(eggs tapping)
(egg cracking)
(oil sizzling)
- Hello and welcome to Sorted Food.
- Now, lots of people have pointed out
that Mike hasn't won many cooking challenges lately.
- [Barry] Now, this might have something to do
with the fact that Ben is giving out all of the points.
- Well, today we're giving Mike, the underdog, Huttlestone,
the opportunity to get his own back on Ben
in a very special, Beat the Chef Mystery Box challenge.
- But to level the playing field,
Mike already knows what's in the box
and has developed a recipe with the food team.
Ben, on the other hand has no idea
and will have to come up with something on the spot.
- Ebbers, do you wanna see what's in the box?
- I would.
(classical music)
Oh, lots of things.
So we've got some duck, some oysters, some green things
in the form of cabbage, bok choy, ginger,
biscuits, and root.
- So Ben, you have free rein to use all the ingredients
in that box, as well as a load of things
from the pantry here.
But the thing you have to use is under that right there,
szechuan buds.
- [Ben] From the Poker Face Challenge.
- [Jamie] It's like chewing on a bumblebee.
- [Barry] A tickly bumblebee.
- [Jamie] A tickly, electrified bumblebee.
- [Ben] Floral, and zingy and numbing.
- [Barry] You don't look that excited by them, Ben.
- Well, no, I'm challenged.
I know they work really, really nicely in things
like cocktails.
I don't think I've really contemplated using them
with food so much.
- Well, as if the stakes weren't high enough already
we're also giving Mike the opportunity to win
the Unusual Ingredient badge
if he can create a dish that compliments the flavors
of the szechuan bud and demonstrate an understanding
of why it works in the dish.
James will be judging at the end to make sure that points
and badges are handed out fairly.
Are you ready?
- Yes!
- Yeah.
- Let's get it on.
- What?
- Cook.
(intense music) (lightning cracking)
- Right, so you have 45 minutes.
Your time starts in three, two, szechuan.
(bell dinging)
- I like that!
- Okay, I'm starting by doing the chefy thing
of preheating pan.
- [Jamie] So what are you making?
- So I'm utilizing the white chocolate, the rhubarb,
the citrus from the mystery box
to make a white chocolate ganache
and rhubarb tart with a cheesecake base.
- Already, you're adding how many szechuan buds to the base?
- So I've got ginger snap biscuits, which were also
in the mystery box, they're going in
and they're being blitzed up with five szechuan buds.
- Five?
- Five. - Five?
- [Mike] Melted butter goes in, zhoosh it all up.
That's my base.
- A buttery, biscuit base already taken to the next level
because it's got the heat of ginger in there
but then we're gonna get slapped around the face
with an electric shock from five szechuan buds.
- So my logic for putting szechuan buds in the base
are in the same way that if you were to add salt
to pizza bases so that your tongue hits the salt first,
and then it basically lifts the whole dish.
So this was a cool way of trying to get that zinginess
into the dish really early without having to use tons of it.
This is one of two ways
in which I'm using the szechuan buds.
- Two ways?
- Two ways? - Sorry,
Two ways and you've already put five in there.
- Yeah, well, I'm gonna use 10 later, so
hold onto your pants.
(men laughing)
- [Jamie] What we making Ebbers?
- [Barry] He doesn't know, does he?
- I haven't really worked it out.
Basically, there's a whole bunch of flavours here
that are so beautiful at this time of year
that I can't not use it.
Rhubarb, blood orange.
First off, I'm going to poach some rhubarb in a pickle.
I'm gonna pickle them in coconut vinegar, star anise,
cinnamon and the szechuan bud.
- How many buds you going for?
- [Ben] Four.
- And so you're extracting the flavour out
of the szechuan bud without eating it.
- [Ben] At this stage
I think so. - At this stage.
- So I think the whole dish has kind of got
a Southeast Asian skew in the sense of kind of the duck,
the star anise, the cinnamon
but with this kind of numbing, floral, spiced
but not spicy note of the szechuan.
So absorption method with added flavours,
the peel of a blood orange and some ginger.
- [Barry] No szechuan?
- [Ben] Not in the rice.
- So I'm now spooning my mix into a tart base,
making it even on the bottom, but going up the sides.
A real jeopardy of this dish is whether the filling
will set in time.
So that's why I'm making two smaller ones
instead of one big sort of massive tart,
because that would definitely not set up and chill in time.
- We're happy to help you with that.
When does it need to go in the fridge to set up
and we'll let you know when that moment passes?
- [Mike] Well, these now go into the freezer to set up.
- You've had 10 minutes to make a biscuit tart base.
(bouncy music)
- The beautiful part here is
that this is essentially a recipe lab
and a development process in real time.
So it is going to chop and change a little bit
as the cogs in my mind spin, unspin and then respin.
In this spice mix, salt, sugar, fennel seeds,
and then the szechuan bud.
Blend that up and that's gonna be a finishing seasoning
that I haven't decided if it's gonna go on the duck
or the bok choy yet.
- Oh, wait, hang on a second.
A minute ago, you didn't know if the seasoning
was going on the duck or on the bok choy
and now you've just put it on the duck.
- No, no, the finishing salt, I don't know.
I've put it on here, but what I don't know is
when you cook it whether you lose the nuance
of szechuan bud.
- Sugar on the duck breast.
In my head that would caramelize and burn too quickly but.
- [Ben] Oh, we'll see.
(Jamie laughing)
- But if you think about some of the best duck dishes,
they've got kind of soy and honey and ginger
from these kind of flavors.
And it's the honey that I've kind of
in this case just replaced with sugar, fennel and szechuan.
- Buzzy, buttery biscuit base, done.
Next layer, rhubarb.
So I've chopped up my rhubarb so it's the same size
so it cooks evenly,
into a frying pan with a little bit of water
and some sugar.
Stew that down so it's nice and soft.
- I'm trying to imagine rhubarb
which is already very tart and makes your tongue go.
(tongue smacking)
Like that. - Oh,
with the szechuan!
- With the szechuan bud, electrifying you.
Oh, Mike, what I'm noticing so far.
- [Mike] Yeah?
- Is that you're taking the Spaff way of cooking
which is lots of big
flavors.
- Yeah, they are, so in the research that I did,
szechuan buds from two regions, Africa and South America,
from when they used to be joined together.
But essentially when I tasted them,
yeah, very buzzy, very, very zingy.
Like they hit you, but they are used as palate cleansers.
And they do amplify the flavors
of other ingredients like citrus.
So I thought let's get as many zingy citrusy things
into this one dish as possible.
Hopefully that will amplify the whole flavor.
But instead of it making it feel
like you're literally being electrified on your tongue,
balance that out with a really glossy, white chocolate,
which is smooth and just unbelievably delicious.
What I'm really hoping to do with this dish
is that the more you eat it the more it builds
then that just adds another experience to eating a dish.
- He's really thought this through.
- I know, it's impressive, isn't it?
- [Jamie] Yeah.
Ebbers, you're approaching the halfway point.
Are you happy with progress?
- I've still got no idea what it's gonna look like, mate.
(men laughing)
Duck going in the oven.
The challenge here and the bit I'm scared of,
essentially the jeopardy of the dish
is that so far everywhere I've used the szechuan bud,
I have heated it up and I've no idea when you do that
whether it loses that sensation.
So I am also going to have a little bit of this
as a finishing salt at the end.
What I'm gonna try and do with this is kind of char it.
So get slices and blacken it.
So it's like caramelized orange.
- [Barry] Oh, here we go.
- Rhubarb's nice and steamy.
So now I need to drain it on a plate lined with paper towel.
So this is going to be the layer that goes on top
of the biscuit base and then lined with ganache.
- Why are you draining it then?
- 'Cause I wanna take out all of that excess moisture.
I mean, I'm gonna need to do more of this.
(Barry laughing)
I think I might need to pat that dry.
- [Jamie] Oh, mate.
(Barry laughing)
- Let's try this, there we go.
That's looking better.
You get the rest of the juice from the rhubarb pan
through a sieve, because I'm going to reduce that down
and I'm gonna finish with a chefy zhoosh.
- Whoa! - On the plate
when I serve it.
Now, it goes into the freezer as well.
Thank you.
- That goes on the other half of the tray.
Lucky it's big enough, isn't it?
(upbeat lively music)
(oil sizzling)
(Jamie laughing)
- [Jamie] Oh.
- Wonderful flavor from the szechuan.
No buzz.
- Oh.
- Is that a bad thing though?
- Not bad, but you're gonna want a buzz
that's why we're using them, right?
- [Jamie] Oh, he's going back in.
- Whoa! - Whoa!
- So my white chocolate ganache is double cream,
heating up in a saucepan, infused with ginger.
A lot of fresh ginger.
This is about a ton of chopped white chocolate,
it's going into a bowl.
And then I'm going to pour over my ginger-infused cream
and create a ganache.
Didn't look good, did it?
- That didn't look like enough cream.
When there's three normals standing around trying
to work out how to make ganache,
you know that we've gone wrong.
- Yes.
How you feeling Mike?
- I'm using the remaining of my cream
to use this as a bain-marie.
This is called improvising
because I need this white chocolate to melt.
Do not do this the same way at home.
- [Jamie] It looks like cream pat though.
- It does look like cream pat.
Shall I just, like, pipe this into a, and make choux buns?
Please melt.
It was going well.
(lively jazz music)
- Oh! - Oh!
- It's melted.
It's done, thank goodness for that.
Okay, so now I'm zesting in my lemons.
- Four lemons?
Again, another big flavor.
- Yeah.
(men laughing)
- That confidence you were talking about.
- Yeah, well, now I can't melt chocolate with cream.
Suddenly I'm in a bit of a crisis of confidence.
- You've got plenty of time
and it seems like you've just got plating to do.
- How much time left?
- [Barry] 15 minutes.
- Until the main course?
- Ebbers. - Oh,
don't be silly. - He's doing a Ebbers.
He's doing an Ebbers!
- [Mike] We have a juggernaut of a cookbook on the way.
The Ultimate Cooking Battles: Normals Edition,
features fantastic recipes assembled from our battle videos,
rewritten especially for this illustrated cookbook.
Sorted club members can pre-order a copy right now
with a discount.
And if you're not a member, don't worry,
you can sign up now for free in a flash
and get the amazing Meal Packs app
and get the discount on the book.
Shazam, how marvelous is that?
(intense music)
- It's been five minutes and he's just been like inside-
- Buzzing around like a- - I know.
- Like a buzzy bee.
- Busy szechuan buzzing bee.
- Looks like Ebbers has been rummaging around
in the mystery box and he's found some oysters.
- There's certain ingredients when chefs see them
that if they are super fresh and in season,
you can't help but get a bit excited by.
I don't want the oysters in this dish
but we could try something.
But with a little shallot vinegar.
What's better than shallot vinegar?
Szechuan bud rhubarb pickled vinegar.
- I mean, you don't know that that's better
'cause you just make this up.
- [Ben] But it sounds better in my chefy head.
- He's going bold now like he has no idea
this is gonna work at all.
(bouncy music)
- Jay, would you mind getting the rhubarb
and tart cases out of the freezer for me please, mate?
The bases have chilled really nicely.
So now I'm just adding rhubarb to the base.
Now, ganache.
- [Barry] Oh!
- Oh, yes! - Oh, oh!
- This is harder than I imagined.
- What, the ganache?
- The whole ganache-based activity
has been a bit of a trial.
(men laughing)
The white chocolate ganache.
I mean, part of the reason why it didn't melt so easily is
because it's so thick
because it needs to set up really quickly.
So now that it's in there
it needs to go back in the freezer, please, to set up.
- Jamie, you should definitely get a Freezer bade.
- Oh!
Mike, you've got five minutes to go.
- Okay, so...
Oh, good!
That has reduced down into solid rhubarb juice.
I'm gonna let that down with some water.
- How's that sauce coming along?
- [Jamie] That just chefy zhoosh.
- Nice.
- Nice?
You liar!
This isn't nice!
- So are we still confident it's a chefy zhoosh
or is it just a zhoosh?
- It's very much a zhoosh made by Michael.
A zhoosh Michael.
(men laughing)
- Damn, that was funny.
- Oh, that was good, that was great.
- Okay, so rice is done.
I took it off the heat, it's been cooking in the residual.
I'm gonna fish out the blood orange peel and the ginger,
they've done their job, they've infused.
Finish it with coriander.
That's gonna go into the dariole
on top of the charred orange.
Searing off the pak choi.
(pak choi sizzling)
And the duck is now nicely rested.
I think it's just a matter of serving it up.
- Fairly sure when I did a dariole mold full of rice
I got the taken out of me.
- Yeah, James will hate it.
(Jamie laughing)
- Sugar into a food processor and then 10 buds.
(processor buzzing)
So I'm draining the rest of my chefy jus.
It's actually looking all right, isn't it?
- Okay, you got 60 seconds left.
- Can you go and get my tart out?
Get me one of the tarts from the freezer, please.
I'm gonna do a zhoosh on a plate.
(Barry laughing)
- He's zhooshing.
- Whoa, that's a zhoosh! - Zhoosh, Michael, zhoosh!
(dramatic intense music)
- Oh, has this set? - Come on!
(Mike shrieking)
- Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
- Yes! - Yes!
- Yes!
- [Barry] 30 seconds, mate.
- [Mike] No, we're good, we're good, we're good,
we're good, we're good, we're good.
Plate, plating.
- Put it down!
- How long have I got, how long have I got?
- [Barry] 10 seconds.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven. - I'm getting my sugary,
szechuany. - Six.
- Thing over the top.
- [Barry] Three, two.
One.
(bell dinging)
Step away.
- [Jamie] Whoa.
(Mike exhaling)
- I think
our two courses are done.
- Are you serving both those up?
- Yeah, why not?
(upbeat music)
- Let's get 'em to the table.
(audience applauding) (audience cheering)
- What's under that one?
Why's there three cloches?
- You know, Ebbers has been in a video
when there's more cloches than people.
- The chef in me-
- He can't help himself.
- Couldn't help but play with some
of the fantastic ingredients.
So this is the dish.
This is just a little appetizer.
- Yeah, it looks very good.
- I like the charred smell, it's good.
- And my dish is as so.
- That is what I was hoping for.
I like the chefy swirl.
Looks cool.
- Well, I mean, should we start off?
We've got an appetizer, a main and a dessert.
- How exciting.
- So look, we got pan fried duck with blood orange
and ginger rice and then a pickled poached rhubarb
with szechuan bud
and I used some of the pickling liquid
and the rhubarb to go with the oyster over here.
So it's a similar kind of flavor profile
but I just thought in place of shallot vinegarette,
it's like a rhubarb szechuan bud vinegarette.
- I get that back, I'm excited, okay, cheers.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
(bouncy music)
- I do not like oysters, but I liked that oyster.
- Honestly, I feel like if you had taken five minutes
and served that, I'd have been so happy.
(men laughing)
- You get an ever so slight numbing at the end, don't you?
- Right, okay, so let me take a little bit of this.
(bouncy music)
- You picked a good box of ingredients
of some lovely seasonal stuff
that as a chef, I just wanted to play with.
- It's very tasty.
- I really like the rhubarb.
That pickliness.
The duck is perfect
and everything just goes together really well, doesn't it?
I'd like more buzz.
Oh, I know, I know.
- It's not buzzy enough for you?
- Yeah, I'd like more buzz.
I think it all works really well together.
I think it's all really delicious,
but I'm looking for that like slight tingle.
I've got a little bit on my tongue.
Just a little bit. - It lingers
but it's not there enough, is it?
- Yeah, I want a little bit more.
I think this is such a difficult challenge
because it's an ingredient that you've never cooked with.
So you have no idea how to incorporate it,
you have no idea how much it can take
without trying it once and then doing it again.
- Okay, oh, man, I'm nervous.
- [Ben] I'm impressed with the color
you got off the rhubarb.
- Reveal it for us. - Oh!
- Doesn't that look good? - It does
look really good.
- Okay, I'm excited, I am excited.
- Cheers.
(lighthearted music)
Rhubarb and ginger is a classic combination
for a reason and rhubarb and white chocolate, wonderful
and put all three on the plate.
- What do you think?
- It's good, hey,
I'm still looking for the buttons a little bit.
- Yeah, I'm the same.
- Oh, it's a tasty dish.
- It's a delicious dish.
- Oh, yeah, it's coming through now.
- Yeah.
- It's coming through now, it's like-
- It's once you've finished eating,
you're left with that sensation
that reminds you you've had it.
- It's the opposite of what you'd usually do
which is have the bud and then try something
to enhance the flavor.
It's going with the flavors and then it's coming at the end.
- I wonder again, if it is enough of a buzz
or whether what it's actually done so brilliantly
is draw out all of the other, the warmth of the ginger more,
the tang of the rhubarb more, the creaminess more
because that's an amazing dish.
- As a lesson, using it as finishing salt
and finishing sugar, definitely does work.
- Yeah, I think it's something to be done right at the end.
- So I've got to choose a winner.
And if you win, Mike,
you're gonna get your Unusual Ingredient badge.
Ben, you can continue to be a chef if you win.
(Mike laughing)
Wow, hard decision, hard decision.
- Must be close.
- I'm gonna have to say the winner is...
Ben.
(bass thumping music)
I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry.
I feel awful, you did such a good job.
- Oh, eff off!
Go!
I hate those guys so much.
- I can't really fault you, I just...
- Annoyingly, it was outstanding.
Like you literally pulled your best improvisation skills
out of the bag.
- I did take the oysters into account, I'll admit.
I'm judging you more harshly for once
because you already knew what was coming.
- Well done, mate.
(Mike applauding)
- Well, let's hear what you guys have to say.
I mean, us chefs have to stick together
but do you think it was the right decision
in this case?
Comment down below who should have won.
- And we want your future recommendations
for ingredients we should use
in these Mystery Box challenges.
So please join in the conversation
on Twitter with the hashtag, #sortedmysterybox.
- Can I have some more?
- No, you're not allowed it.
- Okay, can I have some more of that?
- Yeah. - Thanks.
(intense dramatic music)
- Salt.
- [Jamie] That's a sugar spoon, Ebbers.
- Was.
Oh, not even close.
- Sports.
(Jamie laughing)