Iron Chef #4 - Tofu Battle

Franco-Japanese Soy Bean Curd Battle! Finally!

Challenger Toshiyuki Kudo vs Iron Chef French Yutaka Ishinabe
Iron Chef 1993 Episode 4 - Overall episode #004 - November 7th, 1993

Great choice by the Chairman, selecting a humble ingredient after three episodes of luxury (salmon, foie gras, and fugu).

Tofu, the modest and unassertive soy bean curd consumed for millennia, gets the Iron Chef treatment from two Japanese nationals who specialize in French cuisine. The Chefs should be able to adapt their familiarity with tofu into a cuisine that has typically not been inviting towards the soybean. Presumably because tofu is all things classic French cuisine is not: healthy, mild, and mundane in appearance.

What tofu does provide for these chefs is flexibility in terms of both cooking methods and flavors it can soak up.

We aren't going to see a Tofu a l'orange or Tofu bourguignon, thank goodness. However, this is Iron Chef. Thus there will be three different shellfish, foie gras, gold leaf, and deep frying galore.

Raise a glass of soy milk, heat it to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, add a coagulent, scoop out the curds, and press the blocks, because its Battle Tofu!

Play-In Tournament Dish: Korokke (Yoshoku Croquette)

We get an introduction video on korokke complete with b-roll of an old European clock tower and croquettes being deep fried.

Fantastic.

We have five challengers in the play-in tournament so I'll keep it brief.

Challenger #1: Motoki Hashino
Sukiyaki Croquette

The 17-year old challenger goes with a thin sliced beef “sukiyaki” in his filling and ends up with a fried Philly cheesesteak. This was not a hit, but Impressive nonetheless for a high school student.

Challenger #2: Janan Garan
Vegetable Korokke

Chickpeas, potatoes, and onions went into this Indian chef’s korokke. The raw red onion garnish is nothing.

The challenger used a military-grade mortar to crack a few black cardamom seeds.

The judges like the food, but they love the translator. I hope Chef Garan wins just so we can see more of his translator’s shirt.

Challenger #3: Toshiyuki Kudo
Lilly Bulb and Foie Gras Croquette

Pack it up, Chefs, it is over. Foie gras and gold leaf from the French chef. Pretty plate with lots of components. The judges love it. Challengers #4 and #5 can go home now.

Challenger #4: Hiroyuki Takahashi
Confectionary Croquette

I have no idea what these two croquettes are individually. One contains mentaiko (seasoned pollock roe) and the other contains fermented black beans, both aggressively salty ingredients. The sweet confectionary could balance that, but it seems the judges are as confused as I am. I love the Autumn plating, but am hesitant to eat anything on said plate.

Challenger #5: Koji Adachi
Ultimate Beef Croquette

Chef Adachi should be the favorite, being a chef at Taimeiken, the famous Yoshoku restaurant in Nihonbashi. He shouldn’t be allowed to name dishes. Ultimate Beef sounds like a limited time promotion by Arby’s. The judges think the dish is fine, while fondly harkening back to Challenger Kudo’s foie gras and gold foil. All this is just a formality.

Adachi selects roast beef as his filling, which we all know is the Ultimate form of beef.

The winner of the korokke Play-In tournament is Challenger #3 Toshiyuku Kudo and his Lily Bulb and Foie Gras Croquette!

Meet the Challenger:

Toshiyuku Kudo

The affable 35-year old chef at La Rochelle in Tokyo. He wears his heart on his sleeve and gold foil on his plate. Gives off "aww shucks" vibes as he stacks king crab legs into a Jenga tower, followed by a "sheesh!" when it comes crashing down. Wasting no time, he begins construction anew, this time with scallops to surround the crab scaffolding.
When asked about how he intended to incorporate tofu into his project, he responded "Incorporate what, now?"

The largest Hat-to-Chef ratio of any challenger thus far. Challenger Kudo can retreat into his hat for safety if he senses a predator nearby.

Showdown:

Challenger Toshiyuku Kudo vs Iron Chef Yutaka Ishinabe!

Challenger Kudo has his sights set on a French battle, giving nary a glance to any competitor besides Iron Chef Ishinabe, who smiles and nods knowingly. It is destiny.

15-second handshake from the Chairman. Power move or stability when standing atop a box? #TeamBox

Tale of the Tape:

The Chairman’s Fit:

Speaking of the Chairman's fit, I'm glad you asked

It takes decades of training with the Kobolds to deceive the most trained of eyes. For you are not looking at a stained glass window, but the Chairman remaining molecularly still.

The Reveal:

The Chairman signals the Tofu Touchdown and the French chefs are thrown off. Cool Iron Chef Ishinabe laughs in disbelief before a double face palm. As for Challenger Kudo?

Challenger Kudo withdrew into his hat and refused to come out until he was given a juice box and the tofu was taken away.

The Chairman's Wisdom:

“If you don’t get it right, it’s not eaten.”

Truth.

The b-roll was the usual pan-Japanese imagery (Japanese maple tree, Asakusa Shinto shrine, boiling tofu, etc). I may do a single compound image of inane B-roll montages in the future.

Allez! Cuisine!:

Finger guns from the Chairman! That was scary! I can understand both chefs’ hesitancy to approach. Little known fact: The Chairman won a duel with Aaron Burr. By “Aaron Burr,” I mean Leslie Odom Jr., and by “won a duel” I mean saw him getting Boba Tea. He looked busy…

In the Booth:

Play-by-Play Kenji Fukui (right) and Color Commentator Dr. Yukio Hattori (left) are in the booth. These are the untranslated episodes so we only have to assume the following exchange took place:

Fukui: Can you imagine, two French chefs cooking tofu for the judges today?
Dr. Hattori: Actually in 1908, a Chinese anarchist Li Shizeng opened a soy factory northwest of Paris.
Fukui: A real Palace of Ver-SOY!
Dr. Hattori: Let them eat tofu!
Fukui: … I make the jokes.

The Battle:

Challenger Kudo immediately goes to work on King Crab legs. We’re one-minute into the competition and are already headed to a luxury ingredient (over)showcase. This show can’t help itself.

Meanwhile on Chillin’ Island with Iron Chef Ishinabe. Yup, that’s tofu alright.

Challenger Kudo has been busy assembling a kani, tofu, and shrimp roll.

Iron Chef Ishinabe has been working, just working on TV-unfriendly mise en place. Aside from the beautiful mise, that’s soy sauce in his left hand. This is the first indication the Iron Chef may not be going classic French.

Not to be out-done, Challenger Kudo uses wonton wrappers to make a tofu ravioli. A little Eastern influence on from both Chefs. This confirms two dishes from the Challenger.

Iron Chef Ishinabe approach is not as exciting as the challenger. Rather than seafood stocks, he’s broiling some tofu for later. This is like watching a pot of water come to a boil.

Challenger Kudo’s ravioli contains tofu, king crab meat, scallops, and mitsuba. Yum.

Continuing his brand of idle television, Iron Chef Ishinabe strains a chicken stock. If we’re lucky we may see him peel some carrots later.

The challenger uses a ring-mold for his shellfish ravioli. I’m not sure why we even have a camera on Iron Chef Ishinabe. He was boiling mushrooms a minute ago.

With 10-minutes to go, Iron Chef Ishinabe starts cooking something. A sautee of broccoli, eggs, and shrimp. A tofu scramble? A pre-kickball power bowl?

Challenger Kudo took the shrimp, kani, and tofu rolls from the beginning of the episode, battered them, and popped them into the deep fryer to make luxurious beignets! I would describe them more as shellfish beignets than tofu beignets, but there could be more to this dish.

Iron Chef Ishinabe also utilizes the deep fryer by just dropping blocks of tofu into it. Of course he did. Do you not want to be here, Iron Chef?

The last five minutes were frentic as the dishes came together. Challenger Kudo produced a chive-butter sauce out of nowhere. Iron Chef Ishinabe mainly just poured stuff on tofu.

That Knife Life:

Even lengthwise tofu slices by the Challenger followed by widthwise slices by the Iron Chef. They make it look easy.

Iron Chef Ishinabe shaving some broccoli like a wild west barber.

The Judges’ Table(s):

Novelist and actor Tamio Kageyama (65 battles).
This magical bowtie spins clockwise when I’m hungry and counter-clockwise when it is nap time.

“Cooking researcher” Emi Inoue (2 battles).
Undercover police officer investigating just how far the Chairman’s tentacles reach. She’s in too deep and needs a way out without blowing her cover.

Rosanjin scholar Masaaki Hirano (42 battles).
Judge Hirano plays a sonata on the stemware that reduces everyone to tears.

Dishes:

Challenger Kudo completes two dishes

Challenger Kudo’s first dish:

Tofu Ravioli with Chive-Butter Sauce

Wow, this an appealing dish. If tofu were not involved in the decision, this could be the best dish of the day. Besides the sliver of tofu, the ravioli contains king crab, scallops, and mitsuba. The grill-marked daikon, chive-butter sauce, and ravioli are beautiful. Immediate Oishi from Judge Kageyama, who has loved everything vibrant green thus far this season.

Challenger Kudo’s second dish:

Tofu and Shellfish Beignets with Balsamic Mushrooms

Wow, again. Another amazing dish I want right now. The beignets are filled with shrimp, kani, and tofu. This is served atop a mushroom and onion balsamic reduction. This is shaping up to be one of those battles where the debatably tastier dishes are going to get knocked by lack of the theme ingredient.
Judge Hirano gives a stern talk to Challenger Kudo.

“Some people are soy beans meant to become firm tofu. Some people are rice grains meant to become sweet delicious mochi. You are corn. Get out of here, corny boy.”

Iron Chef Ichinabe completes three dishes:

Iron Chef Ishinabe’s first dish:

“Ethnic” Hiyayakko

Tofu slabs topped with a soy sauce sofrito, garnished with garlic chips and parsley. It is definitely a unique hiyayokko. What makes it “ethnic”? The soy sauce or the sofrito?

Iron Chef’s Second Dish:
Soft-Shell Turtle Style Fried Tofu

Remember when Iron Chef Ishinabe dropped blocks of tofu into a deep fryer? It is served in the chicken broth which preoccupied most of his cooking time. The broth took longer to cook than the tofurtle. Boring dish overall, but it was a hit.
This simple dish was a judges favorite, besides Judge Kageyama, who has already pledged his alliance to Challenger Kudo’s king crab buffet.

Iron Chef Ishinabe’s third dish:

Grilled Tofu with Shrimp Sauce

That broiled block of tofu topped with the broccoli, egg, shrimp, and cheese keto power-bowl sramble. Good cover up job with the sauce. Take a look at the same dish from earlier.

Yikes
Iron Chef Ishinabe put together a much more tofu-forward menu than his challenger and is given a positive closing talk by Judge Hirano.

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?!

Iron Chef Ishinabe with his second victory!

Our first truly controversial decision. The Challenger produced some luxurious and beautiful treats. Iron Chef Ishinabe was on cruise control right-lane the entire trek. He spent a majority of his time on accoutrements and a chicken stock, but served a lot of tofu. This is where the Challenger went awry, plating three slivers of tofu across his two dishes.

Furthermore, Iron Chef Ishinabe was better able to expand French cuisine by reworking Hiyayakko and “Soft-Shelled Turtle” Tofu with his soy-sofrito and chicken stock.

This was a very interesting episode, if not as visually indulgent as others. It offered a perspective on Iron Chef Ishinabe’s unwillingness to stick to his confines. More importantly this episode re-enforced one of the most important themes of the show: utilization of the secret ingredient.

Episode notes:

My favorite dish was Challenger Kudo’s shellfish ravioli. That entire dish was a work of art.
This was the first of three Tofu battles in Kitchen Stadium.
Next up, episode #005 - Lobster!