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00:00And then there was four.
00:05Ooh, pretty.
00:06We are in the semifinals.
00:08This is incredible.
00:10I am very, very proud of myself.
00:12I've made it this far.
00:13Like, I'm hyped. I'm ready to win this.
00:16Huge congratulations to you all.
00:19You've all made it to the semifinals.
00:23Good job, everyone. Good job, chefs.
00:25Chefs, sushi has evolved from a working-class street food in Japan
00:32to a global phenomenon.
00:34Part of its broad appeal is its versatility
00:37with ingredient choices, flavor combinations,
00:40and cooking techniques.
00:42Today, we are testing your versatility.
00:46And for your Yukoze challenge, we have a sweet tooth.
00:50Yup, you'll be making desserts, chefs.
00:55Good thing we're all pastry chefs, right?
00:57Did you see this coming?
00:59Every great chef has a dessert up their sleeves.
01:02And in Japanese cuisine, dessert is an important aesthetic component
01:06of the meal that has to be designed carefully
01:09according to the season and the colors of nature.
01:12We're not pastry chefs, you know?
01:14We're sushi chefs.
01:15But I feel like I can put my own little razzle-dazzle on it.
01:18Dessert in Japan, at the end of a meal,
01:21is most often served with tea.
01:23In fact, at my omakase restaurant,
01:25we always serve tea with our dessert.
01:28In fact, we do a pairing of dessert paired with hot green tea
01:32to round out the omakase experience.
01:35So, chefs, to celebrate the relationship between tea and dessert,
01:41it's tea time now.
01:43You'll be choosing a tea from this table
01:46and creating a dessert that pairs well with it.
01:50You'll have 45 minutes
01:52and a fully stocked pantry for your desserts.
01:55And the winner of this ikuose challenge
01:57will get an advantage in the kesho challenge.
02:00Judges, any advice?
02:02So, only four contestants remain here.
02:06So, you guys are a little bit lucky.
02:08Even if you made a mistake,
02:10no more lucky work set.
02:12Your real ability will be tested.
02:16Real battle begins.
02:23All right, chefs.
02:24You have five minutes to come up, sip the teas,
02:27and choose your cup of tea before the cook time starts.
02:30Come on up for your tea party.
02:34Teas.
02:35So many teas.
02:39The ginger usually tea tastes a little sweet.
02:42It's got a really earthiness to it.
02:44I wanted my dessert to have a little savoriness,
02:45a little sweetness to it,
02:46and then also my tea to have a little bitterness,
02:48a little grassiness, a little grounded flavor to it.
02:52This one smells like chestnuts.
02:53As soon as I taste the fukamushi sencha yame,
02:56I feel like I can pair something with this
02:59and kind of keep the theme of nuttiness along,
03:02which I feel will work in the dessert.
03:04Mmm. I like this one a lot.
03:06The taste of sencha gold is very earthy, bitter,
03:10and a little bit sweet.
03:12I think I'll go with this one.
03:14I think I'm gonna grab the kuritawasser.
03:16When I tried the kuritawasser,
03:18I felt that little nuttiness
03:20and that warmth of a black tea
03:22that I'm very comfortable with a dish that I have in mind.
03:26All right.
03:27All right, chefs.
03:29Make something tea-rific.
03:31Your time starts now.
03:35Hirashay!
03:36Hirashay!
03:42At this point, I'm second twice.
03:46I'm bottom once.
03:48Oh, sorry.
03:49I feel like I'm trying my hardest,
03:51but I'm still not good enough to win A1 challenge.
03:56The chocolate.
03:58Yes.
03:59But I don't want to give up.
04:02Mm-hmm.
04:04Jason, what are you making today?
04:06Well, I chose the fukamushi sencha,
04:08and it's got a nice nuttiness to it,
04:10so what I'm gonna prepare today
04:12is a saikyo miso and lemon basque burnt cheesecake.
04:17Oh, nice.
04:18Hoping that it pairs well with, you know,
04:20the nuttiness of the tea that I chose,
04:22but obviously it can either not toast very well
04:25or it can burn.
04:27I have to time this out properly
04:29so that the basque cheesecake can fully cook
04:32and not overcook,
04:33but at the same time achieve the right color on the surface.
04:36Hopefully these work.
04:38I need to win this challenge,
04:40and I'm gonna do it by showing Morimoto
04:43that I have learned a lot from him.
04:47Well, it sounds really good, chef.
04:49What are you preparing?
04:51I got the curry tiwase, which is a black tea.
04:54It has a nice, uh, body nutty flavor into it,
04:57so I'm making a sakura dorayaki with a kombucha cream.
05:01Nice.
05:02And also with, uh, I saw these milk candies.
05:05I'm making a Japanese milk candy brown sugar ice cream.
05:08Okay.
05:09And, uh, kompok, kompo.
05:11Sounds good.
05:12Dorayaki is a Japanese pancake.
05:15Eating this Japanese pancake where it could be spongy
05:18and also fluffy,
05:19I feel like it's gonna work really well with the tea to wash down,
05:22and I think this is gonna be a well-established dish.
05:24What, are you nervous about anything?
05:26I'm nervous about how this is gonna turn out, honestly.
05:28I cook every round, every challenge, all my heart,
05:32and it's a learning journey for me,
05:34but I'm competitive.
05:36I want to win it.
05:39Okay.
05:41Yoko.
05:42What kind of tea do you pick?
05:43I pick pokujo senja,
05:46which is the most bitter tea I think.
05:49So I'm gonna make the really sweet dessert
05:53that goes along with the bitter tea.
05:56Bitter tea.
05:57Bitter tea.
05:58Today I'm making mochi ice cream s'mores
06:02with truffle ice cream.
06:04Super sweet.
06:06I'm realizing now I have to be bolder at this point.
06:13I have to let my creativity really out.
06:16I can't just make regular ice cream.
06:19I have to make something that they never had.
06:22before.
06:23How'd it come out, Chef?
06:25I think it's okay.
06:26You got ice cream?
06:27I think so.
06:28You think so?
06:29Chef!
06:30Only 25 minutes left.
06:3325 minutes left.
06:3525 minutes left.
06:3625 minutes left.
06:37Blossoms in.
06:38So I'm making a cherry blossom ice cream.
06:40Beautiful.
06:41So we're steeping down some cherry blossoms
06:43with the cream and the milk and sugar right now.
06:45There's the fundamentals of making a great ice cream.
06:47You gotta make that perfect custard base.
06:49So I'm trying to agitate the cherry blossoms a little bit
06:52in the cream base, the custard base.
06:54We are on a very short time frame right now,
06:56so we wanna really make that flavor,
06:58cherry blossom flavor pronounced in the dish.
07:00I feel very confident about my custard base.
07:03It's getting to the consistency exactly where I wanted it.
07:05Nice thickness, very soft, luxurious,
07:08but not watery at all.
07:10I've made this ice cream before.
07:11Never in this method, though, that we were gonna have to do.
07:14So we have 45 minutes in this challenge,
07:16and the ice cream maker is gonna take 45 minutes to use.
07:19How do I pivot from that?
07:21Liquid nitrogen is the key and the answer to this.
07:24I feel like Bill Nye the science guy right now.
07:26Let's go.
07:27You know, I've worked with liquid nitrogen once before.
07:29I never made an ice cream with it,
07:31so I'm trying to, you know, learn as I go.
07:37Chefs, 14 minutes left.
07:3914 minutes, heard.
07:41Why am I not surprised, Mr. Razzle-Razzle?
07:44You got smoke coming out of your station.
07:46Yeah, surprise, right?
07:48It's definitely thickening up right now.
07:50I think the custard mix came out great,
07:53and it's starting to look like that creamy, non-icy,
07:57thicker consistency that I'm really looking for.
08:00I have to make this ice cream perfect.
08:02If I'm only doing ice cream, it better be perfect.
08:04So, Chef Phillip,
08:06do you like what you're seeing from them so far?
08:08Anything you're worried about?
08:10I'm definitely worried about time.
08:11We're getting close.
08:12I don't really see a lot of anything coming together.
08:15We got some signature Razzle-Razzle over here.
08:19He looks pretty good in those glasses, though, wouldn't you say?
08:21Yeah, he looks great.
08:22It looks like it was made just for him.
08:25Desserts are always very subjective.
08:27You know, I don't have a very big sweet tooth.
08:30I don't like overtly sweet desserts.
08:33But again, it all depends on your tea.
08:35Like in Japan, they serve you bitter matcha
08:38with a little candy, right?
08:39To balance it out.
08:40To balance out the bitter.
08:42So are they gonna go extra sweet with their bitter tea?
08:45Are they going to try to have a balanced tea
08:47with a balanced dessert?
08:48It'll be very interesting to see what the chefs come up with.
08:50Yes.
08:51Right now, I'm gonna make my ganache with white chocolate.
08:55A little heavy cream.
08:57Melt this down.
09:04Okay.
09:06Oh!
09:07Oh, God.
09:08You okay?
09:09Yeah.
09:10That just broke.
09:12My glass bowl just shattered.
09:15I made the mistake of grabbing a glass bowl.
09:18The bowl just shattered into the pot.
09:20Time is running out.
09:22Now I gotta start over.
09:23That was stupid.
09:25Oh, God.
09:26You okay?
09:27Yeah.
09:28That just broke.
09:29Chef, what's going on?
09:30Uh, my glass bowl shattered.
09:31Probably wasn't the best idea to use glass,
09:32but did not expect that.
09:33You gonna make it happen, Chef?
09:34Uh, yes.
09:35I'm going to make it happen.
09:36Just having to restart kind of worries me.
09:38Hopefully this can melt down in time.
09:55Uh, right now my kombucha cream is not thick.
10:03Time's running out, Chef.
10:04You gotta push.
10:05Yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:06I got it.
10:07Thank you so much, Chef.
10:08Time is going down really fast,
10:09and my ice cream is not thickening to the way I want.
10:12My ice cream is getting there.
10:13I just need to add more liquid nitrogen.
10:15I've never done this before,
10:16but hopefully this works out well.
10:18A little by little.
10:20This is something really nerve-wracking.
10:24I'm adding more,
10:26still not getting to the texture I want it to be at.
10:28My ice cream looks like it's not picking it up
10:30right now for some reason.
10:32How's it going, Abe?
10:33Uh, it's going.
10:35How's your ice cream coming?
10:37Uh, it's taking a while.
10:38I am so nervous I'm not gonna finish on time.
10:42Chefs, you have five minutes left.
10:45Five minutes left!
10:46You got it?
10:47They look good.
10:50Oh my gosh, okay.
10:52I made a mistake with timing of making mochi.
10:56Okay.
10:57All right.
10:59I'm trying to wrap the truffle ice cream with mochi,
11:02and as I wrap, it starts melting on my hand.
11:06The lift is gonna work.
11:08The mochi is too hot.
11:10I'm shaking because I'm so nervous.
11:13I'm gonna put this in the freezer real quick.
11:16I'm hoping for the best.
11:18Two minutes left, chefs!
11:20Just two minutes left on your clock!
11:22Two minutes!
11:24Time is running really, really fast.
11:29The cream didn't set.
11:31I'm not too happy about that,
11:32but I'm adding liquid nitrogen to see if I can save it really fast.
11:35I am panicking.
11:36My stomach feels like it's butterflies all over going up.
11:40I feel like throwing up.
11:41Chefs, you have one minute left.
11:43One minute!
11:44One minute, chefs!
11:45One minute!
11:46One minute, chefs!
11:47One minute, chefs!
11:53All right.
11:54Ten seconds left!
11:55Ten!
11:56Ten!
11:57Nine!
11:58Eight!
11:59Seven!
12:00Six!
12:01Five!
12:02Four!
12:03Three!
12:04Two!
12:05One!
12:06Awesome!
12:07Hands up!
12:08Hands up!
12:09Oh, my God!
12:10That was rough.
12:11All right, chefs, it is time to spill the tea to the judges about your desserts.
12:28Hello, Abe.
12:29Hi, Abe.
12:30Hello, judges.
12:31Please tell us about your dessert.
12:33The tea that I have was a kuri tiwase tea,
12:36and which I have for you is a sakura dorayaki
12:40with a Japanese milk candy brown sugar ice cream.
12:45Inside of it, I did put a kombucha red beet custard.
12:48Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to let it rest.
12:51On the side, I do have for you a kumquat kompo.
12:54The dorayaki is like a cake,
12:57and with the black tea, I feel like cake goes really well.
13:00With the black tea, especially how nutty that tea is.
13:02Okay, I think the ice cream is smooth,
13:04and then very easy to swallow,
13:06and all the flavors going up.
13:08Get the cake, yeah.
13:09Yes.
13:10Not too sweet.
13:11Kind of Japanese-style.
13:12I like it.
13:13But the dorayaki is not a...
13:15I don't want to call it dorayaki,
13:17because it's a kind of neck-firm pancake.
13:20Thank you very much.
13:21Thank you, chef.
13:22Ice cream, beautiful flavor.
13:24Kind of an icy texture.
13:26The actual pancake, great flavor.
13:29Very dense.
13:31And then the kumquat compote wasn't quite cooked enough
13:34to really chew through.
13:36So I think you have the basis of a great dish.
13:39You nailed the flavors.
13:40You nailed the combination.
13:42You nailed the pairing.
13:43You didn't nail the execution of the individual components,
13:46unfortunately.
13:47I'm feeling a little down.
13:49Everything wasn't executed as well as I should have executed it.
13:53Hi, Jason.
13:54Hello.
13:55Hi, Jess.
13:56Hello, judges.
13:57I chose the pukamushi sensei yame.
13:59So today I prepared a saikyo miso and lemon burnt basque cheesecake
14:04and a white chocolate ganache with some hazelnuts
14:08and some green apple that was cooked down with a sake, sugar, and mirin syrup.
14:14First of all, it's just a cake yourself.
14:18Then second bite after tea, it's quite different.
14:21It's like wine pairing.
14:23So I think this is a very successful dish.
14:25Thank you very much.
14:27I'm very familiar with this tea.
14:29It's a delicious tea.
14:30I have it at home.
14:31And I think the pairing works.
14:33I thought it was soft where it should be soft.
14:35I thought it was crunchy where it should be crunchy.
14:37Overall, I agree with Chef.
14:38I think it's a successful dish.
14:40Thank you very much.
14:41I always surprised myself.
14:42The fact that I put together a dessert that I feel was Japanese in a way,
14:47but it was so unique.
14:48Thank you so much.
14:49Thank you, Chef.
14:50Thank you, Jason.
14:54Hello, judges.
14:55Hi, Lucas.
14:56Hi, Lucas.
14:57So when I look at what everyone else does on their plates,
14:59it makes me feel that I didn't do enough.
15:01So I'm a little worried that I didn't give enough components
15:04and I think that they're going to knock me on this,
15:06that we had this amount of time,
15:07and all I did was make ice cream.
15:09So the tea I picked was the Benefuki.
15:12What we have here is a cherry blossom ice cream
15:14with a little candy ginger I made myself,
15:17a little fresh raspberries, some Tsukuro Arade,
15:20and a little garnish of flowers.
15:24Mmm.
15:25I like...
15:26Chef.
15:27Originally, I like the, you know, sweet.
15:29And then ginger candy is good.
15:31Thank you very much, Chef.
15:32Yeah.
15:33And then ice cream a little bit salty,
15:35but with this beer, it's not bad.
15:38It's tea-rific, right?
15:39Thank you, Chef.
15:40Yes. Thank you very much.
15:42This texture is borderline perfect.
15:44Mmm.
15:45It is soft.
15:47It is smooth.
15:48There is zero grain.
15:50There is zero iciness.
15:51The flavor is a little bit on the salty side.
15:54With that said, when you take this bite,
15:56and you take this sip,
15:58the salt and this actually work really well together.
16:02Great tea, great dessert.
16:03Thank you very much.
16:04Thank you, Judge.
16:05To be told that your ice cream is near perfect
16:08from somebody of his caliber and, you know,
16:10his statue is very, very amazing.
16:13I feel great.
16:15I don't know.
16:16I don't know.
16:17I don't know.
16:18I don't know.
16:19I don't know.
16:20Hi, Yoko.
16:21Hi, Chef.
16:22Hi, Chef.
16:23Hi, Chef.
16:24I feel pretty good about the plate.
16:26And I'm excited to show the judges,
16:31not just the dessert, but experience.
16:52I'm so sorry.
16:53It's on fire.
16:54It's on fire, Yoko.
16:55Be careful.
16:56Fire.
16:57Your bottle's on fire.
16:58Your bottle's on fire.
16:59Fire.
17:00Fire.
17:16I'm so sorry.
17:17It's on fire.
17:18It's on fire, Yoko.
17:19Be careful.
17:20Your bottle's on fire.
17:21Fire.
17:22I'm so sorry.
17:23No.
17:24It's not.
17:25It's not.
17:26It's okay.
17:27You're good.
17:28It's not your fault.
17:29Okay, it went out.
17:30I think it went out.
17:31Okay, it went out.
17:32I think it went out.
17:33This is easily the most fun station we've been to.
17:38I wanted to give them experience.
17:42I gave them experience.
17:44That was fun.
17:46That was fun.
17:47It almost looked like back to the future on the dish, you know?
17:52Interactive dish, you know?
17:54She meant to do it, you know?
17:55That was table side at its best.
17:57So for tea, I picked Sencha.
17:59So I made my own s'mores with white chocolate, with truffle, ice cream.
18:05I wanted to make something that's playful and memorable at the end.
18:13It's balance and your, you know, story to pick up this.
18:17This is some emoji in the Japanese kind of the authentic style.
18:21So I like this one.
18:22Successful, yes.
18:23I think so.
18:24Thank you so much.
18:25Thank you, chef.
18:26Chef, this dish was exciting.
18:29It was fun.
18:30The truffle and the Sencha work really well together.
18:33The texture of the mochi is very nice.
18:35I mean, this is a dish that I feel like I would have been served for dessert
18:40at one of the Michelin star domakases I dined at in Japan.
18:44Thank you so much.
18:46I'm very happy to have, finally have positive feedback from the judges.
18:52All right.
18:53Judges, how did our sushi chefs do with their dessert and their tea pairings?
18:58So you guys have the more, you know, like a skill, you know, more than I thought.
19:03You guys did a great job.
19:05Okay, thank you very much.
19:06Thank you, chef.
19:08Thank you very much, chef.
19:09So judges, who had those world-class desserts,
19:13the most successful desserts out of the bunch?
19:16One of the chefs that we thought had one of the most successful dishes
19:24was Yoko.
19:27Thank you so much.
19:28Even though you tried to kill me, you did not succeed.
19:33And luckily, I was able to try your dessert.
19:37Thank you so much, chef.
19:39Chef Morimoto, who had one of your favorites?
19:43Okay, another one would be...
19:48Jason.
19:50Thank you, chef.
19:51Jason.
19:53All the key points for success for, you know, pairing with the tea and then, you know, cheesecake,
19:58the flavor balance and pairing like a tea, it's a great dish.
20:03Good job.
20:04Thank you, chef.
20:06Okay, judges, who had the best dessert of the day?
20:11Ah.
20:15Okay, jump up.
20:20Yoko.
20:21Nice.
20:22Woo!
20:24Congratulations.
20:25Thank you so much.
20:27Congratulations, chef.
20:28Thank you so much.
20:29I'm completely shocked.
20:30I can't believe I won this challenge.
20:31So, of course, Yoko, that means that you have an advantage in the Kisho challenge.
20:49Yes.
20:50First time.
20:51Where the judges will be testing your versatility on the global stage.
20:56Chef Morimoto has restaurants across the globe, from Napa, California, to Waikiki, Hawaii, to India, and the list goes on.
21:06Chef Morimoto, why do you love opening restaurants around the world?
21:10Mmm.
21:11Actually, I want to see different culture, different food, and different people.
21:15Countries have different cultures.
21:17Palette.
21:18Industry.
21:19History.
21:20So, very interesting.
21:21That's why I want to see that.
21:22So, for your Kisho challenge, you are going global just like Chef Morimoto.
21:27You'll each get a different location of one of Chef Morimoto's restaurants, and create a sushi or Japanese dish that features the flavors from the country that you are given.
21:38All right.
21:40The countries available to you are India, Morocco, Indonesia, Mexico, and France.
21:48So, Yoko, as the winner of the Yokoza challenge, you get to pick your country first, and you'll get to assign the rest of the countries to your fellow chefs.
22:01Ooh.
22:02Wow, Chef.
22:03I told you you wanted to get this advantage.
22:05Oh.
22:06Oh.
22:07Yeah.
22:08Who do you like the least?
22:09Ooh.
22:11Okay.
22:12Come on up and pick your country.
22:14Hi.
22:15The Japanese cuisine and French cuisine have similar techniques and similar style, so I think it would suit my cooking style.
22:28I'm picking France.
22:29French cooking has a lot of technique and more delicate style, and I think it would be more fun for me to play around.
22:36Okay.
22:37Now, Yoko, here comes the fun part.
22:40You get to assign the rest of the countries to your fellow chefs now.
22:45Throughout this competition, I've seen Jason Cook, and I think he's very talented, technically more proficient than me.
22:55He is my biggest competition, so I'm giving him the hardest choice out of the country.
23:02I'll give Morocco to Jason.
23:06I think it's very challenging.
23:09It would be hard for Jason, you think?
23:11I don't know.
23:12Jason does everything well, so I would like to see.
23:18What else? India, right?
23:19India.
23:20India.
23:21Goes to Lucas.
23:22Lucas!
23:23Thank you, Chef.
23:24I feel okay about that, because it would have been on one of my top lists.
23:27I like Indian food.
23:28Watch out.
23:30I need to highlight these Indian ingredients to the best of my capability, and, you know, I think I could win this one.
23:36Indonesia to Abe.
23:38Abe.
23:39Indonesia, go to Abe.
23:40She made a mistake.
23:41I'm from Brunei, which is near Indonesia.
23:44Dude, this is meant to be.
23:46This is meant for me to shine today.
23:48Yoko, thank you.
23:50Go back to your station.
23:51I grew up eating Indonesian food until I was around eight years old, so I'm very familiar with the flavors.
23:57I got this in the bag.
23:59I'ma pull all my cards out to win this one.
24:02So, chefs, you have only just one hour to work before serving at the omakase table.
24:08Your international clock starts now.
24:12It's the same.
24:13Get on with me.
24:15Oh, salmon.
24:17Lots of lots of lots of shallots.
24:20It's heavy.
24:21At this, you know, stage of the competition, this is semi-finals.
24:30There can't be a single mistake.
24:32The judges are at a very high standard.
24:35Any small mistake could have sent any of us home.
24:37I need to just step up my game and win this challenge.
24:42What do you think the difficulties are in this challenge?
24:46You've only got 60 minutes to really channel a cuisine that, for most of the chefs, they're not very comfortable with.
24:53That is hard.
24:54Um, paprika.
24:56What do you think it's going to come down to, then?
24:59It's going to come down to which chef executes just a little bit less than their competitors.
25:05Oh, no.
25:06Chef Yoko.
25:07The winner of the last challenge.
25:08Thank you so much.
25:09How do you feel about your game play?
25:10Was there any strategy going into sorting out the countries to the other chefs, or...?
25:23Oh, really?
25:24Was that the main strategy?
25:25Just to give Jason the hardest time?
25:26A little bit.
25:27A little bit.
25:28Because he's been winning too much.
25:29Oh, no!
25:30I'm a little worried because I've never made Moroccan food.
25:31Hey, what do you think's got the hardest country?
25:32Dude, I think honestly you did, man.
25:33I really got to do some thinking about how I'm going to infuse Japanese into Morocco.
25:50It is definitely challenging because I'm not very familiar with Moroccan cuisine.
25:57I'm hoping I don't go home after this.
26:07Okay.
26:08You've got 48 minutes.
26:0948 minutes hard.
26:14Let's move in quick.
26:15I'm going to let things ride out.
26:17I'm not going to rush anything.
26:19I'm doing fine.
26:20I'm a little worried because I've never made Moroccan food.
26:24But I've made couscous and I've made steak.
26:27I could spice the steak in a certain way and bring in Japanese flavors, at least.
26:32So what's your Japanese inspiration to this dish?
26:34I was having a hard time, you know, figuring out, like, what I could do.
26:39So I'm just trying to incorporate Japanese ingredients into a Moroccan-style dish.
26:44Okay.
26:45The Moroccan-Japanese dish that I'm going to make is couscous cooked in a dashi broth.
26:50I'm also going to rub a Wagyu New York strip with some yuzu kosho.
26:55Dude, that looks really good, chef.
26:57And I'm going to marinate some soft-cooked eggs in a preserved lemon soy sauce.
27:03And I'm also making a component called tanzia, which is a dried fruit and nut mixture.
27:09I am worried that maybe the Japanese aspect won't shine through as much.
27:13I do have yuzu kosho in there, and I feel like that's a very strong, bold flavor.
27:18But with the Moroccan spices, I feel like they might be even stronger.
27:23I do want the Moroccan to come through as well.
27:26Hopefully my other components are Japanese enough.
27:28I'm nervous that the judges are going to look at my dish and just see it as too Moroccan.
27:34Smells like Moroccan.
27:36Lucas.
27:37Hey, chef. How you doing?
27:38India.
27:39India.
27:40What's the theme?
27:41India.
27:42So, I'm going to do an Indian-inspired surf and turf roll.
27:43Surf and turf roll?
27:44Yes, chef.
27:45Sushi roll.
27:46Oh, what's in it?
27:47We're going to do a little curry, ghee, king crab on the inside, and then a little Wagyu
28:04on top.
28:05Cool, cool, cool.
28:06How much is okay?
28:0760 minutes?
28:08Oh, you know.
28:09We'll find out.
28:10I have worked with Indian flavors before.
28:12I like Indian food.
28:13And those flavor profiles are very in-your-face.
28:16And that's something that I need to bring to the table.
28:19It's more in-your-face, you know, flavor.
28:30What country did Yoko give you?
28:32She gave me Indonesia, so what I'm doing with it to give it the Japanese flavor is making
28:37it into a tirashi bowl and adding a little bit of sashimi-style salmon, but it's seared
28:41so it goes well with the rice.
28:42Some marinated Wagyu.
28:43It's marinated in a rendang sauce.
28:44It's like a curry sauce.
28:45Nice.
28:46Also adding Indonesian-style tamago.
28:48It's like a deep-fried egg.
28:49Nice.
28:50Sounds good.
28:51I am making a nasi lemak tirashi bowl.
28:54Nasi lemak is a traditional Indonesian rice dish.
28:57Have you ever made this before, Abe?
28:59Uh, I've eaten it growing up in Brunei.
29:01Oh, yeah?
29:02Yeah, I'm eating this.
29:03I'm fairly familiar with the flavor profile.
29:06My Japanese components will be making it more like a tirashi by adding cured salmon inside
29:12of it, Wagyu, top it off with shushu leaf, ikura, and quoll eggs.
29:16Peel these little eggs.
29:18The main Indonesian components of this is going to be the sambal.
29:21This is a traditional sambal.
29:23It has lots of spices in it.
29:25It has dried chilies, little dehydrated anchovies, dried shrimp, bilango.
29:30It has lemongrass, a little bit of star anise cardamom.
29:33The ingredient in this goes over, like, 50.
29:36It's going to be very challenging to do this.
29:48Yoko, how are you doing over there?
29:50What are you working on?
29:51I'm going to do my own interpretation of French sushi omakase.
29:57A little omakase, a little French omakase, huh?
30:00Yes.
30:01That sounds pretty nice.
30:02What did you pick for proteins, Yoko?
30:04I picked yotao belly, Wagyu, uni.
30:08Wow, you got all the proteins, huh?
30:10Did you leave anything for anybody else?
30:12I did.
30:13I'm making yotao belly with candelope.
30:17Mine is sweet.
30:19I'm also making asparagus with truffle,
30:22snapper with kabir,
30:24and foie gras with brie.
30:27Foie, huh?
30:28I know.
30:29Going for the win.
30:31I don't know.
30:32You got some luxurious ingredients, Yoko.
30:33I don't know.
30:34And also Wagyu beef with uni.
30:37I'm scared of fire.
30:39Hey.
30:40This dish is essential for me.
30:42This is a dish that can take me to finale.
30:46I like what I'm seeing, chef.
30:47Thank you so much.
30:48I like what I'm seeing.
30:49Thank you so much.
30:57Chef, you have 28 minutes left.
30:5928 minutes left.
31:01Return.
31:05We have four phenomenal chefs.
31:07I just went around and tasted something from each station.
31:11And?
31:12Absolutely delicious.
31:13So this is gonna be a very, very, very tight race.
31:16Right.
31:17I don't think we're gonna have a bad dish today.
31:19I think we're going to have a very hard time choosing the worst dish.
31:23I like that head nod.
31:24This is gonna be a tough battle.
31:25Everything tastes good.
31:26Everybody in this competition has been told they don't season their rice enough.
31:39So that's in my head.
31:40And I just want to season it and season and season it.
31:42So it's a sushi vinegar, a little kombu, salt, rice vinegar, mirin.
31:49Too much sushi vinegar.
31:52So I know the rice is , you know, so I'm trying to fan it as much as I can to dry it out as fast as I can.
31:58A little nervous.
31:59It's too far in the competition.
32:00I can't make new rice.
32:01I cannot really save this.
32:07As soon as I try to put the rice on the nori, I just know it's a sloppy mess.
32:10I try to roll it.
32:11All the rice sticks to the board.
32:13I'm literally just rolling nori and my heart drops.
32:16Whatever, Lucas.
32:17I think too much vinegar.
32:20And I know this could be it for me.
32:25Chefs, you have 15 minutes left.
32:28Time to push.
32:29Time is running out.
32:31I have so much components going on right now.
32:37I am so nervous I'm not gonna finish on time.
32:4012 minutes left.
32:4112 minutes heard.
32:42This dish needs to count.
32:44It's that one dish that can either make you to the finale or just send you home.
32:49Wait about 10 minutes, Abe.
32:50How you doing?
32:51I think it's gonna be really close.
32:53I'm gonna start cooking my steak.
32:54And after that, I think I gotta start plating.
32:56I wanna make this really beautiful.
32:57How about you?
32:58Yeah, same.
32:59Same.
33:00Why did you choose the plating that you chose?
33:01So I wanted like a bigger bowl type of dish.
33:03So that I could put the couscous in the center and then build around it.
33:08Put the nut mixture around it.
33:09You want a bigger canvas, right?
33:11Yeah.
33:12When I think of Moroccan food, I think of like beautifully presented food.
33:15And that everyone's gonna gather around and kind of start eating and sharing this food.
33:19So I wanted this plate to be larger.
33:21I wanted the portion to be larger so that it would mimic like as if you're sitting down and you're about to share this with like your family.
33:27Okay, five minutes!
33:29Go home, there's five minutes!
33:30One minute!
33:31One minute!
33:32One minute!
33:33Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot.
33:34It's getting really close.
33:36All right, chefs.
33:37Ten!
33:38Nine!
33:39Eight!
33:40Seven!
33:41Six!
33:42Five!
33:43Four!
33:44Three!
33:45Two!
33:46One!
33:47Five!
33:48Five!
33:49Four!
33:50Three!
33:51Two!
33:52One!
33:53Nine!
33:54Nine!
33:55Eight!
33:56Seven!
33:57Six!
33:58Five!
33:59Four!
34:00Three!
34:01Two!
34:02One!
34:03Shoot!
34:04That was a tough one.
34:05That was a tough one.
34:17OK, chefs, we'll see you at the omakase table
34:20for our trip around the world.
34:25OK, Lucas, please come on up.
34:31When I'm bringing my dish up to the judges,
34:33I'm just humiliated.
34:36I feel like I'm not a really good chef anymore,
34:39that I made a mistake that it's going to haunt me forever.
34:53Lucas, tell us about your dish.
34:56I don't really know what to say about this.
34:57I'm very upset with myself on this challenge.
35:00Probably my weakest plate that I've put out in this competition.
35:03My apologies, judges.
35:07What we have here, some lentils that I cooked down into a puree.
35:11Hold on, sorry, hold on.
35:12I can see in your face, and I've been in your shoes before,
35:15but for us, you want to sell us this dish.
35:18OK.
35:19For all you know, we're going to love it.
35:22So don't sell yourself short yet.
35:23So the dish I prepared for you today is an Indian take on surf and turf.
35:29We have a little lentil puree, and then in the roll a ghee curry king crab.
35:35On top, we have some Japanese wagyu with a little garam masala mayo.
35:39And then on top of that, we have a little crispy shri potatoes.
35:42You are way more worried than you need to be.
35:44Aw.
35:46I don't think they are too bad.
35:48They kind of get like in there, in the spices, and then just one bite from curry and garam masala.
35:54It's a very strong taste, yes.
35:56Thanks, chef.
35:57By far, the worst thing about this dish is the way you presented it to us.
36:01OK.
36:02Your rice, you may have dressed it a little bit too much, but the flavors are nice.
36:06I don't need the lentils.
36:07I don't need the sweet potatoes.
36:08Everything else aside, just this right here is one of the better rolls I've had.
36:13Is it executed right?
36:15No.
36:16You've got too much rice on this side, no rice on this side.
36:19But curry king crab, lightly seared Japanese wagyu beef, all of your little sauces.
36:26As far as integrating your flavors, I think it works.
36:29All right.
36:30Thank you so much, Lucas.
36:31Thank you very much, judges.
36:33My flavors were there.
36:34They love the flavors.
36:35But when it comes to technical issues, you can't overlook those.
36:38Chef Yoko?
36:40Today, I prepared French omakase sushi plate.
36:45We have yotel belly with a cantaloupe, madami with a caviar, asparagus with truffle,
36:52wagyu roast beef with uni, and foie gras with caramel bell cheese.
36:57So, this sushi rice, you're using sherry vinegar.
37:01Yes.
37:02Season is good.
37:05Jelly vinegar rice, and I tried to eat it in my Bordeaux restaurant.
37:08Thank you so much.
37:10The Thai with the caviar, delicious.
37:13I don't think it's French.
37:15The wagyu with the uni, I don't think it's French.
37:18It was delicious.
37:20The camembert cheese with foie gras, okay, that's French.
37:22Great plate of food.
37:23I liked it.
37:24But again, we are at the semifinals right now.
37:29So, we're digging deep into this.
37:31But otherwise, I had five pieces of very nice nigiri.
37:34Good job, chef.
37:35Thank you so much.
37:36Nice work.
37:37I've been always in either bottom or middle or second, so I'm very happy.
37:44But also, I'm mad at myself that I didn't do a perfect job.
37:48There is so much on the line.
37:50Abe?
37:51The country I got was Indonesia.
37:54What I have here for you guys is a nasi lamek churashi.
37:57The sambal has lots of spices, the coconut rice, a little hondashi in it.
38:01I have a rendang wagyu and a quail egg that's fried, topped with shusha leaf and a salad crab
38:09chips.
38:10It's a little bit I bite from, you know, just wagyu and just, you know, salmon serve and
38:15then mix together everything with sambal.
38:18It's quite tasty and this is very crunchy.
38:20It's nice, but I don't feel any Japanese, Indonesian, your version of churashi, you've
38:26made today.
38:27It's good.
38:28Yes.
38:29Thank you very much.
38:30Thank you, chef.
38:31The wagyu's cooked perfectly.
38:33Very nice flavor.
38:34I think it's tasty.
38:36It's an Indonesian churashi bowl.
38:38Good job, chef.
38:39Thank you so much.
38:40Nice work.
38:42I'm feeling very good about this dish.
38:44This is me and the plate, showing my flavor that I grew up with.
38:47This feels like the dish that could put me in the finals.
38:50I'm in cloud nine.
38:51I'm happy.
38:52Okay.
38:53Jason, you're up next.
38:55I hope they like this dish.
38:58I feel like the yuzu kosho did come through on the steak.
39:02The dashi did come through.
39:03The eggs came out very nicely.
39:05It's quite an interesting present.
39:07I mean, this is, uh, you went for it.
39:09I went for it.
39:10I went for Morocco.
39:11You definitely went for it.
39:12Yeah.
39:13The other thing is that this dish is not Japanese enough.
39:16So my dish today is inspired by Morocco.
39:20I made a couscous that I cooked in a dashi broth and Wagyu New York strip rubbed
39:26in yuzu kosho and coated in Moroccan spices.
39:29Preserved the lemon soy sauce, marinated eggs on top of that.
39:32And then in the perimeter of the plate, the Tanziat is dried fruits, nuts, tons of aromatic.
39:37and I gave it a healthy dose of lemon juice and yuzu juice as well.
40:07Is it a delicious plate of food? Yes.
40:11Is it a dish I could see on a menu in Morocco? Yes.
40:16Does it taste like I'm at a Japanese restaurant?
40:19I don't know.
40:22If I had some wasabi, I'd be getting a little bit more Japanese.
40:25I think that there was an opportunity
40:29to maybe incorporate some umeboshi.
40:32That would have felt like you were making the traditional local dish
40:37with Japanese ingredients, I'm conflicted.
40:40Understood.
40:42Thank you, Jason. Thank you very much, Jess.
40:43Thank you, Larry. Thank you, Chef.
40:45I hope that I impressed the judges enough,
40:47but the level of detail we are being critiqued on,
40:51I just don't know what to expect.
40:53I immediately start feeling that I'm probably the next one eliminated.
41:07Chefs, today we were looking at your versatility.
41:10First, with desserts and a tea pairing.
41:13Next, you took a trip across the world
41:15to work with international flavors.
41:17Yeah.
41:18But for one of you, the trip ends here,
41:21with only three chefs moving on to the finale.
41:25Chef Morimoto, who had the winning dish?
41:27Okay, thank you, Chef.
41:29It's working hard at 60 minutes.
41:31This is semifinal's most difficult judging,
41:34and we discussed very deeply.
41:37So today's winner is...
41:44Yoko.
41:45Good job, Yoko.
41:49Congratulations, Yoko.
41:51Thank you so much.
41:52Are you surprised at the result?
41:54I really thought that I took that challenge really, like, the wrong way.
41:58I'm feeling so happy and excited.
42:00I won two challenges.
42:03That means you are moving on to the finale.
42:05Thank you so much.
42:07This really boosted my confidence,
42:09and it gives me validation.
42:11I can cook a little bit.
42:14Unfortunately, that does mean that one of you,
42:17Abe, Jason, and Lucas, will be leaving us now.
42:24Lucas, you are not Morimoto's sushi master.
42:28I understand.
42:28I'm sorry.
42:30All right, guys.
42:32Crush it.
42:33You guys are going to be great.
42:34Obviously not the way I wanted to go out,
42:35but super honored and grateful for this experience.
42:38Thank you, Chef.
42:39You're the good chef and the good chef and the good skill.
42:41Not just today, not your days.
42:42I understand.
42:43This whole journey to get where we are today,
42:45it's been amazing.
42:46And making it a great pleasure.
42:47I'm so happy to be here.
42:48I'm so happy to be here.
42:49I'm so happy to be here.
42:50I'm so happy to be here.
42:51I'm so happy to be here.
42:52I'm so happy to be here.
42:53Hey, it's been amazing.
42:54And making it this far, I know I do belong here.
42:56Bungie, iku.
42:5910,000 miles, one sky, which is talking about having
43:04the unwavering dedication towards one single goal
43:07across vast distances.
43:10I've always wanted to become somebody.
43:11I don't want to be forgotten.
43:13I wanted to leave something more.
43:16But I think I've done that.
43:18I expect to see a lot more of you in the future.
43:20Thank you very much.
43:21That means that Jason, Abe, and Yoko, you are all making
43:29it to the finale.
43:30Good job.
43:32Woo!
43:33We've worked so hard to be here.
43:36From here on out, everything is going to have to be perfection.
43:41To be here, it has been so extremely validating.
43:45I feel really good.
43:46I feel so fortunate to be standing with these talented chefs.
43:52This is a very incredible journey.
43:54I think this season is clearly showing us that you all have what it takes.
43:58To be in the finals means so much to me, especially how much more experience these other competitors
44:05have over me.
44:07Jason, I'm very worried about this guy.
44:09But Yoko just won two challenges in a row.
44:12So now I'm seeing her as a threat.
44:14I'm determined to win.
44:16All right, sharpen those knives, because the finale starts now.
44:46Amen.
44:47Bye-bye.
44:48You guys are there, and after that, you've seen these stories, it's between us and mr.
44:51You know we're so confused.
44:52I'm sure she's a good one.
44:53I know you're so confused.
44:54I stand here and I'm just going to share the story.
44:55It's gonna be weird.
44:55I know that facing you, I think, on the left side of this, it's a bit, that it's a bit
44:57of apsy.
44:58You know, it's going to be Mida.
44:59Right now, I'm really worried about that.
45:01I'm just gonna be a real move.
45:02And I think it's a good move.
45:03You've got a really difficult move.
45:05You've got a beautiful move.
45:06I think it's like a huge move.
45:08And I think your fantasy, I think this is a big move.
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