The Black and White Spoons' Team Battle, Room of Meat round.
The voting is complete.
Chef Anh, please provide your feedback.
For the beef jeon,
I could tell that each Black Spoon chef's style was integrated to make a whole.
I enjoyed discovering each of your styles while trying the dish.
They were delicious.
In the Black Spoon Team's beef jeon,
I got a whiff of red pepper oil and something tangy.
It almost felt like I was eating them wrapped around in naengchae.
As you guessed, we indeed used warm Sichuan naengchae sauce.
What you tasted there was exactly what we intended.
-You got me good then. -Yes, right.
I also had a question about the hong shao rou.
It's interesting
because I've never had it with mashed potatoes before.
I didn't think they'd go well together,
so I was surprised with the flavor you guys pulled off.
Did you mix the hong shao rou broth with the potatoes?
We made a Western-style mash first
but thought it didn't harmonize enough with the braised pork.
Then our team member suggested the idea of mixing in some broth.
We tried that and it tasted great,
so we continued knowing it was a good choice.
I think you made the best choices while making adjustments
every step of the way.
I pushed the idea because I was sure it would taste good.
Thank goodness it was the right choice.
I didn't insist on going with my idea.
Thankfully, what he persistently insisted ended up being the right choice.
First, we will reveal the results of the two judges' votes.
Ours first?
Please reveal the teams each judge selected.
Why would you reveal that?
This is awkward.
Please be Black Spoons.
It should be counted with the others' votes.
JUDGE PAIK JONG-WON VOTED FOR WHITE SPOON'S TEAM CHO EUN-JU
The various toppings on the beef jeon were good,
but the flavors were too strong that I couldn't taste the meat as much.
So I voted for the hong shao rou.
The pork belly was cooked well and there was an exotic kick to it.
JUDGE ANH SUNG-JAE VOTED FOR BLACK SPOON'S TEAM TRIPLE STAR
They were very consistent
from their cooking process to the end result.
They used their teamwork to produce a tasty dish.
The voting result of the judges is one to one.
They can never agree on one.
Now,
please reveal the votes of all 100 judges.
Right now?
Goodness.
-It's close. Wait, what? -I see more Black Spoon votes.
-There seem to be more Black Spoon votes. -It's us.
No way.
What's happening?
Currently, Team Triple Star has 45 votes,
and Team Cho Eun-ju has 45 votes.
It's neck and neck.
10 VOTES REMAIN
Is this for real?
Which team will be the surviving team of the Room of Meat round?
Black Spoon's Team Triple Star, 55 votes.
White Spoon's Team Cho Eun-ju, 45 votes.
Everyone in Team Triple Star has survived!
Thank you!
-Great work! -Thank you!
-I'm tearing up.
I got chills.
They're crying.
Surviving team, please share a few words.
I'm speechless.
I didn't shed a single tear when I beat the Great Lu Chinglai.
But getting a great result after working together hit me differently.
These are truly tears of joy.
We were able to make a great dish thanks to our fantastic teamwork
and everyone's trust in my leadership.
Thank you all for enjoying our dish.
If only I'd done a better job pulling my team together.
When they asked if I wanted to change teams,
I should've taken the chance.
Goddamn it.
ROOM OF MEAT
TEAM TRIPLE STAR ALL MEMBERS SURVIVE
The Black and White Spoons' Team Battle, Room of Seafood round.
White Spoon's Team Choi Hyun-seok
versus Black Spoon's Team Chef Spark.
It's going to be the experienced team
versus the unconventional team.
There are chefs with longer careers than mine
who have cooked all their lives.
More experience means greater talent.
EDWARD LEE, 31-YEAR VETERAN WINNER OF IRON CHEF AMERICA 2010
NAM JEONG-SEOK, 24-YEAR VETERAN TOP CHEF FOR VEGETARIAN DISHES
There are two Japanese cuisine chefs who are amazing at knifework.
Seafood dishes are easy for me.
I'm very good with seafood.
I feel confident.
-Who should be the head chef? -You should do it, Chef Choi.
-You should. -You have a lot of experience.
Whatever it is, you'll manage.
If we lose, then I'm the bad guy.
The idiot. The nincompoop.
I'll have to take full responsibility.
In return, I'll have to set our path as the leader
and lead the team all the way.
I have a 19-year career, yet I'm the youngest on the team.
So imagine the others.
I noticed the White Spoon chefs
were almost my parents' ages on average.
I'm sure they're exhausted,
so we'll take the victory and let them go home.
We assembled the best team today.
Dare I say we're like the Avengers.
CHEF SPARK CHEF-OWNER OF "BISTRO SPARK"
We're all young and bold chefs.
NAPOLI MATFIA CHEF-OWNER OF "VIA TOLEDO PASTA BAR"
And Goddess of Chinese Cuisine
specializes in Chinese cuisine, which the rest of us don't.
Our dish will be an interesting one.
Who should be the head chef of the five of us?
-How about the oldest? -The most experienced.
Okay.
We'll have to trust each other and focus on our own roles
to push forward with our dish.
The Black and White Spoons' Team Battle,
Room of Seafood round begins now.
Let's do this!
-Let's go! -Let's go!
Good luck!
-Let's do this. -Yes!
-Please follow my lead. -Yes, Chef!
Let's see here.
-Using fish is a must. -For sure.
-I'll just write down any ideas we have. -Sure.
Tell me what you're good with.
Any dish you can think of when you say fish.
The other team's on the move already.
Let's get some fish.
Let's hurry.
Look at that speed! Keep it going!
Nice.
Oh no, they're taking everything.
Sweep them all out!
-Don't worry. Just stay focused. -Right.
-We don't need to rush. -Yeah.
First, I'll…
They're hoarding the scallops. I need to grab some.
-I need the scallops. -No, wait. Hang on a second.
-The scallops? -Not yet.
-It's okay. -Their tactic is to just take everything.
They're sweeping everything.
-As they should. -Literally.
No more scallops left for Team Black Spoon.
-They took all the scallops. -All of them.
-Did they take everything? -They took everything.
These old guys are playing dirty.
Let's pile them up here.
Over there.
We've got to win, but there aren't enough ingredients.
Shellfish have a richer taste than fish,
but we counted and there wasn't enough.
I believe the ability to choose
and take good ingredients accounts for much of a chef's ability.
What's more important than the chef in the kitchen?
-The ingredients. -Right.
So we're going to bring over the ingredients first.
-Chef, you bring all the scallops there. -Okay.
-Okay.
Chef, you bring 70% of the mussels.
And then the two of you,
-get seven of the olive flounders. -Seven.
-Let's begin. Get the ingredients first. -Okay.
We figured it'd be advantageous
to get the ingredients first and create a recipe out of those.
Scallops are the most versatile.
-You can cook anything with them. -Right.
There aren't 100 of them, so I guess you'd have to take them all.
That's right.
That's too much.
Why are they taking so much?
Okay then.
Hang on, Chef.
-Chef? -Okay.
All right then.
-Are there octopuses left? -Let's focus on using one ingredient then.
-No need to be anxious. -Right, one main ingredient.
They took all the mussels and scallops, so we can't use those anyway.
So apart from those,
-we can use fish and octopuses. -And octopuses.
-It's so big. -It's a huge olive flounder.
It'll weigh about 3.5 kg.
They're taking all the fish too.
Let's choose our fish. Sea bream?
-Sea bream sounds good. -Let's go get it.
-We'll need sea bream and octopuses. -We need to decide our dish first.
Fucking hell, okay.
Let's actually follow the head chef's lead.
Let's first go and get the sea bream and the octopuses.
-We'll go from there. -Let's do that.
All right.
Men, follow me to get the sea bream.
I'll take a look at the sauces then.
I know we picked him as our head chef
but he seemed to be easily swayed.
I didn't care much about the White Spoons taking all the ingredients.
We could take what was left. Why fret about what they took?
I just wanted to decide on the dish first.
I've got to take the octopuses.
There's a basket behind you. Right here.
The Black Spoons are using sea bream.
Choosing the ingredients is everything for this round.
We'd get about 20 pieces per fish.
-Seven should be good. -Seven?
Yes.
-Why isn't this… -I can't catch it either.
I got it.
Did you catch it?
How many do we have?
-We need one more. -One more.
-I got it. -Okay.
Okay.
-Okay. -All right, let's bring it over.
All good.
Okay.
We have eight or nine.
We just have to focus on making 100 portions.
Okay, this is good.
Why would he take that?
-Put the ingredients down and gather up. -Let's discuss.
-Yes. -We should.
They grabbed the ingredients first before deciding on the dish?
That's a good strategy.
-Today's dish is… -Yes?
-In terms of storytelling and whatnot, -Yes.
-we should make a Korean dish. -Okay.
A leader's job is to bring their team to victory.
So I tried to come up with a recipe that could be a guaranteed success.
-The dish is halibut seaweed soup. -Okay.
-Halibut seaweed soup.
Halibut?
It was olive flounder.
HALIBUT SEAWEED SOUP WITH FLOUNDERS?
I got worried when I first heard what we were making.
But we'd seen what happened in the first round.
The sauce is soft. The pork is soft.
There's no texture.
-We should designate someone -Stop fighting.
to assign everyone's roles and just keep up with that.
-That's not a good look. -They should follow their leader.
We decided to follow our leader no matter what.
We strictly followed our leader's decisions.
-First, we need to prep. -Okay.
You two are good at preparing sashimi,
-so please cut the olive flounder. -Yes, will do.
-Anyone prepped mussels before? -Me.
Great, you'll shell the mussels.
-Do you want me to clean scallops? -Yes, scallops.
That's all for the prep, and then we'll start cooking.
We can have our discussion here.
Let's take these out first.
Should we finish our discussion first?
Sounds good.
-Chef, let's finish our discussion first. -Yes.
We have plenty of time.
We'd brought the ingredients without knowing our dish.
I told them, "Let's decide the dish and come up with a plan first."
The thing is, they've taken most of the essential ingredients.
-They took the scallops. -I was thinking of using those.
They took everything, so they totally stabbed us in the back.
We have to use what we have now
to make something impressive enough that'll beat whatever they're cooking.
-Let's just do what we're good at. -I agree.
-Let's do that. -Okay.
We have three Italian chefs here, so how about risotto?
-Let's do that with mussels and octopus. -Sounds good.
-Risotto with mussels and octopus. -I was thinking
of tomato-based risotto with seafood
but with some oil like Chinese-style mala chili oil
to add a rich flavor with a spicy kick.
-Let's put it down. Tomato-based risotto. -Risotto made with sea bream broth.
I'm not so sure about risotto, since…
They're busy on their feet, but let's focus.
So you think risotto is a good choice?
I was thinking of a drier dish in Chinese style.
-That's too Chinese, I think. -Yeah.
-We have to bring out harmony. -So risotto?
-With seafood. -And a tomato base?
-We're experienced with it. -If we decide on the sauce,
there's no going back.
We decided to develop our dish as we go.
Let's test this out.
-Fillet the fish and we'll test it. -You can prep that.
You take the fish, you take the octopus.
-I'll take risotto. -I'll start with the octopus.
-The other ingredients and… -The sauce?
-We'll use the oil. -Like a chili oil.
Let's think about the ingredients as we go.
What's on the menu today?
What we're making today is halibut seaweed soup.
-Seaweed soup? -Yes.
We're making halibut seaweed soup into an entrée made of fish.
Isn't this olive flounder?
-Yes, it is. -Yes.
Shouldn't it be flounder seaweed soup then?
The name of your dish is rather random.
It is, isn't it?
I mean,
I came down here with anticipation and I hear "halibut seaweed soup."
There wasn't any halibut,
so we're substituting it with olive flounder.
Halibut usually makes a sweeter broth,
and flounder tastes quite bland in comparison.
But we can improve it with scallops and mussels.
They can bring in the sweetness and richness of the halibut.
It's like saying, "I want some abalone porridge,
but I only have conch, so I'll have to make do with this."
Did he say seaweed soup?
-Yes. -Seriously?
He said seaweed soup.
-Really? -Yes.
I wonder how it'll turn out.
-This will soak up in no time, right? -It will.
What's your dish?
We'll be making risotto
topped with Chinese-style octopus and sea bream.
How will you cook the sea bream?
Well,
we're still debating on how to cook it.
We'll prep it and then…
You haven't decided yet?
No, we're going to develop as we go.
A lot of the choices we would've had
were taken away from the beginning.
Why is that? You didn't think they'd take everything?
I guess we played too fairly.
Did you need the scallops?
-Well… -It would've been nice to have some.
You must be frustrated.
I can't say I'm not.
Is tomato-based the right choice?
-Sorry? -The tomato base.
-I think it'd be good. -Yeah?
Okay, but the sauce on top of that
-is a Chinese-style one. -A spicy one.
I was thinking more of a mild risotto
and a sticky Chinese-style sauce on the octopus itself.
A sticky Chinese-style sauce?
Let's talk about it a bit more.
That and doubanjiang.
We should think about the sauce as we cook.
-Okay. -For the octopus.
Let's prep and boil these first, then think about the sauce.
-Can you peel the fish to make fillets? -Yes, Chef.
-Take out the fins too, please. -On it.
I'll wash these and hand them to you.
-Sounds good. -I already cut out the heads.
All right.
Chef Ahn has got to be great at handling fish.
He's an actual Culinary Master, so he must have amazing skills.
I'm a seafood and Japanese cuisine chef, so I'm confident with knives.
When I cut the side of the fish,
I use a technique to cut the fish to follow its natural layers.
I took charge of prepping the fish neatly in the pre-processing stage.
Japanese cuisine chefs sure are different.
You can see he's on a different level.
-Yes. -Right?
It looks like he's cutting up kimchi from here.
I wish they'd wipe the blood.
Wow, Chef Ahn is incredible.
He's so good at handling the fish.
Just look at that.
There's a reason why they chose seafood. They're very quick with it.
He's sniffing all the scallops in case any went bad.
Forty minutes passed.
They're so quick with their hands.
Let's only use the white parts of the spring onion.
-I'll do that with you. -Okay.
Spring onions…
This is it.
-There isn't enough. -I know.
ONE PANTRY ASSIGNED PER TEAM
I want to get some more from the other side.
We don't have enough spring onions?
No, we're short on them.
I'll ask them.
Excuse me.
Could we borrow some leftovers from your pantry?
Which ones?
Could we use your spring onions?
We haven't had the chance to properly decide yet.
-Why is he over at the other team? -I know, right?
You already took all the seafood.
Right.
How many do you need?
However many you're not using.
We'll let you know in 30 minutes after we prepare.
-I'll come back then. -Yeah.
-Thank you. -All right.
I was a bit taken aback.
Was he trying to annoy us?
Should we offer them our spring onions?
No way.
We've got over ten scallops left after using what we need.
I can offer them to you.
-Ten scallops? -Yes.
-Let's take them. -I'll bring them.
-Okay. -Here.
Could we take some spring onions?
All right.
-Let me know how many you'll need. -All right.
We'd have to feed a hundred people with ten scallops.
That's ridiculous.
Those scallops were meaningless to us at that point.
-But the spring onions… -We got scallops.
-How many do you need? -But we don't need the scallops.
-We might need them later. -We need them for the garnish.
We'll give you the rest.
A little more, please.
-One more. -Fine.
Not this, a thin one.
-Thank you. -All right.
I wouldn't give any away.
Where's the head chef?
Why does he keep crawling back?
Could we use your spring onions?
Could we take some spring onions?
Why won't he stop bothering us? Go away!
-Any leftover spring onions? -How many do you need?
We'd be grateful to take anything you won't use.
I'll leave half of the spring onions to make garnish and give him the rest.
-Thank you. -What?
We can't give them all out.
-Thank you. Good luck. -Thanks.
I got more.
It's all about the ingredients.
Chef Choi took so many of our spring onions
that I had to use scallions instead.
He kept taking all of our spring onions so we had none left.
I wonder why he needs so many.
I don't think they're for the seaweed soup.
I think Chef Choi…
-His team must have a secret plot. -Yeah.
Maybe he's not making a Korean dish.
All right, clean your stations and gather up.
-Yes, Chef. -Yes, Chef.
Let's get ready to cook.
They're done prepping.
We have 142 minutes left.
We're going to run some tests.
Let's first take the olive flounder's thick fillets.
We'll cook some at 80°C, some at 70°C.
So we'll take four pieces and place two pieces each
to test out the texture.
It's crucial that we cook them to a soft texture.
It'll be different with smaller pieces compared to whole slices.
-Was this cooked at 70°C? -Yes.
I think we can cook it at 60°C, but let's try it.
This one's seasoned more.
It's way softer at 70°C.
Stir-fry the seaweed first
-as you would for seaweed soup. -In sesame oil?
Chef Lee is there to take care of the soup.
I don't think they'll cook something predictable.
Right.
-Mr. Genius. -Yes?
So we're salting the fish, and are we doing chili oil at the end?
Yes, after preparing the sashimi.
-After cutting the fish? -We'll add it when we plate it all.
We decided that it'd turn out good to cut the fish like sashimi
and spread hot chili oil over it.
We'd be adding a Chinese touch to a Western cuisine dish.
We planned out the general picture like that
because it felt like there wouldn't be progress otherwise.
Put the thin slices of fish on the risotto,
sprinkle some chili oil on top, and cook the fish.
-Cook it just a little. -So chili oil on top of the risotto?
Just a sprinkle of it over the fish only.
So it's basically raw?
-In very thin slices? -Right, like sashimi.
-Thin slices? -Yes.
Okay.
And for the plating…
We'll spread out the risotto to a round shape.
Then put about four pieces of the sashimi on top,
add slices of bell peppers to that, and then add the chili oil.
-We still have the octopuses. -Right, we'll add that too.
-Just a moment. Let me clean this up. -Okay.
I have to give clear instructions while we cook.
-They shouldn't have put him in lead. -Sorry?
The wrong person's in lead.
Let's decide on the risotto's sauce.
If we're doing a tomato-based risotto,
what do we need for that?
Anything you want.
First, decide if we'll use garlic or onion.
Chef, for the sauce that'll go with the bell peppers,
can I make it a little tangy?
Not too much acidity.
Not too much acidity?
The tomato itself already has acidity.
-I don't think we need that much acidity. -I'll bring down the acidity then.
-Maybe make it a bit spicy. -Spicy?
A little acidity is good though.
The leader should be the one to take command,
but I'm not seeing that.
Could you give me ideas on how to make the bell pepper garnish?
-The bell pepper garnish? -Yeah.
I think we should marinate them in salt and olive oil.
-There's not enough flavor. -Shouldn't we reheat them?
We were bringing individual dishes to one,
so I tried to make us trust and count on each other.
Every group has a leader, right?
And that leader should be the one guiding the members
in the direction they should be heading.
But ours is still deciding on the menu.
Chef. Two pieces?
-Two pieces? -Three.
-Three? -Yes.
-So… -Three pieces.
Let's see.
-So if I do three pieces, this is thin. -Okay.
-This is three pieces. -Okay, good.
-It's okay? -Good. Okay.
-Okay. -All right.
-Okay, I have a question. -Let's try it at 60°C.
-Yes? -How are we going to cook this?
Pan-fry sauté, and one.
-It's so small. It's going to overcook. -Slightly.
-One side. Only one side. -I know.
Anyway, we don't have 200. It's only one per plate.
-It's only one piece. -Two pieces.
-I know, but we don't have enough. -Right.
-For 2 pieces, we still need 200. -Did I say 150?
-Yes. -Oh.
You have to cut the scallops evenly to make 150 pieces.
-150 pieces. -So three pieces each.
Two pieces mean we'd need two hundred.
Chef Choi had made a wrong calculation.
We fell short.
I counted and there wasn't enough.
As I keep saying, the leader has to take responsibility.
We'll figure out a way to use them all.
-For now, let's clean this up. -Okay.
-We'll need 55 so we can make 150. -We'll have to cut them.
Maybe cut them in half or something.
First…
If you cut it in half, it's going to cook too much.
We'll have to cook just one side of these very quickly.
Maybe cook for just two or three seconds.
-Okay. -Okay?
-Yes. -Yes.
Let's check how that's cooking.
Oh, it's so thin.
The teamwork was good.
But honestly, nobody challenged the flavor of the dish.
The scallop was too thin.
Everything we cooked was very delicate, very light.
Steamed fish, scallop sliced thin, very quick cook.
I thought the flavor was too boring.
-Isn't it too bland? -Sorry?
-Isn't it too bland? -We'll season it later.
Okay.
Can I give you an idea?
Yes, an idea?
-Can you fry this one? -No.
OLIVE FLOUNDER
And then steam the scallops.
-No. -Switch them.
It's going to cook so fast.
-Too fast. -Trust me.
Trust me.
But he said, "Yes, I'm sure."
So I said, "Okay. You're the leader, I trust you."
When you make a team leader, you have to trust the team leader.
Sometimes team leaders are too stubborn, which happens.
But that's okay because you have to trust the team leader.
The other team is still cutting the sea bream.
Sea bream are a lot fattier than olive flounders,
so we thought they'd be more fitting for our dish.
Our dish had to be unquestionably delicious.
We decided to thinly slice the raw fish
and lightly baste it with some Chinese-style oil.
I was in charge of making the Chinese-style oil.
I used star anises and la jiao jiang
to make chili oil that was immediately identifiable as Chinese cuisine.
That's some good chili oil.
The broth is the most important part of making risotto.
I made the broth from vegetables, sea bream heads,
and the juice from scallops and mussels to make it just right.
I cut up the octopus into big chunks
and used a pressure cooker to make it as tender as possible.
100 portions of risotto?
That's going to be tough.
Shouldn't they be on it now?
Let's decide how much we need.
Twenty grams of rice for one portion?
That's two kilograms in total.
-That's right. -Two kilograms then?
Two kilograms?
I'm not so sure about that.
Will that be doable?
They'll have to cook it all,
then set everything up with at least an hour left.
Hang on.
Shouldn't we start cooking the risotto now?
Don't we need to start the risotto?
-It'll only take 20 minutes. -Does it not take long?
-Sorry? -I'll only need 20 minutes.
Are you sure you can make 100 portions in 20 minutes?
Yes, it's enough.
For 2 kg?
I don't understand.
-I've never made it, so I wouldn't know. -Me neither.
They've never made risotto like this before,
so they seemed fairly anxious.
If we plate the rice too early,
it could get overdone or cool too much, or the consistency could get too thick.
So I was at my own pace.
I'm not sure about this.
The risotto? Why?
I'm just so worried about it.
Don't worry.
I can't watch.
I just…
Sorry to bother you again, but we're screwed if this isn't cooked.
-You'll get it done, right? -Yes.
-I won't need to ask again, right? -No, it's all good.
When are we plating?
-At the 50 minute mark. -50 minute mark?
-All right then. -Sounds good.
-We have 40 minutes left. -Okay.
Forty minutes before we start plating.
I'm nervous about the risotto. Are you sure we're good?
-I just started cooking it. -You did?
We have nothing without the risotto.
You're starting now?
I've already started.
It's too early.
We agreed to finish at the 50 minute mark.
No, we start cooking then.
Then we'd only have 30 minutes for plating.
We agreed to start plating at 50 minutes after finishing the risotto.
But to start cooking then?
That wouldn't work out.
Should I just do one?
Just make one for now
-and cook the rest slowly. -Okay.
We can control the pace.
I think
it'd be better to finish early than to rush later.
We can only get everything done once the risotto's done.
-There's not enough time. -Should I do it?
-The risotto's crucial for our timing. -Do I make one for testing?
Not for testing, for serving.
Let's see how long it takes.
We have to start plating soon.
I started raising my voice too.
When cooking,
a dish changes dramatically by the second,
not by the minute.
I asked him when it'd be finished,
and he didn't give me a straight answer.
It was frustrating.
In my defense, one chef was telling me to start now,
while another was telling me that it was too early.
If there was someone who gave out specific orders for when to start,
I would've followed that through.
But no one really took the lead,
so I was confused as to who to follow.
I was sure I'd get the timing right, so I decided to just trust myself.
Okay.
There.
I wonder how they'll plate the seaweed soup.
We took the theme of seaweed soup
but reinterpreted the traditional Korean taste.
Our recipe needed a tweak from the standard seaweed soup recipe.
We had to cook it differently.
They're grinding the seaweed.
That's seaweed they're grinding?
FRESH CREAM
Okay.
Fresh cream in a soup with ground seaweed that was stir-fried in perilla oil?
Fresh cream makes it smoother
and gives it a warmer touch as a whole.
The style that I push for
is unfamiliar familiarity.
A flavor you can't quite put a finger on, but tastes familiar.
All right. Five scoops.
Five?
-And then pour it in each plate. -Right.
About this much.
This should be enough.
-So that's the sauce, right? -Yes.
Hence, it's seaweed soup.
It'll be a familiar flavor with an entirely different texture.
I love the idea of combining Korean and Western cuisine.
We have 70 minutes left.
We're almost finished.
Okay.
We'll cut the soaked radishes into circles to make a garnish
with the scallops.
Scallop, radish, scallop, radish. Four pieces in that order.
Also the deep-fried spring onion slices.
Put the crunchy slices on top.
These already great chefs worked well together,
so our teamwork was great.
That's 200 pieces, right?
I think so. Let me count.
Fine dining is so labor-intensive.
Let's clean up and get ready to start plating.
We have plenty of time.
-We have 57 minutes left. -We have to start at 50 minutes.
Right.
-The fish are done. -Okay.
-Shall we plate one right now? -Sure.
Are the octopuses ready?
-The marinated octopuses. -Sorry?
-The marinated octopuses? -There's none ready yet.
I'll make some now.
I'll do the octopus. Can you make one portion of the fish?
It's all ready.
-Can I use this? -Sure.
I think we should spread out the fish first while it's hot.
And let's marinate the octopuses
and bell peppers separately,
put them in a bowl, and plate them all at once.
-Octopuses first and then bell peppers. -Where on the bell peppers?
Just everywhere, evenly.
-Dill and basil. -Here they are.
I'm a little worried that the risotto's cooking time is a bit off.
How about we cook the fish all the way?
Just a thought I had.
-It's too late to cook it now. -Yeah?
It's fine right now, but since the fish is salted,
let's put it in a hot pan.
-It's so thin. It'll break apart. -Then we can…
-I don't think it will. -It will.
It was already too loose when I sliced it into pieces.
I know I shouldn't have, but I got annoyed.
We had to move forward, but we just couldn't.
I don't think our teamwork was too great.
It's hard to unite everyone's opinions, but we had to trust each other entirely
and rely on each other to bring out good results.
It's really not easy at all.
It'd be tastier if it was cooked more.
Let's torch it then.
-How about torching to cook it through? -Torch it.
-Where's the torch? -It should be around here.
They should really start plating now.
Here?
Okay.
They're getting ready to plate.
-This is better, right? -Yes.
-Let's use this to pour. -Okay.
Three.
-Wider side up. -Wider side up, in the center?
-Help us out with this. -Okay.
Four pieces.
I'll explain that they have to eat this together.
I want to taste that seaweed soup.
Oh dear, they're still cooking.
The master of risotto.
Didn't he make risotto in the last battle too?
I've made portions like this in the past when I worked in Naples.
I was very confident about making risotto,
and I knew the texture would be perfect by the time the judges tasted it.
Napoli Matfia's got the hardest task.
Goddamn, that's heavy.
I'm so drained.
We were cooking for three hours at that point.
During the mantecare phase
when you bring out the creaminess in the risotto through emulsification,
I had to stir 10 kg thoroughly, but it was tough because I was drained.
I had it pull out all the stops.
The risotto's done.
Someone has to spread it out.
One should put it on the plate, and one should spread.
-Make sure to match the portions. -Looking good.
We have time. Don't rush.
Good, it's looking neat.
Are we torching it at the end?
-Just on the fish. -Okay.
He's torching it. It's a fire show.
Okay, let's go.
We have to consider the time to move these.
Okay.
Do I put the octopus like this?
Yes, evenly.
Their plating is on another level.
-Let's shred them into smaller pieces. -Okay.
Should we sprinkle some smoked bell peppers or something?
-No, we keep it simple. -All right.
-How about a bit more dill? -Just a bit.
Team Black Spoon's plating is very flashy.
We have 25 minutes left.
Could you take them over?
-Sauce please, Chef Lee. -Okay.
-Put it on top. -The sauce.
We have more than enough time.
That looks neat.
I don't know if they'll finish in time.
We need to push back a row.
-Let's push it back after this. -Hang on. Let's finish this first.
-Finish these here first. -Okay.
-Do we come back to these ones? -Wipe the plates.
We have to hurry up. Is this all?
Less splatters, please.
It'll just take longer to wipe.
We have to hurry up.
We've only plated one round of risotto.
-Should we move these? -Yes.
-Could you help me move them? -Yes.
Goodness, they're getting theirs out.
NUMBER OF PLATES COMPLETED
When will they finish all that?
They're in trouble.
You have ten minutes left.
-Plate the risotto, please. -Are these good to go?
I have to top it with dill. You plate the risotto.
Here's the last round of risotto.
They're racing against the clock.
There's not a lot of time.
-Is that all the sauce? -I think so.
TEAM CHOI HYUN-SEOK: PLATING FINISHED
Is there any more basil?
The other team's finished.
There's unchopped basil.
Bell peppers.
Five minutes left.
How are they going to manage?
Do they have the right number?
-I need to do that first. -We have to go now.
You have one minute left.
They're bringing them.
Come on, move now. Goodness.
-Hurry up. -Plate them quickly, right now.
Five,
four,
three,
two,
-Good work, everyone! -one.
The Room of Seafood battle is over.
-Well done. -Great job.
-Great work. -All right.
We're screwed.
-It is what it is. -We did well.
-Well done. -Good work.
-Let's go home. -You did great.
Both teams have completed 100 plates.
We used up all 200 minutes, but we made it in the end.
They were good.
I heard they made it with Korean rice, but the grains were so big and plump.
They had cooked it so well, perfect for risotto.
They proved that they're a talented bunch too.
Their dish was confusing.
I couldn't tell what kind of dish it was.
I thought maybe they'd taken an approach that was too complicated.
The members of my team
are much like me.
I'm 28 or 29 years into my culinary career this year,
but it felt like my first day today.
It was so nerve-racking.
So we made halibut seaweed soup as if to congratulate our birthday today.
I say "seaweed soup,"
but please think of it as the fish course in Western cuisine.
We have braised scallops and radishes on top,
and underneath is something in between sauce and soup.
So please mix the olive flounder with it
and eat everything you see there together.
The dish we made for the 100 judges today
is a tomato-based risotto, a classic in Italian cuisine.
But by marinating the octopus and sea bream in yu xiang eggplant sauce,
we tweaked it into a Chinese-style tomato-based risotto.
It's time to begin tasting.
-Most of them are eating ours first. -They went for the soup first.
Almost all of them are starting with ours.
You know the sound when they're tasting,
the cling-clanging of the glass and utensils?
It sounded absolutely merciless.
The White Spoon team had lost the first round,
so it'd be mortifying to lose to the Black Spoons again.
There was a lot of pressure.
This is too fancy to be seaweed soup.
Chef Paik is digging into his plate.
I think we made the dish that better suits the theme.
We did it justice.
Good job.
I can taste all the ingredients in the risotto.
Our flavors are as strong as theirs.
Our flavors won't lose.
I have to say…
I'm worried about the risotto's texture.
-Do you see what I mean? -That people won't like it?
Yes, that's the issue.
Everything else is fine.
-Young people would know nowadays. -They would, right?
I've been observing the other judges for a while.
I always stand up like this at a restaurant
and pretend I'm stretching to watch other people eating.
Just to take a quick look around.
-Can you tell by that? -Yes.
I think I made the right prediction.
It's going to be tough if that happens.
The tasting is complete.
Now, it's time to begin voting
for the Room of Seafood round of this Team Battle.
The voting is complete.
The best seafood risotto I've ever had
was in Naples two years ago.
But this was better.
What's most impressive
was that you put so much effort into cooking the risotto.
Watching you, I thought, "Why is he being excessive?"
But this texture goes to show that it was worth it.
It's exactly like what I had in Italy.
But I noticed the rice is local rice from Gyeonggi-do, no?
How did you pull it off with that?
I loved the aroma of the ingredients
as well as the texture, the use, and everything else.
The rice was perfectly cooked as well.
As for the halibut seaweed soup,
the name was so peculiar
that it made me question what kind of seaweed soup it was.
And when I saw it, I instantly knew it was the work of the White Spoons.
I knew Chef Choi
would bring out great flavors just like I imagined.
When I eat delicious soup, I start to crave rice.
I wanted rice and also bread, but there wasn't any.
It's an inventive way of reinterpreting the traditional seaweed soup.
If we could make more Korean cuisine dishes like this,
I'm sure anyone in the world
would want to try them without hesitation.
It's time to reveal the results
for the Room of Seafood round of this Team Battle.
I'm confident with our flavors.
The only thing I can do now is pray that we win.
Ours has stronger flavors that are more appealing to people.
First, we will reveal the results of the two judges' votes.
Please reveal the teams…
each judge selected.
What do you think?
I don't know.
I think they'll vote for the White Spoons.
BOTH JUDGES VOTED FOR BLACK SPOON'S TEAM CHEF SPARK
-That's all I need. -Both judges
have voted for the Black Spoon team.
This is tough.
-It must be delicious. -I think we may be able to win.
Let there be a twist.
I wasn't sure what to expect.
Perhaps my dish wasn't speaking to people?
There's nothing I could do
but hope the other judges liked my dish more.
Now,
please reveal the votes of all 100 judges.
Will there be another upset?
Do we have a chance?
I was confident in the flavors.
There are more White Spoon votes. Or maybe not.
It's us, the Black Spoons.
-We won. -We won.
Currently, Black Spoon's Team Chef Spark has 46 votes,
and White Spoon's Team Choi Hyun-seok has 46 votes.
Wow.
ONLY 8 VOTES REMAINING
Then,
which team will be the surviving team of the Room of Seafood round?
White Spoons?
White Spoon's Team Choi Hyun-seok, 54 votes.
Black Spoon's Team Chef Spark, 46 votes.
Everyone in Team Choi Hyun-seok has survived!
We did well.
-Great job. -Well done.
-We saw it coming. -Good work.
The two judges voted for us though.
-Yes. -That's enough.
-Well done. -Great job.
-Good work.
-Great work. -It was like constantly moving
between heaven and hell.
They're not chefs who follow others' orders.
They're the ones who usually lead their teams.
Yet they took on their roles today,
and I think that's why we won.
Our dish should've been more simple.
I think the flavors were a bit complicated.
When I tasted it, I thought it could be at a disadvantage
because of what we call "al dente."
For ordinary people's taste,
it could feel like it's not cooked enough.
The rice is a bit hard.
Personally, I thought it was cooked perfectly,
but people have different preferences.
When I heard Chef Choi explaining his dish,
I knew it would be more appealing to the Korean taste.
Of course I was disappointed.
ROOM OF SEAFOOD
TEAM CHOI HYUN-SEOK ALL MEMBERS SURVIVE
LOSING TEAM FROM THE ROOM OF SEAFOOD
LOSING TEAM FROM THE ROOM OF MEAT
Team battles are usually very challenging.
I haven't even shown one millionth of what I have yet.
It was a shame. I still have a lot more I want to cook.
I'd win individual battles.
What's this now?
Oh, shit.
Just look at how spooky it is.
Scary.
This is crazy.
What's this now?
This looks terrifying.
Is this my station?
Contestants,
we've prepared a stage
for you to show off your individual talents.
Welcome to the consolation match.
CONSOLATION MATCH
I had given up thinking that it was all over.
But that one spark of hope got me all fired up again.
I'm just not made for team challenges.
Individual challenges, I can do.
Let me just try my best for one last time.
In front of you is a room of ingredients.
Why is this one bigger?
What is it?
What's that?
This is insane.
My goodness, this is just insane.
Is that a convenience store?
What is it?
I have to run.
Not this.
I have to give it my all.
No one can beat me in this match.
It's time to reveal the survivors.
The Top Eight Cook-off is the Restaurant Mission.
-Today's guests -Hello.
-are 20 Mukbang creators. -Oh my god.
It's just like a restaurant.
-I'm so excited. -Right?
-Mala jjamppong. -All right.
Two coming.
-Incredible. -It's so good.
Is this done? Then take it out.
I'm screwed.
Oh, shit.
Subtitle translation by: Yenny Kang