen's wok is in action again, with what appears to be a soup poured over something made out of peas. Fukui's wondering where the bananas went...and nothing happened to them yet.
10 minutes left, and Takata hits the nail on the head again! Takenoko nigirizushi.
The pea soup is plated, and the wing of bamboo shoots is placed right on top. And with 5 minutes left, the bananas and bamboo shoots are being fried!
Challenger's got hot rocks on the stove, and an egg mixture is going over the seaweed-prawn-bamboo dish from earlier. And those stones are going into bowls, which the earlier dish will go over to keep it warm.
1 minute left, and the challenger's guji dish is coming out of the steamer, while Chen's bananas are coming off the heat. The final seconds are ticking down...5 seconds...3...2...1...
"...and that's it! The Bamboo Shoots Battle is OVAH!"
Takahashi admits that he ran out of time, and that his dishes weren't as good as he liked, while Chen is just...exhausted.
Challenger Takahashi's three dishes:
--Steamed Bamboo Shoots (with the tilefish)
--Uzuki-style Stew (the one with the hot rocks)
--Bamboo Shoots Sushi, 3 ways
Iron Chef Chen's 5 dishes:
--Bamboo Shoots and Scallops Hors' doeuvre
--Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots and Ground Meat
--Bamboo Shoots in Pea Soup
--Stewed Bamboo Shoots and Broad Beans
--Fried Bamboo Shoots and Banana (a dessert)
On the panel today for the Bamboo Shoot Battle are:
--Novelist Tamio Kageyama
--Actress Mayuko Takata
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano
Challenger, as always, is up first. He wanted to accentuate the aroma and the subtle sweetness of the bamboo shoots.
The guji/bamboo shoots dish is tasted first. Takata thinks they go well together, and Kageyama likes the aroma of the cherry blossoms as he opens the lid.
The stew is next, and Hirano says he was too reserved in this, wanting MOAR SALT. Although he says the eggs were overpowering.
And the sushi...leaves Kageyama and Takata speechless. Hirano says it's good, in a rather long-winded way. And just like that, Chen's up.
Kageyama is stunned into speechlessness for the first two dishes. When the pea soup is tasted, I think Hirano actually said something useful and concise! Gasp! Be still my beating heart...
And the dessert...apparently he usually uses eggplants, but Chen swapped out bamboo shoots instead...and the gambit pays off!
But in the end, whose cuisine reigns supreme?
"Like today's theme ingredient, bamboo shoots, I hope the challenger will continue to grow," Kaga says before the verdict. Oh, so poetic we are today.
And now, the decision: will it be the Iron Chef, or the hero of Kyoto cuisine?
"Tetsujin Chen Kenichi!"
My take: Big surprise there. They were both really creative, going outside the box with their respective cuisines while still holding true to their core. But Chen, while being more creative, also didn't mess up. Not once did the judges knock him for his dishes, while Hirano chewed out Takahashi for the Uzuki-style stew.
But never mind the food, the pace of this whole show felt really rushed. Granted, Food Network had been dubbing shows for a while by this point, but maybe they wanted to try different things for the Michiba era? I don't know, but at least they got more witty banter in. And another positive--at least the tasting portion didn't drag as long as the last one did.
Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.
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