For your elimination challenge,
we're putting on
a fundraising block party.
I just get really proud when I
think about where I come from.
My grandmother's curry.
Every time I come back home,
my grandmother
will make this dish.
It was missing that depth that
everything had individually.
Yeah, it's my mom's recipe.
I want to create the moment
of a Korean baby eating fish.
Jae's dish
was really interesting.
- I love that.
- My mom's meatloaf.
It's always been my favorite.
The meatball could've
used a little more fat.
The winning chef today is...
Jae.
Luke, please pack
your knives and go.
Six chefs remain to compete in
the ultimate culinary showdown.
a feature in
Food & Wine
magazine, an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic
in Aspen, $250,000 furnished
by Sanpellegrino,
and the coveted title
of Top Chef.
- Good morning!
- Good morning, everyone.
- What is this? "Hey Chefs."
- Oh, Lord.
"Hey Chefs, grab a map.
"Meet me
at the Houston Farmer's Market.
- "Love, Padma."
- Whoo!
Oh, hey!
We're going
to the Farmer's Market!
This is it right here.
This is
what I'm talking about.
Anything
you can possibly imagine.
The Houston farmer's market,
it's essentially walking
into a Mexican market.
Before coming to Houston,
I didn't really know
what I was in for.
I love that
the community embraces
different cultures
and the food.
Yeah, yeah.
All my chilies.
- Good morning, chefs.
- Morning.
Please welcome
your all-star guest judge
for this Quickfire Challenge.
She competed on
Top Chef
and
Top Chef Mexico.
Claudette Zepeda.
Thanks, I'm super
excited to be here.
Nice to meet all of you guys.
Claudette and I just wanted
to heat things up a bit.
For today's Quickfire,
you'll be shopping and cooking
here at
the Houston Farmer's Market.
- Ah...
- Operating for over 75 years,
it's the city's oldest
and largest farmer's market.
And as you can see,
it's recently been transformed
into a can't-miss Houston
destination.
And there happens to
be a can't-miss Tex-Mex dish
that was popularized
right here in Houston as well.
Can anyone guess what it is?
Like, I don't know...
- It's the fajita!
- Fajitas! Okay. Okay.
Fajita
translates to
"little belt," which is what
ranch hands in Texas called
the skirt steak of the cow.
The story goes that local legend
and chef "Mama Ninfa" Laurenzo
was the one who popularized
the fajita as we know it today.
She served these strips
of meat with her homemade
tortillas and some peppers
and onions all on a hot skillet.
For this Quickfire Challenge,
you'll get to shop anywhere
in the farmer's market to
create your own take on fajitas.
- Ah.
- Chipotle's provided you
with some amazing proteins.
They have always been
committed to buying
fresh local ingredients
and responsibly raised proteins
seen across their menus, from carnitas to pollo asado.
And today they're going
to award the best,
most original fajitas...
$10,000.
- Oh! Hey!
- A lot of masa right there.
Nick,
you're The Baker, right?
I'm The Baker.
The reason why they call
me the Mississippi Baker
is because
I have the most bread.
- Nick!
- Ten grand.
- Nick and Ashleigh.
- You get $10,000!
Congratulations.
You'll be receiving $40,000.
Need a little bit more dough
to fill up the oven, though.
The Baker has just been baking
way too much bread and I'd
like to take some bread off him.
Just a couple of slices.
You'll have
the market and create
your finished fajita dish.
Are you ready? Because
your time starts now! Good luck.
Oh, you're trying
to steal my sh--.
No, I'm trying not to.
I think the hardest part
of the challenge
is just navigating the market.
Dividing your shopping
and cooking time
wisely is a big
part of the challenge.
I am thinking about
making Korean-style
crepes instead of tortillas.
Dinero? Dinero?
How much?
So, I don't want to spend
too much time shopping
because crepes
take a while to make.
I love being alone here.
Do you have
any more peppers?
Fajita's not just the steak.
It's about
the peppers, the salsa,
the condiments,
all the accoutrements.
I have to make a good
fajita platter
or my mom's going to yell at me.
Okay.
Thank you.
- Hey, Jae.
- Excuse me.
Are you serving yours
with tortillas, man?
Yeah, I'm gonna serve
it with tortillas.
- Are you making them?
- Uh, no.
I'm definitely gonna
make tortillas
because
I just hope that the world
and
Top Chef
can see my versatility.
What do you got
working on, Buddha?
Kind of relating
it to Korean food.
I'm working on a corn salsa.
I have never
made a fajita before,
but I know that corn's really
big in Mexico and in Korea,
so I want
to do a little spin on it.
I got a lot to do.
Hmm...
There's a lot
of variety here
at the Houston Farmer's Market.
Maybe too much.
I'm going to have to execute
this dish really quickly.
Feel like I'm the only
one still shopping.
Hey, guys. Y'all ready
for a new Baker in town?
If she did win this 10,
she still haven't got
equal to The Baker, though.
I know!
Listen, Nick, enough is enough.
I want some bread, too.
I made a marinade for my beef.
It has
papalo,
garlic, lime, jalapeño.
Damarr, what are you thinking?
I'm going to do a
seared steak with a salad
- that incorporates tortillas.
- Okay.
I got kind of inspired.
I saw they had this
- Jamaican booth.
- Oh, cool.
It'll have spice, it'll have
acid, it will have sweetness.
I think it should be balanced.
Maybe I'll go a little...
Caribbean flair here.
Ten K, 10K.
Ashleigh, I'm checking on you.
What are you doing?
I tried to get
everything I could, girl.
Honestly, I miss my girlfriend.
She works
with all these ingredients.
I was getting excited seeing
stuff
that she normally
uses in the kitchen.
My partner, Meghan, she's half
Mexican,
and she seals burritos
with this amazing cheese crust.
I want to mimic
that because that is one
of my favorite
things that she does.
Hopefully those memories
help me out a little here.
Trying
smoke us out over there, Jae?
I am charring
pineapples and tofu.
Making gochujang crepes
with a tomatillo.
- Oh, cool.
- It's gonna be-- not Tex-Mex.
Korean-Mex
or something, right?
I like that idea. I
like where you're going with it.
Ten minutes, chef.
Oh, my
gatos.
- Come on, baby.
- Here I go smoking.
People love
to see that sizzle.
I got to get these things hot.
I'm just testing
a bunch of stuff.
Buddha, what you got
going on right now, man?
I got an avocado and ssamjang crema.
Three minutes.
That's
not a good tortilla.
Oh, my...
Crepe is sticky,
and it's not getting cooked
as fast as I want to.
Oh,.
Ah...
Salsas, tortillas.
Just gonna put these
chicharróns
on top.
- One minute.
- Damn!
Ah!
Time's up.
-, really?
- Hands up, utensils down.
Ugh.
I didn't finish.
That's crazy.
- Hi, Jae.
- Hi, Padma. Hi, Chef.
So, I have gochujang tomatillo
crepes with stir-friend tofu,
poblano peppers with
a pineapple salsa on top.
- I'm missing a crepe.
- Yeah, unfortunately, I'm sorry.
It didn't make the plate.
I made some beef fajitas.
I marinated in
papalo--
- Ah!
-- lime, fish sauce, garlic.
And then I also have un salsa verde and a pico with rambutan.
I like that.
That's kind of my thing.
I did a steak
fajita-inspired dish,
so I did a seared steak
with a mango relish
that includes dried
chilies and onions.
And then I did a purslane
salad over the top and grated
some
chicharrón
over as well.
Why did you choose mango?
They were really ripe
and soft and sweet.
I did a cabbage
and black bean braise,
served it with some tri-tip.
I have a jicama slaw
and a lime cilantro crema.
And I made some corn
tortillas as well.
- Mm. Great texture.
- Thank you
- for making the tortillas.
- You're welcome. Thank you.
Today, I made a beef fajita
with corn and avocado.
It's inspired by
ssam.
Looks like you had way
more than 45 minutes.
Hi, Ashleigh.
- Hello. Hi.
- What'd you make for us?
Chicken fajitas.
I added this cheese
crust on the bottom.
You're not going to find
a salsa on yours, unfortunately.
Uh-oh. What happened?
You know, time.
This was a fun challenge,
but a couple dishes
fell short of the mark today.
Damarr's. I think
it was a little too thick.
The salsa
was a little too sweet,
so there wasn't enough balance.
- Okay.
- Ashleigh, I'm sorry,
you didn't
give me the full dish.
Also the cheese being on
the bottom,
I was scraping the dish
to get a little bit of it.
Jae,
unfortunately you were also one
that gave me
three-quarters of a dish.
The dish, Jae,
ate a little too oily for me.
Let's talk about some
of our favorite fajitas today.
Nick, I think you did
an amazing job incorporating all
of those ingredients
that you saw in the market.
You made your own tortilla
and you did it well.
- It was lovely.
- Buddha,
the overachiever of the day.
The star
of your meal was the corn.
So much flavor in that corn.
Evelyn. Papalo, it is a very polarizing herb,
so congratulations
on properly using it
and not scaring us
away by its potency.
So, Claudette, who had our
favorite fajita dish of the day?
The chef that really took
advantage of their surroundings
and gave
us the perfect bite is...
- Nick.
- Yeah, man!
The Baker comes again!
Nick, congratulations.
You won a sizzling $10,000
from our friends at Chipotle.
The Baker!
Yeah, so you gonna
roll out the dough.
You got to knead the dough.
Another win
for the Mississippi Baker.
$35,000 in right now.
Let's just keep on moving it up.
Thank you for spending
some time with us.
It was really nice to see you.
Take care.
Yes! Thanks for having me.
- Good luck.
All right, chefs,
it's time to launch
right into your next challenge.
Please welcome
your next guest judge,
a longtime member of the Top Chef family,
Chef Marcus Samuelsson.
Hi! How are you?
I like your jacket, by the way.
- Listen! I brought it.
- Sick wardrobe, always.
I'm super excited
to be here in Houston.
It's amazing food and culture
and of course, NASA.
NASA.
It's NASA!
It's a space challenge!
Houston is known as Space City.
The Space
Food Systems Laboratory
at the Johnson Space Center
supports the development
of flight foods in all
of NASA's missions.
They're currently
researching how to feed
a crew that's
on a mission to Mars.
This challenge,
you'll have to think like a food
scientist and create
a dish for astronauts.
Food scientists have to meet
the difficulties
of eating in microgravity,
such as limiting any
foods that can create crumbs
or any free-floating
liquids that might get loose.
To help
you get a little bit more
information and inspiration,
I've set up a meeting
for you
- at the Space Center--
- Whoa.
-- right here in Houston.
- We're going to NASA!
- Oh, wow.
I'm excited to have
some experience at NASA.
In the kindergarten,
the teachers always ask me,
"Jae, what do you want
to be when you grow up?"
And I said, "astronaut!"
Tomorrow morning
you'll have two and a half hours
to prep and cook your dishes
in the
Top Chef
kitchen before service begins.
And you want to make
sure your dishes are truly
out of this world, because
three retired astronauts
will be joining us to taste
what you've all created.
That's awesome, man.
That's awesome.
Along with, of course,
your All Star guest judge,
- Melissa King.
- Hey!
And the winning dish
in this challenge will inspire
a dish that will be sent up
to space for a future mission.
That's very cool.
Well, good luck, Chefs.
Have fun at the Space Center.
Thank you.
- This is amazing.
- It's really cool.
Blast off.
Never been so
close to a rocket before.
Hi, welcome to Rocket Park.
My name is William Harris.
I'm president and CEO
of Space Center Houston here
at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Preparing food for astronauts
is really challenging,
so we're real
excited to have you here.
And I actually got
some real astronauts here
who are going to be some
of your testers tomorrow.
- Awesome.
- I got to tell you,
I'm pretty nervous and excited.
I've watched the show
and the countdown clocks make me
incredibly nervous, so...
More nervous than
your countdown clock?
The clock counted down
to zero and I got
blasted off of the planet!
We spend a lot of time here.
It's basically where
we do most of our training.
And we practice eating
space food.
I lived on the Space Station
for six months
and food's important, okay?
Cady said she was on
station for six months.
And you think about
if you were going somewhere
and had isolated choices,
what would you prepare
for six months?
And we're preparing
to send astronauts
on to Mars, where the mission
- can be up to three years.
- Wow.
We're going to head
over to the Science Center.
Whoa! Look at that.
It's like
we're on the moon.
- What is this?
- This is the garden.
Getting some veggies here.
Welcome to
the International Space Station.
- Oh!
- Thank you.
I'm really excited to introduce
you all to Dr. Grace Douglas,
who's a food scientist
with NASA Johnson Space Center.
She's going to tell
you about astronaut food.
We have
about 200 different foods
and beverages
on the regular menu.
Everything that we send
has to be a wide variety
so that people can
find foods that they like.
They don't want to be
bored off of the food.
They want something
that is craveable.
It's not a whole lot of,
like, salt.
Salt exacerbates
things like bone loss.
But we work
with a lot of spices.
This challenge is all about
bold flavors, which I have.
All of our sauces are
thick enough that they're
not just going to float out
of the pouch.
- We can't have free liquid.
- Mmm.
That's the cherry-blueberry
cobbler.
And the interesting thing is,
when you're eating this,
you notice there is crust in
there; we have to get rid
- of any crumbs.
- Crumbs, it's going to go
as far as it can go
until it hits something.
Do you rely somewhat on, like,
nuts and stuff to add
- some sort of texture?
- We do.
I'm thinking
of making a pork stew.
I didn't see a lot of pork
on the example menus
that we saw and not
a lot of Mexican food.
I think it could translate
into a dish for NASA.
- Good luck with your challenge.
- Thank you.
Station, this is Houston.
- Are you ready for the event?
- Houston, we are ready.
Oh, wow!
Are you talking to us?
Top Chefs,
this is Mission Control Houston.
Please call station
for voice check.
Station, this is Melissa King
from Top Chef.
How do you hear me?
Melissa, we have
you loud and clear.
Welcome to
the International Space Station.
That's awesome!
Is this real life?
Like, what?!
- Hi, everyone!
- Hi.
So, we wanted to ask
you a few questions about food.
Does food
taste different up there?
I noticed when I first
arrived that congestion,
you get kind of a fluid
shift to your head.
Feels like you have
a cold for a little while.
I tend to use hot sauces
and condiments
to kind of bring
some of that flavor back.
I came to Top Chef thinking that
it was about cooking and food.
But you're also experiencing
all these wonderful moments
which are once
in a lifetime chances.
Do you have silverware, or--
- how do you prepare?
- You always have your spoon.
You always know where
your own spoon is.
Food that's not actually
in a can, you're gonna
- use a pair of scissors.
- What's in there?
So, this is
the cherry-blueberry cobbler.
- Best ever.
- Whoa!
Oh, my God.
Whoa!
That's so cool.
Thanks for joining us
up here and enjoy Houston.
Take care. Bye.
Oh! That's so cool.
- Learned a lot.
- Yeah.
- Ugh.
- Thank you.
That was awesome.
Definitely did not think
about food that way.
So, how y'all feel?
Top six.
It's crazy.
I remember when you couldn't
- even get a spot on the couches.
- Yeah.
- Or even at the dining table.
- Yeah, right?
Our group is getting
smaller and smaller.
It just shows us
that we're nearing the end.
After tomorrow,
it's going to be five of us.
Thanks for the wakeup call, Jae.
I have worked so hard
in this industry. So hard.
And I don't feel like I have
a whole lot to show for it.
I've won restaurant's awards
that are not mine,
put blood, sweat and tears into
businesses that are not mine,
and I've sacrificed
birthdays and anniversaries.
That's a big
part of why I did this.
I'm here to win the title of Top Chef for me.
It's been a long day.
Let's get some rest.
- Yes.
- For sure.
NASA challenge, over and out.
Hi. Yes,
I would like to get some ribeye.
- This one, please.
- What up?
Where these
banana peppers at, Nick?
I'm definitely
having a little chef block,
which could be similar
to writer's block.
Creating food that could
be packaged and eaten in space,
it's not an easy job at all.
The astronauts talked
about wanting a taste of home,
and they also mentioned
putting hot sauce
on everything because food
tastes differently up there.
I'm really just thinking about
going the comforting route,
Boneless, skinless chicken
thighs and some chicken livers.
That's a lot of fruit.
Making dessert, Buddha?
Yep. Making a pavlova.
Pavlova is something that really
brings me back to just
cooking at home with my wife.
My wife is a pastry sous chef
at Eleven Madison Park.
She's formed
me into a better chef.
And I'm proud
to be able to showcase
a dish
that means a lot to me.
Eleven minutes, guys!
Can I do
two pounds of tuna steaks?
The idea that I have here
is this hot sauce ceviche dish.
But you can't just
take raw fish to space.
So, I'm thinking tinned fish,
reimagined.
Thank you so much.
- Have a good day.
- You, too.
- Pork butt, too?
- Black-eyed peas...
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Whoa! Wow!
Look at this!
Ha-ha! This is going
to be a lot of fun.
Take a look!
Oh, look at the table!
Man, this is beautiful!
Almost makes me feel
like I'm cooking at NASA.
Or cooking on the moon.
Speaking of moon,
my dish is gonna
be based on the moon.
So, they're gonna feel
like they're actually on there.
You get this one sh*t
to cook on the NASA challenge
and I want to go all out.
I'm making a Pavlova 14.
It's a take on Apollo 14.
Alan Shepard
played golf on the moon.
I'm going to do
a little funny take on that.
- That's pretty cool.
Buddha's making
spaceballs next to me.
A Pavlova 14.
He's doing what I would
expect Buddha to do.
There's powders,
molds, there's things whipping.
He's a little
scientist over there.
- How you looking? Good?
- What I'm making is
a
guiso rojo,
which is a pork and chili stew
This dish warms my heart.
Coming home to
a bowl of this stew
is definitely very
comforting.
I've been saying
"space challenge" for a while.
I just really didn't know
the perimeters of the challenge.
Traditional stews
are very loose and goosey,
and that in space does not work.
So, I'm going
to incorporate a roux.
Got an hour and 49.
Jae, what are you cooking?
I'm making bulgogi.
That's kind of like
the first dish my mom
cooks for me every time I visit.
Bulgogi is a comforting dish.
Back in Korea, it used
to be a special occasion dish.
I par-freezed the ribeye
to slice very, very thinly.
Cooking something my mom
used to cook as well.
Some rice with chicken
gravy that'll have
some chicken thighs
and chicken livers in it.
And I'm going to do some
hot pickled peppers.
- Sounds good, Damarr.
- Keeping it pretty simple.
I'm definitely holding
some things back to try to,
you know,
get closer to the finale.
But the danger
of holding back is that
you hold back too much,
you'll get eliminated
and never get the chance to
actually pull that stuff out.
So, it's really a dangerous
game you're forced to play.
I'm really inspired
about Mississippi kind
of having their own identity.
- Yeah.
- I've always been, you know,
an ambassador for my state.
So, I created
a Mississippi gumbo
cooked with collard greens,
speckled beans,
chicken and lots of okra.
I'm going
to bring this into space.
What's that down there,
Nick?
- The mix 27?
- 26.
Where have you been hiding?
Yeah! Thank you, man.
- Buddha, what are you doing?
- Making aluminum halos
so the aliens don't
detect us down here on Earth.
Oh, fun. Have fun.
Apparently,
astronauts like hot sauce.
- Yeah.
- I do a hot sauce ceviche
for my pop-up.
So, I'm actually going
to poach the seafood using
this very
aromatic coconut water.
Very cool.
Jae, why did
you decide to use barley?
I don't
want to serve mushy rice.
I want to give a, you know,
nice texture to it.
One of the rules was
not to serve sitting liquid.
Bulgogi is supposed to
cook in a beefy broth.
So, I'm thickening
with parsnips.
Oh, my
gatos.
My brain is really cloudy
with all the restrictions.
Without executing
this exact dish before,
doesn't make me feel
comfortable.
Struggle is real here.
I'm hollowing out these
coconut panna cottas.
I'm going to fill it
with mixed berry center
like the blueberry and cherry
cobbler.
It's cool to be doing
all these different
space ideas on one dish.
The golf balls are berry-cherry
sauce
inside a coconut cream and then
covered in white chocolate.
And then for moon rocks
I want to use meringue.
Pavlova will be able to
travel well because meringue is
dehydrated egg whites, basically
a freeze-dried product.
Some parts I want crispy
and some parts I want
chewy on my meringue.
How's the gumbo turning?
It's looking pretty good.
Just added some collard greens,
already got the butter
beans and black-eyed
peas in here.
What type of rice are you doing?
Pumpkin
seed and lemon zest rice.
I'm also cooking rice
a different way
by toasting the grains itself,
as well as roasting
my pumpkin seeds
to really add texture.
I think that's the biggest
thing I saw with food
in space,
was just, like, no texture.
My mom's going to be like...
- Jae, how you feeling?
- Good. I'm cooking beef
but super gently,
so I don't want to overcook it.
Damarr,
you're cooking rice?
Yeah, I overcooked
the first batch
so I got to get some more on.
I would really hate to
get this far in a competition...
What the?
--to go home
over something as simple as,
you know, overcooked rice.
Right behind you.
- Wow!
- Nine minutes.
My goal is to serve this dish
in the same way that astronauts
would eat it in space.
So, the diners can
cut open a package
of slaw and scoop it over
the tin of seafood.
Look, it's a rover!
I know! Isn't it exciting?
Can we ride it around the set?
- I would love to.
- Game time now.
Wow! That looks great.
It's an honor to have you here.
I know the chefs are
super excited.
This is such a great challenge.
So, welcome.
- Cheers.
- Thank you all so much.
What's the best thing
you've ever eaten in space?
Any food that was unattended,
right, by somebody else.
I love it! You're that guy. Every kitchen has that guy.
I'm not normally that guy!
- Yes!
- Yes! Wow.
- Hi, Evelyn.
- Hi!
We learned that
it's really about spices
and how to introduce
more flavor into food.
So I knew this dish
was really gonna represent that.
And I think I could really see
this dish in a pack in space.
It's a
guiso rojo.
It's made out of pork,
added some toasted pumpkin seeds
to the rice
as well as the
escabeche.
Buddha, tell
us about what you made.
Alan Shepard
played golf on the moon,
so on the plates
there's a golf ball.
I've called it Pavlova 14.
Inspiration's from Apollo 14.
Coconut mousse filled
with a berry compote,
and then a tropical
salsa on the bottom.
Great first start.
Thank you.
- Great job.
- Wow.
What a pair of beautiful
dishes.
Very beautiful.
Evelyn's dish had
so much depth of flavor.
That pop of acid,
you get the heat.
- Really well-rounded.
- I thought that it had
enough spice to make it
really interesting
and great,
but not overpowered.
This could be a very
heavy, dense dish,
but because of the pickles
it becomes a light dish.
And I love just subtle
things like that.
I like the texture
that the vegetables supply.
We really miss texture up there.
Yeah, the textures
kept the dish interesting.
And you know who else liked it?
My man Tony.
The stew was,
like, super flavorful.
What did you think
of Buddha's dessert?
I liked the surprise
inside the golf ball.
You break into it, it was
interactive and fun and playful.
It had so much flavor.
It wasn't too sweet,
but it was definitely like
you got the white chocolate,
you got the creaminess,
you got the tartness
- from the berry.
- He told a great story,
number one.
He clearly is engaged.
And I thought it was
a nice dessert. It was fun.
I like the plate
that I did, yeah, spaceballs.
- It looked awesome.
- What you got left?
I'm just doing
my last-minute adjustments.
I never seen nobody
have shears on the plate.
The magnitude of creativity
here is expl*sive.
- You look really calm.
- Can't say that
every day now, can you?
- Ready, Nick?
- Yep.
- Beautiful.
- Wow!
Hi, Nick.
Hi, Ashleigh.
Please tell us what you've made.
Marinated tuna
and marinated shrimp.
And you're going to take
your scissors and open
your re-thermostabilizing
packet of sweet potato slaw,
and you're just going to
scoop that into the little tin.
So, I was just trying to evoke
the spirit of being in space.
Nick, tell us about your dish.
So, I created
this Mississippi gumbo
and I have it on my menu
at the Civil Rights Museum.
It's collard greens,
butter beans, black eyed peas.
There's a lot of deep rooted
Mississippi ingredients with it,
because all I could think about
is coming to home
and having some gumbo.
- And it's really delicious.
- Thank you.
- Thank y'all.
- Thank you.
Let's see what happens.
What did you think
of Ashleigh's tinned seafood?
I think Ashleigh
gets extra credit
because I haven't eaten with
scissors in a long time.
I mean, she's so on brand here!
With the can
and the scissors.
I do think
that was almost too much
of a focus
on presentation.
And then we lacked
a bit on the flavor.
The tuna was a very big piece
and it was very bland.
If you're gonna poach tuna,
you've gotta cook it
- all the way through.
- If she would have butchered it
in a little bit smaller cubes,
the flavors
of the pickling liquid
would have gone in and it would
have been even more flavorful.
- I have no idea what they think.
- I know.
What did you think
of the gumbo that Nick gave us?
There's a famous Nina Simone
song called,
"Mississippi Goddam,"
and that's really what I feel.
It is super flavorful,
not spicy.
You can tell that Nick has
cooked this many, many times.
Never had beans in a gumbo
before and I kind of like it.
- Makes it a lot more richer.
- I thought it was delicious.
I thought it would fly
perfectly in space.
I brought the flavor, so...
You brought
the Mississippi flavor.
Yeah.
This is definitely
not the bulgogi
that my mom used to
make.
I'm not 100% happy with it,
but the dish itself
tastes pretty good.
Five minutes, Damarr.
Hm. This rice is still
a little overcooked.
What the?
Overcooking rice twice
is very embarrassing
and I have no other backup plan.
Ain't this pot a bitch?
So, yeah,
I'm kind of screwed.
- Two minutes, Damarr.
- Oh, boy.
Oh, we're done.
Thank you. Beautiful.
Hello.
- What did you make, Jae?
- Bulgogi with gochujang barley
and sesame
mushrooms and carrots.
Going back home,
my mom cooks bulgogi
for the first meal because
it's a special occasion for her.
That's why I wanted to
serve bulgogi today.
- Damarr?
- I did rice
and what my mother
would call chicken gravy
with some hot
pickled peppers on top.
Y'all spoke about missing home a
lot, so I want to share
- a little bit of my home.
- Thank you both.
Thank you.
What do you think
of Jae's barley and ribeye?
I wasn't sure...
exactly what the texture
was supposed to be, but it...
You didn't know
what to make of it.
- Yeah.
- The idea of barley gochujang,
I think, is really interesting
and could be punchy
and delicious.
The barley was undercooked.
But I like
the fact that barley
is something that really
crosses cultures as well,
and I think they would
appreciate the spices.
The thing that I really
did not enjoy was the beef.
The beef was very mushy.
It just disintegrated
on my plate.
I didn't care
for Jae's mushy bites.
Carrots were
the best part of the dish.
Everything
was cooked correctly, so...
And what
about Damarr's chicken thigh?
My rice was overcooked.
It was really very mushy.
I appreciate the peppers,
because otherwise there
wasn't a lot of flavor.
I guess I was looking
for something a little more.
It's not inspired enough.
People are bringing it.
I just felt like
this was underwhelming.
It's just
not interesting at all.
It's not really seasoned well.
The gravy is kind of thin.
It was just a stressful cook,
you know?
It was very,
very stressful.
I think any
of the meals we had today
would be more
than welcome in space.
This was a wonderful challenge
that really pushed our chefs to
think about food in a new way.
I want to thank
all of you for being here.
We've got to go to
judges' table now.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you so much.
Chefs, some of you did a great
job today,
but there were
a lot of missed opportunities.
Evelyn, Buddha and Nick,
please stay here.
The rest of you can step
to the side. Thank you.
The three of you had
our favorite dishes of the day.
Jesus Christ! Thank you.
Evelyn, walk me through
that dish, please.
I knew I wanted to do
a pork dish inspired by Tex-Mex
flavors and something
that I find very comforting.
It was well-seasoned.
It was well put together.
The
escabeche
really stole the show.
It kept the dish interesting,
especially the size they were
cut created the counterpoint
to the rest of the dish.
The best rice we had today.
Stellar job with your stew.
I was very happy.
It was cozy.
Thank you.
Buddha, how was today for you?
Today was really
nerve-wracking,
making it something
that can go to space.
You gave us a beautiful,
creative, delicious,
interactive dessert,
and I appreciated how much
thought you put into
each element of that dish.
- You knocked it out of the park.
- Thank you, Padma.
I love that you actually
thought about
the space program and tried
to work it into the dish.
You have a bunch of tricks in
your bag and you played them
- really well here.
- Thank you, Tom.
That plate was a perfect
intersection between
playing the game,
showing techniques,
but not being gimmicky.
Nick,
tell us about your dish.
Today I got a chance to feature
what I do a lot of, and that's
Mississippi-style gumbo,
which is all about flavor.
We've all eaten a lot of gumbo.
And today you took us
to Mississippi and showed
us that gumbo could be
something entirely new.
The beans, the okra,
the pickled peppers.
Totally delicious, comforting.
The textures were fantastic,
and it was completely
on another level.
Make people forget
about gumbo in Louisiana.
I doubt. Don't say that.
It's a big flavor b*mb.
And it's Mississippi gumbo.
- Thank you.
- There's a lot of beautiful,
subtle things
that you did in there.
The okra and the way
the collard greens coated
and gave the beans was--
that was a perfect pairing.
- Thank you very much.
- Marcus and Melissa.
The chef that won today
gave us a dish that was
inspiring,
thoughtful and something
that all
the astronauts are asking for.
The winning chef today is...
Buddha. We're going
to send you to the stars.
Good job, man.
- You worked your ass off.
- Thank you.
I absolutely loved this
challenge, and I feel like
what I did today showed
that I'm a serious contender.
I want to make it clear that
I'd rather go hard or go home.
I've been in this podium a lot.
- This is your first--
- Yeah, my first individual
- in elimination, yeah.
- Good for you.
Buddha, your dish will
inspire a dish that goes
on a future
mission up into space.
It's amazing.
I can't wait.
The three
of you can step to the side.
Ashleigh, Jae and Damarr.
The three of you had our least
favorite dishes,
and one
of you will be going home.
Let's start with you,
Ashleigh.
Your seafood dish,
I loved the presentation of it,
but the dish itself felt
ate really bland.
I kind of held back
and wanted to make it, like,
healthy, so I poached
the tuna in coconut water.
I felt like
it was a good compliment.
If you had poached it in
olive oil-- if you think
about all tinned fish,
there's a good amount
of fat in there and that's
what keeps it moist.
It was also still a bit
pink in the middle
and you really want it cooked
all the way through.
Jae,
were you happy with your dish?
Mm, I wasn't really 100% happy,
to be honest.
The big problem I had with
the dish was the texture
of the beef was just mush.
And the parsnip puree,
it was gritty
and soggy at the same time.
Your beef was sliced
so thin to the point
where it just
vaporized on the plate.
And then you cooked
the barley so firm,
that softness
that we want didn't happen.
I tasted several times.
It really
wasn't undercooked for me.
Okay.
Damarr,
talk to us about your dish.
Were you happy
with the way it came out today?
Uh, no. I overcooked
the first batch of rice
and then I was rushing
to cook more rice.
- It just didn't go well.
- You are right.
Your rice was overcooked.
I loved the pickle, actually.
I thought it gave great texture.
But it just
felt a little, like, ho hum.
I just think at this stage,
we all know you could do better.
The rice wasn't elegant or fun.
It was just like,
"Okay, I'm putting rice on
"and I'm putting a stew on."
Listen, this is a tough part
of the competition right now.
This is when you gotta dig deep.
I'm talking to everybody,
not just you, Damarr, I'm
talking to everybody right now.
I made a huge mistake,
but I'm not really the guy
that makes the same
mistakes over and over again.
We have a lot to discuss.
We'll Call you back in a bit.
- Thank you.
- Hey, keep your heads up.
Keep your heads up. Come on.
Hi.
God, that was very rough.
Hey, Jae.
Why everyone is coming to me?
Listen, Jae,
as the MVP of the bottom,
that's what people do.
They immediately embrace you,
tell you
they're sorry,
it's going to be okay.
Listen, I'm a pro at this.
Well, all three of these
chefs had problems today.
This was a challenge to
literally sh**t for the stars.
Ashleigh did at least try
to give us something
interesting, creative, playful,
and that she really thought
the astronauts
would love in space.
It was cute. It was a cute
dish but she made some mistakes.
We all agreed the tuna
wasn't seasoned and that's it.
I kind of do think it's me.
With Damarr...
it was just
a poor cooked chicken and rice.
It was such a lack
of creativity, imagination,
all the things you need
to succeed in this competition.
And flavor, it was so bland.
I'm fired up. I want them
to be like, "You know what?
"You three go cook right now."
Jae,
she really tried to be creative,
- but she couldn't execute.
- The only creative thing about
that was putting
nuts in the barley.
Neither
of the two main components
of Jae's dish work for me.
The meat felt mushy and
the barley did not feel soft.
I did leave almost
all of Jae's beef
on the plate
because of the texture.
I think we have our answer.
- Yes.
- Yes.
Okay.
Let's get them out here.
Chefs, imagine what it was like
for that little girl
or that little boy to look
up and maybe they saw a bird
flying and thought,
"I could fly one day."
And they trained.
And now think about the time
that you actually decided that
you wanted to become a chef.
And here you are. You're so
close. You're here to win.
Keep that thought.
That's the thought
you're gonna need
to push through.
Jae.
Please pack your knives and go.
Thank you.
Jae, we'll see you
at
Last Chance Kitchen,
so you do have a sh*t
of getting back in.
Thank you.
I wasn't
proud of my dish for sure today.
Jae!
Don't act like you're surprised.
Well, you
better go kick ass.
'Cause I need you.
It's been quite a journey
for me to come to
Top Chef.
From Korea to
New York to New Orleans,
learning new things in a new
language and a new culture.
Bye. Thank you, guys.
Take care.
I worked really hard.
I never took any shortcuts.
I will always demand more
from myself to be a better chef.
Tonight, the finals
of
Last Chance Kitchen.
One of these chefs will
return to the competition.
This will be a finale
like we've never done before.
Who will make it back?
Find out now on Demand,
or wherever
you stream
Top Chef.
Next time on
Top Chef.
There's a VIP family
coming to Galveston.
You'll each have to
make a family-style dish
catered to a different
family member's tastes.
All the chefs in a home kitchen
is gonna be a stretch for sure.
That's hilarious.
Keep messing with me
and I'll hide
some stuff from you.
This is certainly the most
rustic dish
- we've seen from Buddha.
- By a mile.
Where'd I see
those bowls again?
I have no idea how I'm gonna
accomplish this.
It's kind of a disaster.
It just gets a little confusing.
You listen
to everything they want,
but you don't give
everything on one plate.
Please hold for hurricane.
19x10 - Dinner in Zero Gravity
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Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.