We knew today was coming, but it doesn’t make it easier. I was just a casual fan when the original show ended, so I didn’t experience the end of its run. I’m sad to see this version of the show go so soon, but it has been a fun 6 months. (I was actually in Japan not too long after the announcement of the revival was made, but I unfortunately was long gone before the episodes starting airing.) The new show did bring a spike in traffic, so it is pretty clear that there was some interest. Too bad Fuji pulled the plug when they did. Let’s hope they follow through with their promised specials. OK. On to today’s episode.
Don’t have time to read a full recipe? Your attention span wane after you read 141 characters? Good news. The nominee has “Twitter recipes” for you. Takemasa Kinoshita is the chef at a French restaurant in Tokyo. Apparently, the nominee was a bit of a “Yankii” when he was a teenager. By age 20, he was training at a 3-star restaurant in France. BTW, does he look familiar? If you are a super eagle-eyed fan or are like Sheldon Cooper and have an eidetic memory, you may remember him as an assistant to Rory Kennedy in episodes 503 and 504. The theme will be Takenoko. Let the final battle of new Kitchen Stadium begin.
Iron Chef Yomigaeru – Episode 13 – Kurogi vs. Kinoshita – Takenoko (Bamboo Shoot) – 03/22/13
SPOILER ALERT: Everything below this point will contain spoilers.
-(00:44) Ingredient list in the upper corner: Milk (100cc), Nama Cream (200cc), Shoku Pan (White Bread) (50g), Parmesan Cheese (10g), Salt/Pepper. An 81 character recipe.
-(02:10) The “Gamin” in the name of the restaurant = “Itazurakko” (Mischievous Child). As the video continues, we see a dramatization of the challenger’s early years as a mischievous child.
-(05:48) Tabelog.com is a gourmet restaurant guide with 730,000 restaurant reviews (Maybe? Best translation I saw of the two kanji at the end of the sentence was “information report” which sounds like a review to me.) It looks like the show’s website had a contest where people could vote for potential challengers (?) and Kinoshita was ranked #5.
-(06:51) See Miwa’s comment about this section.
-(10:58) Once again, see Miwa’s comment about the Iron Chef’s comment and why everyone is laughing.
-(13:29) The challenger is making dashi with katsuobushi much like Michiba’s Broth of Vigor.
-(13:32) The two guests in the commentators booth today are V6 member Hiroshi Nagano and talent Sakakibara Ikue. (BTW, she was in the show Dandy Daddy?, which of course featured none other than The Chairman himself Takeshi Kaga.)
-(13:40) A very lively “Kinoshita Ouendan” (as described by Sano) supports the challenger from the royal box.
-(15:41) Awabi = Abalone, Daikon Oroshi = Grated Daikon Radish
-(16:04) Sakakibara Ikue enjoys Bamboo Shoots Rice (takenoko gohan). And she gets quite excited when Kurogi is seen putting some takenoko in with some rice. at 16:38. I also heard Shashimi and Katsuni (which appears to be some kind of simmered pork cutlet). Perhaps she enjoys bamboo shoots with it?
-(17:35) In the food processor are horseradish and mentsuyu
-(18:01) Kurogi has boiled bamboo shoots and duck meat in the pan.
-(18:08) Kurogi has water, boiled bamboo shoots, and shiratamako (rice flour) in the bowl.
-(19:03) The challenger is making the Twitter recipe white sauce that was shown in the introductions.
-(22:00) Kurogi has burdock (the last kanji appears to be burdock anyway), white miso and boiled bamboo shoots. (I was totally wrong on this one. See comment below for corrections.)
-(23:27) Maruyaki = “Whole Roast” as in the whole bamboo shoot as opposed to pieces of it.
-(24:22) The challenger has beef filet
-(25:44) Kurogi will not tell Mita what he is hiding in his bamboo shoot teepee (“oshiete kurimasen” = will not tell. “Shoku made himitsu no yo desu” = It’s a secret until it’s eaten (I think))
-(26:04) In the challengers dish: Toumorokoshi (corn), Mascarpone Cheese, Gyuunyuu (Milk), Nama Cream, Zerachin (gelatin), Sugar, Butter
-(26:22) “Woo-Hoo” It’s truffle time.
-(28:00) Kurogi has Kurumaebi in with his bamboo shoots rice. (If the ingredient kurumaebi sounds familiar, it was the theme ingredient of episode 525.
-(28:50) Kurogi has added to his box: Bamboo shoots rice, Kurumaebi, Nanohana, Tsukushi (Horsetail. No, not that kind of horsetail. THIS kind of horsetail (I hope)), Warabi (Bracken)
-(32:18) That’s it. The final Kitchen Stadium battle is ovah.
I’m wrapping it up for the night. I know there are still 15 minutes of show remaining, but it’s almost 2:00 AM and both my listening skills and my JLex/Google skills are quickly diminishing. I’ll try to come back and finish the rest of the episode some time this weekend. I hope what I did add so far is helpful. And please correct me if I have something wrong.
–Keith