ICT: Battle Homard: Shimizu vs. Sakai

BATTLE DATA FILE
Episode: 37
Japan Original Airdate: 7/15/94

The Challenger: Tadaaki Shimizu, former sous-chef and head chef of the Japanese location of La Tour d'Argent, a very famous French restaurant that opened in 1582.  He once cooked for the Crown Prince of Japan during his time at La Tour d'Argent in Paris.  His own restaurant, La Tourelle, is in Tokyo.  His claim to fame is his use of sauces.

The Iron Chef: Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai.  Last time out, he defeated Yuji Wakiya in Battle Uni, who's gone four in a row in this timeline.  Can he extend his streak?

The Battle:

Joining Fukui and Hattori in the broadcasters' box today is NOT Mayuko Takata for once, but rather another actress, Shoko Tamura...a self-proclaimed French cuisine enthusiast.  Fukui goes so far as to dub her an "expert," as she's experienced Belgian flavors as well.  Let's see how she does as she comments on this battle...

And here comes Shimizu into Kitchen Stadium, confidently shaking Kaga's hand as he reaches the center.  And as Kaga's audio gets a little hot as he summons his Iron Chefs, the lights dim, the men rise out of the floor, the dry ice clears, and Shimizu calls out another French chef--Sakai!  (Still undefeated in Kitchen Stadium, might we add.)

"What would be a suitable ingredient for this genius French chef?" Kaga asks, adding that it didn't take him very long to decide.  "When you hear 'La Tour d'Argent,' you think of a certain dish with that bird."  (I presume he means the duck dish the Crown Prince dined on that he mentioned in the opening.)  "But that's too straightforward," he quickly dismisses.  "So instead, I chose the most popular expensive seafood in France."  And as he says that, Kaga makes clawing motions with his fingers, indicating that the theme is indeed...(live) homard lobster!

Apparently, the French say the left claw of the homard is the best part...

But now this all-French confrontation begins with the Chairman's familiar call to battle: "ALLEZ CUISINE!"

Fukui is quick to note they're still alive, and Hattori says these are imported, hence the use of the French word "homard" (which actually means lobster in French).  Shimizu has skewered the tails of two whole lobsters, and into a pot of boiling water they go.  Sakai appears to be doing the same thing, sans heads.

Shimizu has the corail, or the livers of the lobster, in a bowl.  Sakai, meanwhile, has a court-bouillon (soup of herbs) to do away with the fishy smell.

Shimizu sticks a pair of lobsters soaked in olive oil into the oven before he works on breaking down a chicken.  Sakai has lobster roe in a bowl, and there's the 15-minute call already!

Lobsters in a frying pan on Shimizu's side (which gets a little flambé over the replay), and down they go into a bigger pot ("double play flambé," Fukui says).  Sakai has boiled lobster tails from the court-bouillon, which he's slicing up...Ohta is quick to note that he overheard Sakai say this ingredient is a piece of cake.  Hmm.

Shimizu has the beginnings of what appears to be a lobster bisque on his side, and after adding a creamy liquid of some kind, he's peeling some tomatoes with care.  And as he does that, we get a shot of his wife in the Royal Box.  And suddenly...rose petal tomatoes!  So that's why he was being so meticulous about it.

Sakai's fighting words come out as he basically says the food from La Tour d'Argent "wasn't too impressive," adding that he wasn't into classic French dishes that much.  Speaking of Sakai (and as the 30-minute mark is announced), he's got some rectangular molds which he's putting in okra and lobster pieces minced together.

Radishes on Shimizu's side, which he's making for a salad...while Sakai has pears, avocados, peaches, and mangoes.  Sweet stuff...yum.

The rest of the tomatoes Shimizu used are being used as bowls for that mayonnaise salad with the radishes from earlier.  Sakai is making a fruity sauce with all those fruits we mentioned earlier, as he gives 'em a spin into the blender.

Shimizu has already plated his tomato hors d'oeuvres (the "amuse," Hattori calls it).  20 minutes to go, and Sakai is cracking claws.  He also has halved lobster tails with some kind of sauce spooned on top (that found the salamander oven), while Shimizu is still plating something else...while caviar goes down on the tomatoes.

Sakai's peaches find some glass bowls, paired with some lobsters, while Shimizu's chicken is now in the oven.  Hattori speculates he's trying to imitate a duck dish, but substituting a lighter-flavored meat.  Meanwhile, Sakai's fruity sauce goes down over the peaches and lobster.

Shimizu apparently has time for an additional dish (15 minutes, to be exact), while Sakai is plating the items in the rectangular molds.  Shimizu's fifth dish appears to be lobsters stewing in saffron, veal stock, shallots, garlic, and butter.  Fukui is quick to note that it looks a bit like Chen's prawns in chili sauce.

Sakai is plating some lobster tails, shells and all...while Shimizu's soup appears to have hit the blender to get a smoother texture.

Some more frantic activity from both sides, and Fukui once again mentions that Sakai is the only Iron Chef that's still undefeated in Kitchen Stadium.  Five minutes to go, and Shimizu's saffron lobsters go down over some cucumbers.  Sakai's lobster tails get an additional sauce that Hattori says is made from lobster stock.  Shimizu's chicken and lobster dish hits the plate, while his soup also finds some bowls (Hattori says his soup looks like a cappuccino).

One minute left, and sauces are going down on both sides all over the place...Shimizu appears to be done with a few seconds to go, while Sakai is finishing with some sauces as the final seconds tick down...

"And THAT'S IT!  The cooking's done, the Homard Lobster Battle is OVAH!"

Challenger Shimizu is offering five dishes:
--Homard Lobster Tartare
--Homard Lobster Salad
--Homard Lobster Soup, Cappuccino Style
--Chicken & Homard Lobster Combo
--Homard Lobster Stewed in Saffron Sauce

Iron Chef Sakai offers three dishes:
--Homard Lobster & Peach Salad
--Homard Lobster Galette
--Roast Homard Lobster

On the panel today for the Homard Battle are:
--Former Lower House Member Shinichiro Kurimoto
--Actress Shoko Tamura
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano

Challenger Shimizu is up first, and he says the first thing he thought about was the flow of his dishes.

Kurimoto loves the texture of the tartare, while Hirano actually says something meaningful for once--he likes the way the lobster was chilled.

The salad is generally well-received across the board, as is the soup--Hirano says the flavor is so profound, while Kurimoto sense the "wrath of the lobster."  Whatever that means.  He doesn't like the chicken/lobster combo, though.

Hirano says the final dish was unnecessary...while Kurimoto says he thought it was a good way to end the courses.

Now for Sakai--he tried to combine in-season ingredients with the lobster, he says.

Kurimoto says peaches and lobster is a strange combination, but it works.  Tamura likes the texture of the peach.

Hirano says the softness of the okra makes the second dish playful, but Kurimoto thinks it's a tad overpowering.  He does like the last dish, though, saying the lobster is perfectly grilled.  Tamura especially loves the sauce.

But ultimately, who takes the day?  Will it be the Iron Chef or the genius of the silver tower?  Can Sakai stay undefeated?  Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

"Challenger, Tadaaki Shimizu!"

Holy--!  Down goes Sakai!  DOWN GOES SAKAI!  It's almost as if the Chairman couldn't even spit the words out, but eventually he did.  Shimizu becomes the first man to take down Iron Chef Sakai, and how!

My thoughts: I definitely think Sakai won in terms of presentation.  But I liked the way Shimizu's dishes had that clear flow Hirano talked about.  In the end, I guess it came down to personal taste preference, and everyone knows you can't judge that unless you're actually there.

Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.