Iron Chef #5 - Lobster Battle

The First Annual Iron Chef Lobster Battle!

Challenger Tomiteru Zhou vs Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba
Iron Chef 1993 Episode 5 - Overall episode #005 - November 14th, 1993

The is the battle we’ve all been waiting for. Iron Chef Michiba owning a lobster battle. We’ll see the Chefs prepare the lobster five different ways (stir fry, steam, sashimi, broil, and simmer) utilizing the heads, liver, and in one regrettable instance - an antenna.

Though the lobsters are paired with other luxury ingredients such as matsutake mushrooms and shark’s fin, most of the dishes show some restraint. Soups and Stir-Fries dominate the menu. Even teriyaki lobster makes an appearance.

Put on a bib and get your shell-crackers and picks, because it is Battle Lobster!

Play-In Tournament Dish: Harumaki (Spring Roll)

We get an introduction video on harumaki complete with b-roll of an the Forbidden City Palace in Beijing, Chinese bicyclists, harumaki, and clip-art of a wok floating in the mountains.

Fantastic.

We have five challengers in the play-in tournament so I'll keep it brief.

Challenger #1: Tetsuhi Kobu
Tenmenjang Spring Roll and Shrimp Spring Roll

Two harumakis from the challenger, one with significantly more effort than the other. The first contains slabs of pork belly, tianmian sweet bean sauce, and shiitake muhrooms. Large pieces. That’s a chonky spring roll. The other contains minced shrimp. Oishi from Judge Kageyama.

Challenger #2: Tran Thi Le
Goi Cuon

The chef goes with a traditional Vietnamese rice paper goi cuon with rice vermicelli noodles, lettuce, and shrimp. This may be the healthiest play-in dish all season. Double Oishi from the judges, with East German Judge Kishi remaining the lone hold out.

Challenger #3: Shigeyo Yamami
Curry Rice Vermicelli Spring Roll and Shrimp Spring Roll

The high school student rolls up combination Singapore noodles into an egg roll wrapper. This is definitely an after school concoction. The other spring roll is a minced shrimp afterthought, much like Challenger #1’s approach.

Challenger #4: Tomiteru Zhou
Yuba Roll

Diced shrimp, bay scallops, ground pork, and aromatics wrapped in yuba sheets and deep-fried. The rolls were served alongside an cucumber lower-back tattoo.

Judge Kageyama cleaned his plate like he doesn’t have to judge a cooking competition in an hour. It looks Chef Zhou is the favorite to win.

Challenger #5: Luo Cheng
Taiwanese Samosas

Chef Cheng is the only play-in contestant to utilize chicken. The minced chicken is stir fried with a light curry and shiitake mushrooms. We’ve got a cucumber garnish battle going down in the play-in round. Cheng’s cucumber dragon beat Zhou’s cucumber wings. Unfortunately, the judges had little to say about the food.

The winner of the harumaki Play-In tournament is Challenger #4 Tomiteru Zhou and his Yuba Roll!

Meet the Challenger:

Tomiteru Zhou

The mentor of episode #1’s challenger Takeshi Maruyama, who minced his way through Cantonese cuisine by way of 3-ounces of salmon. Zhou is surely looking to avenge his apprentice. The Zhou Clan would be the Iron Chef’s main adversaries during the first season, showing up four times in eleven episodes, concluding with the boss Tomitoku Zhou (twice!). As a high ranking official in the Zhou Clan, Tomiteru Zhou is adept at wearing sunglasses indoors, commanding pit bulls via a chain-link leash, and speaking while maneuvering a toothpick.
While his apprentice was master of the mince, Zhou is king of the cleaver. A human highlight reel of cleaver whacks.

Showdown:

Challenger Tomiteru Zhou vs Iron Chef Rokusabura Michiba!

Chef Zhou is hyped. He slaps both cheeks before demanding Iron Chef Michiba. Not content with an Ishinabe re-match, nor a Cantonese vs Sichuan battle with Kenichi, Chef Zhou challenges the entire institution. Iron Chef Ishinabe breathes a sigh of relief and goes back to sleep.

The Chairman, like always, is leaning on the challenger for support and is unable to pivot. He is standing on a box. Team box.

Tale of the Tape:

The Chairman’s Fit:

Speaking of the Chairman's fit, I'm glad you asked

Today the Chairman is an auctioneer of the finest Kobe steer. Going once, going twice, sold to ME. Again.

The Reveal:

Not content with just one type of lobster, the Chairman reveals the clawed American (Maine) Lobster and the clawless Spiny Lobster. The Chefs seem content with the secret ingredient. They should both be familiar with lobster.

The Chairman's Wisdom:

N/A

I’m not going to try and butcher this one. Google Translate is going with “angrier than your wife.” Maybe it is an allusion to the red color of lobster when cooked properly or the intensity of the boil? I’m surely wrong.

The b-roll was docked fishing boats, raw and cooked spiny lobster, lobster thermidore, and clip art of a spiny lobster.

Allez! Cuisine!:

The Chairman is more excited than the Chefs by a large margin. Notably, both Chefs decide to select only the Spiny Lobsters, leaving the horrified Maine Lobsters to spectate the impending massacre of their cousins.

In the Booth:

Play-by-Play Kenji Fukui (right) and Color Commentator Dr. Yukio Hattori (left) are in the booth. These are the untranslated episodes so we only have to assume the following exchange took place:

Fukui: We are in for a treat today. The Chairman is spoiling us with live lobster.
Dr. Hattori: Lobsters communicate by urinating on each other’s faces.
Fukui: …

The Battle:

Iron Chef Michiba continues his tradition of menu planning calligraphy. Today it simply says “Spiny lobster apocalypse.”

Challenger Zhou is par-boiling spiny lobster heads and tails. Iron Chef Michiba is also planning something with heads split lengthwise.

Iron Chef Michiba has extracted some lobster tail meat. This is guaranteed to be for sashimi. Iron Chef Michiba must always serve a raw dish. This strategy will not work so well in the final battle with the Zhou Clan (episode #11 - pork).

Challenger Zhou is making a soup with the par-boiled lobster heads, shark’s fin (yikes….), and shiitake mushrooms. Lobster stock and napa cabbage would be added and the whole bowl went into the steamer. Now, what to do while it steams?

Challenger Zhou begins working on his garnishes halfway through the time limit. His garnish game was strong in the play-in tournament.

Even at 62-years old at the time of this episode, Iron Chef Michiba still surprises himself sometimes. That must be a good teriyaki sauce.

Iron Chef Michiba has a soup going with matsutake mushrooms. His trademark Broth of Vigor was replaced by lobster stock with a ton of lobster tomalley in it.

Challenger Zhou has been piling up lobster parts in a spider. We’ll see that get a quick “pass through oil” (deep fry), then stir-fry.

Iron Chef Michiba has some shell-on lobster under the broiler. This is likely going to go with the teriyaki sauce from before. Counting the matsutake soup and sashimi, Michiba has a total of three dishes.

Sure enough, Challenger Zhou deep fries the lobster nuggets. This confirms a second dish from the challenger alongside the steamed lobster head soup.

Iron Chef Michiba brushes on his mind-blowing teriyaki sauce from earlier onto the broiled lobster.

Using his time wisely and sticking to his set menu, Iron Chef Michiba is finished with 10-minutes remaining.

Challenger Zhou gives the deep-fried lobster a wok toss, as predicted. He then ladles in some lobster stock, chili sauce, and sweet potato starch noodles.

That Knife Life:

Iron Chef Michiba mows through a half dozen spiny lobsters.

Challenger Zhou, not to be outdone, cleaves up a spiny lobster himself.

Iron Chef Michiba is not going to waste the heads.

Meanwhile, Challenger Zhou is still at it. Cleaving away.

The Judges’ Table(s):

Novelist and actor Tamio Kageyama (65 battles).
Judge Kageyama once tried to rescue the tank lobsters at his local Cantonese seafood restaurant. This is going to be a traumatizing battle for him.

“Cooking researcher” Emi Inoue (2 battles).
Actually an undercover police officer on her last episode. Her cover was blown by sideline reporter Ohta, that rat. She knew investigating the Chairman would be dangerous, but she never thought she’d fall in love.

Food critic Asako Kishi (199 battles).
The East German Judge makes her return. Despite her title, her critiques extend far past food.

Dishes:

Challenger Zhou completes two dishes

Challenger Zhou’s first dish:

Steamed Lobster and Shark Fin Soup

A steamed soup of lobster heads, shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, sweet potato noodles, and shredded shark’s fin. The latter is a controversial delicacy. Perhaps attitude towards shark’s fin was different in 1993. Today, shark’s fin is somewhere between frowned-upon to downright illegal. The judges are reserved and unwilling to interact with the shell-on lobster with their hands in a hot soup.

Challenger Zhou’s second dish:

Lobster Vermicelli

Classic Cantonese cuisine done perfectly. Lobster is “passed through oil” (dredged and quickly deep fried) before being stir fried with chilli bean paste and simmered in stock with more sweet potato noodles. The challenger spent a significant portion of his cooking time on those tree-shaped carrots.
This seems to be the more favorable of the two dishes to the judges, however we stand at zero Oishis. Furthermore, at no point were the judges shown eating any of Challenger Zhou’s food. Not one frame. They aren’t trying to get messy.

Iron Chef Michiba completes three dishes (and a sauce)

Iron Chef Michiba’s first dish:

Lobster Sashimi

Iron Chef Michiba never misses an opportunity to serve a sushi or sashimi starter. The plating is nice, evoking nature, but the raw lobster antenna used as an inedible garnish is unappetizing. The dish slays Judge Kageyama.

Iron Chef Michiba’s Second Dish:
Teriyaki Lobster

The fanciest teriyaki you will ever see. The broiled lobster was brushed with the teriyaki sauce that Iron Chef Michiba delighted himself tasting earlier and then put back under the broiler to glaze. The asparagus with black sesame seeds is a good complement to the sweet lobster. This dish is another favorite of the judges.

Iron Chef Michiba’s third dish:

Lobster Liver Soup

A soup with a split lobster head, lobster tomalley (liver), matsutake mushrooms, and mitsuba. A lot of work and even more tomalley went into this rich soup. Judge Inoue dispenses with the tableware and drinks straight from the bowl. Even Judge Kishi compliments Iron Chef Michiba on his coursing of the meal. She’s not easy to win over. Things are looking in favor of the Iron Chef.

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?!

Iron Chef Michiba with his second victory!

Iron Chef Michiba delivered a coherent three-course lobster dinner that flowed from sashimi, to yaki, to soup. Challenger Zhou produced two variations of wet lobster noodles, that the judges didn’t want to bother with.

The real winners are the six Maine Lobsters who live on another day, free to roam the grounds of the Chairman’s castle.

Episode notes:

My favorite dish was Challenger Zhou’s Lobster Vermicelli. A classic dish given a small twist with chilli sauce.
For more Dr. Hattori fun-facts about lobsters, read Trevor Corson’s The Secret Life of Lobsters.
This was the first of six Lobster battles in Kitchen Stadium. We can expect one each year.
Next up, episode #006 - Octopus, which would probably be amazing, if I had access to it. We’ll move on to episode #007 - Daikon Radish and hopefully visit episode 6 at a later date.