01x08 - Episode 8

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Iron Wok Jan!

They're the best partners I could ask for.

My sous vide tools!

Cooking always comes down
to experience, idiot!

All your data and book learning

are worth barely a fraction
of what I've been through!

THIS IS FICTION WITH NO INTENTIONAL RESEMBLANCE
TO ANY PERSONS, ORGANIZATIONS, OR OCCURRENCES.

OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE SOURCE MATERIAL, THERE MAY BE
SCENES CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE TO MODERN SENSIBILITIES.

- QILIN CHINESE RESTAURANT

- One twice-cooked pork meal!

- Twice-cooked pork, coming up!

FREE REFILLS!

Can I get some more?

Over here too!

Can I get another?

Sure! Coming right up!

- CHEF OMAE KOTA FROM HAMAMATSU'S
QILIN CHINESE RESTAURANT

- Here you are.

Hey, thanks.

Gotta say, the food here
always goes down easy.

The all-you-can-eat aspect is a huge plus.

Shucks...

Well, our big strength is getting
your fill at a decent price.

And it tastes as good
as the fancy stuff, right?

Exactly!

Ko! What're you doing?
We don't got time for chitchat!

Right!

You shouldn't be too hard on Ko-chan!

He's gonna run this place someday, right?

I wanted to send him off to college...

But he's got it in his head
he'll take over the restaurant.

I've known Ko-chan since
he was just a kid...

He's always been a gifted athlete
and the top of his class!

Was even class president
in junior and high school!

Got a great head on his shoulders.

I figured instead of spending
his days covered in oil,

he'd prefer to work in some
fancy office with air conditioning.

Come on, Dad. No way.

I always thought you were the coolest.
You work so hard to make great food.

That's why I want
to keep this place going.

I wanna make good, affordable
food that everybody can enjoy

and get their fill of!

That's the kinda chef I want to be!

Aw, you're full of it.

Y'know, Dad, I made it through the second
round of that cooking tournament I'm in.

I'm the champion
if I can win two more times!

We can use the prize money
to renovate the restaurant!

You brat! You think
it's gonna be that easy?

In that case, we'll come by the
tournament to cheer you on!

How about it, guys?

Let's charter a bus and have
the whole g*ng show up!

Thank you so much!

In that case, if I win, I'll treat you
all to a Manchu–Han Imperial Feast!

Th-That sounds fantastic!

Nice, Ko-chan! Talk about gracious!

It's not just because
he's offering to treat us...

The kid really is great.

Treats his dad right,
and he's so responsible.

I seriously hope he wins!

Yeah! I'm gonna do my best!
I'm gonna do this!

And our winner, from
Gobancho's Chinese in Ginza...

Gobancho Kiriko!

Congratulations
on making it to the finals!

Thank you.

I'm going to work hard to prepare a dish
that you'll all enjoy in the finals.

The first to make it to the finals

is Gobancho Kiriko from Gobancho's
Chinese Restaurant in Ginza!

She sure seems confident, huh?

She does.

Next, the second match
of the semifinals...

H-Hey, she's got blue eyes.

Is she a foreigner? That's Kobe for you.

Wow, get a load of that!

It looks like a French dish.

She's got real flair!

Get it together, Jun!

You're repping the Oriental Tower!

And we have our second finalist!

I can't believe the kid
from Oriental Tower lost.

That gal's turned out to be
a real dark horse.

A blue-eyed Chinese chef...

CHEF CELENE YANG FROM KOBE'S SEA DRAGON

B-Boss...

I guess history isn't enough
to come out on top these days.

I'm gonna need to start over from scratch.

Y-Yes, sir!

Well, Yang-san, congratulations
on making it to the finals!

Why, thank ya.

I don't think anyone saw this coming!

I mean, Jun from the Oriental Tower
was a favorite to win.

It'd take one hell
of a lucky break to beat him!

People did a lot of speculating
about how you'd fare against him.

But you managed to defy all expectations!

You ain't got a lotta manners, do ya?

Where do you get off telling
a finalist they got lucky

or they're overperformin'?

I didn't make it this far
on a fluke, ya hear?

A Kansai accent? Are you from Osaka?

Naw! I'm from Kobe.

Ma's French, and Pa's from Hong Kong.

But I was born and raised in Kobe!

And don't ya forget it!

I'm not about to lose to some Tokyo folks!

I'm gonna show y'all what
a gal from Kansai can do!

I hope you'll be rootin' for me!

You tell 'em, girl!

She's pretty funny!

A blue-eyed Chinese chef from Kobe?!

She's a lively one!

She's an oddball.

An interesting prospect
to make it to the finals.

And now, the third match
of the semifinals!

From Gobancho's Chinese
Restaurant in Ginza, Akiyama Jan!

And from Qilin Chinese Restaurant
in Hamamatsu, Omae Kota!

- You can do it, Ko-chan!

- YOU CAN DO IT!
OMAE KOTA FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

- Win this one and you're in the finals!

- You're our town's hope!

I'm gonna give it my all!

With Gobancho Kiriko and Celene Yang
already making it to the finals,

only one spot remains!

Will it be Akiyama Jan who claims it?

Or Omae Kota?

This match will decide!

And the theme will be...

lotus root! You'll be
making lotus root dishes!

Lotus root?

That's the ingredient?

Lotus root, he says...

- Lotus root...

- They made the theme
freakin' lotus root?!

- A lotus root dish?

Lotus root, eh?

That's a tough one.

E-Er...

What's wrong, gentlemen?
The match is already underway.

Is making a lotus root dish that hard?

It is.

Really?

I mean, lots of dishes use it...

Correct. It's a popular ingredient
for many home-style Chinese dishes.

That's what makes it hard to decide.

You can boil it, fry it, sauté it...

The applications are countless,
so picking one becomes difficult.

I'd wager they're both sorting through

all kinds of lotus root dishes
in their head.

I-I see...

A lotus root dish... What should I make?

Do a good job, Kota!

If you don't win, we'll have come all
the way from Hamamatsu for nothing!

You're our chef, kid!

- YOU CAN DO IT!
OMAE KOTA FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

- Everyone's rooting for me...
I can't lose!

I'm here as a chef representing
my hometown.

Okay, I've got it!

That's what I'm gonna cook!

And Omae is on the move!

What will he be grabbing for ingredients?

The crowd's focused on him!

I know what I can make...

And it's this!

That's an eel!

It looks like Omae is going to be
preparing something with eel!

Now he's got coconut milk and snow peas!

In contrast, Akiyama has
managed to make it this far

with the extraordinary
effort he's put in...

But he's yet to move!
He's frozen in place!

He still hasn't budged.

He hasn't decided what
to make with lotus root.

Well, I won't lose!

Maybe some more salt...

Hey! Still working hard, huh?

That's admirable, Ko-chan.

Gen-san! When'd you get back to Japan?

The boat was running late. Just got
back from Hong Kong a second ago.

Oh, I got you the book you asked for.

All right! This is awesome!

So these are the Chinese dishes that are
all the rage in Hong Kong right now...

Oh, this one uses coconut milk
for a stir-fried dish!

I didn't know that was a thing.

I don't get you, kid.

I thought the uncensored foreign porn was
way more interesting than some cookbook.

Getting the latest from anyone
who's just been there is a huge help.

Well, I'm headed to Shanghai next month,
so I'll grab you another one.

In exchange, I hope you'll make me
a feast like in those books someday.

Sure thing!

This crazy kid's really
putting in the work.

I have to win!

Everyone's hopes are riding on me!

Thanks to them, I've been able
to study the latest Chinese recipes!

And when it comes to cooking eel,
nobody knows more than me!

Lotus root, eel, and coconut milk...

That's going to be my combo!

Well, I'll be.

That's just like a dish they
serve at the Regent Hong Kong,

lian'ou chao ou pian.

I believe it's a poultry and lotus root
dish stir-fried in coconut milk.

He seems to be using eel
instead of chicken, but...

I'm surprised that boy knows
about such a relatively new dish.

I only just learned about it
myself the other day.

I-Is it really that new?

This boy must study hard.

Easy to see how he made it
to the semifinals.

I'd wager he's using eel
because he's confident with it,

being from Hamamatsu and all.

Oh, yeah! What about Jan? What's he doing?

Has he still not decided yet? Huh?

When did he start cooking?!

Did you notice, Head Chef?

A-And what do we have here?

It looked like Akiyama had begun cooking,
but now he's sitting down.

Could he be done already?!

What?! Already?!

He takes some big risks
with his dishes, just like they say.

He's being stupid again, I see.

Congrats on your win, Kiriko-san!

Have you been watching?

What do you mean? Jan's dish?

It looks like Akiyama
is casting another spell.

Magic again?

- Right. He's making dun tong,
a steamed soup with the lotus root.

- DUN TONG

The key element will be that white
stuff he added to the pot early on

and what kind of effect it will have.

It'll probably be black magic.

Because the only thing he cares
about is winning the match.

This can win it!
The dish has turned out great!

I know I can win!

YOU CAN DO IT!
OMAE KOTA FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Ko-chan's really going at it.

There's no way he loses to
that kid who's just sitting around.

Don't you agree, Pops?

Kota shouldn't lose with a dish like that.

But...

All right. Should be about time.

And Akiyama is back on his feet!

But there's hardly any time
left on the clock...

Great job, Omae Kota.

Working your a*s off like that...

Here's the thing, though. No one's
gonna wanna eat your dish.

Not what you made.

No one's gonna want it.

What's with him? I've never
met a chef who acts like this.

It's like he's spoiling for a fight!

Time's up!

Both of you, please present your dishes!

You done yet, Omae?

Y-Yes! I'll be right over!

I'll just go on ahead.

Damn it! If he gets to the judges first...

What is it?

What do you mean, Pops?

You're just as good of a cook, son...

But Kota... you're not built for this
kinda cutthroat competitive cooking.

I have to say, this being the third
match, I'm starting to get full.

No denying that!

Even though the food's all
been fantastic, it's still a lot.

Being a judge isn't all
it's cracked up to be.

And now, the judges will
begin with Akiyama's dish!

Well, now...

- MIZAO YUAN ROU DUN LIAN'OU: LOTUS ROOT,
JUJUBE, AND LONGAN STEAMED SOUP

- Oh, a soup.

- Soup? That's just perfect.

It'll be easy on our stuffed tummies.

There's always room for soup, after all.

O-Oh my!

It's sweet! A sweet soup!

It's not often you have a sweet soup!

And it's a light, refreshing sweetness.

This is quite an intriguing
surprise attack.

Does this mean it was sugar
Jan added to the pot early on?

Yep. It was granulated sugar.

Granulated sugar?

Is it like kudzu starch?

So the spell Jan cast was shocking
the judges with a sweet soup, huh?

No!

Not in the slightest.

He's working something
a lot nastier with his magic.

Nasty?

This is a tong sui.

Akiyama came at this from a
strange angle, servin' up sweet soup...

- TONG SUI: SWEET SOUP

- Tong sui!

- According to the principles
of a medicinal diet,

- it helps you cool off in summer
and warm you up in winter.

- It's a type of sweet soup eaten daily
to help fine-tune the body!

- You spread granulated sugar
and honey in a ping guo...

- PING GUO: A LIDDED SOUP BOWL

- then added the lotus root, jujube,
and longan for two hours to make the soup.

Cooking it in a steamer
instead of applying direct heat

was a play to draw out
their natural flavors gently.

The fluffy texture of the lotus root

and gentle sweetness of the jujube
and longan are coming through clear.

It's light, goes down smooth,
and even slakes thirst.

It really does go down easily.

Which just makes you want more.

I think I'll have another taste myself.

Still, there's no way this can
beat Omae Kota's dish.

The kid's whipped up a dish that'd be
at home on the Regent Hong Kong menu!

That was some lovely soup.

Very satisfying!

And that's another day
of judging done. Delightful!

Finishing with a sweet soup was a relief.

Watch closely now, Okonogi.

The judges have all filled up
on that sweet soup.

What do you suppose will happen
when they eat Omae Kota's dish now?

H-Hey, everyone!
You haven't tried mine yet!

Please judge my dish next!

Oh, right.

There was another left, wasn't there?

We haven't tried yours yet.
Terribly sorry.

What's gotten into the judges?

LIAN'OU CHAO SHAN QIU: EEL AND LOTUS
ROOT STIR-FRIED IN COCONUT MILK

Please, help yourselves!

What's the matter? Go right ahead.

Well, let's try it.

Oh, dear.

U-Um, how is it?

I'm sorry, but I can't eat this.

That's enough. The judging
for today is complete.

It was a good effort.

B-But you've only had a single bite!

Won't you give it a serious try?

No, this was enough.

Your dish is too oily.

The fat from the coconut milk
has cooled and congealed.

My food's gone cold?!

The cold eel and the fat from
the cold coconut milk

is twice as unpleasant to eat.

That's the problem with rich food.
It's far worse once it's cooled.

Th-This can't be...

E-Excuse me. I need to go!

M-Me too. I'll be excusing myself.

They're all getting sick, huh?

I guess this congealed fat is packing
a real wallop after that light tong sui.

Enough to knock out
anyone with a weak stomach.

Not too bright, are you?

That eel and lotus root
coconut milk stir-fry

is only sublime when eaten hot.

But it can't just sit around.

The more it cools, the worse it gets.

That's only because you
served that sweet soup first!

My dish cooled
while they were eating yours!

Exactly!

That's why I served mine up first!

To ruin your food!

Tong sui's a sweet soup that provides
a joyful feeling of satisfaction!

Once you have some, you don't
want anything else afterward...

Meaning no one cared for any of your dish!

Sucks to be you!

Jan...

That b*stard...

Can't he be satisfied
just making a good dish?

He made that soup specifically
so the other guy would lose!

Kiriko...

Do we really need a jerk like that
working at our restaurant?

Cooking is about heart,
not winning or losing!

I'll never accept his way.

And I'm gonna stop him!

EPISODE 8: MALICE