Iron Chef #15 - Prawn Battle

Challenger Koichi Taniguchi vs Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi
Iron Chef 1994 Episode 5 - Overall episode #015 - February 6th, 1994

The Chairman is transfixed by an animatronic crab. The sheer crustaceous destructive potential, the likes which have not been seen since Ebirah vs Godzilla, has the Chairman's wheels turning. If he can apply deep learning AI to this construct, there will be no stopping him. Armies will fall before him.
There is only one force that can stop him.

The Kandagawa Clan

Do NOT cut fish like Kandagawa. You are on Iron Chef, not bartending at TGI Fridays.

The Kandagawa clan makes their debut as the heel to the Iron Chefs in season 2. Clan Chief Toshio Kandagawa will nominate three underlings to challenge the Iron Chefs, before throwing up his hands in exasperation and competing himself. All while talking a bunch of trash and establishing tenets of the Kandagawa school of cooking, which is supposed to be austere and traditionalist, however rarely ends up that way.

Boss Kandagawa is nationally known TV chef, with multiple restaurants, a little bit of an attitude, and a whole lot of minions.

Yes, this too is a bowl. Just as I suspected.

The Chairman doesn't take kindly to being challenged or is about to make some shakshuka.

Meet the Challenger:

Koichi Taniguchi

Chef Taniguchi was born in Gifu and was initiated into the Kandagawa clan at the age of 18 upon catching, beheading, and alley-ooping three endangered species of his choosing. Chef Taniguchi went on to become head chef at Setsugekka Kandagawa at age 30 despite a more lucrative offer from Master Shredder and the Foot Clan. He is your standard level one boss, designed to take you through the tutorial and basic battle mechanics. A win for Challenger Taniguchi would be a great upset.

Challenger Taniguchi’s Sizzle Reel:

Raw prawns in bamboo with sudachi and gold leaf. Amazing presentation for what is essentially four bites of uncooked food. Taniguchi has seen Iron Chef before.

Broiled fish rolls, more prawns, and charred yuzu. Another dish that would be at home in this competition.

A trio of various shapes and colors. Much like [insert any Marvel team-up film], there's a lot going on from a sensory standpoint, but I couldn't tell you what it is. All I know is that it is expensive.

Separating lobster tails and slamming down the head with some showmanship. The dunk is, of course, rule number one of the Kandagawa clan.

Tai snapper sashimi. Reckless speed is rule number two of the Kandagawa clan.

Showdown:

Chief Kandagawa leads a contingent of six chefs into kitchen stadium. This is a show of force.

Kandagawa allows chef Taniguchi to select his Iron Chef opponent. Iron Chef Chen Kenichi is decisively chosen. Chef Kenichi looks ready.

Title Card:

Challenger Koichi Taniguchi vs Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi!

The Chairman’s Fit:

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

Today the Chairman is dressed as Singapore's Changi Airport terminal 1's carpet. He blends in during the day, then emerges at night to lick all the pens. He's a sicko.

The Reveal:

Iron Chef Kenichi is indeed ready (believe it or not, that is his ready face). His father, Chen Kenmin literally invented Chili Prawns.

Chief Kandagawa is more demonstrative in his enthusiasm. Chef Taniguchi's portfolio displayed a mastery of prawns.

Allez! Cuisine!:

The challenger and Iron Chef exchange a respectful handshake on the way to the shrimp trough. I expect Chief Kandagawa to discipline challenger Taniguchi for that display of weakness.

In the Booth:

Play-by-Play Kenji Fukui (right) and Color Commentator Dr. Yukio Hattori (left).

Fukui: Boss Kandagawa has accused the Iron Chefs of not respecting classical Japanese cooking.
Dr. Hattori: It should be noted he did this while rolling asparagus in gold leaf and smoking it.
Fukui: Right you are, Doc!

The Battle:

Clan Chief Kandagawa looks on disapprovingly from the refrigerated section of Kitchen Stadium. This is his cool down tent.

The Kandagawa clan looks on disapprovingly from the gallery. From left-to-right: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, and Sleepy. Unfortunately Sneezy could not attend due to food safety guidelines.

Iron Chef Kenichi goes full Jacobin on these these royalist prawns.

Challenger Taniguchi has a katsuobushi dashi in the works. A staple of both the Kandagawa clan and of Iron Chef Michiba. It will be fun when that battle occurs (unless you are a bonito).

The Iron Chef has shark's fin under a boil. That's challenging. 1994 was a different time. Sharks were depopulated for their fins and the theme song from "COPS" won a grammy for best reggae *album*. Dark times, indeed.

Iron Chef Chen Kenichi precisely slices garlic rapid-fire with his giant Chinese cleaver. It's mesmerizing.

Challenger Taniguchi plops out some shinjo surimi (mackerel paste) mixed with minced shrimp in a suribachi bowl. Bouncy fish balls incoming and likely a soup involving that dashi we saw earlier.

Iron Chef Kenichi is kneading some dough with those bear paws. Dumplings incoming.

Challenger Taniguchi's fish paste balls are wrapped and ready for a steam treatment. This certainly was a rehearsed dish regardless of what the theme ingredient would be, as evidenced by his steamer being ready prior to the start of the battle (and the fact he brought mackerel paste in his luggage).

Meanwhile back in the Iron Chef's corner... still kneading. Laboriously. Iron Chef Kenichi could knead iron and carbon into steel.

Challenger Taniguchi is steaming sushi rice. Ebi rolls or nigiri incoming. If you expected a raw shrimp dish based on the challenger’s sizzle reel, you would be correct. However, *this* is not that dish. Stay tuned for some bold choices.

The challenger is pouring sesame paste into the now empty suribachi. This will the base of a sauce of his first course, a deconstructed firecracker prawn.

The Iron Chef stuffs his dumplings with a prawn farce, opting for a single pleat. Either do a full series of pleats or do none at all. Single pleating dumplings is like velcro shoes. Either lace up like an adult or wear crocs like a an adult with a hangover.

Sideline Reporter Ohta: Do you have some tricks up your sleeves?
Kandagawa: ...

Kandagawa’s minions look on, left-to-right: Sleep 1, Sleepy 2, Sleepy 3, Sleepy 4, and Sleepy 5. Also, that half hog has been there since the pork battle four episodes ago. Somewhere a producer has a graph showing the number of episodes that can be filmed in a day intersecting with the decomposition rate of pork.

Challenger Taniguchi does indeed have a sushi roll in the works for his steamed rice. A sushi roll with shrimp, pickled greens, and cilantro. Very interesting. Heebie Jeebies Ebi Roll.

Shrimp passed through oil (briefly deep fried) from the Iron Chef, but you knew that already. That is a prerequisite for his signature dish - Chili Prawns!

Speaking of which, it is Chili Prawns time! Iron Chef Kenichi will make this dish dozens of times and it never gets old. This is chef in his bag.

Challenger Taniguchi's bag is apparently mincing yuba skins with sashimi knife.

Surprisingly, Challenger Taniguchi dips his ebi rolls in a batter to be deep fried. Astounding! He's not bound by Kandagawa rules anymore.

If you were wondering what challenger Taniguchi's sous chefs were doing all this time, here's finely julienned vegetables ready to garnish a nonsense dish of minced raw prawns. Time well spent, fellas.

Remember when I mentioned that the Kandagawa clan is focused on the austere purity of ingredients local to Japanese cuisine? Well here is some gold foil. Quick to abandon our principles, aren’t we?

If you were wondering what Iron Chef Kenichi's sous chef's were doing all this time, its a by-the-numbers shrimp stir fry. I'm pretty sure this exact recipe is in a J. Kenji Lopez-Alt cookbook, but fortunately sparing us the requisite ring of bok choy.

Challenger Taniguchi's fried sushi is out and magnificent. Please do not drizzle it with mayonnaise.

Iron Chef Kenichi has a little time left so decides to make a quick soup with prawns and pickled mustard greens in which to serve the dumplings. It can only help.

Challenger Taniguchi also has a last minute dish of shrimp salad drowning in mayonnaise and sesame paste. It can only hurt.

I thought this julliened vegetable garnish was going to be a platter for the fried ebi rolls. Instead it is for minced raw shrimp, sprinkled with goji berries and gold leaf. Why you do this?

Kandagawa gazes at Taniguchi's gold mess with a degree of concern. I don’t think he’s going to hang around for the verdict.

The Judges’ Table(s):

Novelist Tamio Kageyama (65 battles).
Judge Kageyama weighed in on the “shrimp” vs “prawns” debate when he declared them all to be “Shrimpy Smalls.”

Actress Mai Kitajima (9 battles).
Judge Kitajima honestly does not care if all but the largest shrimp are not deveined, and thus neither should you.

Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano (42 battles).
Judge Hirano raises cherry shrimp for aquariums and for company. It gets lonely in his hovel.

Dishes:

Challenger Taniguchi completes four dishes.

Challenger Taniguchi’s first dish:
Prawns with Sesame Sauce

Chopped shrimp, greens, and straw mushrooms lathered in sesame paste and mayonnaise and topped with salmon roe. This is something I would make when cleaning out the fridge and pantry, not something I would serve as first course in Iron Chef. A kitchen sink dish that looks like it was made in a kitchen sink.

Challenger Taniguchi’s second dish:
Tiger Prawns and Yuba in a Kudzu Sauce

This should have been the first course. The mackerel-shrimp ball serving as a base for a poached shrimp. A lonely shiitake mushroom and katsuobushi dashi. The flavors work and is closer to the "Kandagawa" approach.

Challenger Taniguchi’s third dish:
Building Prawn Stamina

Oh boy. Beautiful julienned vegetables Crushed peanuts. Raw minced shrimp topped with goji berries and gold foil. This is absurd. The challenger is making a mockery of these proceedings, which may have been the intent. The Kandagawa clan may not be trying to win this early battle, but instead demonstrating Iron Chef's tendency to put lipstick on a pig. I hope the joke was worth it, because the deep fried sushi isn’t going to save challenger Taniguchi from this deficit.

Challenger Taniguchi’s fourth dish:
Deep Fried Ebi Rolls

Ebi rolls with pickled mustard greens and cilantro deep fried. This is the challenger's best dish by a wide margin. I am absolutely going to attempt this. Unfortunately, his odd number courses are not going to offset his even number triumphs. Two solid dishes from Iron Chef Kenichi should end this battle.

Iron Chef Kenichi completes three dishes:

Iron Chef Kenichi’s first dish:
Shrimp Dumpling Soup

The Iron Chef could have merely served the from-scratch dumplings on a paper towel, but floating them in this cornstarch and egg thickened soup with pickled greens gives more to the judges and keeps the dumplings hot through the challenger's service. Veteran move.

Iron Chef Kenichi’s Second Dish:
Chilli Prawns

This is Iron Chef Kenichi's signature dish. It will not falter. Doubanjian, ketchup, and a heap of garlic coat the stir fried shrimp which were briefly deep fried with cornstarch beforehand. His father, Chen Kenmin literally invented this dish. It will not lose. If you don't know, now you know.

Iron Chef Kenichi’s third dish:
Stir Fried Shrimp with Shark Fin and Chili Pepper

*Sigh* This is your standard shrimp stir fry as brought to you by Google except for two inexcusable components. The first is the all too common ring of bok choy that is inescapable among Iron Chef stir fries yet only seen in strip-mall pan-asian restaurants flanked by a Dollar General and a liquor store. The second is the shark's fin. Give it up. It adds nothing compared to the cost (financially and ecologically). Dried scallops would've been fine.

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?!

Iron Chef Chen Kenichi! Hat bump from the challenger and applause from Kandagawa. Credit where credit is due.

The Kandagawa Clan's bravado led them into a trap. If Iron Chef Kenichi could pick his own "secret" ingredient, it would be prawns. His chili prawns are internationally famous. The challenger served a neat sushi, but his other offerings were disjointed and lacking, the stamina prawns most of all. It seemed challenger Taniguchi was throwing ideas at a wall, whereas the Iron Chef came through with three dishes well within his repertoire, thus ensuring the well deserved victory.

This will not be the last we will see of the Kandagawa clan.

Episode notes:

My favorite dish was the Iron Chef's chili prawns. However, since I have cooked that a dozen times, I would be more likely to attempt the challenger's deep fried ebi roll with pickled greens.
This is the first of 7 prawn battles, including Black Tiger Prawn, Japanese Tiger Prawn, Freshwater Prawns x 2, Shiba Shrimp, and Taisho Prawn. A large majority of which feature Iron Chef Chen Kenichi.
The next episode is the sixth of 1994, and 16th overall - Battle Anago Eel.