Loading ...Next Iron Chef Episode 6-UMAMI (Deliciousness)
Posted by Anthony Sica on November 9th, 2009
We are down to the final four contestants on The Next Iron Chef and our man Jose Garces has positioned him as the chef to beat. The contest moved to Japan this week and featured an appearance by Iron Chef Morimoto. This set of challenges focused around everyone’s new favorite culinary buzzword, Umami. Find out how it went down after the jump.
Test One-Deliciousness- Part 1
- The final four chefs appear fresh faced and excited to be in Tokyo. They are taken to a Yakitori bar for their first test where they make 5 Umami rich skewers to be judged by Morimoto. They have a whole lineup of Kikkoman soy sauces to aid their savory quest.
- Jose Garces started off with a Charred Tofu with Dashi Soy Clam Broth. He then moved into a very well balanced and umami Teriyaki Grilled Asparagus. This third dish consisted of a too savory Yuzu Glazed Cod with Pickled Cucumber. His fourth skewer held a Sesame Soy Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Broccoli and Grapes and went over best with Iron Chef Morimoto. Garces ended with Teriyaki Strawberries to round out his skewered meal.
- The winner of the test was Jehangir Mehta. He started out with Marinated Leeks with Panko that could have been crunchier. But he redeemed himself with Yuzu Soy Clams with Sesame Seeds. His third skewer was Grilled Beef with Pepper and Soy was a beautiful representation of umami with the soy and savory fat of the beef. His most successful dish was probably Apples with Soy and Caramel. Morimoto liked the complement of soy and caramel Mehta also ended with strawberries in the form of Strawberries with Chocolate, Soy, and Chili.
Test Two- Deliciousness-Part 2
- The second leg of the test featured Yukio Hattori, the original Iron Chef commentator, as guest judge. .
- The chefs would be creating 5 dishes (Salty, Sour, Bitter, Sweet, Umami) to full a Bento Box with all each dish featuring rice in some capacity.
- Garces’s Bento Box:
- Bitter-Bitter Green and Black Rice Salad
- Sour-Pickled Sardines with Pickled Vegetables.
- Salty-Octopus Rice Cakes. Deemed “too salty” by the judges.
- Umami-Pork Belly over congee and shiitake. Jeffrey Steingarten claimed he has eaten this before, so he wasn’t very impressed.
- Sweet- Canela Rice Pudding and Raspberries
- The only gripe about Garces’ dishes was that he didn’t vary rice preparations very much, other than that he was by far the strongest in this test and walked away with his second big win in a row.
- The weakest Bento Box was judged to be Amanda Freitag’s:
- Sour-Japanese Blue Fish in Yuzu Dashi Broth. Yukio Hattatori said this dish was “amazing”.
- Umami-Kobe Beef Teriyaki with Red Rice and Shiitake. Freitag was criticized for using fresh shiitakes as opposed to the umami-packed dried version. Donatella Arpaia seemed to take serious issue with her mushroom being raw.
- Salty-Sushi Rice Ball with Seaweed and Rice Cracker
- Bitter-Tempura Radicchio and Prawns. The prawn took some of the bitterness out of this dish and made it a bit sweet for the purpose of this test.
- Sweet-Black Sticky Rice and Fruit- “Delicious”-Hattori
Observations
-Ok, enough with the Kikkoman challenges. I get thirsty just watching them
-It appeared as if Yukio Hattori actually liked Chef Freitag’s dishes the most. You would think that he would carry some pull in a Japanese themed test.
- Chef Seamus Mullen will need his best performance next week if he wants to make it back to Kitchen Stadium. Otherwise a Garces-Mehta finale is inevitable. Chef Mehta seems to take the biggest risks each week, but they have worked up to this point Just one bad day can change everything.
-YouTube Find- Ran across this video of Chef Mehta making Chocolate Sticky Buns. David Katz of Meme can also be found on this series making his Sizzling Mussels. Katz’s video is new, so it isn’t on YouTube yet, but can be found by searching David Katz on the video section of their site :
Burning Questions
Has anyone else been underwhelmed with the judges?
Did Amanda Freitag deserve to go home over Seamus Mullen?
Can Chef Mullen overtake Mehta or Garces?
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Related Tags: Food-and-Television, Next Iron Chef
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November 9th, 2009 at 11:24 am
If Chef Freitag deservered to lose, Food Network went overboard choosing the comments from the judges to hide the results from us, because it looked like she was near the top and Chef Mehta at the bottom.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
The production on this is so weird. Sometimes it’s ridiculously obvious who is gone (or advertised in the commercials before the end of the show). Sometimes they bend over backwards to act like the person won before they send them packing.
Also has there ever been confirmation that you are ONLY judged on that day’s food? Does past performance play into it at all?
November 9th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Why is it that we only see one portion of the dishes being prepared in a very limited time and then when the food is put before the judges, three or four portions appear miraculously? Where do the other platings come from? This also applies to the Iron Chef America.
November 9th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Agreed, the editing of the show is terrible, if not outright misleading. The end result is that the winners and losers appear to be chosen arbitrarily.
I don’t remember it being this bad the first season. Or was it?
November 9th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
If past performances counted, Nate Appleman would still be around (sorry still bitter about him leaving).
As far as the preparation of the dishes, here is a good article from the Village Voice from awhile ago
http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-02-19/restaurants/iron-chef-boyardee/
November 10th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Does anyone else have an issue with the extremme tie in with their chosen advertiser Kikkoman soy sauce. Umami to the Food Network is the biggest sponser $$$$’s. The extra taste isn’t an overly salty mass produced consumer good. I hope McDonald’s doesn’t sponser the next round.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Malcom: If I remember correctly a while back on the original Iron Chef, they had mentioned that the rules were you only need to plate one serving of a given dish in the time allowed. You can plate the remaining servings of the dish after the time has elapsed.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I doubt if Chef Mullen can overtake Chef Mehta. Chef Mullen has been in the bottom 2 for the last 2 episodes. Chef Mehta and Chef Garces have never been in the bottom 2 during this season. Chef Mehta has proven his talent by winning the Mexican round which was the most grueling challenge till date. The judges praised his preparations in the Indian round and this week he showed his expertise in the Japanese cuisine by winning the first round. Also throughout the season Chef Mehta has cooked some really innovative dishes. None of the chefs have dished out such innovative flavors in any of the challenges. He has my vote to be the Next Iron Chef!
November 13th, 2009 at 6:56 am
I think the judges have let me down majorly! Their judgments have not been consistent for the last three episodes, especially in the Indian round. None of the judges knew what to expect from Indian food. I think Chef Mehta had done an excellent job in that episode and yet Chef Garces was declared the winner! The judges are not sure as to what basic criteria they want to follow to select the winner. This happened because none of the judges seemed to have any exposure to the Japanese or the Indian cuisines. Dr. Hatori gave some really good feedback to all the contestants and if you ask me; the judgment was rightly based on his feedback. He appreciated Chef Mehta’s use of the bitter melon in the Bitter dish and said that the rice flour used in the melon helped balance the bitter flavor very well. He appreciated Chef Mullen’s Bibimbap by saying white Soy and Beef fat go together very well and brought out a wonderful flavor. On the other hand he was critical of Chef Freitag for using fresh mushrooms instead of dried mushrooms which can bring more Umami to the dish. Now that is the sort of knowledge that we expect the judges to bring to the table.
November 20th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Since the start, as strange as this may sound, I’ve believed the next iron chef will NOT be your standard white guy. The Food Network will need to market this new show, and already having 3 white guys (or 1 white guy and 2 gingers), 1 japanese male, and 1 female chef, I don’t think TFN wants another white male. I believe the role of cuisine and culture will play a part in the final decisions.