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"Our ultimate competition is with ourselves. That is what my uncle told me when I would visit him as a young boy... My uncle, the man the world knows as Kaga the Chairman, has decided that although America is a young country, we now possess the proper palate to host our own Iron Chef competition, an American celebration of the world's high art of cuisine."

Recaps by Chico Alexander, GSNN

 
Host ("The Chairman") Mark Dacascos
Iron Chefs Cat Cora
Bobby Flay
Jose Garces
Masaharu Morimoto
Michael Symon
Culinary Commentator Alton Brown
Floor Reporter Kevin Brauch
Creator Keiichi Tanaka (based upon "Ryori no Tetsujin/Iron Chef")
EP Eytan Keller
Stephen Kroopnick
Stu Schreiberg
Packager Triage Entertainment & Fuji TV for Food Network
Origins Kitchen Stadium America, Food Network Studios New York
Web foodnetwork.com/ica
Airs 10p Sun, Food
Available In High-Definition Where AvailableStreaming Online

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Morimoto vs. Wadi: Battle Mackerel
January 24

The Challenger: Chef Sameh Wadi, a native of Palestine who got his feet wet at the Art Institutes International Minnesota. He stayed in the Twin Cities after graduating, where he currently heads the kitchen at Saffron Restaurant and Lounge. His quirky BLT was recently named the best new sandwich in Minneapolis. His order today: rub out Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. That... is a tall order.

Prepare for battle.

The Crib Sheet:
MORIMOTO
JoJo Vazquez & Ariki Omae, sous-chefs
VS WADI
Nicholas "Nick" O'Leary & Kevin Manley, sous-chefs
Neo-Japanese COOKING STYLE Modern Middle Eastern

The Theme Ingredient: fresh mackerel.

The Rules: Each chef must create a five-course meal, with each course utilizing the theme ingredient, within 60 minutes. The judges will score the dishes on a 20-point scale: 10 points taste, 5 points plating and presentation, 5 points creativity and use of ingredient. The chef that best articulates the theme ingredient through his dishes wins.

The battle clock is set at 60 minutes, which will start when the Chairman, with full heart and empty stomach, utters the words of his dear uncle.... "Allez cuisine!"

Holy mackerel, Battle Mackerel starts now! We have three different members, Chub, Spanish, and Atlantic mackerel. Chub is from Japan, and Morimoto, no surprise, goes for that one. Wadi, on the other hand, is going for the Atlantic variety. Morimoto starts by curing his chub on konbu kelp, while his sous-chef JoJo is prepping a rice-flour mixture of some sort. Wadi is grating and cutting onions. Nick is cutting off Spanish tails. He's got chilies and olives also. Looks like we're going all over the world with mackerel today. This ought to be fun.

Jojo's making yeast rolls... into bagels? I could use some smoked lox with that. Omae, meanwhile, is starting sushi rice, while Wadi is working with cardamom, cumin, and garam marsala toasting. They also have watermelon juice.

"Fifteen minutes have elapsed." No real idea where either chef is going. Omae is making a fish sous-vide, as Morimoto marinates his fish in rice-wine vinegar, starts on sesame-seed bagels, and stewing pacific mackerel bones. Wadi is storing spiced Atlantic mackerel in the fridge. Filets have been prepped, and more fish has been boned. Over the break, mackerel gets filleted, scored, sliced, chopped, spiced, and stewed. Morimoto has a classic mirepoix, while Wadi has a mix of saffron on the heat.

Tonight's Judges...
- Restauranteur and lifestyle expert Donatella Arpaia ("Cooking In Heels")
- Chef Michael LaDuke (senior executive chef at Red Lobster)
- Mixologist Kim Haasarud ("101 Mojitos and Other Muddled Drinks")

Back to action, Wadi is putting his toasted spices under mortar & pestle, while Nick has a blender, its contents going onto more fish. That's a chermoula. Meanwhile, Jojo is cutting up bacon to add to his mirepoix. And that familiar sound you hear is Morimoto's familiar tartar rapid fire chopping.

"Thirty minutes have elapsed." Morimoto has a fine dice for a tartare, a mirepoix with bacon, and a mackerel sous vide. Wadi has cured mackerel, diced mackered, and chermoula-marinated mackerel. Morimoto's roasted mackerel bones are being strained, his bagels are out, and his mirepoix now has tomato and potato. This could be a chowder of some sort. Wadi counters with Atlantic fillets and deep-fried dough rings.

Wadi's going to smoke some Spanish mackerel, while the Iron Chef is adding red miso to a mix of sake, mirin, and sugar. That gets some Atlantic mackerel. Wadi is about to fry mackerel whole now. And to top it all off... we have dueling torches. Some of the sushi rice on the Iron Chef side is being made into sushi. Some more is being made into a risotto.

"Twenty minutes to go." That rice is going on the shiso leaf and mackerel number. He's also working on a tempura number. And... he's prepping the famous Broth of Vigour. Nick is prepping more fillets for Wadi's tagine.

"Fifteen minutes to go." Looks like Morimoto's ready to plate. He and his team of Omae and Jojo know how to transform these things. They have the mackerel braise, the mackerel sushi, and the mackerel tartare. Wadi counters with smoke, tempura, and tartare of his own. The Iron Chef has started to plate his mackerel roll with wasabi, straining his dashi, and taken out his Atlantic confit from the immersion circulator. Wadi reduced his watermelon juice, added to his tagine, and plated his cured Japanese mackerel.

And Morimoto wants a bagel! Meanwhile, Wadi is making a trio of mackerel and a trio of sauces. Morimoto has plated his Manhattan clam chowder, essentially. The fried mackerel added at the last minute. Wadi has a whole-fried fish going with a cutting board of sauces.

"Five minutes to go." Tempura joins the watermelon on Wadi's side... and his trio is also done. Morimoto has a twist on a classic that he did in his very first battle as an Iron Chef, a filet-o-fish on a bagel wrapped in the Times. He's also plating the tartare. Wadi is making a skordalia with potato to join his fried fish. The braised mackerel is coming out on the Iron Chef side.

"Three minutes to go." ... as is the risotto and the konbu roll.

"One minute to go." Wadi's menu has the tagine with the tails, the whole fry, the spanakopita, pan-seared & tempura, and he'll open with the trio. Morimoto will start with the roll, then the tartare, the braise, the risotto, and the soup.

"Five seconds... three... two... one..." And Battle Mackerel is history. Put it down, walk away.

Judgment (Wadi): "We wanted to take you on a journey with the fish. A lot of the inspiration is kind of like modern interpretations of classic dishes."

- Spanish Mackerel Trio (Escabeche, Brick, and Cured Mackerel)
- Curried Mackerel Duo (Seared and Tempura)
- Mackerel Spanakopita
- Whole Fried Mackerel
- Mackerel Tagine

Judgment (Morimoto): "The mackerel in sushi is very light, but the fish here today have more fat and oil than I'm used to, so I tried a couple of different techniques to bring umami from different sources and impart that into the fish."

- Mackerel Sushi and Sashimi
- Raw Mackerel and Vegetable Salad
- Mackerel Soup and Bagel
- Red Miso Braised Mackerel
- Mackerel Confit with Risotto

A lot of thought went into both menus. Both chefs came to play, both chefs came to win. This will be a nail-biter. So who's cuisine reigns supreme? The verdict...

  IRON CHEF CHALLENGER
Taste 27 27
Plating 15 14
Originality 15 11

... 57-52 in favor of Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. A very close battle on the tongue, but this was decided by aesthetics, with Morimoto SWEEPING both plating and originality. Another win for the Tetsujin.

Until next battle, we bid you good eating.

To see this episode in its entirety, go to www.foodnetwork.com/ica.