Taking a break from reviewing classic episodes to reviewing (several weeks late) the premiere of Iron Chef Japan 2012. Brand-new Kitchen Stadium, brand-new Iron Chefs, same great show we've come to know and love. So let's dive right into this!
(Note: I am watching this episode in Japanese with no subtitles, so...let's see how this goes.)
Original Airdate: 10/26/12
Episode: 1
The scene opens with who I presume to be the new Chairman kneeling by...a grave. Oh, right...the last episode of the original series, Japan Cup 2002, killed off the character of Chairman Kaga. Anyway...nice touch with an overlay of moments from the original series. We now see the new Chairman (one Hiroshi Tamaki) stride into the new Kitchen Stadium (or "Studium," as the caption reads). Looks bloody gorgeous.
I have no idea what the new Chairman is saying in his opening monologue, but I will say that the commentator sounds a lot like Fukui-san from the original series. I don't think it's the same person, but man, they sound remarkably alike.
Also, the music...it doesn't hold a candle to the soundtrack of Backdraft, but then nobody was expecting it to.
I love how it sounds like Tamaki set up a council to select the Iron Chefs. And is that Dr. Hattori I see?
So there will be *four* Iron Chefs. And now, Tamaki calls upon his first Iron Chef to a strike of lightning...the screen lowers to reveal a young man in blue, Iron Chef Japanese: Jun Kurogi.
Each of the Iron Chefs sounds like he'll get his own introductory video. I don't understand very much of it, but I *do* understand is that Kurogi, 34, owns a restaurant in Tokyo called...well, "Kurogi."
Interesting that they seemed to have eschewed the moniker "Tetsujin" of old...
Now, to meet the second new Iron Chef...the screen lowers to reveal a man in yellow...hey, wait a minute, he looks familiar...and I'm not talking about Chen Kenichi!
Meet the new Iron Chef Chinese: Yuji Wakiya!
And...oh, hey, they mention his battle vs. Chen Kenichi from the original series all those years ago. Hattori's very familiar with this guy.
So, we have Japanese...Chinese...it's only natural that this guy would be Iron Chef French, no? He *is* in red...
Your new Iron Chef French: Yosuke Suga, who apparently just got back from France just two days before this show taped. He trained under Joel Robuchon, whom they referred as the "God of French Cuisine" in the original series. Of course, now, it doesn't seem like Robuchon has aged well. But then, that's why he has his young protege in Suga...who doesn't look that old at all.
So...then that leaves one...Iron Chef Italian, perhaps? The screen lowers to reveal...nobody?!
Not sure what that was all about, but now we're introduced to today's "nominator," who will introduce the challenger. And who should it be but none other than Iron Chef Chinese, Chen Kenichi! (He hasn't aged a bit, if at all.)
Chen sounds like he's giving his well-wishes to the new guard, even getting a few laughs in the process. He's holding a scroll of some kind, which he unfurls to reveal a message...gasps from the crowd. Apparently they recognize who it's by, because showing up in the introductory video that follows is none other than Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba. He's aged pretty well, all things considered--he's 81 now, if that can be believed.
That being said, his number one apprentice, Kenichi Miyanaga (who was an assistant to Michiba and some of the challengers from the original series), appears to be the first challenger--or "nominee" in this case--for the new series. Hang on a second, what's this image of an x-ray they're showing on screen? Miyanaga appears emotional in the interview that follows...Michiba can't be *dying* yet, can he? In any event, the x-ray must explain why Michiba's not there in person, but...that bit of news is disconcerting.
But the show must go on...the new floor reporter (who is definitely cuter than Shinichiro Ohta ever was) interviews Miyanaga on the floor. Now the question remains...which Iron Chef will he be up against?
"Iron Chef...Yosuke Suga!" Tamaki proclaims. That there's some pretty dramatic music they're playing there.
So now there's only one thing left to do: reveal the theme ingredient. Tamaki mentions something about October 1993, when the original series premiered...hmm, I wonder...
And the theme is salmon...the very first theme ingredient from the original series. How 'bout that.
Now for the Chairman's call to battle...
"Good gastronomy!"
What the...no "Allez cuisine"? Hrm. Anyway, Suga is beginning to pull the roe out of one of his salmon, while Miyanaga is taking a page out of Michiba's book and writing a menu. Suga meanwhile has taken the roe he just extracted and making a broth of some kind with it.
And in another move characteristic of Michiba, Miyanaga is preparing katsuobushi. We have another floor reporter who actually fulfills Ohta's role, and we learn that the new Fukui's name is actually Sano. (Only because the guy says it twice..."Sano-san, Sano-san!" That's gonna get annoying very fast.)
And Miyanaga's kids are in the Royal Box, who give a wave. D'awww.
We saw Suga pick the bones out of his salmon while all that was going on, and Miyanaga has a couple of kinds of mushrooms in his food processor.
15 minutes gone already, and Miyanaga is working with the head of the salmon. I hear the word "hizu" in there, which is the cartilaginous flesh in the salmon's head. I've seen Sakai work with it before.
Suga is cracking eggs open on his side, while the ice cream machine is in action on Miyanaga's side. Speaking of Miyanaga, the salmon head appears to have gone into a pot of vegetables for a stock of some kind. He's also shaving bits of the skin from the head of a different fish off--there's that word "hizu" again--for later use.
Suga, meanwhile, has potatoes with bits of salmon snaked around them, which is skewered.
Back to Miyanaga's side...salmon steaks filled with the bit from his food processor, topped with matsutake mushrooms. Suga, meanwhile, has...scrambled eggs?
Oh, I see what Miyanaga's doing...the salmon steaks were taken out of the fish, filled with the mushrooms, then reconstructed into the body of the fish.
Suga's side is working with wasabi, along with a honey mustard mixture. I hear the word "risotto" tossed around on his side as well. Hey, I thought he was Iron Chef *French*...
30 minutes gone (the audience is rather quiet today), and Miyanaga is covering fish balls in flour. "Surimi" was mentioned on his side--it sounds like those balls were covered with tapioca. And that cute floor reporter is getting a word with the nominee's kids.
Shirako (cod roe) has hit the frying pan on Suga's side, sauteed in butter and a honey/soy sauce mixture. A sort of ghetto teriyaki sauce, if you will...
And Miyanaga struggles with the food processor before he finally gets that going...didn't catch what went in there, though.
Suga's potato/salmon skewers have also hit the frying pan for a quick saute in butter, while Miyanaga is stuffing a kind of cheese into some tomatoes he had lightly boiled earlier. And he's now trying to peel a giant daikon (kabu, I heard)
15 minutes left now, and Suga is grilling some salmon fillets, while Miyanaga sandwiched what looked like a salmon skin between two cooling racks and put that over a flame. The giant daikon he was working with is being shredded...and do I hear trouble with the ice cream maker? They had to pull out dry ice.
Suga's side has some crisped salmon skins out...and what on *Earth* is going on on the other side, did they just put the dry ice *in* the ice cream machine? Oh boy...
10 minutes left, and the other floor reporter has now started shouting "Sano-san" three times instead of the usual two. Suga is filling the eggshells he had emptied earlier with a yellow mixture of some kind...and it looks like Miyanaga, ditching his hat, is taking his ice cream mixture over to the Iron Chef's side with just 5 minutes to go.
Plating is underway on both sides, and the shirako Suga was grilling earlier goes down on top of a risotto. And *now* the audience decides to make some noise!
Suga's eggshells get some gold foil, while Miyanaga's reconstructed fish comes out of the oven. A sauce goes down on Suga's risotto (perhaps the ghetto teriyaki sauce we saw earlier), and perhaps as a result of a bad edit, we now only have 30 seconds left! And the Kitchen Stadium goes relatively quiet as the time expires...
Now, the moment of truth...tasting and judgement. Normally this is when I recount who's on the panel and the names of each of the dishes...but since I don't know any of that, a picture of the dishes from both chefs can be found here.
But now, the moment of truth...will it be the Iron Chef or Michiba's hero?
"Winner...Iron Chef, Yosuke Suga!"
And he wins in a 4-1 romp, to boot! What a way to inaugurate the new series...even if I didn't understand much.
Showing posts with label yuji wakiya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yuji wakiya. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
ICT: Battle Uni: Sakai vs. Wakiya
BATTLE DATA FILE
Japan Original Airdate: 6/17/94
Episode: 33
The Challenger: Yuji Wakiya, a revolutionary of Chinese cuisine in Japan. He fuses ingredients from around the world with genuine Chinese flavors. He is here on the recommendation of culinary critic Masuhiro Yamamoto, who has criticized the selection of challengers on the show lately. He says that, while the challengers are no doubt top chefs, they only specialize in one field. Wakiya, he says, specializes in multiple areas.
The Iron Chef: Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai. So far he's three for three...can he make it four?
The Battle:
Actress Mayuko Takata, once again, joins Fukui and Hattori in the announcers' booth.
9 months since the opening of Kitchen Stadium, Kaga doesn't doubt the caliber of the 30 or so challengers who have stepped into Kitchen Stadium thus far, despite the fact that one Masuhiro Yamamoto does. Indeed, here he comes, leading Wakiya in.
"His name's not a household name like those of the Iron Chefs, but his skills are definitely comparable," Yamamoto says of his hit man, who is ready to take down one of the three men ascending into Kitchen Stadium...but which one?
Sakai! So far undefeated in Kitchen Stadium, says Fukui. That could change with Wakiya knocking at his door.
"We know how discerning Mr. Yamamoto is about food. I had a tough time deciding on today's theme," Kaga says. "It was his words that gave me a hint: 'To beat an Iron Chef is not that difficult.' It's quite a 'thorny' expression, don't you think?"
I don't really see what's so thorny about it, but OK...
"Thorns. Yes, it's the perfect time to enjoy that ingredient."
Which one, you ask? UNI! Sea urchin roe, for the Japanese-linguistically-challenged. And Sakai looks as though he's under pressure!
"Eggs for eggs." That's how you get the best out of this ingredient, according to the Japanese.
So it's a top class-chef backed by a discerning critic against the Iron Chef French...and we are underway with Kaga's trademark call of "ALLEZ CUISINE!"
And Sakai did NOT look happy when that theme ingredient was unveiled...although Hattori says raw uni isn't that uncommon in French cuisine, so maybe it's not so bad...
Sakai is cutting his sea urchins with scissors, while Wakiya has shark's fin and wonton skins on his side--Ohta's dub voice sounds...different today. Strange, not as fast.
Wakiya is now deep-frying his wonton skins as, according to Ohta, Yamamoto is already pre-calling Sakai's menu: uni scrambled eggs, NOT a mousse, and a dish with red miso. Huh-kay.
Speaking of Sakai, he's laying raw uni on top of raw tilefish--Hattori predicts he'll steam that (technical term: vapeur). Wakiya, meantime, is mixing his uni with tofu--they predict that will go with the wonton skins. Lotus leaves on Wakiya's side, according to Ohta...but we don't know for what. Yet.
Sakai is delicately opening eggs (just the tops off), as the 15-minute mark is announced. And Wakiya's...already plating? The tofu-uni mixture is down with the deep-fried wonton skins, with some raw uni on top and another wonton skin...this will probably a mille-feuille, they say.
Wakiya's already sweating and we're barely halfway through. Sakai has the beginnings of an egg dish, while Wakiya has minced okra and XO sauce with uni in those lotus leaves. Sakai proves one of Yamamoto's guesses correct (eggs), while the commentators get a kick out of Wakiya flipping his shark fin mixture over in his wok (quite the show, that)...so it won't be a soup?
Mushrooms go into the egg crepe on Sakai's side, which has uni mixed in. Back on Wakiya's side, bamboo shoots are being delicately cut into fan shapes (tail feathers, it looks to me)...his blender is also in action. And either this battle is going fast or they've heavily edited this one, but we're already halfway home!
Break in the action as Ohta gets some words from Yamamoto, who says both chefs are "doing wonderfully." Yamamoto says Wakiya can win if he can break the Japanese mindset of raw sea urchin--in other words, cook it.
Sakai is folding over his egg crepes...while Wakiya is piping some mixture onto the bamboo tails. Fukui thinks it's lard (gross), but his serious guess is white fish meat paste. He's making those tails look like swans (or cranes, I suppose), though...and there's word of spinach rice flour from his blender mixture elsewhere on his side.
Soup on Wakiya's side, perhaps a chawan-mushi. And Sakai is stuffing prawns into sea urchin shells, along with mussels. And there are Wakiya's spinach rice flour balls...but one of them doesn't look so good. What does, though...swallow's nest on his side!
Sakai has curry powder into a sabayon sauce...and Wakiya has the makings of sea urchin dumplings with his spinach rice flour. The uni going into those has already been steamed, and Hattori bets he'll dip those into hot water.
Sakai is steaming his eggs that he spent some time taking the tops off...and we have just 20 minutes left as he's steaming some herbs as well. So many steamed items, comments Takata...Hattori says it's the trendy thing to do these days (bear in mind that was 1994). Wakiya's working with his swallow's nest now (which Takata misnames "sparrow's nest"), and Sakai is spooning uni on top of his steamed eggs (he would later add his sabayon sauce and some prawns). And uni on top of Wakiya's chawan-mushi...it's everywhere today! Go figure, it's the theme ingredient.
Wakiya plates abalone and wakame near his shark's fin...but where is the uni in all that? Maybe I missed something. But Sakai is plating his tilefish from the very beginning...and cutting some plain white bread. Croutons or breadsticks, perhaps? Wakiya's cranes are doused with sauce of some kind.
Those breadsticks go with Sakai's egg dish, while Wakiya's swallow's nest goes straight on top of the spinach dumplings--perhaps like a dim sum item, Fukui says. Five minutes to go as there is plating about here...
Three minutes now, and Wakiya is laying on the sauce on his mille-feuille. Sakai is spooning a soup into the uni shells, but we don't know where it came from...
And the swans land on the shark's fin dish on the challenger's side. Sakai is laying on another sauce onto his tilefish dish (as he fumbles the saucepan)...one minute left as Sakai gets in a sly ad for his Tokyo restaurant, saying the eggs are symbolic of the skycraper where his restaurant is.
15 seconds left, some colored sauces go down on the egg crepes...the final seconds tick down...
"And THAT'S IT! The cooking's done, the Uni Battle is OVAH!"
And Yamamoto sneaks a taste test as Ohta interviews the combatants. Sly devil.
Challenger Wakiya's five dishes:
--Sea Urchin and Tofu Hors D'oeuvre
--Sea Urchin in Egg Soup
--Stewed Abalone and Shark Fin, Sea Urchin Sauce
--Sea Urchin Grilled in Lotus Leaf
--Sea Urchin Dumpling
Iron Chef Sakai's four dishes:
--Sea Urchin Soup
--Steamed Egg with Sea Urchin and Sabayon Sauce
--Sea Urchin Crepe
--Tilefish and Sea Urchin
On the panel today for the Uni Battle are:
--Novelist Tamio Kageyama
--Actress Mayuko Takata
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano
Wakiya's up first, as is the tradition...
"What I tried was to accentuate the natural flavor of sea urchin roe," he tells the panel.
Takata likes the contrast of the wonton skin with the sea urchin roe, while Hirano likes how he chose to be modest in his first dish. Whatever that means.
Kageyama likes the duality of flavor in Wakiya's second dish. Takata can't get over how different the uni on top and the uni on the bottom of the bowl taste so different.
Hirano comments on Wakiya's skill through the ingredients he used, but Kageyama says the shark fins came out a bit tough.
Hirano says the first few dishes were simple and flat, but likes the intent of intensity in his fourth (stemming from the spicy XO sauce).
Kageyama doesn't feel the sea urchin in his last dish, but Takata says it eventually hits her. Hirano thinks the uni could've been highlighted a little better.
As for Sakai's dishes...
Hirano says the use of the shell makes a powerful statement in the opening, and Takata likes the extensive use of seafood throughout the dish.
They all like the egg dish, for what it's worth...
The crepe, says Kageyama, draws out the sweetness of the uni better than the other dishes.
His last dish Kageyama calls orthodox...and Hirano is getting tired of uni. Though he says if it was served by itself, he'd enjoy it.
Kaga concedes Yamamoto was right about the caliber of the challenger, but who ends up getting pricked in the end...the Iron Chef or the hero of French--natch, Chinese--or whatever the hell he specializes in--cuisine?
"Tetsujin, Sakai Hiroyuki!"
And relief on Sakai's face as he extends his winning streak! No doubt his toughest challenge yet, but a win's a win!
My take: You have to give Wakiya credit for being incredibly creative in his dishes. I definitely think he won in that department, as Sakai's dishes looked like standard French fare with a markedly Japanese ingredient. But in all Iron Chef battles, there is a such thing as going way overboard (something we'll see of Morimoto in the later years), and I think Wakiya went too overboard with his approach.
And can we get a new panelist, please? Hirano says a lot without saying anything meaningful at all.
Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.
Japan Original Airdate: 6/17/94
Episode: 33
The Challenger: Yuji Wakiya, a revolutionary of Chinese cuisine in Japan. He fuses ingredients from around the world with genuine Chinese flavors. He is here on the recommendation of culinary critic Masuhiro Yamamoto, who has criticized the selection of challengers on the show lately. He says that, while the challengers are no doubt top chefs, they only specialize in one field. Wakiya, he says, specializes in multiple areas.
The Iron Chef: Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai. So far he's three for three...can he make it four?
The Battle:
Actress Mayuko Takata, once again, joins Fukui and Hattori in the announcers' booth.
9 months since the opening of Kitchen Stadium, Kaga doesn't doubt the caliber of the 30 or so challengers who have stepped into Kitchen Stadium thus far, despite the fact that one Masuhiro Yamamoto does. Indeed, here he comes, leading Wakiya in.
"His name's not a household name like those of the Iron Chefs, but his skills are definitely comparable," Yamamoto says of his hit man, who is ready to take down one of the three men ascending into Kitchen Stadium...but which one?
Sakai! So far undefeated in Kitchen Stadium, says Fukui. That could change with Wakiya knocking at his door.
"We know how discerning Mr. Yamamoto is about food. I had a tough time deciding on today's theme," Kaga says. "It was his words that gave me a hint: 'To beat an Iron Chef is not that difficult.' It's quite a 'thorny' expression, don't you think?"
I don't really see what's so thorny about it, but OK...
"Thorns. Yes, it's the perfect time to enjoy that ingredient."
Which one, you ask? UNI! Sea urchin roe, for the Japanese-linguistically-challenged. And Sakai looks as though he's under pressure!
"Eggs for eggs." That's how you get the best out of this ingredient, according to the Japanese.
So it's a top class-chef backed by a discerning critic against the Iron Chef French...and we are underway with Kaga's trademark call of "ALLEZ CUISINE!"
And Sakai did NOT look happy when that theme ingredient was unveiled...although Hattori says raw uni isn't that uncommon in French cuisine, so maybe it's not so bad...
Sakai is cutting his sea urchins with scissors, while Wakiya has shark's fin and wonton skins on his side--Ohta's dub voice sounds...different today. Strange, not as fast.
Wakiya is now deep-frying his wonton skins as, according to Ohta, Yamamoto is already pre-calling Sakai's menu: uni scrambled eggs, NOT a mousse, and a dish with red miso. Huh-kay.
Speaking of Sakai, he's laying raw uni on top of raw tilefish--Hattori predicts he'll steam that (technical term: vapeur). Wakiya, meantime, is mixing his uni with tofu--they predict that will go with the wonton skins. Lotus leaves on Wakiya's side, according to Ohta...but we don't know for what. Yet.
Sakai is delicately opening eggs (just the tops off), as the 15-minute mark is announced. And Wakiya's...already plating? The tofu-uni mixture is down with the deep-fried wonton skins, with some raw uni on top and another wonton skin...this will probably a mille-feuille, they say.
Wakiya's already sweating and we're barely halfway through. Sakai has the beginnings of an egg dish, while Wakiya has minced okra and XO sauce with uni in those lotus leaves. Sakai proves one of Yamamoto's guesses correct (eggs), while the commentators get a kick out of Wakiya flipping his shark fin mixture over in his wok (quite the show, that)...so it won't be a soup?
Mushrooms go into the egg crepe on Sakai's side, which has uni mixed in. Back on Wakiya's side, bamboo shoots are being delicately cut into fan shapes (tail feathers, it looks to me)...his blender is also in action. And either this battle is going fast or they've heavily edited this one, but we're already halfway home!
Break in the action as Ohta gets some words from Yamamoto, who says both chefs are "doing wonderfully." Yamamoto says Wakiya can win if he can break the Japanese mindset of raw sea urchin--in other words, cook it.
Sakai is folding over his egg crepes...while Wakiya is piping some mixture onto the bamboo tails. Fukui thinks it's lard (gross), but his serious guess is white fish meat paste. He's making those tails look like swans (or cranes, I suppose), though...and there's word of spinach rice flour from his blender mixture elsewhere on his side.
Soup on Wakiya's side, perhaps a chawan-mushi. And Sakai is stuffing prawns into sea urchin shells, along with mussels. And there are Wakiya's spinach rice flour balls...but one of them doesn't look so good. What does, though...swallow's nest on his side!
Sakai has curry powder into a sabayon sauce...and Wakiya has the makings of sea urchin dumplings with his spinach rice flour. The uni going into those has already been steamed, and Hattori bets he'll dip those into hot water.
Sakai is steaming his eggs that he spent some time taking the tops off...and we have just 20 minutes left as he's steaming some herbs as well. So many steamed items, comments Takata...Hattori says it's the trendy thing to do these days (bear in mind that was 1994). Wakiya's working with his swallow's nest now (which Takata misnames "sparrow's nest"), and Sakai is spooning uni on top of his steamed eggs (he would later add his sabayon sauce and some prawns). And uni on top of Wakiya's chawan-mushi...it's everywhere today! Go figure, it's the theme ingredient.
Wakiya plates abalone and wakame near his shark's fin...but where is the uni in all that? Maybe I missed something. But Sakai is plating his tilefish from the very beginning...and cutting some plain white bread. Croutons or breadsticks, perhaps? Wakiya's cranes are doused with sauce of some kind.
Those breadsticks go with Sakai's egg dish, while Wakiya's swallow's nest goes straight on top of the spinach dumplings--perhaps like a dim sum item, Fukui says. Five minutes to go as there is plating about here...
Three minutes now, and Wakiya is laying on the sauce on his mille-feuille. Sakai is spooning a soup into the uni shells, but we don't know where it came from...
And the swans land on the shark's fin dish on the challenger's side. Sakai is laying on another sauce onto his tilefish dish (as he fumbles the saucepan)...one minute left as Sakai gets in a sly ad for his Tokyo restaurant, saying the eggs are symbolic of the skycraper where his restaurant is.
15 seconds left, some colored sauces go down on the egg crepes...the final seconds tick down...
"And THAT'S IT! The cooking's done, the Uni Battle is OVAH!"
And Yamamoto sneaks a taste test as Ohta interviews the combatants. Sly devil.
Challenger Wakiya's five dishes:
--Sea Urchin and Tofu Hors D'oeuvre
--Sea Urchin in Egg Soup
--Stewed Abalone and Shark Fin, Sea Urchin Sauce
--Sea Urchin Grilled in Lotus Leaf
--Sea Urchin Dumpling
Iron Chef Sakai's four dishes:
--Sea Urchin Soup
--Steamed Egg with Sea Urchin and Sabayon Sauce
--Sea Urchin Crepe
--Tilefish and Sea Urchin
On the panel today for the Uni Battle are:
--Novelist Tamio Kageyama
--Actress Mayuko Takata
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano
Wakiya's up first, as is the tradition...
"What I tried was to accentuate the natural flavor of sea urchin roe," he tells the panel.
Takata likes the contrast of the wonton skin with the sea urchin roe, while Hirano likes how he chose to be modest in his first dish. Whatever that means.
Kageyama likes the duality of flavor in Wakiya's second dish. Takata can't get over how different the uni on top and the uni on the bottom of the bowl taste so different.
Hirano comments on Wakiya's skill through the ingredients he used, but Kageyama says the shark fins came out a bit tough.
Hirano says the first few dishes were simple and flat, but likes the intent of intensity in his fourth (stemming from the spicy XO sauce).
Kageyama doesn't feel the sea urchin in his last dish, but Takata says it eventually hits her. Hirano thinks the uni could've been highlighted a little better.
As for Sakai's dishes...
Hirano says the use of the shell makes a powerful statement in the opening, and Takata likes the extensive use of seafood throughout the dish.
They all like the egg dish, for what it's worth...
The crepe, says Kageyama, draws out the sweetness of the uni better than the other dishes.
His last dish Kageyama calls orthodox...and Hirano is getting tired of uni. Though he says if it was served by itself, he'd enjoy it.
Kaga concedes Yamamoto was right about the caliber of the challenger, but who ends up getting pricked in the end...the Iron Chef or the hero of French--natch, Chinese--or whatever the hell he specializes in--cuisine?
"Tetsujin, Sakai Hiroyuki!"
And relief on Sakai's face as he extends his winning streak! No doubt his toughest challenge yet, but a win's a win!
My take: You have to give Wakiya credit for being incredibly creative in his dishes. I definitely think he won in that department, as Sakai's dishes looked like standard French fare with a markedly Japanese ingredient. But in all Iron Chef battles, there is a such thing as going way overboard (something we'll see of Morimoto in the later years), and I think Wakiya went too overboard with his approach.
And can we get a new panelist, please? Hirano says a lot without saying anything meaningful at all.
Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.
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