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Post by ironchefcanadian on Mar 18, 2007 16:31:47 GMT -5
Michiba: "Well, the presentation is certainly interesting, and the bamboo 'pasta' itself has the right sort of texture.
"However, I'm afraid you may have overcooked the alfredo sauce, I suspect because you let it cook for too long over a burner that tends to be hotter than one in a household kitchen. If you look underneath the 'pasta', you'll see that the solids from the butter and cheese are separating from their fats. As a result, the bamboo pasta isn't holdiing the sauce, instead it's sliding off, leaving behind an oily texture.
One point I should mention, Himura-san. The narrow width of linguini really doesn't have the surface area to adhere readily to such a sauce, which is why wider noodles such as fettuccini are preferred for use with alfredo.
"Now, normally to keep this from happening, the Americans developed a habit of blending either flour or cornstarch into their alfredo sauce. This lessens the cheese flavor but allows for a smoother consistency that won't separate over time. Normal pasta, of course, can also release starch into a sauce to keep it from separating, but bamboo doesn't have enough starch to do that."
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Post by achen on Mar 18, 2007 19:04:44 GMT -5
Lam: Very creative but you needed more on execution. The bamboo's texture doesn't quite fit into this dish. The bamboo as the pasta just doesn't fit in nicely. The sauce could have been better like Michiba-san said. Some type of starch would have help keep the sauce together.
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Post by barronmore on Mar 18, 2007 21:40:36 GMT -5
Jimmy James: Well well, this here's an interesting dish. Pasta is one of the few 'non-southren' foods I really enjoy and I have to agree with Michiba-san about the noodle width. Your bamboo noodles need to be wider to really hold the sauce.
The sauce is great though. Just poor me a glass on the side and I'm a happy man!
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Post by missteetheironchef on Mar 19, 2007 9:23:52 GMT -5
Kishi: The pasta itself is such a very good idea to me it's such a comforting dish. I would agree on both of you.
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Post by Sanji Himura on Mar 19, 2007 9:44:43 GMT -5
Thank you.
(to the last dish)
Our last stop is the American Southwest where trail drive cooks for nearly 200 years have stewed up chilli as a reliable meal to eat mass amounts of people for, at the time, pennies on the dollar. Feel free to use the cheddar cheese, crackers, and even the "lid" on the bread to enjoy the closing course for my meal. Please enjoy.
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Post by ironchefcanadian on Mar 19, 2007 10:56:33 GMT -5
Michiba: "I will say, Himura-san, that this is your best dish of the three. Apart from an excess of salt, due to your use of beef broth, the chili itself is spicy without being burning, the use of the ciabatta works well, and the shoots did absorb enough of the flavour without sacrificing their texture.
"However . . .
"In evaluating a dish meant to highlight a theme ingredient, it is necessary to ask: is this a bamboo shoot dish, or a dish with bamboo shoots? I have to say that this is the latter. If you removed the bamboo shoots as an ingredient from this dish, it would still be considered a good dish. The bamboo does not add anything, nor would it really be missed. In that sense, then, this dish is not successful.
"As we are now at the end of your offerings, Himura-san, I feel I need to say something about your menu choices. All three of your dishes rely on thermal heat and a high degree of fat content -- oil in the case of your rings, cream and butter in the case of your pasta, and beef fat in the case of your chili. While this is accepted by many patrons of so-called fast food, it is not 'balanced,' in my opinion, for the Japanese palate. The dining experience needs to explore contrasts, in flavour profiles, thermal temperatures, and textures. This is why salads, soups, and protein sources like raw seafoods are part of the dining experience.
"As a self-professed food expert, Himura-san, you should know this already. But somehow you have allowed your lack of familiarity with this ingredient to overwhelm your good judgement and expertise. That can be forgiven for an amateur in his own household, but not for one who aspires to compete in Kitchen Stadium."
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Post by Man Alive! on Mar 19, 2007 16:29:38 GMT -5
Kaga: Harsh words, Michiba-san. Himura-san, do you have a reply?
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Post by missteetheironchef on Mar 19, 2007 16:37:18 GMT -5
(Kishi laughing to herself)
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Post by Sanji Himura on Mar 19, 2007 17:32:42 GMT -5
I think that he is mad at me because I judged his dishes so critically the last time he was here, Kaga-san.
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Post by achen on Mar 19, 2007 18:06:59 GMT -5
*Shaking his head at the exchange*
Lam: I must agree this is the best dish out of all the dishes we had today. Again I must agree about the bamboo issue. I also wondered if the Bamboo Shoots needed to be in this dish? But I must disagree Michiba-san that this dish is to salty. Maybe you might have wanted to make it more chunky like a vegetable chili so that the bamboo would stand out more. It was a great idea about using the bread as a bowl though.
Today I had hope to see more of your creative fusion Himura-san. I was somewhat disappointed at some of the dishes. I know the theme ingredient was not familiar, but I hoped that would have made you shine even more. I see that power in you.
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Post by Man Alive! on Mar 19, 2007 18:10:53 GMT -5
I think that he is mad at me because I judged his dishes so critically the last time he was here, Kaga-san. Kaga: Very well. *laughs to himself*
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Post by Sanji Himura on Mar 19, 2007 18:35:50 GMT -5
Lam: I must agree this is the best dish out of all the dishes we had today. Again I must agree about the bamboo issue. I also wondered if the Bamboo Shoots needed to be in this dish? But I must disagree Michiba-san that this dish is to salty. Maybe you might have wanted to make it more chunky like a vegetable chili so that the bamboo would stand out more. The way I saw it Chai-san was the repetition of bamboo shoots being the only ingredient that had you actually bite into, and so I wanted to make a dish where the shoots were a supporting player, but yet make it stand out. The problem with this is that it was a balancing act. Go too much in one direction and you ruin the whole point of the dish and make it taste terrible, and too much in the other, and the theme ingredient is lost. I had hoped that the bread would have soaked up more of the liquid so that it would have been chunky and made the shoots stand out more, but I did miscalculate the amount of bread that needed to be removed to achieve this effect.
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Post by barronmore on Mar 19, 2007 18:42:09 GMT -5
Jimmy James: We'll, I'm afraid I have to agree with the old man on this one. I'm glad you said that this here is "Eastern Chilie" because I can assure you that this isn't up to Texas chllie standards in any why shape or form. I know I promised Mama that I wouldn't invoke her name here on Iron Chef after last time, but I just have to say it...Mama would not approve of this here chilie.
I've been sitting here for the last 5 minutes wondering how to even approach this bowl of 'Yankee" chilie. First off, it's not even been cooked proper. You gotta cook it low and slow. You gotta let the flavors mingle a bit. 10 minutes of simmering is just not gonna cut it. Second...GROUND BEEF!? Shoot, next you'll be serving me grilled Bamboo and calling it BBQ. Third, Son, where's the Chilie peppers? I'm good with Jalepno's and all but shouldn't there be some type of Red Pepper in it? Or are you making that green stuff?
And then there's the bamboo. I have to agree with Machiba-san...I just don't see where the bamboo fits into this dish. The bamboo hasn't mingled with the chillie and absorbed it's flavors. The bamboo hasn't brought anything worthwhile to the chillie and as such wouldn't really matter if it's there or not. Sweet Doogies....i'm just at a loss of words.
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Post by achen on Mar 19, 2007 20:00:14 GMT -5
Lam: I see....
*Thinking about what the challenger had said.*
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Post by missteetheironchef on Mar 20, 2007 14:10:14 GMT -5
Kishi: To me think the chilies are amazing idea for this dish. The use of the bamboo shoots are very much accentuates with meat. It's very amazing I see.
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