Japan Original Airdate: 5/13/94
Episode: 28
The Challenger: Hiromi Funatsu, the first sushi chef to step foot into Kitchen Stadium. He won the grand prize over 300 people in the All Japan Sushi Chefs' Contest, held once every 5 years, and is thus regarded as the top sushi chef in Japan. He goes beyond the typical, traditional forms of Edo-style sushi, transforming them into works of art.
The Iron Chef: (Still relatively new) Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai. Last time in the Iron Chef Timeline, he beat one of his former apprentices (or maybe he beat himself). Either way, the man in red is looking to make it two in a row in this cross-cuisine clash--bet he's wishing he got the truffles from two weeks ago.
The Battle:
A first in this timeline, as far as we can tell, as there is no guest commentator with Fukui and Hattori for this battle. Hmm. Whatever the case, it's the first battle involving a sushi chef in Kitchen Stadium, and the Doc says it'll be interesting, depending on the ingredient. (Aren't they all, though...)
Kaga bellows "Irasshai!" as he takes his familiar place behind the ingredient stand--the subtitles indicate he has dubbed Kitchen Stadium "Sushi Stadium" for today.
But Kaga's testing our challenger on other things he can do other than make sushi, apparently. "I'm a bit worried," he says. Now THAT'S never a good sign.
Nevertheless, he urges our viewers to have faith in his skills and welcomes him into the Stadium. Funatsu's confident as he strides into the Stadium, and after the Chairman's ritual of calling upon his Iron Chefs, Funatsu calls out...well, not Michiba, but...SURPRISE! Sakai!
"Actually, today's theme ingredient was brought in today from Shikoku by a resource person new to my Gourmet Academy," Kaga begins, and without any hesitation introduces the Governor of Kochi Prefecture, Daijiro Hashimoto. I'm assuming he brought today's ingredient...and that he's our missing guest commentator for today...
"Brought in from Kochi," Kaga continues. "Yes, you got it right. And it's in season right now. Perhaps perfect for a sushi chef." Kaga proceeds to rip off the veil and reveal, together with Governor Hashimoto, "KATSUO!" (Bonito, or for those who don't know, skipjack tuna.)
And remember: "Behind the silver" is the best part of the bonito.
It's Japanese vs. French as the first sushi chef looks to take down an Iron Chef, and his quest begins in earnest at the Chairman's "ALLEZ CUISINE!"
4 fish on the stand today, and Fukui thinks it might be a little tricky for Sakai...And there comes Hashimoto at the announcers' booth! He says bonito tataki is the best way to enjoy the fish around New Year's. We shall see...
Already, Sakai's got the heads and fins on the heat, while Funatsu has a fillet of fish on skewers over an open flame, which Hattori guesses will indeed be for tataki-style sashimi. He's also got a flatfish (hirame, or sole) on his board.
Meantime, Sakai's added more fins to the flame, which the announcers think will be used for a broth. Hashimoto's wife is watching the proceedings in the Iron Chef's Royal Box. Speaking of whom, he has a lot of fruit on his side, which will be used (probably) for curing. And Funatsu, predictably, is making sashimi cuts. Hattori says the size of the cuts (which look smaller than your average piece of sushi) will be for decorative purposes.
Sakai, meanwhile, is curing his fish with the grated orange (or yuzu?) peels from earlier, dousing it in OJ and olive oil. And there go the heads into a pot of broth!
Funatsu, in regards to the theme ingredient, thought he was going to get something else...now he doesn't know what he's doing! Well, we'll see soon enough how this pans out...
His tataki is almost done, and as the 15-minute call is announced, Sakai (who isn't familiar with this fish) is mincing the theme ingredient as well as scallops.
Funatsu has added garlic slices on top of his tataki, which Hashimoto says is typical in Kochi. Sakai is making thin sashimi-like cuts himself, which Hattori bets won't be cooked. Fukui thinks they'll be smoked, but Hattori's betting on a carpaccio. The scallops and such have headed for the fridge, and as we swing to the other side, Funatsu is beginning to make his sushi! He's working really fast, too...looks like it's not just the bonito he's working with, either. Hattori says his technique, kote-gaishi, takes about 10 years of training.
Sakai's thin fish slices are being wrapped in plastic and flattened, which Hattori says for sure will be a carpaccio. He just grabbed anything (in this case a wine bottle) to flatten the fish, and there go another 15 minutes--we're halfway done!
Funatsu has four different varieties of sushi on his board (one of which appears to be the bonito), but Fukui disclaims that the other three won't count towards scoring (just as sides).
And Sakai appears to be making sushi of his own, wrapped in plastic wrap: the thin slices are wrapping the chilled scallop/bonito mixture. So it's not a carpaccio after all...
Funatsu is working away with a very decorative piece of sushi, looking a bit like a flower in gunkan-maki. Ikura (salmon roe) is going down on top of that...you know what, words don't do it justice. Take a look:
Now that we've marveled enough, Sakai is pan-frying the slices of fish cured with the citrus juice and peels, and that goes from the heat to the salamander oven. And Funatsu's got a HUGE plate of sushi out on his side...we'll get a picture of that when they present the dishes at the end. It looks good now, but the finished product will be even more spectacular, I bet. The tataki plate is dead center, and it's surrounded by a ton of varieties of other sushi...Ohta reports he's been focusing so much on that, and then will later make another dish. Looks liek he's on it, as he scrapes some more meat from between the bones.
Sakai is plating already, with enoki mushrooms and other vegetables going down as 15 minutes remain. Hattori bets the pan-fried slices will go down by that (which, as we see later, goes right on top), while he sees the beginning of namero (minced fish with white miso) on Funatsu's side.
Funatsu's namero is plated, and Ohta reports that he's not even talking to him! Focusing? Ignoring Ohta? Who knows. And he's filleting more fish (keeping the skin, or the silver Kaga mentioned earlier), possibly beginning a fourth dish! There's not much time left--10 minutes, in fact!
Sakai looks like he has homemade potato chips flavored with parsley on his side, while Funatsu is slicing up the skin, leaving a little silver sheen on his board. Sakai's chips have been paired with the bonito wrap/dumpling/whatever with the scallops inside.
Funatsu is plating a salad, from the looks of it, and Sakai is laying down a sauce on top of the pan-fried bonito and vegetables he plated earlier.
Funatsu is chopping natto, of all things, and is adding long onions and minced to that. 5 minutes left and he's starting his 5th dish? Holy cripes.
Sakai is garnishing his dishes, and Funatsu's natto/bonito/onion mixture is going down. And there's more bonito slicing on the challenger's side, which looks to be a miso soup on the way!
Sakai's taking a portable mixer to his soup, which has veal broth, XO paste, and heavy cream...Fukui's wondering what this could possibly be. Quite frankly, I'm wondering the same thing...he surmises cream of bonito.
And with a minute to go, Funatsu's soup will make his lineup stretched to six! Sakai's laying down a soup of his own as the final seconds tick down, Funatsu's done with about three seconds to spare...
"And THAT'S IT! The cooking's done, the Bonito Battle is OVAH!"
Challenger Funatsu's 6 dishes:
--Bonito Skin Salad
--Natto and Minced Bonito
--Bonito Namero
--Broiled Bonito Sashimi
--Bonito Sushi
--Bonito Miso Soup
And his massive plate of sushi, which appears to include 6 other types of sushi (his tataki can be seen in the center), can be seen at the top of his presentation:
Iron Chef Sakai's 3 dishes:
--Bonito Tartare with Caviar (and his potato chips)
--Bonito Soup with Asparagus
--Sautéed Bonito, Ginger Flavor
On the panel today for the Bonito Battle are:
--Kochi Governor Daijiro Hashimoto
--Actress Mai Kitajima
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano
Funatsu, as usual, is first. Kitajima likes the salad (which isn't saying much, literally)...Hirano says using the skin in the salad was innovative.
Hirano likes the match of natto and bonito in his next dish, although he says it's missing something...
They're moving too quickly through all of his dishes! They only have time for one comment from ONE person! Aaaaahhhh! Hashimoto liked Funatsu's namero, which he said was more mild than the natto dish before it.
The tataki is next, as is his massive plate of sushi. Kitajima is left speechless, while Hashimoto is just stunned by how he managed 6 dishes in 60 minutes. However, he criticizes Funatsu for being too "classy", wanting to see a wilder approach. I guess we'll never get to see how they reacted to his miso soup...
Sakai's up now, and he'll personally add the XO sauce to his tartare. He succeeded in preserving the natural taste, according to Hirano. Hashimoto is pleasantly surprised.
Hirano likes the technique from his soup, knowing that splitting the head was crucial. Kitajima, though, in Sakai's next dish, wishes the bonito was a bit more rare...hmm. Hashimoto is impressed by how much Sakai's bent the rules with bonito.
And now, it's time to know: who takes it? The Iron Chef or the top sushi chef? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?
"Tetsujin, Sakai Hiroyuki!"
Fukui's surprised as Sakai pulls out the win! He extends his winning streak to four (two in our timeline), and we'll see how he does in his next battle!
My take: I'm a huge sushi fanatic. I would have voted for Funatsu, hands down, simply because of how frakkin' huge that plate of sushi was. You can't deny he earned his presentation points there. However, Sakai beat him, without a doubt, in originality. When Funatsu decided to make miso soup, I thought, "That's a little TOO orthodox for an Iron Chef battle..." Indeed, so were many of his dishes. Sakai did well, despite bonito not being a familiar ingredient for him.
Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.
No comments:
Post a Comment