- [Ben] Hey, welcome to Sorted,
we're a group of mates from London,
looking for exceptional things in food
that will actually make a difference to your life
or just make you laugh.
Two of us are chefs,
don't worry, the rest of us are normal,
and everything we do starts with a suggestion
from you.
("Pancake" by Jaded ft. Ashnikko)
♪ But I take the cake ♪
♪ I'm gooey in the middle, baby let me bake ♪
- Hello I'm Barry, and this is Jamie.
- Today is the second video in our
sake exploration series with JFOODO.
And we're going head-to-head-to-head in an ultimate battle
where we are incredibly out of our depth.
- [Ben] In our last episode, the three normals
were challenged to research
London's best Japanese food and sake
in order to create a battle-winning dish.
They sought wisdom from the great chefs and sommeliers
of London to acquire the knowledge
in the sacred art of food and sake pairing.
Today, armed with their acquired knowledge,
they will go head-to-head-to-head
in what will later be known as
the 11th greatest Japanese and sake food pairing battle
in East London, on a Sunday.
The day has come it is our ultimate Japanese battle.
- They have their inspiration, they have their sake,
and their time starts in
- Three, two, one (shouts).
- Okay, my dish I've selected,
and that's going to win this battle,
mochi ice cream.
We had some mochi ice cream in one of the locations
when we were researching.
It was delicious,
I thought it went really well with sparkling sake,
so I've selected a sparkling sake to accompany that
and I'm going for the same notes and flavors
that you can find in that sake.
Peach, sakura, which is cherry blossom,
and I'm adding a third, black sesame.
- For my dish, I'm taking inspiration
from all of the tempura
we had across the three different restaurants.
Except, I want to add a little bit
of a taste of home, as well.
So, we're going for Japanese-style fish,
battered in tempura,
and chips,
with some Furikake seasoning,
plus wasabi mushy peas.
(laughing)
Stop laughing at my pronunciation.
- You nailed it, you nailed it.
So this thing happened.
I think I may have fallen in love.
Whilst at Umu watching Chef Ishii-san
create the most incredible sashimi platter
I feel in love with his knife skills,
and the way he looked after his entire kitchen.
So, I'm going to try to replicate that
with my own sashimi platter.
And I'm well out of my depth.
- Are you serious?
- I'm taking on a two-Michelin-star chef.
Yes, I know, I know.
_ You idiot.
- Why not?
- Why would you do that? I am guaranteed second place.
(laughing)
- My first step is a simple one. Make a melon square.
(laughing)
- So the first thing I've got to do,
is create the flavorings
for the inside of my ice cream mochi balls.
So I'm straining off some peaches,
blending them up into a paste,
and then I'm going to blitz up black sesame
and charcoal powder.
Then, wash the salt off some cherry blossom tea,
and then steep it in boiling water for two minutes.
This makes a really salty tea.
I'm going to serve it up and give these two a cup of it.
Boys, cherry blossom tea. You can thank me later.
This is what I flavored one of my ice creams with.
So you're welcome.
Chin chin.
(Jamie and Barry spitting)
- That is saltwater!
- You do something nice for people
- First up, I need to make my wasabi mushy peas.
I've peeled and sliced a clove of garlic.
I'm going to add that into a pan along with some sesame oil.
Let that fry for a minute before adding in my peas.
Let that simmer away for a few minutes with some fish stock.
Blend it all up
and then add in some lemon zest and wasabi, to taste.
Both fresh and paste.
Add in some edamame beans, job done.
- Would you all mind listening up?
We're going to introduce a curveball.
- That was very polite.
What's wrong with you?
- This is the etiquette curveball.
- Oh, I can already see where this is going.
- As we learned from our sake journey so far,
it is impolite to pour your own sake.
So from now until we stop the curveball,
it will be impolite, and in fact, banned,
for you to control your own electricity.
You must ask a friend to control hobs, ovens, microwaves,
fridges, freezers and any appliances.
- Vacuum packers.
- But we're the only two cooking.
- That's why we got it in nice and early.
- Is it deemed impolite to do a bad job of taking care
of the electricity for one of the other players?
- Stop it! No, no.
- [Barry] My kettle is already boiled.
- [Ben] You were lucky.
- Hey mate. Just wondering, would you mind
turning my hob off for me, because my peas are done.
- I'm turning it off.
- That's perfect, thank you very much.
- No problem, remember that I did that nice thing for you.
- I will remember that you did that nice thing for me.
- With my watermelon, perfectly cubed, may I add,
I'm going to be adding some soy sauce and some sesame
and then sticking it in a vacuum pack,
which I can't use myself.
So, do you know how to use a vacuum packer?
(vacuum packer buzzing)
Oh, thanks mate.
With that vacuum-sealed, the flavors in there
are going to intensify, it's going to marinate.
And I'll come back to that, well, as I plate up.
- [Jamie] Does anyone know how you use real wasabi?
- [Mike] You just eat it like that.
(upbeat country rock music)
- Would you do me a favor
and just blend up my wasabi mushy peas?
That is my wasabi mushy peas with edamame beans done.
I'm going to cover it up,
I can reheat it just before I need to serve up.
- My ice cream consists
of whipping up double cream to soft peaks
and I can't use the electric whisk, can I?
Because of the curveball.
So there's a decision to be made here.
Who do I trust the most?
Baz?
- Hello.
- Can I borrow you?
- He's gonna borrow you for the next two hours.
- I just wanted you to know
that I trust you, because I've asked you.
- This might take a while, mightn't it?
Oh, crap.
(ponderous music)
- Stop, stop, stop, stop.
- It's fine.
- Good, you (bleep) off.
- It was not me.
- It is you.
Now that's at soft peaks, in with condensed milk.
And then, a bit of vanilla extract.
Split that mixture into three bowls
and then add sesame into one
peach into the other
and sakura into my third.
They then go in the freezer to freeze up.
- First things first for my fries,
I need to make my Furikake seasoning.
- What're you doing here?
- Well, I need you help.
I need you to do what you're best at.
- No, no I've not started my own recipe yet!
- I need you to turn that hob on and walk away,
because I need to toast my nori sheets.
- I can do that.
- James, there's a hole in my nori.
That one's done.
Oh fire, fire, fire, fire.
Fire, fire!
(bouncy electronic music)
- Are you gonna serve that?
Now what sashimi platter would be complete
without some wasabi and some avocado.
Avocado, wasabi, lemon, soy, and Japanese mayonnaise.
Do you mind just the odd wee thing?
Because I can just, push in that.
For like 15 seconds?
Yeah, yeah, stop!
Thank you.
- Can you just give this a little whiz?
(bouncy electronic music)
- So, when we went to Chisou
there were two things that changed the game for me.
One, was the tempura avocado,
which is why I've got avocado on my plate
and the other was the truffle mayonnaise
on those snow crab maki.
- Are you still talking?
- Rub it in, but what, you're not listening?
- I'm not, they're not.
No one is, just get on with it.
- Mayonnaise, truffle oil, simple as that.
- With my Furikake seasoning done,
it's time to move on to my actually fries themselves.
I've got some potatoes, I'm going to peel them.
I'm going to cut them into french fry shapes
and then I'm going to put them in some oil at 130 degrees
for a few minutes.
I'm going to take them out.
And then I'm going to heat the oil up to 180 degrees
and then I'm going to recook the fries
so they're lovely crispy and fry-y.
- Guys, one hour remaining
and the curveball has been retracted.
(whooping noises)
- Mochi,
glutinous rice flour,
water and sugar.
Stir that up into a thick smooth paste.
That bowl gets covered in cling film.
Goes into the microwave for a minute.
Comes out, uncover.
Stir, cover, another minute.
Take out, uncover.
Stir, cover, another minute.
Until three minutes have passed.
And then it all kicks off.
This gets dusted with cornstarch.
(shouts in pain)
Just to make it a little bit more difficult for myself
I'm splitting the mochi in two and trying to color them.
And I have no idea whether this is going to work.
So I'm adding gel to the mochi after the microwave process.
Whoa, too hot.
(rock music)
And now we wait.
- For garnish,
I've got my spring onions and my radishes,
which have been sliced as finely as possible
and my daikon,
which has been diced as finely as possible as well.
And over here,
the stars of the show
Let me talk you through my fish.
I have some tuna, salmon,
octopus, some sea bass, some scallops,
mackerel,
roe,
and oysters.
- Fried my fries. So, now I'm going to season them
with my Furikake seasoning.
Last thing to do for me is make my batter, cut my fish up,
and then fry my fish in the batter.
But first,
let me talk to you about the sake that I've chosen.
I'm going for the Tokubetsu Kimoto, heart and soul.
It's a really rich sake that is made
using ancient methods from centuries and centuries old,
when Ben was just a small child.
(Mike laughing)
It's a really rich sake with a decent amount of acidity,
which means it's going to cut through the flavor of my fish
and my fries amazingly well.
- Twenty minutes.
(energetic music)
- In order for me to play this properly
this is what it all comes down to.
I've got to cook ever, however so slightly,
my salmon by covering it in soy and a blow torch.
I'm also going to then heat up a skewer
and dab it on my scallops to kind of give it line marks.
And then I have to use my beautiful knife skills
to chop up the rest of my fish that go onto this plate.
I also have to shuck my oysters,
get some soy, ginger,
and some rice wine vinegar in there, as well.
With some daikon, some roe,
some spring onions, and some radish.
To finish the dish,
I've also blow-torched my watermelons.
Now, it may look like there's a lot going on.
It's because, there is.
And that's why it pairs well with this, a complex sake.
That is very fragrant, it's got a touch of melon,
so that's why it works well with the watermelon,
and works perfectly with fish.
- I'm so out of my depth with this,
because I have never made mochi before.
The trouble is definitely going to be in trying
to get ice cream into these little bags
and seal it up before the ice cream melts.
- My fish is cooking.
I have absolutely no idea if it's been done properly or not
but it looks good from the outside,
so let's hope it looks good on the inside.
The last thing I'm going to do
is I'm going to tempura batter some shiso leaves
just like we had in Chisou.
Because they looked great.
- I am stressed out.
(frenetic music)
- Last 30 seconds.
Don't forget the sake.
(frenetic music)
Can I just say, that was one of the quietest battles.
You all went into lockdown
to make sure you delivered your dish.
- It was quiet, but it was so stressful.
- It was technical that's what got me.
- Yeah, it was.
- I mean, I did make something, it's just in the freezer.
So we'll eat it at the end so it doesn't melt everywhere.
- Happiness.
Should we start with the sashimi?
- Let's start with sashimi, yeah.
- There's no denying that it is one hell of a plate of food.
It looks stunning.
Pairing with that Daiginjo is--
- Yeah, does it work?
- Like you say, there's a lot going on,
but it's very clean, quite crisp.
It's very refreshing.
- I feel like you found your style within Japanese cuisine.
- Where did you find yours?
This is very nice, this is beautiful.
- Are you sure, because it's all fried.
And that's very Jamie.
- Actually that's a very good point.
- There's no steak on that plate, c'mon.
- It's one of those sakes I don't think
I would personally normally prefer,
or certainly wouldn't have done
at the start of this journey.
But paired with the food, and you're right,
the slight greasiness of the food, from the frying,
it actually it is absolutely yummy.
The seasoning on those fries are phenomenal.
The fish is great.
The sweetness of the wasabi peas, but--
- [Mike] Oh, come on.
- Etiquette curveball today.
But I would say that shiso tempura was the best bit.
- All right, who's ready for dessert?
Or an aperitif?
- Oh no, that was embarrassing.
- Here we have mochi ice cream, in three flavors,
to accompany this, a delicious sake,
with a name that I can't pronounce.
- John.
- Well, John.
(laughing)
Eat it.
- What's the thing on the side?
- [Mike] That's pickled ginger.
- What?
I've never heard of that.
- Neither have I.
- I made sure I asked you twice
before you put it on the plate.
- There's no doubt
you've got that chew and pull on the mochi.
And the three distinct colors are great.
- James, what are you doing?
- Do you need some chopsticks?
- There's an element of decadence,
with any sparkling alcohol,
and that delivers that.
But with kind of floral notes as well.
Three awesome dishes, with three very clever pairings,
we've got some work to do.
- Have a chin wag.
- Should we go have a chat about it?
- Yup.
- Now the etiquette police are out of the way,
can we drink this out of the bottle?
(laughing)
- No one's a loser today, okay,
because you all did very well.
- Thanks, Mom.
Seriously, that means a lot.
- Third place was, we thought, a fantastic pairing,
some phenomenal skill,
but very simple.
Barry's sashimi plate.
- Yeah, I'm fine with that.
I'm actually okay coming in last this time.
- Second place
was all about taking inspiration from something we tasted,
making it your own,
and then finding a pairing that perhaps,
deep down you're not always that keen on.
Mike.
But Jamie, First Place!
- As the winner, it therefore becomes my responsibility
to let you two into some news
that this isn't the only battle
that's taking part in this series.
We are also going to be doing an ultimate chef versus chef
food and sake pairing battle.
But, we feel like you might need some more inspiration.
- Does that involve drinking more sake?
- So we're going on a little trip.
(dramatic music)
Oh!
If you like that video, give this a like.
- All right, let's have a look at the Brownie Leader Board.
- If you're interested in trying some sake
and you're in London,
you can go to London Sake Week from the 22nd of February.
Loads of restaurants participating.
You can get special set menus.
Easy.
- It's Sunday, so here it goes.
- How do you turn white chocolate into dark chocolate?
- Didn't know you could.
How do you Jamie?
- Turn the light off.
- Yes.
- Yeah, yeah, so it's one of those one.
It's not a lie.
- [Ben] As we mentioned,
Sorted is just run by a group of friends.
So if you like what we're doing
then there are loads of ways you can support us
and get more involved.
Everything you need to know is linked below.
Thanks and hope to see you in a few days.
(lively electronic music)
(laughter)
- [Ben] You can't do that in an open kitchen.
He just literally dribbled onto his chopping board.