Iron Chef #20 - Tomato Battle

Two Hiroyukis enter, one Hiroyuki leaves.

Hiroyuki Kitami vs Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai
Iron Chef 1994 Episode 10 - Overall episode #020 - March 13th, 1994

The Chairman is snapped out of his meditative state by faint vibrations on his culinary spider web. He puts aside all thoughts of feeding on desiccated moths and traces this particular strand's tension to...

Basta Pasta! An Italian open-kitchen restaurant established in Harajuku (in Shibuya) Tokyo in 1985, before relocating to New York City's Flatiron district five years later. If you are wondering, yes, the owner Toshi Suzuki also owned a male exotic dance club called "Banana Power," but that is not what has the chairman's mandibles salivating. Well, maybe a little.

Basta Pasta has attracted numerous celebrities including:
Honami Suzuki - Actress (Shizuko on Samurai Gourmet on Netflix)
Naoto Takenaka - Actor (Takeshi Kasumi on Samurai Gourmet)
Yumi Aso - Actress (Keiko on Oscar nominated Perfect Days)
Kyoko Koizumi - Singer and Actress (Taya in Umami)
Peter Tosh - Owner of rival restaurant *Rasta Pasta*.
I made one of those up.

At the helm of this open-kitchen celebrity hotspot is our challenger.

Meet the Challenger:

Hiroyuki Kitami

After graduating Futaba Culinary school, Chef Kitami spent four years training at an Italian restaurant in Tokyo. He joined Basta Pasta at age 23, becoming a professional boxer at age 26, then head chef of Basta Pasta five years later. A professional pugilist prepares perfect Puglian plates in the prefecture.... Parmesan. You have to root for a guy in a chef's coat embroidered only with the word "chef," as if he'd be mistaken for the mailman.
Note: This is already our second professional boxer to appear as a challenger on Iron Chef. The first being Toshio Tanabe (#4 - Tai Snapper). Unsurprisingly, the Chairman is taking the word "battle" literally.

Your whole party must be present to be seated. I cannot stress this enough.

Challenger Kitami’s Sizzle Reel:

Glazed Japanese eggplants, uni, and cheese. I don’t have the number of synapses required to even imagine what that tastes like.

Crab Spaghetti. While I like both crab and spaghetti, I *love* that chef Kitami isn't shy about garlic.

Cold Spaghetti with Peaches and Tomatoes. Chef Kitami will make this exact same dish again for the forthcoming battle, minus the peaches.

Spaghetti with Duck and Cabbage. A beautiful autumnal dish once again utilizing spaghetti, his pasta of choice. He once tried bucatini and couldn't sleep for a week. *If spaghetti is hollow, does it still have a soul?*

Showdown:

Chairman Kaga breaks out his trademark lingering handshake to unnerve challenger Kitami. If the challenger entered the boxing ring to tap gloves with his opponent and instead was met with this handshake, he would have to forfeit due to psychological trauma.

It seems the camera person was also shook by the shake, taking a second to confirm the challenger still retains all of his fingers. Hiroyuki challenges Hiroyuki to determine who gets to be Hiroyuki and who ends up as Hiro-two-ki. The winner also gets to keep his mustache. Italy vs France. It will be like 2006 World Cup, only with more potential for headbutting.

Title Card:

Challenger Hiroyuki Kitami vs Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai!

The Chairman’s Fit:

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

Today the Chairman is a Maître D' at a fine dining TGI Fridays concept restaurant. May I recommend the new Truffle Tot-Chos? They're handmade tater tots with truffle aioli, Parmesan-Romano, and parsley.

The Reveal:

The Chairman takes a peek over the tomato basket's handle for emphasis. Both chefs specialize in cuisines abundant in tomatoes. The challenger is definitely going to make a spaghetti course. Though there is no Iron Chef Spain, a gazpacho is a lock for one or both of these Western European cuisine chefs. Protein choices are going to be fascinating. Tomatoes are versatile enough to go with anything from seafood to meat stews, but can also hold their own on a dish (pasta for example). It will be interesting to see how many plates do away with the proteins altogether.

The Chairman’s Wisdom:

"For tomatoes, let it dry."

This may be a reference to sun dried tomatoes, a solid C+ pizza or salad topping. You could do better or worse, but at least for $6 you get a nice reusable glass jar too.

Our tomato montage depicts:
The old stone church of St. Tomato in the European countryside.
Tomatoes sweating harder than Zion Williamson in the fourth quarter.
Tomato halves grilling cut-side down.
Tomato salad with olive oil cosplaying as the Chupa Chups logo.
The magma of stewing tomatoes.
Tomato halves cut-side up.
Profound.

Allez! Cuisine!:

The Chairman celebrates a first down reception to begin the battle. Chef Hiroyuki gives a slight bow to Chef Hiroyuki and we are off to the races.

In the Booth:

Play-by-Play Kenji Fukui (right) and Color Commentator Dr. Yukio Hattori (left) are joined by a special returning guest commentator, the erudite Judge Mai Kitajima.

Fukui: Tomatoes. Fruit or Vegetable?
Mai Kitajima: Botanically a fruit. It is an edible berry like cucumbers and eggplants.
Dr. Hattori: You have to go. Like right now.
Fukui: Right you are, Doc!

The Battle:

Iron Chef Sakai watches over the Chairman who watches over Iron Chef Sakai smelling a tomato to ensure it is not an angry persimmon.

Fukui: Tomatoes didn't arrive in Italy from the Americas until 1548.
Kitajima: What did the Americas get in return?
Dr. Hattori: Smallpox.
Fukui & Kitajima: …

This efficiency of coring tomatoes only develops by practicing hundreds of times a day while a superior in a large hat and small mustache yells "Velocemente, nerd del pomodoro!"

Challenger Kitami's sous chef presents him the Chairman's selection of today's finest cheeses. We have buffalo mozzarella, a fresh cheese made from the milk of the Mediterranean buffalo. Parmigano-Reggiano, an aged cow's milk cheese. Lastly, Segreto del Chairman, a pungent cheese made from alarmingly fresh platypus milk.

The challenger blanches the cored tomatoes in order to peel the skin. Thirteen of his twenty tomatoes will get this treatment. The other seven are for the post-battle Tomatina festival. Things get wild in Kitchen Stadium after dark.

The Iron Chef sets up a classic assembly line. His first sous chef cores tomatoes, Iron Chef Sakai slices the tops and bottoms off, and finally his second sous chef governs an Amazonian rubber plantation with a despotic fist.

Challenger Kitami begins planking Japanese eggplants, which like the tomato is also a nightshade. Popular nightshades include tomato, eggplant, bell peppers, and tobacco. Despite longstanding myths, only one of these is actually lethal (green bell peppers).

Iron Chef Sakai tosses peeled and de-seeded tomato wedges and basil into a blender to make a puree. There's nothing interesting about that (yet), so here's a tomato cat:

The challenger gives his eggplants a deep fry. There are only three acceptable ways to cook eggplants. Deep Fry, breaded and pan fried, or roasted with a miso glaze (a la 1990's Nobu or 2020 TikTok).

It only took the second battle before Iron Chef Sakai takes off that ridiculous prop hat to prove there is not a rodent underneath. The other two Iron Chefs simultaneously exclaim "you can do that?!" before immediately ripping off their costumes like NBA warmup apparel. Underneath? Board shorts.

We have our first protein sighting as the Iron Chef preps horse mackerel fillets. I did not have horse mackerel on my protein bingo card, but it should be nice with a butter sauté and tomato accompaniment. The horse mackerel derives its name from the fact that gauchos ride on its back to herd sea cows.

Challenger Kitami begins mashing down tomatoes with onions to make a concasse for his inevitable spaghetti dish.

The Iron Chef does indeed have a gazpacho in the works. His tomato-basil puree is mixed with a chicken demi-glace and fried sliced garlic. This dish is already a winner.

The challenger begins dicing some fresh buffalo mozzarella balls. A caprese salad would be the logical choice, but this is Iron Chef so it is probably going to be ice cream in a temaki sushi hand-roll topped with salmon roe.

Iron Chef Sakai ladles his rich gazpacho into wine glasses before they get chilled. Serving soups in stemware is classy touch. The Chairman requests his serving in a pewter goblet.

Challenger Kitami spreads a thin layer of his stewed tomato sauce atop a spiral of deep fried eggplants and ground lamb, and tops it with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano and basil. This glass dish is destined for the broiler. Do not try this at home.

The Iron Chef pan-roasts his off-road tomato wheels with black pepper, garlic, chicken stock, and liquor. "My first dish is a tomato. Bon Appetit."

The moment the challenger realizes he is about to put a glass dish under the broiler. Oh no, this will have to be baked into an oily mess instead.

Iron Chef Sakai is using ring molds to stack tomatoes, shrimp, and scallions. During his last battle, he did the same with scallops, oysters, and caviar. He can't quit stacking slippery ingredients. The law of gravity does not apply to him. The Delacroix exists outside of spacetime.

It is spaghetti time for chef Kitami! Correction, it is *capellini* time! Lighter than spaghetti, but not as ethereal as angel hair, and of little purpose when the former two are in the pantry. If the spaghetti trio was the Fugees, capellini would be Pras.

The Iron Chef begins sautéing the lightly dredged horse mackerel fillets. He’s going to be sliding these around constantly and get perfectly crispy skin with not a molecule stuck to the pan. Is it the amount of fat in the pan? Is it the legato movements of his sauté hand? Is it the fact he’s a wizard residing in a satellite universe peering down on us through his Hovel telescope?

Remember that fresh mozzarella from earlier? The rodent under the Challenger's hat instructed that it be used in a ratatouille.

The Iron Chef uses his extra time to audition for CSI: Miami. "Revenge is like gazpacho" *dramatically removes glasses* "Best served cold." *Title music*

Stop the competition. Chef Kitami has dumped all his pasta water down the drain and is rinsing any remaining residue off of his capellini in a colander. What a tragic turn of events. Iron Chef Sakai has won by default. I don’t know what to do for the final ten minutes of this episode. Maybe cook some pasta.

The Iron Chef's tomato steaks are sandwiched between zucchini rounds and the sautéed horse mackerel. Sakai stays stackin’. If his children ask for crepes, he’ll make a Mille Cake.

The challenger haplessly mixes oiled pasta with tomato concasse. He will have to sauce this on the plate to have any hope of tomatoes.

Despite all his vigorous mixing, Chef Kitami's pasta hits the plate looking like it never has seen a tomato. Which would be authentic for pre-1548 Italian cuisine.

Just when things look bleakest for Chef Kitami, his sous chefs reveal a dish of fried shrimp, diced tomatoes, and julienned vegetables (that appear to be stir-fried). Can we give the challenger credit for this? What if this is considered his best dish of the competition? Did he order garlic shrimp from Golden King and top it with canned diced tomatoes? I need the lost tapes.

The Judges’ Table(s):

Novelist and Actor Tamio Kageyama (65 battles).
Judge Kageyama wrote a VeggieTales fan-fiction about Bob the Tomato learning that he is actually a fruit. It's four pages and written mostly in crayon.

Actress Mai Kitajima (9 battles).
Judge Kitajima serves her guests peeled cherry tomatoes just to flex.

Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano (42 battles).
Judge Hirano says he *intentionally* bombs at comedy clubs for the free tomatoes thrown at him. Nevertheless, don’t get him started on woke culture.

Dishes:

Challenger Kitami completes four dishes:

Challenger Kitami’s first dish:
Scampi with Ginger Flavor

This was the surprise dish by Chef Kitami, or more accurately, Chef Kitami's sous chefs. This dish is more reminiscent of Chinese-American garlic shrimp stir fry than a Shrimp Scampi, and is his most East-meets-West offering of this competition. The dish is also dripping wet. Swampy wet. So wet that only utensils that make sense are a fork and straw. Wet to the point that the cabbage is serving as a retention pond. There is enough standing water on this plate to cause a Yellow Fever outbreak.

Challenger Kitami’s second dish:
Cold Ratatouille and Mozzarella

Chef Kitami may have been torn between a ratatouille and a caprese salad and settled on something in between. It may seem like the challenger is encroaching into the Iron Chef French's territory, but ratatouille originates in Nice, which is about as close to Italy as one can get in France (and was briefly in the Duchy of Savoy and Kingdom of Sardinia, rather than France-proper). History lesson aside, plating either a ratatouille or a caprese salad would have been a better option than this concoction destined for the end of a salad bar between the tri-color rotini and the egg salad.

Challenger Kitami’s third dish:
Tomatoes and Capellini

Behold the washed pasta topped with diced tomatoes. Just like Nonna used to make, if your Nonna loves TV dinners. The challenger has dug himself into quite a cannelloni. This is the challenger’s only dish to showcase tomatoes as anything more than an afterthought.

Judge Kitajima: Sir, I think somebody has washed my pasta!
Chef Kitami: It was him.
Judge Kageyama: ...Busted.

Challenger Kitami’s Fourth Dish:
Grilled Eggplant with Parmesan Cheese

A casserole version of eggplant parmesan and the only hot dish of his four offerings. Despite the name, the eggplant was fried and then baked with ground lamb, a hint of stewed tomatoes, and shaved parmesan cheese. This greasy flotsam produces enough biodiesel to move a Ford F250 at least seven feet. That said, it is probably delicious. This is not a dish for the napkin dabbers or faint of heart (or otherwise cardiovascular maligned). I'm starting to think Chef Kitami doesn't actually like tomatoes.

It is a risk to serve food the same color as the tablecloth in a transparent vessel. Judge Kageyama’s did say it was the second best fabric he ever tasted, leading to an uncomfortable discussion about the plethora of Japanese vending machines.

Iron Chef Sakai completes three dishes:

Iron Chef Sakai’s first dish:
Tomato and Prawn Salad

The Delacroix begins with a colorful salad dressed with a pistou, encircling a stack of tomatoes and shrimp. He never leaves home without his ring molds. This goes head-to-head with challenger's first dish, also being a tomato and shrimp combination. The Iron Chef's offering is the more composed of the two.

Iron Chef Sakai’s Second Dish:
Roasted Horse Mackerel Meuniere with Olive and Tomato Sauce

The Iron chef has the two most tomato-forward dishes of this competition. This dish began as a pan-roasted tomato steak in garlic, butter, black pepper, and liquor. The zucchini and horse mackerel are nice complements to this tomato showcase. The Delacroix-Brunoise, a fixture of the Iron Chef's colorful garnish game, makes its first appearance on this series. Momentous! The Judges are on board.

Iron Chef Sakai’s third dish:
Tomato Soup with Fried Garlic

This chilled tomato soup has a lot of body. Strained tomato puree aside, it is about 50% chicken demi-glaze (ie brown chicken stock reduced to a gelatin). Add the fried garlic and pine nuts, and this may be the most flavorful European tomato soup East of the Pyrenees. No fourth dish required. This will be a straightforward process for the judges, whose only confusion is in regards to the chives garnish. The proper action is to pinch them between one's upper lip and nose in the manner of a moustache while grunting rudimentary French.

We can skip the scoring, head straight to the decision, and beat traffic.

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?!

The Iron Chef French's path to victory opened up early in this battle. Iron Chef Sakai had a clear and concise plan of three dishes to showcase the tomato: Soup, salad, and roasted. He executed brilliantly on all three. The challenger, Chef Kitami, brought more dishes to the table but didn't embrace the theme ingredient nor did he execute as well as he may have hoped. There was a watery stir fry "scampi," ratatouille salad with cheesy chunks, pasta adjacent to tomatoes, and an eggplant and cheese dish seemingly ashamed of tomatoes.

Chef Kitami reinvents Italian classics for the celebrity elite in an open kitchen. Creativity, adversity under pressure, and execution are facets of his professional life. These too are skills required in Kitchen Stadium, but amplified. Sometimes a softball theme ingredient leaves the Chefs flustered. This was similar to when French Chef Jaque Borie froze up in the Chicken Battle and black truffle’d everything. That said, it was an admirable effort from the former professional boxer, and nothing short of a flawless performance would’ve beat the Iron Chef.

Episode notes:

My favorite dish was Iron Chef Sakai's cold tomato soup. Tomato soups are boring. I don't think I've made one in a couple years, and when I did, I bombed it with heavy cream and paprika (and probably dunked a sandwich in it). Iron Chef Sakai's tomato soup is fun and gives me an excuse to make a ton of chicken stock.
This was the first of four tomato battles, all of which feature challengers specializing in Western European cuisine.
The next episode is the tenth of 1994, and 21st overall - Battle Scallop!