'The Next Iron Chef'' recap: Ming Tsai nearly serves up his own elimination

 
Did celebrity chef Ming Tsai think his bid to become "The Next Iron Chef" was going to be a cakewalk?

Probably not.

But he probably also would not have predicted that he'd be in the bottom two -- with a 50% chance of elimination -- in Week 2!

That's right, there was no mercy for Ming the Merciless in this week's challenge.

Continuing the homage to American food, the cheftestants arrived at John O'Groats in Los Angeles and were challenged to come up with an innovative twist on coffee and doughnuts. Most fell back on some version of using the doughnuts for French toast. Clever, but not exactly innovative. Chef Maneet Chauhan turned breakfast on its head -- a grilled cheese doughnut and a coffee-and-doughnut frittata -- and handily won the challenge.

Her win gave her honors in the next challenge, and once again we saw the "prize" turn out to be a setback in disguise. The second challenge was to take classic diner food and give it an Iron Chef-worthy twist. Chauhan had first pick of the dishes and jumped on burgers and fries. But then she made a -- gulp! -- veggie burger and okra and squash blossom fries. She got points for the fries, but the judges hated the texture of the burger and suggested that she was in danger of being relegated to "one-trick-pony" status if she kept relying on Indian flavors. She was left to wallow near the bottom.

But not quite at the bottom.

Those two spots were reserved for Tsai and chef Mario Pagan, with the judges trying to decide "whose dish was less bad than the other's."

The quote of the night goes to Pagan, who, finding himself in the bottom two with Tsai, said: "It's truly an honor to be standing next to him. But not in that situation."

Tsai was dinged for overdoing it and turning his plate into an archaeological dig with too much stuff. His assignment was to reinvent corned beef hash, and although the judges said the nugget of brisket on the plate was good, the dish was described by host Alton Brown as a "Faberge egg via the Hindenburg."

I have no idea what that really means, but it can't be good.

Tsai was only saved by Pagan's tropical, fruity take on meatloaf, and the unappetizing look of the plate.

Tsai swore that he'll never be in this spot again: "I dodged a heat-seeking missile. It wasn't just a bullet. I can guarantee you this is going to be the closest I come to getting eliminated."

We shall see.

An observation: Game-play reared its ugly head. As winner of the first challenge, Chauhan also doled out the rest of the diner dishes to the competitors. Was it coincidence that she gave one of the most time-consuming dishes -- pot roast -- to chef Mary Dumont, knowing that she faced a penalty of some sort? (Turned out Dumont had only 59 minutes to make her dish, while everyone else had a full hour.) We do know Chauhan tried to trip up Marc Forgione by giving him chicken pot pie, because she admitted as much. "My strategy with Chef Forgione completely backfired. What can I say, he cooks a mean chicken." Forgione's dish was stunning, a true deconstruction and reinvention of chicken pot pie.

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter.com / renelynch 

Photo: The cheftestants at John O'Groats. Photo credit: Food Network

Comments

[P]

Why is Ming even have to be in competition !

[Rob]

The funny thing is that I don't see how or why the judges are qualified to judge Ming? Do any of them have their own line of food?
Marco Canora is a slimy two faced back-stabbing bitch.

[Heather]

I agree with P & Rob - Ming Tsai is already a well known popular chef! The judges are privileged to be eating his food. The worst they had to tell him on the episode I just watched (no idea what one it is, the first one I saw of this season) - is that he needs to try more contemporary plating. Whatever. He should already be considered in the same ranks as the current iron chefs.

[Rob]

I watched Ming beat Bobby Flay in an Iron chef contest, Bobby Flay used the same plating in that match that the judges said Ming needs to try more contemporary plating (The Next Iron Chef).
Seems the judges need to watch reruns of their own show - how sad.

[Nancy Lawson]

What a joke!!! Chef Canora won with dishes that were far from suductive. Being able to see what his ultimate advantage was before it was disclosed, I knew that whatever luxury ingrediate Chef Tsai got, that would be the one Chef Canora would take. From the start of the the show he has not believed that Chef Tsai deserved to be there and chose to critize over small things that were designed to make Chef Tsai look bad. A good example what when he said the shrimp tempura cocktail was not suductive, but old and over done. Yet he loved Chef Tito's oyster as suductive, over done is not even the word. The majority of the chefs did not play it like a game, but just simply wanted to make their best food. Chef Canora played a game, playing it safe and taking ingredients from other chefs that would have surely made them shine! I am greatly disappointed in the judges, with the exception of Chef Simon. He was impartial and realized that just because it didn't work for him, didn't mean it was not well cooked. The one thing that can be said for the last challange, Chef Canora will have to cook, not take away what might help the other chef, and he can no longer blame all his troubles in the kitchen on Chef Tsai!

[Betsy]

What were those judges smokin?!

Forgione or Conora couldn't carry Ming Tsai's knives! I don't know what their agenda is, but it's not to crown the best chef. I'm thinking the find Ming's persona too great a threat or distraction, but now they have a new problem; neither Forgione (especially this guy; mean spirited; whiney; phoney) nor Conora have the personalities to endear an audience; unlike Ming who is engaging, impressive and lovely; a true TV darling. I'm outa that show; won't watch the finale and won't watch Iron Chef anymore, because the fix was in!

[Pat Guzman]

I would have preferred Chef Tsai be one of the finalists...Along with Chef Tio who has shown great skills and professionalism...Unfortunately Chef Canora is one of the finalists and that is going to make the finale a whole drama... I agree with Nancy "Chef Canora will have to cook, not take away what might help the other chef, and he can no longer blame all his troubles in the kitchen on Chef Tsai!"

What a shame...I have nothing against Chef Forgione but he has shown many time lack of skills and did not deserve to be up there...

I know you have to be competitive but that does not mean you have to be dirty and a sore loser like Canora...

I respect the judges but Donatella was somewhere else sometimes...I mean she ate in 2 opportunities garnishes that were not supposed to be eaten...How about checking on plating and waiting for an explanation from the Chefs...

[geraldine carbone]

I am a fan of Ming Tsai's. I don't believe he thought he was going to have a cake walk on the Next Iron Chef. I knew he was going to lose. Why?
He previously had a show on the Food Network-Does your old employer always want to take you back? I don't think so.
The food Network picks people that could "sell." Ming represents a truthful character-not good for the BS of advertising.

[geraldine carbone]

Rob-I heartily agree with you. Canora is a two faced slime. I guess he's going to sell some heavy product. The Food Networks all about money.

[elizabeth]

Chef Ming ist the best i dont know why he went in competicion , when He was supost to be Iron Chef alredy, he is charming ,best Chef Smart, very desaponted ,PS>chef Canora is a loser with lacky charm thats all.

[john smith]

I agree with everyone chef Tsai was robbed.
This is because he left FN for a better gig on
PBS for more money. This was an opportunity
for payback . FN found away to get even.
Chef Tsai has already beaten chef Flay on ICA and
had nothing to prove to his viewers or judges.The
newbie chefs and the judges new that Tsai was the
man to beat and in a different league altogether.
I also agree with some of the other posters that the
goal of the show was to replace chef Batali. This is
why you had an entirely Italian face-off for the final.
FN has no imagination and has become very predictable.
The judges starting with Donatella Arpaia need a good
smack on the side of the head, too salty, too fatty, too sweet,
this is the extent of her critiquing skills. I love you chef Canora,
when can ride your pony tail, I miss chef Batali's. Simon Majumdar
is the co-writer of Dos Hermanos, a food blog in the UK,
big deal. Why is it that we as Americans need judges from
the UK for our reality shows. "We don't need no stinking badges,"
Blazing Saddles. I mean UK judges. Do you see any American
judges on Uk shows? C'mon we don't have someone with better
credentials than Simon?? At Least Chef Symon is a Chef, not an
Iron Chef, Besh should have won, but a chef just the same. He was
asked to toe the line by FN and make sure Tsai did not win. The only
thing he could say about Tsai's food was amazing but, your plating
needs improvment. When chef Tsai had the best food or dish,
they needed to find something else to criticize. They made very few
comments about plating when it came to the other chefs.
I believe that the real Iron Chef is Ming Tsai . He is better than some
of the current flock of Iron chefs including, Flay which he proved by
beating him. You have Graces,Cora, Symon, these people should be
on Hell's Kitchen not on Iron Chef. I think the chefs should have been judged
on their performance throughout the whole show not just on a single episode.
I believe that Forgione, Marc not Larry should have been eliminated earlier.
He clearly made more mistakes than some of the other chefs, but to quote
Alton Brown, "You survive to cook another day." Why??? He made some major
rookie mistakes. Unacceptable for a real Iron Chef. Don't get me wrong he
has some talent and might get there one day . This is not his time, experience
and maturity come to mind. I think it's admirable that he tries for a home run
every time out, but baseball has proven that to be impractical and your failure
rate almost guaranteed. Your best ballplayers hit 300, would you go to a restaurant if they failed seven out of ten times? You would be happier with a chef that triples on every occasion, consistency, with a few home runs mixed in. I'm very disappointed in The FoodNetwork and will not be watching future ICA and Next ICA shows. They have lost touch with their target audience in other words struck out. . .

[Ming Fan]

Tsai Oh Mai

WHY did esteemed Chef Ming decide to participate in this competition?
He enjoys (enjoyed, perhaps) international acclaim and has a wide following.
While his disappearance from Food Network was never explained, he, for
some reason decided to throw himself at their feet and compete.

My memory of him is that he was/is a real nice guy, as well as a person
of superior intelligence and beyond impressive academic credentials.
During this culinary cat fight he displayed another side; catty, coy,
not above sabotaging another's efforts, pompous and downright bratty.

Wonder what possessed him to take this swan dive. Watching repeats
of the show in the new year I still can't believe that he roped himself
into this.

Does anyone know if he's had another to say about any of this?