Episode: 3
Japan Original Airdate: 10/31/1993
Hotei, a Chinese chef from 500 years ago, is the subject of Kaga's opening monologue today. Since Ishinabe and Michiba have already battled, I think it's pretty obvious who today's Iron Chef will be...more on that in a bit, though. First, let's hand it over to Fukui for the preliminary battle...
I wonder what the chefs are looking at when Fukui addresses the audience for the first time. It's kind of funny to watch them in the background.
Today's theme for the preliminary battle: spaghetti!
And sitting on today's panel:
--Novelist Tamio Kageyama
--Newscaster Mitsuko Ishii
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano
First to face the panel for the spaghetti preliminary: 27-year-old...I can't catch his name, but he prepares a black spaghetti with (I presume) parmesan cheese and an avocado sauce. I can't tell how the judges react to this one, but Ishii bizarrely swirls the spaghetti on her plate. Hmm.
Next to face the judges: Masani Matsui. He roasts a tomato over the open flame, and finishes with a tomato-basilico spaghetti. Looks very much like a traditional spaghetti.
Third up: Naoki Narita. Clams, a whole fish, and other seafood are stewed in white wine before being poured over plain spaghetti. He dubs this dish "Spaghetti alla Pescatore, Mare del Tokio." It's certainly the most impressive-looking of the dishes so far. Hirano likes the sauce.
Fourth up: I think I heard Fukui mention he's Korean! Kim Yong-pil, if my ears serve me right. He makes his noodles from scratch--essentially, he makes jjajangmyun (Chinese-style black bean noodles). Not terribly original, but it gets the job done all the same.
Last up: an Italian, 38-year-old Paolo Indragoli. (OK, everyone else can go home now.) Crabs play a big part in his spaghetti, and if my ears serve me right, the dish is called "Spaghetti al Grancchio." Ishii really likes it, which is a really good sign if the last two preliminaries are to be believed.
And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the winner of the preliminary is...Paolo Indragoli! And he's incredibly delighted to be facing the Iron Chefs.
BATTLE OF IRON CHEF
Of note: Kaga introduces our challenger simply by his first name..."Paolo!" And the Italian hero strides confidently into Kitchen Stadium. And without any further ado, Kaga calls forth the Iron Chefs! (What, no calling them "the pride of the Gourmet Academy" this time? Guess Paolo wouldn't have understood anyway.)
And as he's asked who he wants to challenge, Paolo says something in Italian, but I think I caught "Signore Cin" at the end of that...which means Chen Kenichi is today's target.
Now, the big question...what's today's theme ingredient? As Kaga rips the red tablecloth off the ingredient stand, we see a tank containing two fish...our first live theme ingredient! What is it, though?
"Kyo no tema wa...TORA-FUGU!"
...what the hell? Seriously, they're using fugu? Hoo boy, this oughta be interesting. Hope nobody dies at the end of this episode. Well, we're about to find out what'll happen as Kaga delivers the familiar call to battle...ALLEZ CUISINE!
And with that, the Gourmet Academy has provided two licensed fugu chefs to prepare the fish for today's combatants. This will not be counted as part of the 60-minute battle.
For those who don't know, fugu is extremely poisonous--some would say about 200 times more potent than cyanide. A strict exam is administered to anyone wishing to handle the fish, and a third of all applicants fail (some even die as a result, because they have to consume their prepared fish as well). Basically, if you screw up, your guests are dead.
But seeing as how we Iron Chef fans know the judges make future appearances (not to mention Kaga himself), I think everyone's going to be OK. So with the preparation complete, the real gong goes off, and the battle clock officially begins ticking.
Hattori makes a note that fugu is pretty expensive...I may have heard wrong, but each fish today cost ¥30,000. Today that's about $300, but take inflation into account, and that number is more along the lines of $500 or so.
Straight away, Chen wastes no time in slicing his fish. Challenger Paolo is boiling some whole tomatoes, and slicing some other raw ones. And Ohta's back on the floor--the first thing he says is that this is Paolo's first time working with fugu. Guess it's just as well that he had someone kill the fish for him.
Chen is making sashimi-sized fillets of fugu...hey, Paolo knows a little Japanese!
Paolo: Chin-san, genki?
Chen: Hai, genki desu.
Paolo is cutting an orange on his side...Ohta reports that he's making a Mediterranean sauce with oranges, lemons, garlic, and...something else that I didn't catch.
15 minutes gone already, and Chen is wrapping asparagus with fugu fillets as Paolo breaks out into song on the other side. At least he knows how to have fun.
Something just went into Chen's steamer that I didn't catch, while Paolo has his fugu pieces in a saucepan for a quick saute. Chen, meanwhile, is dredging some of his.
Already Paolo is plating, halfway through the battle--the fugu pieces from his saucepan, orange, and lemons have joined the plate. And then...Paolo throws the fish back onto the heat. Guess it wasn't done.
Chen has the beginnings of a soup on his side, while Paolo is breaking down yet another orange. And...aha, it was the asparagus wrapped in fugu that went into Chen's steamer!
Another look at Paolo's saucepan reveals the fish from earlier and a sauce of some kind...
Chen's wok is in action...can't tell what went in that, but maybe we'll get a report from Ohta on that. Hattori mentions "nouvelle Chinois" on Chen's side as he plates the mixture from his wok...his dish looks like something out of Ishinabe's playbook!
And Paolo comes over to Chen's side to see what's up!
Three minutes left, and Ohta comes in with a report...that I can't understand. Chen is plating a soup of some kind, with fugu meat and fins at the bottom. Sorta resembles a shark's fin soup, if you ask me.
Paolo's fugu is finally being plated by the oranges and lemons. 1 minute left now, and Paolo has some vegetables and tomatoes in a pan that he's also plating...and Chen is just watching Paolo struggle to complete his dish in the last 30 seconds! Will he get it done in time? The final seconds tick down...and THAT'S IT! The cooking's done, the Fugu Battle is OVAH!
Iron Chef Chen has two dishes:
Meanwhile, Challenger Indragoli has just this one:
So...how will the tasters react to these dishes? More to the point, will they survive this tasting?
Paolo's dish gets an...interesting reaction from Ishii, as she proclaims "It's sweet" and reaches for her napkin. She mentions the orange while shaking her head. This can't be good.
Hirano, meanwhile, goes off on a monologue that I can't understand. And while Kageyama's talking, Kaga has this look on his face that just says something like, "Yes, go on...I definitely agree, the challenger missed the mark today..."
And quickly, they move on to Chen's dishes. Kageyama really likes the soup, and Ishii doesn't react nearly as violently this time as she did the first time. So I guess it's pretty obvious who's going to win this one, but let's ask anyway...who takes it? Will it be the Iron Chef or the hero of Italian cuisine? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?
"Tetsujin, Chen Kenichi."
And thank heavens all the tasters are still standing! So all three Iron Chefs have won their debut battles. Can they each go two in a row in their second? We'll find out...
My thoughts: Now that's just cruel, making an Italian chef work with fugu. The poor man probably had never seen it in his life until that day! I gotta hand him some creativity points, though. But he was definitely beaten on taste, if the reactions of the judges were any indication.
Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.
