(cutlery taps on crockery) (food frying)
- Today, it's me versus Barry.
And I'm stepping up my game.
- We're revisiting one of our previous battles
to celebrate the release of our brand new cookbook.
- It's called The Ultimate Cooking Battles, Normals edition.
- And the theme of today's battle is seafood.
- Last time, Jamie messed up his rice
and I served mine on a baking tray.
- Have we improved over the years?
Let's find out.
(dramatic music)
- And to tie in with the theme of the book,
we've decided to add a little bit of cosplay.
We asked you guys what your favourite anti-heroes were
and you made this happen.
- I am the Batman
- And I am Snape, and I have never felt more fabulous.
- You've gone very Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, actually.
(chefs laugh)
- God, that's such a nineties reference!
- He's back, he's back on daytime television.
- He's back. Come on!
- You ready to battle it out? In three, two, one,
off you go.
- Hell's bells.
(judges laugh)
This is ridiculous.
- As with all of our battles this year
there are also badges up for grabs.
So let's have a look at the leaderboard as it stands.
(fast electronic music)
- I am, I am recreating my Poke bowl
from the original seafood battle.
There was nothing wrong with that recipe at all.
Apart from me, I was the one that screwed the recipe up
and therefore, the badge that I'm going for this time,
is my seasoning badge.
I need to get the flavours perfect.
It's so simple. And it has to be perfect.
- Your outfit was better last time as well.
- My poke bowl starts with rice.
I have to wash it and then I have to cook it.
- No pressure, Jamie,
but that is where you went wrong last time.
- Yeah. Twice. Yes.
- Is there a kitchen towel somewhere?
- No, that's my cape.
I mean, that's my cape.
- So I'll be making Calamari and Chorizo Mayo.
Last time I kinda cheated,
because all my calamari was pre-prepped.
This time I'm doing it all myself.
And that's why I'm also going for the squid badge.
That exists, right?
- [Jamie] I think you've just made that up.
- I was thinking, what can I possibly achieve right now?
Well, I'm doing a squid recipe.
So I'll do my squid badge.
- Since the last time we did this battle,
I've learned how to prep a squid, properly.
And I wanna use all of it
and show you different techniques of how to prep squid.
- We did it for you last time, you just cut it into rings.
So this time, prove you know what you're doing.
- So you've gotta go through the whole process
with the squid from.
- Whole process.
- So, finding the freshest squid.
- Yep. Billingsgate. Was there early this morning.
- That's a massive lie, you sent me.
- Wow. So you've skipped the first part.
- That's the first bit I outsourced.
- [Jamie] Right.
- But the bit where there's the most preparation
and cooking, that's all Snape.
So to start off with, my Chorizo Mayo, really simple,
chopping up some chorizo.
I don't care if you can't see.
This is the only way I can.
In a pan with some oil, gonna get it crisping up
and releasing all those delicious oils.
Also, it's a bit soon,
but I'm going to prep my garnish: chilli and lime.
- Now the last time we did this battle
and I cooked this dish,
I got the mickey taken out of me
because the only bit of cooking that I did, was the rice.
But this time, I'm doing exactly the same again.
And it starts with my wakame, or, seaweed
which I need to rehydrate with boiling water,
which in a way, is cooking, isn't it?
- Yeah.
- I've got to cook the water.
- [Ben] Yeah.
- Yep, to then rehydrate.
Kerpow!
- So focused on fancy dress.
He's really not focused on what he should be focused on.
The rice.
- Jamie. You know how with every new week that passes here
at Sorted, we feel like we're reaching a new low?
This might be the lowest of lows.
Not only do we look like this, also we're here because
- We both lost the battle. - We both lost to Mike.
And also, we're cooking two losing dishes.
- Yeah.
- But one of you will end up in the final.
- Well, in that case, let's get serious.
- I'll have to do something about this.
- Do you want a hairband?
- Go on.
- Jamie's got a rubber band on his spring onions.
- Chorizo nice and crispy, off the heat.
Let it cool down.
- Shoogle, shoogle.
- You're shoogling it.
- I'm shoogling it.
- Shoogling it around.
- It's what us rice masters call it.
(upbeat electronic music)
- Just gonna take this off, because it's a bit hot.
Right. Let's prep some squid.
I have got big squid, and some little squid here.
I'm gonna do a big one first
because I think it's easy to demonstrate.
- We're watching carefully, Baz.
- You need to remove the head from, well, the really
recognisable flesh on the outside.
Finger in there.
Drag your finger on the outside, through,
kind of detach it.
Then pull it out gently, try not to break the ink. Okay?
Then, you wanna cut underneath the eyes,
but try and push what they call the beak, up.
And then you just have the tentacles.
The tentacles are definitely the best bet.
Now remove the shin pads or the quill.
And then you gotta try and remove the skin,
wings should just tear off in one piece.
- Next topic, avocado.
Peel, de-stone, dice.
- So now that's dissected.
We have the tentacles. We have the wings.
Then we have the main piece of flesh.
Now, with this I'm gonna do two things:
cut it into calamari rings,
with the other bit, you see then,
cut this in half, open it up, wash out the insides,
and score the inside.
- So two basic badges up for grabs today.
Jamie's going for seasoning badge.
So, this is a dish that relies on a bulk of rice
and then a selection of ingredients on top.
What we want is, when it's all mixed together,
for it to be perfectly seasoned.
And that doesn't just mean salty.
That means a balance of salt and acid.
A slight sweetness.
He's got things like mirin going on in the recipe,
but also playing to some of the citrus and the spice.
But so it's all in balance, and not any one taking over.
- [James] So Barry's going for his squid badge.
And obviously we're looking for perfectly cooked squid.
We don't want it to be a rubbery,
but also he's prepping the squid from scratch,
which is really cool.
And he sounds really knowledgeable already.
- So now I've done one, I've got to do a lot more.
And do mainly little ones as well,
because they are officially calimari, rather than squid.
Next up is my fish.
I have a whole half side of a salmon
and I know how that sounds.
And I have a beautiful looking tuna steak.
I wanna dice them into really great cubes.
Oh no! I've just made a terrible realisation!
- Oh no!
- I picked up my salmon and I can feel something skinny
on the back of it.
- This could be your chance to get your
fish prep badge.
- My skinning badge.
- Why with all fish work, it just takes enough practise
to know what it should feel like?
And I don't think I do it often enough
to remember what it feels like, sometimes.
It's coming out the back end.
(chefs and judge laugh)
- [Jamie] Stop that sentence!
- Little bit of flesh on the skin,
but in the grand scheme of things.
(upbeat electronic music)
- Time to crack on with my rice.
It's had 15 minutes to steam by itself.
I'm gonna add in some sesame seeds, some sesame oil, salt,
hashtag, seasoning.
- You absolutely don't have to dress up.
But if you do want the recipes,
and these two, as with all the recipes
from our Battle series appear in our latest cookbook,
and you can pre-order that now, a physical copy,
plus there's a discount if you're a member.
- So, my oil's near the temperature.
I'm gonna season my squid on the tray here.
And we gonna dust it in some flour, and some smoked paprika.
- Ooh, Barry's going for squid.
- What temperature are you going for?
- 190.
- [Ben] Excellent.
- [Barry] And it doesn't need long.
It's only a small batch, for now.
Look at that!
- Undercooked won't be very nice.
Overcooked could be terrible.
- No pressure on these battles,
but the Normals have got to make them look excellent
because they absolutely do in the book.
- Now, those ones are a bit darker, Baz.
Was that because the first were too pale,
or are these a little over?
- Sorry, there's no right answer to that question.
- There's no right answer, no!
(judges laugh)
- Splat! I need to squeeze some grapefruit juice
and lime juice into a bowl
and then mix it with my Mirin and Soy Sauce,
to create the right dressing.
Now, I already have one tablespoon of mirin weighed out.
But seeing as I potentially oversalted my rice,
I might need some more.
- Oooh!
- Batman tech-ers!?!
(judges laugh)
- [Ben] Awwww! Crispy bits there!
- Oh, I thought you were awwwing me.
(laughs)
- No, golden tentacles and legs, no,
arms or legs, what do they have?
- [James] Oh, Ben, I don't know.
- 10 minutes left to plate up
- [Jamie] Shizzam!
- In the recipe, we make the dressing
and the fish mix, separately, for the poke bowl.
So that you can kind of add the dressing
a little bit at a time.
Taste it. Add a little bit more if you need to.
Jamie tipped it all in and he's going after a season badge.
- Now to mix my mayonnaise with my chorizo and its oils.
- Bat soy.
Final thing before plating, cucumber.
- Ohhh!
(upbeat electronic music)
- Last couple of minutes.
- Pkow, pkow!
Here's what's going to happen.
Rice into a bowl, topped with my fish mix.
Topped with some sambal,
which is a delightful, fermented chilli sauce.
And then topped with my cucumber ribbons,
garnish, win a badge.
- [Ben] Last few moments to make it look good!
- Three, two, one! Battle over.
Let's get 'em into the (indistinct)
(Slow heavy electronic music)
- Judgement time.
Barry's crispy squid dish for the seafood battle,
and a squid badge.
- Squid badge. You said that with a straight face.
It does look great.
I think it looks really good.
- I like the fact he's got different styles of the squid:
the rings, the tentacles
and the curly kind of scraggly bits.
And the colour looks good.
- Lovely colour on the mayo.
And, he prepped at all.
Cheers.
- Cheers.
If he was after the seasoning badge, no question.
- I think the chorizo goes so well with the squid, as well.
It's delicious.
Well done, Barry.
So Jamie, poke bowl, I think it looks great.
And now I'm gonna destroy it.
- There is always that with this,
but that's kind of the point.
- That is the point, yeah.
This is how you mix all those flavours.
He was going for his seasoning badge.
Look at that. Still looks really good.
- Cheers.
- I'm gonna be honest.
I was a little bit worried for his rice, in his methodology.
But individual grains, nice and plump and well cooked.
- I'd say it's bang-on. That sauce packs a punch.
- Individually, I think each bit is skewed one way or other.
When you mix it, they start to complement each other.
- I think it's got it all.
- And on top of that, the texture, not just from the seaweed
which has a very unusual texture,
but also the crunch of the onion
and the creaminess of the avocado.
It's such a good dish.
And if we're being really picky,
what about with seasoning in mind?
- If I'm being like really, really, really picky,
I'd like a little bit more acid,
but I'm going to forgive him for that
because there is a lime on the plate.
I could have seasoned it myself with the lime
and I'm getting plenty of salt and plenty of heat.
That's a tough one.
- Puts us in a bit of a dilemma.
- I think they've both done a good job.
- And they both celebrate the sea.
And I wanna go back for more of both.
Question is, do they both get a badge?
And who goes through to the battle final?
Boys! We enjoyed both dishes, delicious.
But I get the honour of handing out badges, perhaps.
- They're doing it like Sandi and Noel.
- Yeah, they are!
- Barry. You were fighting for the squid badge,
and given
- Don't laugh!
- your effort a few years ago,
we thought you made great improvement.
We saw what difference using fresh squid is
and preparing it yourself.
And it was cooked really well.
Plus seasoned perfectly
- Keep 'em coming, Ben.
- So yes.
- I'm blushing.
- You more than deserve your squid badge.
- Pow, pow, pow!
- Just imagine if you'd gone to the market as well.
Bat badge.
- Your badge, however, is all about balance.
It's all about salt, sour, and sweet.
A little bit of heat of chilli,
let's mingle it all altogether.
And we thought your dish had all of that,
but not in balance until you mix it in,
which is the idea of a poke bowl.
And then it was pretty much spot on.
So absolutely, badge deserved, seasoning badge awarded.
- I thought they were - I thought that was a
- They were about to snatch it away from you
at the last second.
- I know.
- This week I've got the sad job of announcing the loser.
We honestly thought you both did a great job,
which is why you both got badges.
They were both delicious dishes.
But there was one that we both went back for more of
after the cameras cut.
And that was Barry's Calamari.
Barry is the battle winner.
I'm not sure if he's happy about that or not.
- Does that mean I have to make chicken pie again?
- Yeah.
- Oh, no.
- [Ben] Three battles down.
There's the final still to come.
You and Mike are in the final,
for a repeat of the ultimate chicken battle.
- Noooo! Awww!
- I'm gutted that I lost, but to know that
I don't have to wear another tight fitting costume
for a while, is quite a relief.
- Three battles down, just the final face-off to go.
Who is your winner from today?
Comment below.
- [Ben] This is the last chance
to guarantee a copy of the book
or superhero bundle, as we go to print
on Monday the 26th of April.
A big thanks to those of you
who've already bought a copy,
and follow the link below,
if you'd like to check it out for one last time.
- There's nothing more tragic
than a dad dressing up as Batman, is there?