Iron Chef – Season 5, Episode 21 – Asparagus – Full Episode

Sakai faces a challenger known as “Mr. Gourmet.” Komine is a world-class vegetable chef who feels right at home with the secret ingredient.

“Iron Chef” is an innovative cooking competition from Japan combining the excitement of a one-on-one sports competition with gourmet cooking.

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[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR 1: Nearly a decade ago, a man’s fantasy became reality in a form never seen before, Kitchen Stadium, a giant cooking arena. The motivation for spending his fortune to create Kitchen Stadium was to encounter new original cuisines, which could be called true artistic creations. [SPEAKING JAPANESE]

To realize his dream, he started choosing the top chefs of various styles of cooking. And he named his men the Iron Chefs, the invincible men of culinary skills. Iron Chef Japanese is Rokusaburo Michiba. Iron Chef French is Hiroyuki Sakai. Iron Chef Chinese is Chen Kenichi. And Masahiko Kobe is Iron Chef Italian.

Kitchen Stadium is the arena where Iron Chefs await the challenges of master chefs from all over the world. Both the Iron Chef and challenger have one hour to tackle the theme ingredient of the day, using all their senses, skills, creativity. They’re to prepare artistic dishes never tasted before.

And if ever a challenger wins over the Iron Chef, he or she will gain the people’s ovation and fame forever. Every battle, reputations are on the line in Kitchen Stadium, where master chefs pit their artistic creations against each other. What inspiration will today’s challenger bring? And how will the Iron Chef fight back?

The heat will be on. NARRATOR 2: If memory serves me right, the most authoritative restaurant guide in France, and perhaps the world, is Michelin. In Japan, a new restaurant guide is now under the spotlight: Gourmand. And like Michelin, it rates French restaurants by the number of stars.

This controversial guide caused a bit of turbulence among French cuisine chefs in Japan. This book did cause some waves among some of the chefs. Some were rated lower than they thought they should have been. Considering how French cuisine is positioned in Japanese society, this book is nothing

But a foolish attempt, really. The editor-in-chief of this guide is the man who is considered one of the top gourmets in Japan, Morio Mita. Mita has strongly criticized my Iron Chefs. The chefs who appear on Iron Chef now are surpassed by other rising chefs.

I’m seeing many good young chefs in town who I consider better than the Iron Chefs now. Ah, strong words indeed. And to prove his own words, Mita will personally select a challenger to step into my Kitchen Stadium. Today’s challenger, fully endorsed by Morio Mita, Head Chef of La Table

De Com.ma, Toshihiro Komine. When it comes to vegetables, this man falls behind none among the French chefs in Japan. His breakthrough came when he began to develop styles using vegetables as the center of his main dishes. And on the plates you will find meats used as garnishes to vegetables.

He captures the natural essence of each vegetable and finishes them in unique dishes. He is particularly good at that. He entered the field of cooking at age 20. At 29, he left for France to study authentic French cuisine. He was accepted by kitchens of many three-star restaurants

During his three-year training in France, capturing the esprit of genuine French food. And in 1988, he returned to Japan and opened his own restaurant, inspired to creating new dishes featuring vegetables. Vegetables normally play a supportive role in dishes. They are usually secondary elements.

I wanted to give them a bigger role in my dishes. And since then, Komine literally studied everything there is to know about vegetables, and created his own magical world. I am extremely pleased to have such a chef, endorsed by Morio Mita, step into my battle field.

So now, Komine, show us your magical manipulations of vegetables, and let us see if Mita is proven right. If Chef Komine can do what he normally does, I think he can win for sure. I wish to create dishes of my own style. [FOOTSTEPS] [MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR 1: A bunch of chefs who are better than the Iron Chefs, that’s what Morio Mita says. Those sound like fighting words, and our guest today would know something about boxing in the ring. Actor Tsurutaro Kataoka, welcome to the show. Pleasure to be here.

Kataoka-san, people still have that image of you as a hungry fighter, but you’re quite finicky about food, right? Well, when I was boxing, of course I couldn’t eat much. So I ate mostly vegetables and carbohydrates. All right. So gourmet is not about quantity, but quality. Thanks for coming in.

Nice to be here. And our commentator, Dr. Yukio Hattori. Doc? Always a pleasure OK, let’s bring on Chairman Kaga. [SPEAKING JAPANESE] All right. A young French cuisine chef, a rising star on the culinary scene, Komine, being let in by Mita, Chief Editor of the Gourmand guide.

He says this challenger is better than the Iron Chefs. We’ll see about that. Nice to meet you. [SPEAKING JAPANESE] I’m glad to hear that. How do you use that book? [SPEAKING JAPANESE] Oh really? I see. [SPEAKING JAPANESE] I can give him two stars, for now.

[SPEAKING JAPANESE] Making their ascent into Kitchen Stadium, the nation’s culinary leaders, your Iron Chefs. Iron Chef Chinese, Chen Kenichi; Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai; and Iron Chef Japanese, Rokusaburo Michiba. Here they stand, the invincible men of culinary skills. [SPEAKING JAPANESE] If it really accepted guests, two stars. Yes.

If it didn’t accept guests, one point five stars. [SPEAKING JAPANESE] Sakai-san, please! All right, battle lines drawn. Komine on his own, or doing Mita’s bidding, going for a Sakai, just what we’re waiting to see. Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai, one of the first chefs

To fuse Japanese techniques with French recipes. And his artistic use of color has earned him the moniker the Delacroix of French cuisine. But today Mita, through Komine, trying to tarnish his reputation, something he can’t allow. [SPEAKING JAPANESE] [MUSIC] [SPEAKING JAPANESE] Asparagus. If memory serves me right, chefs in Paris

Told me how to handle asparagus. They say “mademoiselle’s fingertips.” This means the tips of asparagus are likened to the delicate fingertips of a lady, thus you need to handle them ever so gently. Because of this, in French table manners, asparagus is the only vegetable that can be handled by hand.

So remember, mademoiselle’s fingertips. Atmosphere almost like that of a heavyweight title fight. Gourmand guide’s chief editor bringing in challenger Komine for a shot at Iron Chef Sakai. Asparagus, the theme, seems to favor the challenger. We are set, so let’s get it on. [SPEAKING JAPANESE] Bang a gong, we are on.

A mano-a-mano French cuisine affair. And Kataoka-san, you’re already fired up. Is it just great? And this is just starting out. This isn’t a contest, it’s a fight. And I know you often get out to the boxing arena. You’re a real fight fan, especially for any big fight

That’s in town. And feeling the same type of excitement for today’s battle? I’d say so. Well, this is the main event. No under card today. This is a great match-up. Yeah. All right, and Doc, today’s theme, asparagus. Any pointers, things we should be on the lookout for?

Well, if you notice, we’ve got green ones, and white ones as well. But basically, they’re the same plant originally. They start off the same. The green ones, they’ve always been under the sun, and the white ones have been covered up with soil. They taste and smell different.

So we should watch the chefs as they differentiate each dish by their choice of asparagus. And also, look at the parts of the asparagus being used, too. The tips, the soft parts, used a lot in salads, things like that. Middle part could be used for stewing, the bottom for boiled

Or straining to make a soup, things like that. OK, a great primer on asparagus. And already, Sakai cutting them in the circle mold there. Yeah he’s trying to keep them all the same length. So I’m imagining he’s going to display them later, so they’ll all be the same height.

That’s what I’m guessing. Floor reporter, Shinichiro Ohta, go. SHINICHIRO OHTA: A rare sight indeed that you may or may not have noticed. Iron Chef Sakai has accidentally cut himself. He is bleeding from his thumb, as you can see. Oh my. Have to take care of that.

Wonder if that’ll have any effect on his cooking the rest of the way from here on out. He’s a pro, I don’t think so. If he bleeds too much, do you guys have a TKO rule here? We don’t even have a ringside cut man.

Dr. Hattori is not licensed to practice medicine. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? – Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: We’ve just received word that challenger Komine is preparing pie sheets and getting an ice cream maker ready. All right, the challenger. Pie sheets and– An ice cream machine. And we’ll make note of that. Thanks, Ohta.

So, maybe he’s up for sorbet? Sounds good, and the ice cream machine in operation. Iron Chef Sakai has got his game face on today. And then accidentally cutting his thumb earlier, he’s maybe a little wound up today. Well there’s a little bit of history

To this, if I can take a couple moments to explain this. You mean a grudge of some sort? Well, the editors of the guide are Mr. Morio Mita and Masahiro Yamamoto. In that restaurant guide, challenger Komine’s place is rated as two stars, all right? And Sakai only got one star.

One star for Sakai’s place, if you can believe that. So definitely, Sakai, well, behind the eight ball, but he’s also going to try to prove something today. That’s why he is so intent on winning. Like a return match. Kind of the latest installment in the star

Wars involving top French restaurants here in Tokyo. Well we’ve certainly got the motive, let’s see what happens here. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? – Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: I asked Iron Chef Sakai if he had any comments on Mr. Mita, who brought in the challenger today, and he told me

That he thought Mr. Mita’s critique was not fair at all, for various reasons. But he says, “That doesn’t bother me.” He says, “I won’t lose. Just watch me. I’ll let my cooking do the talking.” All right, and this is for real. This is about livelihood, and more than just his pride

And honor as an Iron Chef. War has been declared. Now over to the challenger side. Let’s see, it looks like eggs and something else. Maybe he’ll be using a pie sheet for this later on? Or make a pie sheet with it? No, hang on just a second here.

What’s this he’s got now? I have no idea. OK, I think I know what this is. This mixture that he just added out of the blender is, I believe asparagus and milk. OK I was going to say an ice cream base. Asparagus ice cream.

Well, he’s got the eggs with it now. Eggs are in there as well. You’re right. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: I also have a list of ingredients being gathered together on the Iron Chef side. Omar lobster, scallops, prawns, foie gras, truffles, cherry wood chips, and kombu kelp. Back to you.

Man alive, the Iron Chef really going to town with the ingredients he set up there. Right, and hearing about the cherry wood chips, I imagine that means he’ll be smoking something. A smoked item, great. Maybe he could end up with a smoked asparagus dish. Right.

Or the Omar lobster, that could work as well. Smoked Omar lobster? Mouth starts watering just saying that. Wow. Check it out now, on the challenger side. Got some sort of shellfish How about in French cuisine, shellfish is used much in it? No. Well, not in France.

The Japanese French cuisine, yes. But you don’t see that in Europe. OK, and Komine and his assistants, three peas in a pod right there working on a dressing, I think. Could have a salad with asparagus and shellfish. Right, yeah. And mentioning a salad, just a bit of salt and pepper

On this it would be perfect as is. Really? All right, now back with the Iron Chef, the prawns he had skewered earlier. Looks good. Just your basic boil there. You’ll notice the bamboo sticks, too. That’s for maintaining a particular shape. That’s what it’s for?

Yeah it keeps the back straight. Otherwise, they roll up. – You even do that much. – Exactly. Incredible. Yeah. A lot of work with these things. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: I asked Iron Chef Sakai how many dishes he’s shooting for today, and he replied, “Three dishes.”

Then he said, “The challenger looks like he’s going to try for a dessert, but I’m not making one.” He sounds a little testy each time I talk to him. I think he’s got a fire lit under him. All right. And if you’re just joining us, this

Is not a typical French cuisine battle today. A lot more riding on the outcome. And Kataoka-san, sometimes a boxer in the ring spends several rounds trying to feel out what the other guy is up to. Right, I know what you mean. Think Sakai might be doing that?

Well, he could be. He made it clear, if the challenger is doing it, I’m going to do something different. He’s definitely concerned about tactics, here. Well we are still in the early rounds of this fight. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? – Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: Let me give you the ingredients

That are being strained into this bowl by the Iron Chef. They include a puree of asparagus stewed in consomme soup. The consomme itself, fresh cream milk, and eggs. Oh that’ll be a perfect mix for steaming. So steaming would be your educated guess there?

Well, it certainly sounds like a royale-type thing to me. It could be a royale on the way. That’s very possible, yep. And that would be, let’s say, a French-style chawanmushi. Might be what Iron Chef Sakai has in mind. And now look at this one by the challenger.

Color wise, quite similar to the one Sakai’s got going. And the challenger here, challenger Komine, continuing to whip away. And whipping up a storm on this one, which is what? I can’t really see from here. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? Yes, you have it? SHINICHIRO OHTA: This mixture is made from egg yolks,

Water, some melted butter, which he just added and is whisking in. It seems he’s making sabayon sauce. OK, sabayon. Coming from the challenger. Yeah, well, that’s kind of Sakai’s heavy artillery, so to speak. What are you saying, Sakai’s would be better than Komine’s? No.

Not that way, I just mean this sauce is almost like Sakai’s forte. One of his several signature sauces. Exactly. Back on his side, packing asparagus. The assistant putting them into the circle mold. So we’ll just have to wait and see what goes in the middle there. – Any idea?

I’m leaning towards maybe the prawns? And what about the lobster? Oh, that would be good, yeah. Well, I’ll tell you, on both sides, the men, we are seeing a very high level of sophistication in the creative approaches to their asparagus dishes.

Komine, who enjoys the backing of Gourmand’s Chief Editor, Mita. And Ohta’s in place for some words with the editor. Go ahead. Take it, big fella. Thank you, I’m here with special guest Morio Mita. And Mr. Mita, can you share with us your observations so far? It’s quite exciting watching them, yes.

And is Chef Komine doing as well as you anticipated he would? He looks a bit confused working in an unfamiliar setting. I see. And how about Iron Chef Sakai? His blade work is incredible, as usual, yes. And he sure is used to this setting.

So more than the skill level, familiarity with the setting is what you see as the difference here, then. Yes, from here. But you’re sure Chef Komine still has a real chance? Oh. Yes, of course. OK, and how about some words of encouragement for him? Yes.

Keep it up. Thank you very much for talking with us. Back to you, Fukui-san. – All right. Thanks, Ohta. And right here, these look like they are primed to have something on top, maybe some sabayon sauce? You’ll notice they’re already somewhat puffed up, right? So they’re finished as-is?

What I think he’ll do now is cut them in half. For the purpose of? A sandwich-like item. Put something in the middle, perhaps. , All right. Now, Iron Chef side. Asparagus shavings, right there. Right, and this is a normal slicer that you can use.

Gives you various shapes, if you want. And you can see him slicing there now. Full length shavings of the stalk. I’ve never seen asparagus sliced like this before. Anybody? Oh just be careful there, Chef. Don’t need to lose any skin. Already cut his thumb in the early going of this one.

Iron Chef showing us a few things we haven’t seen from him before. He is clicking on all cylinders today. Oh definitely. Now here, looks like some cake cups. Yeah, these are normally used for puddings and things like that. And this is on the challenger side.

Right, so I would say these would be for a vapour. – Steaming. – Right. Yeah. Stuffing an item that he’s been working on and steaming it later. It looks like the inside of the cups have already been lubed. It looks like just straight butter. Buttered up, OK.

Easy to remove the contents later. Right, exactly. Now hold on. Sakai, look. Oh, truffles. No, foie gras. Sorry, foie gras, right. And that style of slicing, it’s called scallop. Fry them up, it’d be like foie gras steaks. Exactly. And the challenger, he’s doing them in consomme.

Boiling these right here. Yeah that’s the green asparagus. That is consomme. And stewing it, just like that, is just perfect. It’s great. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: Komine told us that he’s planning to serve a total of four dishes today. And yes, that includes a dessert.

A quartet of dishes from the challenger, including desserts. Sakai already saying he’d be going for a trio, and pointedly saying he would not prepare any dessert. 30 minutes gone, 30 to go. Into the second half of this decidedly confrontational asparagus battle, French cuisine. And up to this point, the men processing,

Boiling, steaming the asparagus. Still tied up in prep work, but from now we’re sure to see some stepped up action. Now if you notice, with Sakai, now we’re seeing truffles. OK. Chef slicing them up. And he’s added some salt and pepper, maybe, it looks like.

There’s also something else in there, I think perhaps some seafood. Throwing some olive oil on top. And now adding a spoonful of this one here. What is that? Mayonnaise? Might be that sauce that he had. Can’t make out where that came from over there,

But they are mixing it up with the truffles in it. Oh Wow, he’s going to stuff them in those rings? SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? – Yes? Looks like it, yes. SHINICHIRO OHTA: As you’ve already noticed, the Iron Chef is placing a combination of truffle slices

And scallop slices into these asparagus-lined circle molds, which have also been dressed with a sauce made from white asparagus puree. Oh, that’s what it was, a puree. I see. And packing that in, truffles and scallops. And now, Komine. This, one the consomme and asparagus. There must be a soup.

Going for a soup. Just run it through the blender. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: Yes, the puree in the blender consists of consomme and asparagus only. Got it. OK. Well, that really increases the chance of it being a soup. I would say you are correct.

Well, thank you. And over there, it looks like they are having some trouble with the ice cream maker. Machine trouble? Can’t get that out. It’s got to be tough dealing with that kind of trouble. Well, not as simple as you think it might be.

We’ll see if we can get a report on that later. But might have a problem with that one. If we can get a shot of the Iron Chef now, it looks like he’s getting ready to smoke something here. The cherry wood chips, foil between them and the surface,

For a smoking treatment. Right. And I would guess, now, that this is where the prawns come into play. You said that earlier. And now something dark colored being sprinkled on– SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? These are English tea leaves, Cocha. Tea leaves. English tea. Maybe to add some aroma.

Well, that would be for– SHINICHIRO OHTA: And Fukui-san? Yeah, about the ice cream machine, the contents have hardened so much that everything is ground to a halt and they can’t get the mixing blade out. All right. Thanks. Well– Can they correct it?

One of the assistants working on it right now. Got it spinning again, so that’s some progress. And now the Iron Chef– whoa! Hustling back to the rear of the Kitchen, still has speed to burn here in the second half. I see he went back there to grab a rack or two

And lay it across the top of his self-styled smoking apparatus. There it is. And now the ice cream machine on the other side appears to be slowing down again. And Komine himself checking it out. Wow. It is moving. Problem solved, then? Well, they might be able to pull it out,

Now but it hardened quicker than they thought it would. Well, they can just put it in the freezer. Well, the results might not be the best, though. They don’t want that. Oh, he’s smoking asparagus! Smoked asparagus coming your way.

OK, well, swing and a miss on that one for me. Sorry. Can’t blame you for that. I thought it would be prawns. Would have been nice, I think. But it is smoked asparagus, courtesy of Sakai. Both of the white and green varieties. And that should be an experience.

The thinly sliced ones. Yes, his ribbons. Like the Iron Chef did. I believe they’ve been boiled, too. Oh boy, if he could weave a net out of these. Weaving a net? I know. I’m asking a bit too much. FLOOR ANNOUNCER: 15 minutes to go.

15 minutes left. Komine’s side could be the white asparagus and milk one. Yeah, and this will be a great taste. I think this was steamed in the cake cups. And sauce to go on top, Doc? A sauce. Or maybe a soup around it, perhaps?

Now check it out by Sakai there. The prawns rolled in asparagus. This is awesome. Oh, asparagus rolls. A good name. He is not holding back at all, is he? Uh-uh. I’m amazed by the originality of this guy. And fellas, you know what?

On the other side, the challenger is using prawns as well. He is. Oh, you’re right. They’re there. Yeah, in the pot there. And the green color, of course, asparagus. And color actually plays a big part in this dish, too. And very appealing, that one.

So this must be, what? The white asparagus stewed in the consomme in the form of a sauce? OK, so it’s become a sauce, and not a soup. I think so. The smoking job is finished. OK, on the other side let’s get there.

Sakai removing the smoked asparagus, cherry wood chips, English tea aroma. Oh, I think I know what the challenger is up to here. Going to share it with us? Sure, he put in the hollandaise sauce, right? So it will be combined with that pie that we saw earlier.

Maybe a reach, but I like it. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? – Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: An update on Iron Chef Sakai’s do-it-yourself pot-slash-smoking machine. He has now placed some foie gras in there. Foie gras, all right. Iron Chef redoubling his efforts. A second smoked item. Smoked foie gras on the way. Wow.

Now, Komine looks like he’s done 10 rounds already. Quite a workout. Healthy sweat he’s worked up. Now what is he doing? Oh, you see? This is what I said he would do. Hang a star on that one! Good call. And you’ll notice that they’re placed on top

And the pie is split in half. Which you also said way back. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? – Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: Challenger Komine seems to be very pressed on time. We witnessed him doing a taste test with a spoon, then without noticing– or without thinking–

He just turned around and threw the spoon into the garbage! Little panic may be setting in over there. But no need to throw away the spoon. It’s not the spoon’s fault. Tough for him, though, working in an unfamiliar environment. His caviar’s on top. Iron Chef side, and look at that.

OK boy. That’s quite the trio. Truffles, foie gras, and caviar. Sakai covering all the bases today. ” Oh, that’s quite the trio. Truffles, foie gras, and caviar. Sakai covering all the bases today. Now you can see why he had that skewer inside the prawn. Notice that? Right.

You know, he had that pictured in his mind right from the start. It’s great planning on behalf of Sakai there. And right here, even doubling down on the theme. And now smoke all over the place. It’s the great asparagus smoke-out today. Even the camera guy’s running off. Smoke them out.

And speaking of smoke, the smoked asparagus and foie gras, serve them as– whoa. Serve the as is? It’s just a great, mature flavor. It’ll be great. At least a clear shot of that through the haze. And now, Komine, sauce in this one. The asparagus stewed in the consomme.

And you’d have to surmise an asparagus-based sauce here. Both chefs really bringing it. And Sakai, locked on, laser-like in this battle today. Well, you noticed when the challenger called his name, he just looked so hyped. Like he knew they were coming after him.

It was kind of a “Go ahead, make my day” sort of look. Oh, Dirty Hiroyuki? [LAUGHTER] SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? Yes? SHINICHIRO OHTA: Here’s another update on the dishes Iron Chef is making. He originally said he was only going for three dishes,

But if you count once again, there now seems to be four. All right. Four for Sakai. And now the mold coming off. Wow, looking great. It looks like a fence, almost. Another work of art from the Delacroix. Well, if you leave it sitting there too long,

It might start to fall apart. Think so? I think he’ll probably want to keep that one chilled just until serving. Well, they’re already plated. That would be my only concern, was that falling apart. All right. And still with the dish, some diced tomatoes, could be.

I think they are marinated. SHINICHIRO OHTA: Fukui-san? Yes. SHINICHIRO OHTA: The ingredients for the sauce the Iron Chef is now spooning onto these plates are diced tomatoes, Tabasco, lemon, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Wow. He has gone to town on the sauce, too. And the presentation of the dish, superb.

And into the blender, some kind of liquor, spirits. Down to 3 minutes in the battle. Now the challenger side. He’s pouring it on. Right here, Komine. OK. Now this one makes my day. All right, Dirty Hattori. But it doesn’t look like the challenger’s day is being made.

Komine hearing the three minute call with a forced grin. The expression, not too sure if it’s a sign that things are going all right, or one of resignation, that he’s in over his head. But his dishes are looking fine so far. Yeah, well, from the dishes he’s got,

I think the soup will be the key to the outcome of the results today. That’s going to be the one to watch. The soup, then. This one here. I imagine that. It just looks so good and so rich. This holds the key. The challenger’s soup?

This holds the key to his chances? That’s the one. That’s going to be the make or break. I was planning to go for some noodles in a cafeteria if I didn’t like any of this stuff. Kataoka-san, I had those earlier.

I think you’ll prefer what these two great chefs are making with their French dishes. Now on the Iron Chef side. He’s really filling in, now, a few more drops of what should be an asparagus-based sauce, the green one. The plate, the canvas for the Delacroix. He’s the best.

They’re not trying to compete to see who’s best in this battle, they’re trying to see who’s best overall. Big battle today in the French cuisine star wars. Sakai is basically saying, hey, I’m a three star chef. Iron Chef over the steamer.

And it really had to steam him the first time he looked at the restaurant rating in Gourmand and saw he had one star. Now he’s trying to throw that back at Mita. And this one away from the steamer. Yeah. That’s the chawanmushi royale in French. And using asparagus. Wow, interesting.

And about a buck 10 left on the clock. Just want to see how he decorates this now. Toppings on it? It’s about one minute you said, right? Well, they say the last minute is pretty long. Last minutes. Long for us, short for them.

And there it is, the minute call. A minute left in the battle. 60 seconds, the last minute of the final round of this heavyweight fight. The Iron Chef trying to defend his crown against challenger Komine, and stand up for his reputation.

I think what he’s going to be using this for is the topping. Yeah, there you go. – All right. Lobster on the royale servings. Right, he’s got the Omar lobster. Iron Chef Sakai not backing down. Going full bore boogie, tilt all the way to the end.

He’s got some asparagus tips at the ready beside the royale servings. And now, laying down a sauce on top of them. Under 30 seconds to go. Trying to deliver the knockout blow, and this one definitely going to be packing a powerful punch come tasting time. Whoa. They just keep right on fighting.

They have to. Not a single moment to waste, both men utilizing every available second in the 60 minutes of cooking. Asparagus tips on top. Final finishing touch on this one by the challenger. Iron Chef Sakai still working in the final seconds ticking down and that’s it!

The cooking is done, the asparagus battle is over! Nice job in there. Thank you. So, how’d it go. Did my best. OK. Now you seemed to be out of time towards the end, but how do you feel your dishes turned out? Well.

I can’t say all of my dishes are perfected to my standard. Oh, really? So you’re not really sure if you can beat Sakai-san yet or not, huh? That’s correct. Well, once again, good work. And thank you and good luck. And now I’d like to interview Mr. Mita.

What did you think of Chef Komine’s performance in the Kitchen today? Well, he appeared to be panicking at times. But he was trying hard, so I hope he will be rewarded. Well, how was it? How was the hour? As always, very short. Of course.

But you were so focused today, so fired up. I mean, not even smiling once throughout the whole battle. I had a purpose today. And how did your dishes turn out? 120%. So a win for sure? Sure. Challenger Komine is offering five dishes.

First, white asparagus, truffles and shellfish salad. Truffles and shellfish support the white variety of asparagus. Its slight bitterness is soothed by the aroma of truffles. Second, mimosa-style salad. Balsamic vinegar helps add depth to this one, allowing tasters to compare different flavors of green and white asparagus. Third, asparagus soup.

It’s served with the chicken flan in the center, topped with asparagus tips, drawing out the natural sweetness of the asparagus. Fourth, langoustine and asparagus with sabayon sauce. The fluffy pie and firm asparagus create a nice contrast, demonstrating the challenge’s light touch with vegetables. Last, for dessert, asparagus ice cream.

The slight bitterness of a raw vegetable is no impediment, and is skillfully presented in this ice cream. Iron Chef Sakai counters with four dishes. First, asparagus royale. The truffles add weight and depth and the Omar lobster, luxury, to an offering which celebrates white asparagus. Second, Asparagus Charlotte, the artistic quotient

Evident in its presentation. Marinated scallops dressed with the white asparagus puree, fenced in by green asparagus. Third, smoked asparagus with cherry wood chips and English tea leaves, presenting the asparagus in a dominant role, even over the similarly smoked foie gras. Last, prawn rolled in asparagus. Rolled in ribbons of asparagus and laid

Over a white asparagus sauce. Accentuated by the saltiness of the caviar on top. Morio Mita, chief editor of the Gourmand guide, which rates restaurants in Japan. He says a number of chefs are better than the Iron Chefs. And to prove his point, he’s brought in a French Chef.

Who has vegetables play the lead role in his dishes. Today’s challenger, Toshihiro Komine. And, of course, Komine and Mita are going after Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai. Chairman Kaga, obliging the challenger, offers up a veggie of a theme ingredient– asparagus, green and white. Challenger Komine does a marvelous job

For a first effort here, finishing a set of 5. Iron Chef Sakai hopes to land a knockout punch by the end of his set of 4. And now the moment of truth, tasting and judgment. On the panel today for the asparagus battle are novelist Tamio Kageyama, actor Tsurutaro Kataoka, and

Culinary critic Asako Kishi. Morio Mita will taste, but not vote. First, the dishes of Challenger Komine. You know, I’m used to eating white asparagus out of cans. Crispy ones like this, well, it’s really a first for me. The texture is almost crispy, and I sense some green flavor,

A slight bitterness, in this. And I like that. It’s very flavorful. Spring. The combination suggests a sense of spring. But I thought the sauce could have been a little more original. Speaking of myself, how should I say this? Since critiquing is my profession,

My purpose is to comment on the restaurant overall. So I’d prefer not to comment on food at this kind of setting. It’s good, but the flan seems to be weak in flavor. Well, if you mix the two elements, the balance is OK,

But still, the flan is a bit weak, overpowered by the soup. I know the soup is the focus, so I guess it’s OK. This gives me a really strong sense of spring. I mean the green and young flavors come out to the surface of this dish. They just burst with spring freshness.

You boiled the asparagus only slightly to preserve the firmness. If you did it any longer, it would have been too soft. The timing is very difficult, but you succeeded, I think. Hm. It’s very good. The ice is nice. A slight bitterness remains, but at the same time,

The creamy texture makes it dessert-like. This is very delicate. It’s so good. And now up, the dishes of Iron Chef Sakai. Great. It’s good. When this was finished, well, it looked like a chawanmushi, you know? Then, you put something on it and poured soup over it.

I was intrigued in the way you finished it. And it has more depth than I thought it would. The use of color is so nice, with the warm colors and cool colors balancing on the plate. Since it’s so well chilled, it’s really a soothing– kind of soothing dish.

And it has quite a bit of depth here, yes. Yes, it’s quite full-bodied. And I like this green sauce, which really enhances the flavor of the green asparagus. Now Sakai, preparing the servings of the smoked asparagus and foie gras. Wow. Oh! Mm.

I really enjoyed the aroma from the smoking, and the green asparagus, it’s just so soft. It looked hard, in fact. The asparagus alone can be the star of this dish. I don’t think you need the foie gras. No one would leave foie gras untouched on the plate, but it’s–

It’s not overpowered. The asparagus is winning over the foie gras. The challenger kept to the basics. Sort of like a boxer relying on jabs before hitting hard. A very orthodox style, sort of rhythm. On the other hand, the Iron Chef, he never missed a blow. And his punches landed so hard. Boom. Boom!

I felt the impact in his dishes. Stars at issue. We’ll see which man is seeing stars after the verdict. [MUSIC] [SPEAKING JAPANESE] Gourmand, the new restaurant guide, its chief editor maintaining numerous chefs can out-cook the Iron Chefs. Challenger Komine with his two star rating, putting the focus on the asparagus.

Iron Chef Sakai seeking payback for his one star. Who takes it? Whose cuisine reigns supreme? [SPEAKING JAPANESE] – It’s the Iron Chef! – Yes! Sakai! Out-jabbing, out-punching, out-cooking Komine, and winning it on the cards of the tasters. What a job. And even Mita acknowledging the Iron Chef’s superiority.

Tunnel vision for 60 minutes. Like 12 rounds of cooking and a heavyweight title fight. And the winner is Iron Chef French, Hiroyuki Sakai! [MUSIC] [THEME MUSIC]