The voting is complete.
The result is one to one.
-I knew this would happen. -I knew it too.
-I kept going back and forth. -Me too.
Contestants, please exit for a moment.
IN A 1:1 SITUATION, THE CONTESTANTS EXIT
AND THE JUDGES ONLY LOOK AT THE DISHES TO REACH A DECISION
It was a 50:50 chance.
I was getting anxious and frustrated.
I wanted to hear what they were saying but couldn't.
Judges, please remove your blindfolds.
Wow.
So they are Chinese cuisine chefs.
-They are. -Right.
-That's suancai, isn't it? -I knew it.
-Yes. -Gosh.
It's amazing how they used siraegi as a substitute for suancai.
And they used it well.
-It's precisely cooked. -Exactly.
I voted for this person…
PAIK JONG-WON: GODDESS OF CHINESE CUISINE
…because of the idea and how they utilized the main ingredient.
It's interesting that they put tangy flavors into the siraegi
to make it like suancai.
That's why I leaned toward it.
My thoughts were similar to that.
When I found out this was basi,
I thought, "What kind of crazy person makes basi with siraegi?"
ANH SEONG-JAE: JUNG JI-SUN
It's just such a radical idea.
And on top of that,
I thought it was more delicious when I tasted it.
It's a very close game.
Yes, it's definitely a close one.
I feel like I could be swayed very easily.
Me too.
-Honestly speaking… -One more word and I'll be convinced.
Right, I could easily sway to either side.
Who are the chefs?
END OF JUDGES' DISCUSSION
This one's very tough.
The judges' discussion is complete.
Contestants, please reenter.
That's who.
We should applaud first.
-Good work. -Young chefs these days
are simply incredible.
Your ideas were brilliant.
It was neck and neck.
-All right. -He will tell you the result.
We just want you both to know
-that it was ridiculously close. -We turned on each other.
I've cooked in Korea for a long time, and Chef Jung spent some time abroad,
so we have different cooking styles.
And so, I thought maybe my dish would appeal to the judges more.
I guess the judges needed more time
because both dishes were too good to reach a decision.
But my dish had a great presentation,
so I knew they'd like my idea.
The goddess versus the queen.
Please.
If the goddess manages to win this, that'd be insane.
It's time to announce the results of the siraegi battle.
The survivor of this battle is…
Chef Jung Ji-sun.
-Thank you. -Congratulations.
It was so close.
Your ideas were amazing.
Team White Spoon's Jung Ji-sun has survived.
She still did well.
-Oh no, our goddess. -That's crazy.
I should tell her she had a good run.
It really was a very narrow victory.
We shouldn't be butting heads right now.
I can't get over the shock I felt when I first tasted the basi.
I never imagined someone would make basi out of siraegi.
I can see she gave it a lot of thought to show us something very unique.
Then again…
Let's go with the basi.
All right, basi it is.
Thank you.
Well done.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
I know they said it was close,
but advancing and getting eliminated are still very different.
But I know
I tried my very best, so I don't have regrets.
GODDESS OF CHINESE CUISINE
Korean beef rump.
It's low in fat, and gets dry and tough if not cooked properly…
BEEF RUMP: INNER PART OF BEEF BUTTOCKS
…which is why it's mostly used for dishes like beef tartare.
Beef rump isn't all that special.
-It's only used for beef tartare. -Right.
It's not a cut with a special texture or aroma.
Chef Lee Young-suk versus Genius Restaurateur.
Chef Lee is someone who was born with seasoning in her hands.
Let's go.
I watched Korean Food War, and she's the real deal.
Her food is amazing.
That's our Chef Lee.
-She was the winner. -I see.
I think she won the most episodes too.
She's a tough match.
That's why she won.
And then there's the young chef's Korean cuisine.
I saw her making Korean cuisine, and it was very elegant.
She's the youngest of the Black Spoons, but she knows how to cook.
She's a rising star in Korean cuisine.
I don't even need to think about it. You've survived.
No way.
As someone who's cooked Korean cuisine for a while,
I've always wanted to surpass the master of the said cuisine.
That's my dream.
What's that hat thing called again?
-That's… -It's some sort of hat.
There's a name for that.
My dish today is called jeonriptu.
It's a dish from the Joseon Dynasty, and it's similar to shabu-shabu
combined with cooked components.
I cut out the elastin from the beef rump
to get the tender parts, then mince them…
to make meatballs.
I take some of that meatball mix
and stuff it into some fish, then pan-fry them.
Genius Restaurateur is one to watch.
Her cooking skills are impeccable.
I'll lay out the vegetables
and the meat on the griddle first.
Then I'll pour the beef broth right down the middle.
It's like a Joseon-style shabu-shabu where you eat soup with cooked toppings.
What you can do with beef rump is limited.
You can't make broth with it,
and you can only make meatballs or jeon with it.
I assumed Chef Lee
would also make something along the lines of those,
so I tried to incorporate a variety of styles into my dish.
-I think she's making broth. -Yes.
That's definitely for broth.
I think she might be making soup.
-That looks like some old-timey soup. -Right.
Is she making beef radish soup?
-I saw her using radishes. -Right.
Maybe spicy beef soup?
-There's not enough ingredients for that. -True.
I knew I had to go for something different
because if I made something that was already common,
that wouldn't have a lot of merit.
I tried to do something new.
And what I decided on
was "Mi-So Gomtang."
As in "Smile," get it?
You need broth to make gomtang, or beef bone soup,
but you can't make broth with beef rump.
So I use radishes, Pyogo mushrooms,
dried kelp, and perilla oil and stir-fry them altogether.
Then I add in water to get that milky soup
that you get by cooking vegetables.
With the beef rump, I clean the blood off first,
then lightly season it.
And then I chop up some minari to the size of the meat.
Then I roll those up together,
dip them in some flour and eggs, and cook them for a bit.
The beef rump is the main ingredient, so it has to stand out,
which is why I'm making these rolls.
-She could steam that too. -I want a bite of that.
I want to taste it.
I use oil to cook the rolls,
so I blanch them a little to get rid of the oil.
Then I place them in bowls and pour in the gomtang.
Let me use the pretty ones.
This one's nice.
-I'm really looking forward to this match. -Same here.
This one's huge and that one's small.
The battle of beef rump.
Please proceed to the blind taste testing table.
-I'm so nervous. -I'll come back with a win.
-Go, Genius Restaurateur! -Thank you!
Good luck!
-Thank you. -Good luck, Chef Lee!
-Thank you. I'll come back with a win. -Okay!
It looks so pretty.
Our dishes were very different in size.
I felt discouraged.
This is the battle of beef rump.
That's difficult to cook because it's not fatty.
Most people would think of making beef tartare.
Please taste the first dish.
JEONRIPTUGOL
My dish has a jeon-style topping
that I made with semi-dried yellow corvinas
stuffed with minced Korean mint and meat filling.
Pairing it with the beef rump is delicious because the meat is so tough.
That's the key to my dish, and it has a nice finishing aroma too.
Is this really beef rump?
Beef rump.
It tastes like mackerel.
Was that a meatball?
It crushes inside my mouth.
But…
I know this flavor.
What's this aroma again?
It tastes like some kind of leaf, but it's very subtle.
It has a very subtle aroma.
All right.
Next, please taste the second dish.
MI-SO GOMTANG
I'm sure the judges have never tasted
gomtang made from beef rump.
They need to taste the soup first…
and savor the aroma of the vegetables.
Then a bite of the "miso," minari and sogogi.
And then the soup and the roll together.
They'd know my dish's true worth once they've tried it all three ways.
They'll realize that it's possible for beef rump
to taste like this.
It's nice and aromatic.
The soup is great.
The first dish was good too.
The voting will now begin.
Please select the dish
that is more delicious and better utilized the main ingredient.
I tasted my dish, and it turned out perfectly.
I had a feeling I'd win.
I have to win.
The voting is complete.
Judges, please remove your blindfolds.
Who are they?
Look at the size difference.
It's maximum versus minimum.
This is one dish, and this is another.
-That's a huge difference. -Tell me about it.
Please tell us the results.
It's time to announce the results of the beef rump battle.
The survivor of this one-on-one face-off is…
LEE YOUNG-SUK SURVIVES
-Thank you. -Congratulations.
Great job.
Thank you.
The young chef did really well too.
-Thank you. -Great job.
-Well done. -Oh my goodness.
Presentation-wise, it looks delicious.
-Visually, it does. -Yes.
It sure is different tasting them without seeing the presentation.
I thought I'd studied and worked hard for the past decade to get here,
but it was only today I finally realized that less can be more.
This is the battle of maesaengi.
MAESAENGI, SEAWEED FULVESCENS
CHO EUN-JU VS KITCHEN BOSS
I'm a Western cuisine chef of 25 years.
I work at a Western cuisine restaurant called Touch the Sky.
FIRST FEMALE EXECUTIVE CHEF OF "TOUCH THE SKY"
This is a western-style maesaengi oyster rice soup.
MAESAENGI-FLAVORED ABALONE DISH
This is barley risotto with scallops and maesaengi.
Team White Spoon's Cho Eun-ju has survived.
Thank you.
I could feel the maesaengi aroma much more in this dish.
You cooked it very well.
Yes!
You can't beat veterans.
Oh, yes!
It sucks that we keep losing.
This is the battle of live octopus.
LIVE OCTOPUS
JANG HO-JOON VS YAKITORI KING
I've been a Japanese cuisine chef for 19 years,
and I manage nine restaurants.
CHEF-OWNER OF "NEGI COMPANY" MANAGES 9 JAPANESE RESTAURANTS
I made a sandwich with fried fish cakes made of smoked octopus.
I made fried octopus and rice.
I deep-fried the live octopus with vegetables and put it over rice.
Team White Spoon's Jang Ho-joon has survived.
The means were rather limited,
so it's impressive you thought of smoking the octopus.
Damn.
This is the battle of pig trotters.
AHN YOU-SEONG VS YEONG CHICKEN
I'm Ahn You-seong, the 16th Culinary Master of Korea.
A CHEF RECOGNIZED BY FORMER PRESIDENTS
I've been a chef for 33 years now.
My dish is Namdo-style braised pig trotters with naengi.
I named this dish "Hong Kong-style kao pig trotters."
Team White Spoon's Ahn You-seong has survived.
It has a lot of spices, but I could still smell the naengi.
Everything was in perfect harmony.
The master himself!
-Yeah! -Team White Spoon!
-Awesome. -Team White Spoon!
Back to back to back to back.
This is awesome.
How could this be?
This is pissing me off.
-We're getting swept. -Oh no.
I'm going to win no matter what.
The White Spoons keep winning. It's like a massacre.
It's too hard to beat the White Spoons.
-I'm going to crush them. -Go get them.
TRIPLE STAR
This is hurting my pride.
You're fired up for battle.
I am.
Let's all get warmed up.
It was honestly frustrating.
I really wanted to beat them.
I've prepared a lot for my dish,
so I think I can win.
I don't think I'll lose.
CHOI JI-HYUNG CHEF-OWNER OF "LEE BUK BANG"
I'm the world's first chef to do North Korean fine dining.
I make food with North Korean roots that South Koreans also enjoy.
I define my style as "unified Korean cuisine."
My food encapsulates the entire Korean peninsula.
I know I can cook with any kind of ingredient.
I kind of wished for an ingredient that was rare and difficult to handle.
Your main ingredient is ogyeopsal.
OGYEOPSAL, SKIN-ON PORK BELLY
While it may be hard to work with,
it's also not a fun ingredient to work with.
There's a lot they can do with that.
I haven't seen that knife in a while.
The beoseon knife.
It's named after the shape
-of traditional socks. -Aren't they tricky to use?
It points upward at the tip, so it's useful for Korean cuisine.
That's cool.
Look at how he's slicing the garlic.
Those are some clean cuts.
Fine dining chefs move so elegantly.
They don't go crazy like we do.
I'm going to divide the ogyeopsal into three parts,
the skin, the flesh, and the fat.
I mince the flesh roughly
and mince the fat finely.
Since this isn't your regular pork belly,
I thought I'd make use of the skin.
I slightly boil the skin
and dice it into small cubes to keep the texture.
Let's cheer him on.
Go, Triple Star!
-Let's go! -Good luck!
-He's so cool. -He looks so relaxed.
What's Chef Choi doing?
-Maekjeok? -Maekjeok.
MAEKJEOK: GRILLED PORK IN SOYBEAN PASTE
He covered the meat in soybean paste sauce and skewered it.
I see.
It's a dish from the Goguryeo Dynasty.
I wanted to be clear about my identity.
All of my dishes are rooted in North Korea,
which means they're also Korean dishes and a part of our culture.
And I think it's part of a chef's duty to inform those
who aren't aware of those dishes.
They're both grilling over charcoal.
I think he's making tteokgalbi.
Like short rib patties?
I'm going to make tteokgalbi out of the ogyeopsal,
wrap it around the bone of the ogyeopsal, and grill it in that state.
I marinate the minced meat with salted hairtail guts and pepper,
then wrap it around the bones like the ones you see in cartoons.
He's really thought this through.
He's going to win this for sure.
-It'd be wrong for Triple Star to lose. -He's going to win for sure.
I wanted to best utilize the main ingredient,
so I made use of the bone on the ogyeopsal
and even the skin, which I cooked separately.
I feel confident about my dish.
If you mince the meat, it tastes similar to other pork cuts.
But I wanted the unique taste of the ogyeopsal to stand out.
The battle of ogyeopsal.
Please enter.
Please taste the first dish.
GRILLED MAEKJEOK AND KAESONG-STYLE SEASONED VEGETABLES
This maekjeok is special in that
I've scored the ogyeopsal, seasoned the cuts,
and got a nice char on the meat.
The Kaesong-style seasoned vegetables to go with the dish
are radish, dried persimmon, Korean wild chives,
sunroot, and mung bean sprouts.
I can smell soybean paste.
-It's maekjeok. -I like it.
It goes well with the vegetables.
They grilled it well.
Next, please taste the second dish.
This is ogyeopsal tteokgalbi with Époisses sauce.
I made a sauce out of salted hairtail guts to coat the meat,
and for the sauce, I used Époisses, which is a cheese with a strong aroma.
They go very well together, so I hope they also appreciate that.
You have to hold the bone.
-A bone? -Yes, it has a bone.
This is the bone, and there's meat around it.
-This is the bone? -Yes.
Is it really a bone?
It smells meaty.
Careful with the bone.
I smell cheese.
What's that cheese with the strong smell?
-It has that aroma. -Yes.
There's something else with sharp aroma.
It's salted fish.
-They go well together. -Yes.
-They do. -How interesting.
They're both grilled meat.
-Both are grilled well. -That's right.
But they're very different.
-I like them both. -This is neck and neck too.
They're both grilled to perfection.
The voting is complete.
The result is one to one.
PAIK JONG-WON: TRIPLE STAR ANH SUNG-JAE: CHOI JI-HYUNG
It's time we win.
Yes, it's our time.
A Black Spoon has to win.
If they wanted to disregard that, they should've used regular pork belly.
-All right. -Okay.
Contestants, please reenter.
How do you usually cook the skin? Do you just leave it?
I grilled it with the meat to give it a nice, chewy texture.
I separated the skin, slightly boiled it, diced it, and mixed it in.
Why did you boil it and then dice it?
I wanted to enhance the texture.
Ogyeopsal is different from regular pork belly.
-It has skin. -It does.
We have to consider the skin.
I think that's an important factor too,
how they incorporated the skin without it being bothersome.
The winner of the ogyeopsal battle is…
Triple Star.
-Thank you. -Congratulations.
TRIPLE STAR SURVIVES
Team Black Spoon's Triple Star has survived.
He deserved it. He did a great job.
-This is great. -Finally.
We needed a win.
The maekjeok was delicious too.
Thank you.
It came down to the skin.
You had different approaches.
That's right.
If I had to do that again, I'd cook the same dish.
What a shame.
It was a valuable experience, and now I can go back to my job.
CHOI JI-HYUNG
I think Chef Choi Kang-rok is the strongest contestant here.
-He won MasterChef after all. -Right.
I'm sure he'll be great.
Hello, I'm Choi Kang-rok.
I was on Season 2 of MasterChef Korea.
Yes, I was the winner.
I know from experience
that this set will eventually be taken down.
We all leave eventually, so there's no need to get hung up.
We just need to do what we've got to do.
This set is just an illusion.
Let's not get carried away.
Who'll win between those two?
They both have a lot of fans.
It'd be nice if Seung-woo's Dad beat him.
They're both so talented.
You can't tell who's better.
They got a difficult ingredient.
That's their main ingredient too.
Please reveal the main ingredient.
Seriously?
Your main ingredient is…
perilla oil.
-Perilla oil? -Perilla oil.
What can I cook with this?
I thought it was a mistake at first.
Perilla oil as the main ingredient?
It's just something you add when you season something.
It's difficult.
We're both in big trouble.
I have to do something special to win.
He'll be plotting his moves, so I need to plot mine too.
He even has a fancy laboratory.
He built an entire lab to take the win.
I knew I couldn't beat Chef Choi Kang-rok with an ordinary dish.
Isn't that liquid nitrogen?
It freezes everything instantly.
-What's he making? -He even brought liquid nitrogen.
-I know. -A whole tank at that.
Is he making ice cream?
Ice cream using perilla oil?
I wanted to use the perilla oil to make a cold dish,
so I decided to make a dessert.
I'm pretty sure people will think I'm making a risky move again.
-You're using watermelons? -Yes, sir.
-In this winter? -Yes, sir.
-It's a bit risky. -It is.
I actually enjoy making dishes in this style,
so I think I can make something more unique than Chef Choi Kang-rok.
That's the Pacojet used for grinding.
He brought a Pacojet.
Using that makes everything very soft.
PACOJET (HIGH-SPEED BLENDER): GRINDS FROZEN INGREDIENTS INTO PARTICLES
It finely grinds the surface of the frozen base
and makes it extra soft.
The texture gets silky smooth.
-He brought an entire kitchen. -All of that
is worth at least 20 million won.
-Really? -Yes.
-You see that tall thing over there? -Yes.
A new one costs 10 million won.
The kitchen setup here is better than my restaurant's.
It's all about equipment nowadays. You need good equipment.
But I only have pots and a cutting board.
I peel radishes by hand.
So I felt rather small.
I can only hope the perilla oil flavor doesn't feel too forced.
I'll use it here and there
so when they eat it, it'll go,
"Hey, it's me. Perilla oil."
Radish and perilla oil
definitely pair well together.
Radish may not taste special, but perilla oil will bring out its flavor.
I'm making a radish steak.
When you boil radish for a long time,
it tends to taste homey, like something your mom cooked for you.
Although I'm a dad.
I'm trying to emulate that wholesome vibe with a touch of perilla oil.
I take the lightly seasoned radish and cook it in perilla oil.
It's cooked radish that works up your appetite.
I make the sauce
with the perilla oil and make it almost jelly-like.
A little runny but thick enough so it has shape.
And I pour that sauce over the radish.
But the dish wouldn't feel complete with just the radish,
so I braise some oysters in the perilla oil.
I use the perilla oil like it's broth.
I figured working the perilla oil's aroma and flavor
into the oyster would work well.
So I put in a lot of perilla oil and braise it slowly.
Eating the oysters after the radish would be a pleasant change,
even though they're very different.
It'd be ideal for me if Chef Choi made a warm dish
that focuses on the perilla oil
because then the dish I prepared could be a counter to that.
The dish I prepared today
is a dessert version of perilla oil buckwheat noodles.
Perilla oil buckwheat noodles is the best-known dish made with perilla oil,
so I wanted to give it a twist.
For the buckwheat component, I'm making buckwheat cake.
BUCKWHEAT NOODLES REPLACED WITH BUCKWHEAT CAKE
I'm also deep-frying some dried laver into chips.
I'm using the perilla oil for the ice cream…
PERILLA OIL REPLACED WITH PERILLA OIL ICE CREAM
…because I thought it would
create a unique aroma when I combine it with ice cream.
FROZEN ONCE MORE IN LIQUID NITROGEN
Then I make caramel using soy sauce
to add some saltiness to the sweetness.
Not many people would ever imagine making a dessert with perilla oil,
so I look forward to this battle.
The battle of perilla oil.
Please proceed to the blind taste testing table.
Perilla oil?
That's also a tough one.
Perilla oil.
Please taste the first dish.
It's radish cooked in perilla oil
but paired with oysters braised in perilla oil.
Yes, that's right.
I wasn't entirely sure if they'd recognize my intent.
He definitely came up with a good idea,
choosing ingredients that would soak up the perilla oil very well.
I thought it was a clever dish.
Please bring it up to my nose.
I'll bring up the first bite to you.
I had to focus on the aroma of the perilla oil,
because it's not like it has texture or anything.
There's only the aroma.
It smells like radish.
I've never chewed radish so delicately before.
The sweetness of the radish goes well with the perilla oil.
I smell the ocean.
And perilla oil.
It's a dish with radishes and oysters.
It's paired with radishes.
It wasn't even the finals yet, and I was already so nervous.
I was about to pass out.
They used the perilla oil in a very unique way.
It's delicious.
It's neat.
It was the moment of truth.
I was excited and nervous at the same time.
I want them to think,
"What on earth is this?" when they taste it.
PERILLA OIL BUCKWHEAT NOODLE DESSERT
If the dish makes them confused
but manages to make them want to try it again,
I think I'll have a shot at winning.
Definitely perilla oil.
My first thought was, "What did this person make?"
This tastes familiar.
It's familiar.
Damn.
Is there more?
Was that all?
Can I have one more bite?
Hearing him asking for more drove me insane.
Why didn't he ask to try mine again?
I know this flavor.
Is it the perilla oil?
It's familiar, but the texture and everything is…
Perilla oil.
The aroma of perilla oil.
I'll have to see it to be sure.
Oh man.
If I had to describe it,
it's an appetizer that's an entrée
and a dessert that's an entrée.
Man.
The voting is complete.
It's time to announce the results of the perilla oil battle.
The result is one to one.
PAIK JONG-WON: SEUNG-WOO'S DAD ANH SUNG-JAE: CHOI KANG-ROK
Contestants, please exit for a moment.
Damn it.
Don't you taste soy sauce?
Maybe that's why.
It was perilla oil with soy sauce.
Soy sauce caramel.
That's an incredible idea.
The radish was also a bold choice,
considering there was so much they could've done.
I wonder who made this and tried to win with a simple radish.
Is it confidence?
It's either confidence or…
Whatever happens, happens?
I could get eliminated.
But I'm all right with that.
I'd just need to stay offline for a year.
I wasn't entirely confident.
But once we were tied, I did get my hopes up.
Our votes were split into one to one.
But in the end,
we judged the dishes based on the level of execution.
That being said,
the survivor is…
But the ice cream wasn't made properly.
-The idea itself was great. -Right.
-But it wasn't made properly. -In terms of execution?
If it's in terms of execution, then I agree with you.
-Because this dish was flawless. -It was executed perfectly.
They stuck to the basics and really brought out the flavors.
So much that I grinned after tasting the radish.
…Chef Choi.
Congratulations.
CHOI KANG-ROK SURVIVES
This doesn't change anything.
I'll continue living like today's my last day.
They're both harsh critics.
Team White Spoon's Choi Kang-rok has survived.
Team White Spoon!
This can't be!
Did you make the ice cream yourself?
Yes, I did.
It was a little off.
Was it because you had limited time?
I tweaked the recipe to stop the ice cream from melting,
so the texture might've been different from what you're used to.
Did you put in more eggs?
Yes.
I'm sure it tasted a bit rough.
I was worried it'd melt,
so I made it in a way to prevent as much melting as possible.
If you add a lot of protein,
it becomes stable, keeps its form, and melts slowly.
But too much protein
just makes scrambled eggs.
SEUNG-WOO'S DAD ELIMINATED
Too bad.
Do you think the results are proportional?
-To years of experience you mean? -Yeah, that has to be a factor.
We need one more win for the White Spoons.
I'm suddenly fired up for battle.
I really want to win now.
-Crush them. -I will.
I'll make my dish so good
that it leaves them in awe.
Something really good.
I'm dying to know what Chef Choi Hyun-seok will make.
He looks a bit nervous.
He must feel pressured to win.
Everyone around me got worried
because I worked so long in fine dining and was even a judge.
A JUDGE ON A COOKING COMPETITION WITH PAIK JONG-WON
KOREA'S FAVORITE CELEBRITY CHEF WITH 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
They asked, "What if you lose?"
So I told them, "You think I'd lose?"
I hope this will be a fun match.
ONE TWO THREE
I knew One Two Three was talented when I heard the judge's evaluations.
He's a fine-dining chef like me,
so this will be the match of ages.
You've improved a lot.
-One Two Three, you've survived. -Thank you.
-One Two Three has survived. -He passed?
-The one who cooked duck? -Yes.
-Amazing. -He did well.
I want to challenge Chef Choi Hyun-seok.
I feel like I could beat him.
I've actually never tried his food.
I've only seen some pictures of his dishes.
I think I could win if it came down to a battle of flavor.
Your main ingredient is the jang trio, the Korean condiments.
Gochujang, doenjang, and ganjang.
That's the worst.
How can they utilize all three? Gochujang stew?
That's too difficult.
Our ingredients are very tricky.
It's hard to bring them together in one plate
without downplaying any of them.
So I thought hard about
what the best way would be to utilize them all.
I thought of a recipe right away.
It just so happens that I've experimented with doenjang,
ganjang, and gochujang in lots of bizarre ways.
GANJANG JELLY, GOCHUJANG ICE CREAM
One thing's for sure.
No one experiments with food more than I do.
SEA BREAM SASHIMI SALAD WITH GOCHUJANG DRESSING
I've once made the same dish 130 times.
I experiment with dishes no one else has made before.
SALMON SUSHI POPSICLE
It's fun. It's familiar but also new.
CHEF'S SPECIAL STEW, SUSHI PASTA,
LEMON-FLAVORED KOREAN MELONS, BREAD-SHAPED FISH
That's my kind of food.
What a chef puts on their plate tells you who they are.
I'm dying to know what Chef Choi Hyun-seok will make.
I'm making a jang trio steak
using my own culinary techniques to make our traditional condiments
fun and easily accessible.
It's a steak with two garnishes.
First, I make kkakdugi with ganjang, or soy sauce.
I mix some radishes with ganjang and vacuum-seal them together.
That way, the sauce seeps right in.
Then I'll cook that sous vide.
SOUS VIDE: A METHOD THAT INVOLVES VACUUM-SEALING FOOD
AND COOKING IT IN WATER AT A PRECISE TEMPERATURE
In just 70 minutes, the diced radish kimchi
will have the same texture as one that's been aged for two days.
I'm doing something new with the doenjang, or soybean paste, too.
I want to see what it's like to burn it.
I coat the steak with it while grilling,
and it creates a nice sear after it bubbles up.
It has the subtle taste of doenjang but also another rich flavor.
I'm curious about Chef Choi's steak with doenjang.
He's grilling something with charcoal too.
-What is that? -Goodness.
-It has bones. -It does.
It's pork.
He's using pork with the jang trio.
He's very calm, so he'll do well.
-He survived Mosu after all. -Right.
He has talent.
-And good-looking too. -Yeah.
If he wins this one, that's game over.
Of course.
My dish is the Jeju jang trio.
I used ingredients from Jeju Island,
such as Jeju tangerines, seasonal rapeseed greens,
and bone-in sirloin from Jeju black pigs.
There are fatty and lean parts in sirloin.
I coated the fatty parts with ganjang.
For the lean parts, I made a sauce with doenjang,
spring onion, and ginger to coat them.
And then I grill them over charcoal.
Don't they also have to use gochujang?
I'm getting a strong gochujang smell.
I want to highlight the gochujang.
I'm doing something new with the gochujang.
It's difficult to use the gochujang
because of its strong flavor and lingering aftertaste,
so the key is to use it delicately.
It has to taste like gochujang but also zesty and clean.
To get rid of the aftertaste,
I double-boiled the gochujang with Jeju tangerines and juniper berries
to extract only the aroma.
And I made a sauce using only the juice
so it has a strong gochujang aroma.
Gochujang has a sharp and lingering aftertaste,
so I'll mix it with yuzu extract and apple juice and blend them together
to extract only the aroma.
Then I add nitrogen and cream…
to make it into foam.
That way, it tastes like tangy chogochujang when you first eat it
but disappears like foam once you swallow.
I'm going to make gochujang espuma on white asparagus
which takes away the spiciness and the aftertaste of the gochujang
once you swallow it.
ESPUMA: A SOFT FOAM MADE BY ADDING INGREDIENT AND NITROGEN INTO A SIPHON GUN
Someone rang the bell.
Wow.
Chef Choi's on the edge of a cliff.
-He's doing everything to stay alive. -Right?
Is he finished?
The battle of the jang trio is now complete.
-Let's go! -He looks confident.
Please let him win. Let him write history.
The battle of the jang trio.
Please proceed to the blind taste testing table.
-You're awesome! -Go!
-So good-looking. -Go!
-Let's go! -You look like movie stars!
The battle of the jang trio.
Please enter.
They were really committed.
It was all about the taste and nothing else.
Please taste the first dish.
It's a doenjang steak with ganjang kkakdugi
and white asparagus topped with gochujang espuma.
It's not a Western but a Korean way of eating.
We always eat meat with vegetables dipped in chogochujang.
Then there's diced radish kimchi topped with truffles and cilantro.
I don't think the techniques I used are very important.
It's not the flashiness that matters
but how I made aged kkakdugi in 70 minutes
and how I made the gochujang taste clean when it's so hard to achieve.
It's a dish that's fun, experimental, and familiar but definitely unique.
Here's your first taste.
This tastes like radish.
How is it aged so well?
It's pretty thick.
This smells great.
He did things a lot differently than I expected.
His expertise was on full display.
I don't want to stop smelling it.
Okay. I'll try it now.
Wow.
My heart started beating like crazy.
It's been a while since my heart beat like that from cooking.
I was once a judge alongside Mr. Paik on a show.
And as for Chef Anh Sung-jae,
I'm actually a senior chef.
So I don't know why I was so nervous.
I thought the flavors would be quite strong,
but the flavors of the ganjang,
doenjang, and gochujang are all very subtle.
These are not the flavors I had in mind.
They used an approach
that was a lot different from what I expected.
-They cooked it very uniquely. -My goodness.
I couldn't figure out if that was a good or bad sign.
Next, please taste the second dish.
I cooked seasonal ingredients from Jeju Island
and complemented them with the jang trio.
I grilled the fatty meat in a ganjang coat
while topping the lean meat with seasonal rapeseed greens.
I also made a sauce with doenjang and braised burdock.
And every dish needs a kick to elevate it.
Mine's the gochujang extract.
The selling point of my dish will be how the delicate gochujang sauce
mixes with the other seasonal ingredients.
Smells like doenjang.
All right.
I can taste the doenjang.
I think they'll like it.
I tried to have the gochujang really complement the dish,
so I think they'll enjoy it.
This is a mix.
All right.
The gochujang and ganjang…
are subtle but also have a kick.
It's nice and aromatic.
Can I get some tissue?
I'll see what this is later.
I just want to know.
Was there something wrong?
It was either there was something wrong or he really was curious,
but it felt like the former.
Some might think it's a bad sign.
But for me, if I find something interesting,
I spit it out to check it because it's delicious and new.
So I spit it out and see it for myself.
If he's anything like me,
that's a good sign, so it's confusing.
The voting will now begin.
Please select the dish
that is more delicious and better utilized the main ingredient.
The first dish versus the second.
Please make your choice.
The voting is complete.
The result is one to one.
Contestants, please exit for a moment.
PAIK JONG-WON: CHOI HYUN-SEOK ANH SUNG-JAE: ONE TWO THREE
-What's that? -The result is one to one.
Contestants, please exit for a moment.
Another tie.
-That Black Spoon guy is talented. -He's the best, right?
A tie is still impressive.
-Yes, it is. -I'm sure he'll win.
We tried three things.
For this dish…
I found this a bit hard to make out.
Really? I was impressed
when I tasted the ganjang, gochujang, and doenjang.
I thought if we can reinterpret these in this way, it could appeal to everyone.
When they were given the jang trio,
I thought the doenjang and gochujang flavors would be strong.
But they were subtle yet apparent, which is what was so surprising.
The doenjang and gochujang are great. The gochujang is almost like art.
For me, I tasted more yuzu than the gochujang.
This is the ganjang with truffles, but the truffle oil flavor was stronger.
I really want to know what this chef intended.
Why this combination?
-Well… -I have no idea what the intention was.
-I really liked it when I ate it. -Really?
I kept thinking, "How did they do this with the ganjang?"
I barely tasted it though.
That's what I liked.
-But it doesn't taste like ganjang. -It does.
It's just toned down in a way that it doesn't stand out.
It's a jang trio.
What I focused on the most when I judged the dishes
was how marketable they made the Korean condiments
and whether they could make tourists from abroad
try our traditional trio of jang without putting them off too much.
Aside from the sweetness, the gochujang has a lingering aftertaste.
So making chogochujang espuma out of gochujang
was very impressive.
That's why I voted for it.
I thought it was a dish that could
minimize the barriers for non-Koreans wanting to try our food.
I disliked the other dish more than I enjoyed the pork dish.
I'm just being honest here.
As a fine dining chef,
one thing I always consider with techniques of that sort
is the level of execution.
Techniques that aren't executed flawlessly
aren't techniques.
When I take a bite of any food
and it doesn't accurately deliver the flavors,
I find it too ambiguous.
In that sense, the pork dish was clear
because I knew they had coated the meat with doenjang.
And it had a nicer balance between the flavors.
They're arguing a lot.
It's nerve-racking.
I could hear them arguing inside.
And I hoped the one rooting for me got the upper hand.
Contestants, please reenter.
I see.
-It's been a while. -Hello.
I didn't expect to see you here.
Chef Choi, why did you put the truffles on the kkakdugi?
Ganjang goes well with truffles, not to mention cilantro.
I liked their balance,
but that's purely my opinion.
I think it's a chef's job to cook dishes according to their own style and taste.
-Okay. -Which is what I did here.
Chef Anh and I actually had the most heated debate of the day.
We almost fought.
Please know that our final decision boiled down to something very miniscule.
So without further ado,
the survivor
of the jang trio battle is…
One-on-one face-off. The battle of the jang trio.
-Please. -Who's going to take the win?
The survivor is…
You're thinking, "Ganjang with truffle, how cliché."
-Yes, that's right. -Right?
It's too hard to beat the White Spoons.
It's the Black Spoon's turn to win.
I'm going to take away that Michelin star.
Chef Do-yun? How?
I think it's doable.
"My knives aren't rusty yet," is what I thought.
I'll win no matter what.
-You're kidding me. -Wow, that's huge.
The theme of the third round
is the Room of Ingredients
of the Black and White Spoons' Team Battle.
They're fighting already?
It felt like they didn't trust me.
Of course I'm angry.
Honestly, I didn't like it.
Why didn't you take everything out?
You don't know me. Stop pissing me off.
Subtitle translation by: Yenny Kang