Iron Chef #19 - Wheat Flour Battle

Shinji Kondo vs Iron Chef Chen Kenichi
Iron Chef 1994 Episode 9 - Overall episode #019 - March 6th, 1994

The Chairman opens with a brief overview of the Chinese Civil War's three body problem:
1) Leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong
2) Leader of the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-Shek.
3) Last but not least, Gu Axi, the cook for Chiang Kai-Shek.
What this has to do with today's episode featuring a Sichuan vs Shanghai cuisine battle on a Japanese cooking show, I do not know, and quite frankly, am too afraid to ask.

Meet the Challenger:

Shinji Kondo

Chef Kondo was the Master Shanghainese Chef at Sanno Hanten in Akusaka for 12 years, later becoming Head Chef of Shunyuki in Hotel Gajoen in Meguro, Tokyo. He learned about the Chinese Civil War in 7th grade. He wisely has no opinion on the subject, remarking "Yes, I am reasonably confident it did happen."
A master of garnishes, he once garnished a steak with another, larger steak. He wears a fedora to garnish attention. If an employee shows up late, he garnishes their wages.

Chef Kondo demands his environments are opulent as his garnishes.

Challenger Kondo’s Sizzle Reel:

July on your your Human Resources administrator’s Marjolein Bastin wall calendar.

Maybe shumai, maybe September on the same calendar.

Qinjiao Rou Si. The OG pepper steak. Not on any calendar, but it should be.

I don't know what this dish is and I don't care. However, I want to know EVERYTHING about those crab garnishes. Are those carrots? Papaya? Paper mache? Can I take them home?

A hubcap filled with yuenyeung and river stones. The OG boba tea.

More beef stir-fry, but served on a sizzling platter. In the West, a sizzling platter indicates a restaurant known for the size of its margaritas.

Showdown:

Challenger Kondo confidently selects Iron Chef Kenichi with a defiant raising of the fist. We'll get to enjoy a Chinese cuisine battle. The Iron Chef specializes in Sichuan cuisine, whereas the challenger specializes in Hu (Shanghainese) Cuisine. The secret ingredient will determine who has the advantage, though something like pork or carp would have them on equal footing. You've already read the episode title so let's skip this discussion.

Title Card:

Challenger Shinji Kondo 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 the wallpaper from Louis XIV's brooding chambers.

The Reveal:

What may seem like an inocuous ingredient is actually perfect for this battle of two Chinese cuisine specialists. This opens up the door for handmade noodles, dumplings, youtiao, etc. We've seen the Iron Chef knead dough in seconds with his bear paws. I will be disappointed if Challenger Kondo does not make xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), a specialty of Shanghai that has become Trader Joe's level of ubiquitous. I hope he hid some pork gelatin in his hat.

Allez! Cuisine!:

Iron Chef Kenichi is usually first through the gates, but the hastened challenger manages to slip by ahead of him.

In the Booth:

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

Fukui: How would you describe your level of gluten tolerance?
Dr. Hattori: Gluten dependent. Gluten addicted.
Dr. Hattori: *shifts nervously*
Dr. Hattori: Say, you wouldn’t happen have any instant ramen on you by any chance? I left my last pack in the car.
Fukui: Right you are, Doc!

The Battle:

For the first time in Iron Chef history, the Challenger cuts off the Iron Chef and scoops his ingredient from the Iron Chef's side. *Cue inappropriate civil war commentary*

The challenger brought his heavy duty tree trunk cutting board with him. I've wanted one of those until I saw Chef Wang Gang's YouTube video on the upkeep. It takes more care to maintain than a Jeep.

The Iron Chef has coconut milk, whisked eggs, and flour in separate bowls. There would normally be a few directions this could go, but Iron Chef Kenichi does not bake. This dish is going on a lengthy journey to become a fried coconut pastry. A dim sum dessert is always welcome, but I'm preferential to the pineapple bun.

Challenger Kondo is prepping soft shell crabs. Not the garnish kind, the actual kind.

The challenger wisely checks for freshness, as these were not live crabs and they decompose famously quickly if not stored properly. How quick? Like buy at a farmers market, stop for lunch, and stink up your vehicle quick.

The Iron Chef is wok blanching some greens. He normally does not plate unadorned greens nor purees. These greens are going to infuse some dough for either green noodles or green dumpling wrappers.

The Iron Chef's coconut batter goes into a wok, because he is Iron Chef Chen Kenichi. If the only tool you have is a wok, you tend to see every problem as a stir fry.

Time to make some dough. The challenger has an egg in Mt. Flour's caldera and is hand mixing vigorously. It's hypnotic.

Iron Chef Kenichi's thickened coconut batter is oozed into some baking pans… to chill in the freezer. I repeat: Iron Chef Kenichi does not bake.

Challenger Kondo begins rolling out the dough. Given the size, we're heading to noodle town. Population: me (and Dr. Hattori).

The challenger confirms this assumption by completing his handmade knife-cut noodles. If he can use the excess dough for xiaolongbao, he is going to be very tough to beat.

The Iron Chef's blanched greens are mixed into a bowl of flour. He has some ground pork set aside. This can only mean lean green dumplings.

Dough in, dumpling out. Dough in, dumpling out. All work and no play makes Kondo a dull boy.

Iron Chef Kenichi does have some green dumpling wrappers thanks to his spinach infusion. The ground pork seen earlier will serve admirably as the farce. It looks like he may have done this before.

Xiaolongbao confirmed! The challenger definitely gets an 'A' for effort even if he only brings two dishes to the judge's table. I counted eleven pleats. Impressive.

The Iron Chef rolls up his sleeves to give his bear paws room to breathe. He could knead iron and carbon into steel.

In a somewhat disappointing twist, Challenger Kondo decided to deep fry his knife-cut noodles. This is the rare instance when deep frying does not make something better.

It's wok o' clock on the challenger's side as he is the first to prepare a stir fry. Though the Iron Chef shockingly did not stir fry last battle (#17 -Turbot), you can count on him to wok and roll shortly.

Challenger Kondo begins mashing his fried noodles into a mold with sugar and butter. This will get a bake and become the dessert course. This leaves no flour component for the crab dish, yet.

The Iron Chef rolls some hand-formed dough nuggets against a strainer before dunking them into boiling water. A rustic approach from the most rustic Iron Chef. He must have a soup plan, though he hasn't started the soup part of it yet.

As the Iron Chef toils over the boiled water, his sous chef is pretending to be busy and doing a poor job of it.

The challenger dredges the soft shell crab in flour in preparation for a deep fry then stir fry combo. I hope this is not his only flour component of the dish.

The return of the stir-fry from Iron Chef Kenichi! The wayward son has returned. This is going to start as a stir fry, but probably end up a soup to float his "pasta" in.

The contents of the Iron Chef's pre-soup are ground pork, tomatoes, onion, cabbage, mushrooms, and baby corn.

Challenger Kondo fries some doughnuts, which will be served with the crab. Sure, I guess this counts as using wheat flour, but the discerning judges are going to see right through the approach. He may as well plate a ¥10,000 note with flour sprinkled atop.

The Iron Chef does soupify his stir fry, dunks in his "pasta," and serves it in a donabe. First dish almost complete. We'll need a status update on the green pork dumplings and the coconut dessert batter, so there will not be time for a fourth dish. This means we've got a three-on-three matchup between the chefs including one dessert each. This is a judge's dream.

A silky and jiggly coconut dessert is unmolded by the silky and jiggly Iron Chef Kenichi.

Not done with this dessert yet, the Iron Chef dredges the coconut cake batons in flour and brown sugar in preparation for a deep fry. Pro moves being made right here.

Iron Chef Kenichi begins boiling his pork-filled green dumplings in kansui (alkaline water) with 10 minutes remaining in the battle. The alkaline water will keep the dumplings springy. The Iron Chef likes his dumplings like he likes his khakis: Single-pleated and smelling of shaoxing rice wine.

Some last-minute shrimpies and chili flakes are added to the Iron Chef's rustic stew. This will go head-to-head with the challenger's crab dish in the battle of main courses. Any ground lost to the challenger's xiaolongbao should be made up with this hearty stew.

At last, what we've all been waiting for: It is garnish time for the ulterior decorator. He starts with a daikon ribbon...

...and ends with a lotus flower. Incredible.

Challenger Kondo's xiaolongbao hits the steamer with 5 minutes remaining. That is a 24-inch wok with a 20-inch bamboo steamer inside it, and another five 10-inch bamboo steamers inside that. Inside the last steamer? A matryoshka doll. Second dish complete.

The challenger's deep fried crabs are done stir frying in a brown sauce and are indeed served with the donuts as the flour component. Third and final dish complete. Time to sit back, relax, and over-garnish.

Iron Chef Kenichi tops his dumplings with a doubanjiang-based sauce on the zebra plate. Looks great, but I'm more interested in this being back-to-back episodes of the Iron Chefs using these plates. Zebra plates should only be used for layer cakes or wild game (hopefully not zebras).

Done for the day, challenger Kondo embraces his inner John Travolta meme.

The Iron chef dumps some egg into his soup and finishes his deep fried dessert. It is always reccomended to throw an egg into soup. Not just sundubu. If you aren't tossing an egg into instant ramen by now, cancel your DSL. Third and final dish complete. Let's head to the judges table.

The Judges’ Table(s):

Novelist and Actor Tamio Kageyama (65 battles).
Judge Kageyama went on a gluten-free diet but had to quit because it deprived him the pleasure of eating Elmer's Glue.

Actress Yuriko Ishida (2 battles).
Judge Ishida thought this was going to be a “flower battle” and spent all week leveling up her bellsprout.

Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano (42 battles).
Captain Hirano bakes his own bread to feed his squadron of pigeons. An army can’t march on an empty stomach.

Dishes:

Challenger Kondo completes three dishes:

Challenger Kondo’s first dish:
Xiaolongbao (Soup Dumpling)

The Shangai chef hits a leadoff home run with a classic Shanghai soup dumpling. This is a great start to any meal. It is also a great meal itself. The farce is ground pork, cabbage, rice wine, soy sauce, and gelatinized pork stock. The dumpling is diligently pleated in a twisted pouch and then steamed. The gelatinized pork stock melts into soup during steaming and will pour out during the first scalding bite. There is an art to eating these without second-degree burns, starting with cradling them in a large soup spoon and a nibble.

Challenger Kondo’s second dish:
Hatcho Miso Soft Shell Crab Stir Fry

This fun dish by the challenger would be at home in a crab or miso battle, however is a bit forced in this flour battle. The soft shell crab was dredged in flour, deep fried, then stir fried in a hatcho miso (black miso) sauce. Donuts are served as far away from the crabs as is geometrically possible (across orange valley), because this required some flour. Challenger Kondo woke up this morning with Miso Crab on his mind, and nothing was going to deter him. Not even the rules of this competition.

Challenger Kondo’s third dish:
Fried Noodle Biscuits

This crunchy snack was made with deep fried handmade knife-cut noodles. The noodles were pressed into a mold and exquisitely cut into diamonds and arranged into a star. The lotus garnish made of daikon is stunning, and will guarantee the challenger sweeping all the presentation points awarded this battle. This is not as impressive as it sounds, as Iron Chef Kenichi has not won presentation points in any battle ever. He just makes food that is good to eat.

Case in point: Judge Ishida admires the dessert before putting it back down on the plate rather than taking a bite.

Iron Chef Kenichi completes three dishes:

Iron Chef Kenichi’s first dish:
Jade Dumplings

The Iron Chef infused his flour with blanched spinach to get these vibrant green dumpling wrappers. The farce is a standard ground pork mixture and the sauce is doubanjiang based. Two endives give the dish bunny ears in-time for the photo. This dish will not beat the challenger's xiaolongbao in the first course dumpling matchup, but is good enough to keep things close for his advantageous second course.

Judge Kageyama finds these dumplings finger-licking good.

Iron Chef Kenichi’s Second Dish:
Country-style Chili Egg Stew

This was an entertaining dish to watch come together. The Iron Chef started by hand forming some eggless garganelli and giving it a boil. Then he stir fried everything but the kitchen sink (ground pork, tomatoes, onion, cabbage, mushrooms, and baby corn). Afterwards he added either water or stock and simmered it to make a soup. Lastly went in shrimp, garganelli, chili flakes, and a beaten egg. Every addition made this stew better and better. This will secure the second course for the Iron Chef over the challenger's crab stir fry.

Iron Chef Kenichi’s third dish:
Coconut-flavored Fried Sweets

The Iron Chef began this dish first, knowing that it would be a challenge to complete in an hour. First he prepared a batter with coconut milk, flour, eggs, and water. Averse to ovens, he cooked the batter in a wok. The batter was poured into molds and chilled until a silky-bouncy cake emerged. That cake was dredged in flour and deep fried and then sprinkled with brown sugar. An impressive amount of work went into this dish. Though it does not have the presentation wow-factor of the challenger's dessert, this will be a better bite. I think the Iron Chef has the advantage heading into judgement.

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?!

Iron Chef Kenichi is back with redemption after his loss in the Turbot battle. He produced three complicated dishes, each requiring multiple steps and utilizing the theme ingredient. While the challenger delivered on the promise of xiaolongbao and garnishes, his second dish was the pre-planned miso crab stir fry and thus could not incorporate wheat flour in any meaningful way. Both chefs displayed mastery utilizing wheat flour, but it was the Iron Chef who did so most thoroughly and with the tastiest results.

Episode notes:

My favorite dish was challenger Kondo's xiaolongbao. One of my favorite foods to eat, but one of my least favorite to make (rendering pork skin is a lengthy and... "aromatic" process).
This was the only wheat flour battle and flour battle of any sort, but bread will be featured towards the end of this season.
The next episode is the ninth of 1994, and 20th overall - Battle Tomato!