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Post by ironchefcanadian on Apr 24, 2007 7:00:47 GMT -5
*Suddenly Chu snaps his head up.*
Chu: "Ach!"
*He dashes to the freezer and returns with a foil pouch of prepared jellyfish and a bowl. With a swift motion of his knife, he cuts the pouch open, dumps its contents into the bowl. He looks around, picks up a pot, fills it with water and sets it to boil. He then returns to the watermelon and continues to carve.*
Chu: "Jia-Cheng! When you're done with the dumplings -- "
Jia-Cheng: "I know, papa. Don't worry!"
*Jia-Cheng is placing a drained pineapple cube and a pitted lychee in the middle of each square tofu slice, which are lying on a separate sheet of cellophane.*
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Post by Sanji Himura on Apr 24, 2007 9:44:34 GMT -5
*Chen hears the 20 minute call and gives a small smile to the nearest camera. Removing the maranade from the heat, Chen grabs a small brush and opens the oven door.*
Chen(to himself): Let's see here...
*Satisfied with the progress so far, Chen starts basting the chicken wings. Closing the oven door when he is done, Chen then starts his fourth and final dish by removing the lobster from the pot of water and instructing one of his assistants to start shelling it, discarding the innards.*
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Post by allezcuisine on Apr 24, 2007 10:36:58 GMT -5
20 MINUTES HAVE ELAPSED! Fukui: Alright, one third of this battle is already gone! Ohta- we haven't heard from you in a while! What's going on down there, big guy? Ohta: Squezan! Well, I've been memorized by the carvings on the watermelons down here on Master Chu's side. Very creative indeed. It seems that Master Chu's side is very focused on presentation today. We just saw Jia-Cheng on Chu's side place some pineapple and lychee down on those slices of tofu we saw earlier, and I must say, it was done very meticulously. Ohta: I had a chance to speak with Iron Chef Chen at the 20 minute mark as well, and he shared with me that everything is going as planned. Chen also told me that he's going to combine two of the four dishes he's making today, bringing his new dish count to three. Back to you.
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Post by ironchefcanadian on Apr 24, 2007 11:12:00 GMT -5
*Chu finishes carving the Kitchen Stadium emblem on the watermelon surface. He wipes the result once with a paper towel.*
Chu: "I can add elaboration later if there's time, but Sha-Shan's work is more important for presentation. Now then . . . "
He picks up a ladle, dips it into the simmering watermelon / pineapple mixture, tastes it and frowns.
Jia-Cheng: "Papa, I already tasted it, it's fine."
Chu: "To you, maybe, but . . . Ah! OHTA-SAN!"
*Chu motions Ohta to approach, dipping a Chinese soup spoon into the liquid.*
Chu: (opens mouth wide) "Aaaahhh."
*Ohta's jaw drops, and Chu feeds him the watermelon/pineapple liquid.*
Jia-Cheng: "(disapprovingly) Papa!" (to Ohta) "That soup contains pureed watermelon and pineapple, some rock sugar and mint leaves. He wants to know what you think."
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Post by allezcuisine on Apr 24, 2007 12:31:03 GMT -5
Ohta: Oh boy! This wonderful, Master Chu!
Fukui: Man alive, Ohta is getting a tasting of Master Chu's fruit soup! What's going on down there, big guy?!
Ohta: (to Fukui): *Clears throat* Yes. Master Chu's soup is quite good. *Smiles embarrassedly*
Ohta: Jia-cheng pulled me aside and told me that her father wanted to explain something to all of us -- "I need to explain that my aim for the overall tasting is to vary the strength of pineapple's flavor in each dish: a couple will be strong and obvious, while others will carry a detectable hint. The different degrees of flavour will be what keeps the taster's interest." Now, back to you.
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Post by Man Alive! on Apr 24, 2007 16:02:48 GMT -5
Fukui: Thanks, big guy! The Challenger's approach to the overall flow of his dishes is pretty smart. By varying how strong the pineapple tastes in each dish, he may be able to keep the tasters from getting sick of the flavor of pineapple.
25 MINUTES HAVE ELAPSED!
Fukui: Also, I'd like to know why Ohta always gets to taste the chefs' dishes. Doc, I think we should move the announcers' box closer to the chefs! We might get a few spoonfuls of our own!
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Post by ironchefcanadian on Apr 24, 2007 17:11:10 GMT -5
*Jia-Cheng now pours the boiling water in the pan over the jellyfish. She then resumes her work, carefully folding over the tofu squares diagonally and gently pressing down to seal them.*
*In the meantime, Chu checks over Sha-Shan's work on the pineapples and bamboo shoots.*
Chu: "Good job, Sha-Shan. Especially on the bamboo beaks."
Sha-Shan: "How do I do the eyes, Papa?"
Chu: "Hmmm. Okay -- get some olives and cloves from the pantry. You see how?"
Sha-Shan (eyes widening): "Hai, Papa! I know how to do it!"
Chu: "Good girl. Off you go, then."
*He moves to the counter, where the bowl of pork pieces, some bell peppers, a bowl of pineapple chunks, a bowl of starch and a tin of Macadamia nuts are waiting for him.*
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Post by Arrianna on Apr 24, 2007 17:50:30 GMT -5
Fukui: Also, I'd like to know why Ohta always gets to taste the chefs' dishes. Doc, I think we should move the announcers' box closer to the chefs! We might get a few spoonfuls of our own! Hattori: *chuckles* I doubt that would help Fukui. I am a little curious what Jia-Cheng is doing with the tofu, pineapple, and lychee's. Stuffed tofu is common but it usually has a pocket cut into it or is sandwiched and sealed with a second substance like egg wash. Folding it like that, it has to be a soft tofu and sliced very thin or the fold will break, a nice technique on Jia-Cheng's part. However I didn't see any egg wash or other such substance to seal the tofu with by steaming.
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Post by ironchefcanadian on Apr 24, 2007 19:08:00 GMT -5
*Jia-Cheng heads to the center station, and brings out five soup bowls. She places the bowls on the counter, then places two of the finished tofu dumplings in each bowl.*
*Meanwhile, Chu has filled a ziploc bag with Macadamia nuts, and is using the broad side of a cleaver to crush them.*
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Post by Sanji Himura on Apr 24, 2007 19:42:40 GMT -5
*Chen can be seen slicing a pork tenderloin, thinly. In a wok, Chen put peanut oil to heat. Turnin his attention to the wok, Chen put a small amount of salt in the wok, ready to stir fry.*
Chen(to himself): Here we go.
*Glancing over at one of his assistants who finished shelling the lobster, Chen adds the sliced tenderloin, giving it a stir fry treatment. When it turns brown, Chen adds sliced green peppers, giving it some more stir frying treatment. An assistant readies some sliced pineapples, water chestnuts, sliced sweet pickles and soup stock and sets them aside Chen.*
Chen: go help the other assistant.
*The assistant runs off to the other one as Chen adds the pineapple, water chestnuts and sweet pickles to the wok for more stir frying. A minute later, Chen then adds the soup stock and sets it for boil*
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Post by ironchefcanadian on Apr 24, 2007 20:15:06 GMT -5
*Jia-Cheng puts the bowls inside a square rack steamer, which is already on the boil.*
Chu: "Jia-Cheng! Remember -- no more than three minutes for those!"
Jia-Cheng: "Hai! They'll be out once the 30-minute mark is called!"
*Chu is now using his fingers to mix the cornstarch and crushed nuts together in a shallow bowl.*
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Post by Man Alive! on Apr 25, 2007 16:08:58 GMT -5
30 MINUTES HAVE ELAPSED!
Fukui: Half of this battle is already finished! Only thirty minutes remain for the chefs to complete their dishes. I wonder if either of the chefs are feeling rushed by the clock at this point, or if both are progressing as planned...
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Post by Arrianna on Apr 25, 2007 16:14:36 GMT -5
Hattori: Well if chef Chu wasn't feeling rushed before he should be now with all the time spent on the carvings and displays. That sort of thing is always a two edged sword. They look wonderful but with only one hour to cook it can really cut in to the time needed for other things like developing flavors.
I do find it interesting that Chen will be combining two of his dishes, I assume for presentation. With an entire half hour left perhaps we will see more out of him then just the three dishes anyway.
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Post by ironchefcanadian on Apr 25, 2007 20:15:25 GMT -5
*Carefully, Jia-Cheng takes the bowls out of the steamer and checks them.*
Jia-Cheng: "The dumplings look good, Papa! I'll go and put the soup in the blast chiller now!"
Chu: "All right, then. When you're done that, get the lettuce and the harusame ready. Sha-Shan! Get a serving plate and the bok choy ready, we're going to put the stir-fry together at the 35-minute mark!"
Sha-Shan: "Yay!"
*As Sha-Shan grabs a plate and a basket of baby bok choy from the pantry, Chu begins removing the pork slices from their marinade and dipping them in the cornstarch / crushed nut mixture, shaking off some excess before placing them in a fresh bowl.*
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Post by Sanji Himura on Apr 25, 2007 20:35:40 GMT -5
*Chen starts deep frying lobster pieces by mixing eggs and AP flour into a batter. Dipping the lobster pieces into the batter, Chen "releases them like little fish" into hot oil to fry.*
Chen(to assistant): keep an eye on them, once they are golden brown, get them out quick.
*Leaving the assistant to his task, Chen then applies another basting treatment to the chicken wings, turning off the blaring alarm on the rice cooker along the way.*
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