-[Ted] Careful in there. -[groans] Ah, chef!
[man 1] I don't break under chaos and pressure.
[man 2] I'm just gonna focus on the four basket ingredients as I'm not making mistakes.
It's so good, so delicious!
[woman] I am not afraid to go after what I want.
Nope, it's not gonna work.
Don't do that.
What in the--
He's using his fists.
This is what I'm doing in my competition!
[woman] Holy crap.
Ted, tell her there's a minute left. She's gotta get it done.
-[woman] Time is going fast. -[man 2] Ooh.
Almost there, sir, almost there.
[Ted] Were you born to do this?
Oh, hell yeah!
Let's do this thing.
If you wanna see some intimidation, I'll show you intimidation.
I'm the chef and owner at Urban Field Pizza and Market in Longmont, Colorado.
My style of cooking is whimsical Italian.
We like to sneak in fish sauce and chile paste,
unique twists on grandma's classics.
I worked my way up from prep cook to sous chef in three and a half years.
Along the way, my chef sent me over to Italy to do a stage.
After my time in Italy, I got a job at one of Jean-Georges' restaurants.
I've been doing this a long time.
At this stage of the game, these other chefs should be scared.
[Duyen] I am here to prove that Vietnamese cuisine
deserves to be on the map.
I'm a private chef based in Los Angeles, California.
My family is from Vietnam,
so I integrate a lot of that into my food.
Ooh, that's good.
I take a lot of inspiration from my heritage,
and I also went to culinary school in Paris,
where I graduated top of my class.
And then from there, I worked at several
three Michelin Star restaurants.
I am competing for my parents.
We are Vietnamese refugees, and they sacrificed everything
so that I can live my dream.
And so I'm going to win this for them.
[Jon] It doesn't matter who's to the left or the right.
I just need to make those judges
remember my food more than anybody else.
I am the executive chef at
Black Flag Social House in Marriottsville, Maryland.
My style of cooking is
a combination of comfort food, big flavors and spice.
I'm a spicy guy.
Money.
I started doing local competitions in Maryland
and kind of got the competition bug.
I've been competitively cooking, like,
aggressively for about the last five years.
I've been to the World Food Championships the last four years,
and I won a lot.
You might wanna watch out for me.
[Andres] My biggest asset going into this competition
is my experience and my execution.
I'm ready to go.
I'm chef owner of Sansara in Denver, Colorado.
It's a food truck where I do Cuban-inspired cuisine.
I got into cooking because my grandfather
owned a Cuban bakery my whole life.
I worked there from age 13 to about 20,
and then I enrolled in culinary school.
After that, I worked in and out of Michelin Star restaurants
and James Beard nominated restaurants.
If these chefs aren't on their A game, they will lose.
Hello, chefs.
-What's happening, Ted? -Hey, Ted.
There are three rounds, with mandatory mystery ingredients for each.
If your dish doesn't cut it, you'll be chopped.
-Not a chance. Not today. -It ain't gonna happen, Ted. Not happening.
Let's see if these appetizer baskets will
stump or surprise you, as they tend to do.
Open 'em up.
[groans] Ugh, pig lips? What in the--
[Ted] Oh, pickled pig lips.
-[man] Got it. -[laughs] Oh, wow.
I have never worked with pickled pig lips.
[Ted] And what else? Leeks.
-Fish sticks. -Fish sticks? That's fun.
Some good old red chiles.
-[Ted] And finger chiles. -[Duyen] All right, I can deal with this.
[scoffs] Pig lips. Oh, my God.
-[laughs] -[Ted] This is a short round.
Just 20 minutes.
Time starts now.
-[Marc] All right! -[Tiffany] Let's go!
[applause]
[Nick] Butter, sausage.
Okay, let's start cooking.
Marc, you are joined on the judging panel by two special guest.
Acclaimed restaurateur, chef Tiffany Derry,
and modern Mexican expert chef Daniela Soto-Innes.
Welcome to you both.
-Muchas gracias. -Ready for some lips?
[groans] Ugh.
[Ted] Judges, how great is it to see pickled pig lips?
How exciting. That's not something you see often.
-You're using the word "exciting"? -I am.
-[Marc] Okay. -[Tiffany] So, I come from a family where we
pickled everything, tails, feet, pig lips.
Like, it's something you would throw into soups and stews.
It has a lot of collagen.
Like, I would make it into a taco, you know?
-Like a, like a... -[Tiffany] That's what I'm saying, like, literally.
-[laughing] -Stinky, delicious, yummy taco.
[Nick] Let's get out these pig lips.
I'm chopping up these pickled pig lips.
It's definitely pickly, and they're just like,
not that delicious at all. [laughs]
They're definitely a little on the rubbery side.
So I'm thinking that I could probably hide the pig lips
into some sort of a ragù with some Italian sausage.
I'm making creamy polenta with pickled pig lips,
finger chile, and leek ragù.
Topped with fish sticks and salsa verde.
These pig lips are weird, I'm not gonna lie.
Strange ingredient.
[Duyen] The pickled pig lips has this gelatinous texture,
and I wanna fry them.
I think they're gonna be a really nice textural element.
Behind.
I'm making a fish salad with a fish sauce vinaigrette
topped with crispy pig lips.
My plan is to use the fish stick as the protein of my salad.
[Tiffany] Now the fish sticks often use, it's like pollock,
but it could be many different types of fish.
But the texture is just like breadcrumbs, essentially,
but like light and crispy.
Maybe that will be really nice, like, a bunch of herbs...
-[Tiffany] Yes. -...thrown in there with the chiles.
Fish sticks, yum. I love these at 12 o'clock at night.
Maybe not in my Chopped basket,
but we're gonna make 'em work.
I immediately think to myself, "Make a fish cake."
This is the first time I've ever seen a box of fish sticks
being dumped into a food processor.
-All of 'em. -And that's what Jon's doing.
-[Tiffany] All of 'em. -All of 'em.
[Jon] I am making a crispy fish cake with pickled pig lip
and finger chile agrodolce and crispy leeks.
I throw in some garlic, some shallots and parsley.
Fish cakes are gonna be great.
It's a wasted second here, but you gotta get comfy sometimes.
You know, I gotta get these fish sticks dry.
I want them to add a crunchy element,
so I need to get them in the oven.
I'm making braised leeks with pickled pig lip
and finger chile relish and fish stick sand.
I'm braising the leeks with white wine and butter and stock.
-[sizzling] -Oh.
I'm adding the pickled pig lips' juice to the leeks...
Come here.
...because I want the judges to see everything from the pickled pig lips.
Chefs, you have less than 10 minutes, hurry up.
Ten minutes, thank you.
Ten minutes, guys. 10 minutes.
[Andres] Eek, no running in kitchens.
[Nick] I wanna make sure the fish sticks are crispy on the plate.
So, I'm just gonna throw 'em in the fryer and hope that they get crispy.
[Duyen] ...leeks very often, and I wanna keep them
just really simple.
Throw in some salt.
And so I'm just lightly sautéing them.
[Marc] Now, of course, my favorite ingredient in this basket is the leeks.
I love leeks, like a nice leeks vinaigrette.
-Nice starter, you know? Cook up the leeks... -[Tiffany] Yeah.
-[indistinct] Mmm. -...little red wine vinegar, some mustard.
That's all I need.
[Jon] Oh, I love leeks, so I'm super happy to see leeks in the basket.
It should bring a nice pops of onion flavor to the top of this fish cake.
Then I put the leeks in a bowl of rice flour and ancho chile powder,
then drop 'em in the fryer and get 'em crispy.
I've been competitively cooking
for about the last four or five years.
Right behind you. Right behind you. Down the line.
Yeah, I'm a quiet storm.
Like, I look cool and calm on the outside,
but on the inside, like, it's raging.
[Andres] To go with the leeks, I'm gonna make a pickled pig lip relish
with some shallots, some honey,
and with the finger chiles to bring that heat.
The pig lip is gonna add that brineyness.
-We need more. -[sizzling]
-[Andres] Ooh. -Five minutes to go, chefs.
Go, go.
[Andres] Ooh, you're hot.
[Duyen] So, I'm gonna throw these back in the fryer.
Behind.
[Andres] I'm making a sand with the fish sticks to add a crunchy element,
but I check and the fish sticks are
not as dried out as I need them to be.
I know I gotta get these fish sticks crispy,
but I'm running out of time.
Let's do it. Behind. Coming down the line.
I need to make it to that fryer but...
Can I go left basket? Uh, she's in left basket.
Both baskets are being worked with,
and I'm in some bad shape.
Behind, coming down, behind.
-[utensils clanking] -I'm sorry about that, chef.
I'm not sure what Andres is making over there,
so I'm a little worried that it may not be coming together,
-and he's a little, very... -[Marc] Little whirlwindy.
-[Tiffany] Yeah. -[Marc] A little everywhere.
[exhales heavily]
[Andres] That fryer is not gonna be
available for me the rest of the challenge,
and the fish sticks are not as dried out as I need them to be.
I don't think I have time for this, but we're gonna try it.
I just know that I have to keep pushing
because there's a clock and there's judges.
And we need to make a plate so...
My plan is to food-process these fish sticks.
You're gonna work.
And then I'm gonna sear 'em off real hard
in a pan with some hot, hot oil,
and I'm gonna dry them out that way.
[Nick] I'm going to check on my fish sticks right now.
They're golden brown, and I'm pretty happy with where they're at.
I'm not gonna do too much to these.
I just want that nice, crispy crunch,
add that textural element.
[Duyen] I start assembling my salad and this vinaigrette.
So, I'm adding fish sauce and the pickling liquid
with a little bit of olive oil.
[Jon] Right behind you. Right behind you. Down the line.
[Andres] Whoo, caliente!
This finger chiles,
it's very similar to a serrano,
but a little bit, like, sweeter.
[Marc] They have a very much of a bell pepper flavor to them,
but they have a little bit of a kick in the background.
[Jon] I have bacon rendering to go with the pickled pig lips
and the finger chiles to make an agrodolce.
I want a spicy component,
and the finger chiles definitely hit that mark.
One minute left, we gotta hurry up.
-We gotta get it all done, all the ingredients. -[exhales heavily]
You are hot. Let's do this thing.
Almost there, sir, almost there.
-[Marc] Thirty seconds. -[Tiffany] Let's go, Nick.
Let's go, Andres.
Chefs, get those plates done.
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three, two, one.
-Time's up. Please step back. -[scattered cheering] Whoo!
-[Daniela] Good job! -[applause]
[Andres] Oh, you guys are so pretty and I'm so ugly, but it's okay.
It's so good, so delicious!
I thought the fish sand was gonna be a little more sandy and pretty,
and it's more... [whispers] ...mushy, but it's okay, it's delicious.
[Duyen] That round went really fast.
But, I do feel confident about this dish.
It has a little bit of Vietnamese flair,
and I'm excited for them to try it.
Chefs, in the first round you had to work with pickled pig lips,
leeks, fish sticks, and finger chiles.
Chef Andres, what did you make?
I have made braised leeks
with a pig lip-finger chile relish and fish stick sand.
I love the way you cook the leeks, and I love your finger chiles.
The sweet honey and the vinegar,
it really works on the pig lips.
But the fish stick, you didn't do much to them.
[Tiffany] The fish sticks, the reason that they come across
still feeling like fish sticks is because you don't have enough crispiness.
Maybe using something else from the pantry
so that you get the crunch that you're desperately looking for
on top of the dish would help out.
But here, I think the star on the plate is definitely the leeks.
They are very nicely cooked, and I love the color that you got on it.
[Marc] You really took all the basket ingredients
and kind of chopped it all up, put it in a pan and gave it back to us.
So, it's a little bit lacking on creativity, I think.
Understood, chef. Thank you.
Chef Andres, thank you. Chef Duyen?
[Duyen] You have a fish salad with a fish sauce vinaigrette,
topped with crispy pork lips.
Where do you normally draw your inspiration for cooking?
My family, we are refugees from Vietnam,
and even though I was cooking at different restaurants in New York and Paris,
I still bring a lot of, kind of my cuisine to the forefront of my food.
I love the flavor. I love this vinaigrette.
-Thank you. -Weaving a leek that you've braised a little bit,
and of course the finger chiles, into a salad,
what a great idea. The pig lips are amazing.
-[laughs] Thank you. -They're so good.
[Tiffany] When you get the crispiness from the pig lips, it is delicious.
To take and sort of deconstruct the fish sticks, I think is smart.
But I think that you chose the wrong lettuce, altogether,
just because it's soft, it doesn't hold
-enough of that vinaigrette. -Heard, thank you, chef.
I have to agree. I wish, like, in presentation-wise,
a little bit more neat.
But I love that beautiful fish sauce and the pickling liquid.
-Thank you. -[Ted] Chef Nick, you're up next.
Yeah, so today, I have pickled pig lip,
leek and finger chile ragù, with creamy polenta on the bottom.
And then I made a salsa verde.
Chef Nick, I love the use of your finger chiles.
-Did you sauté that with the pig lips? -I did, yeah.
It's so delicious. I think that helped
the pig lips just mellow down.
Are there any basket ingredients in the salsa verde?
No, not in the salsa verde, no.
The salsa verde is good. It's got a pretty big punch to it.
It holds up with the polenta.
But the things that really are represented in my plate
in front of me are not basket ingredients.
It's tricky 'cause we're judging a basket.
-I'd like to see the basket. -[Nick] Yeah, yep.
I'll be honest, when I saw the fish sticks on there, I'm like,
"Ah, just did the fish sticks and fried 'em,
and just stuck it on the side of the plate."
But I'm not mad at the fish sticks at all,
because you left it together it's still pretty crispy.
But the leeks got a little bit too brown.
It kind of takes over a little bit of everything on the plate.
-Yeah, thank you. -And finally, chef Jon.
So, today you've got a crispy fish stick cake
with a pig lip and finger chile agrodolce
and some crispy leeks.
I love the sauce with the pig lips and the chiles, is really nicely balanced,
and it's going really well with the fish cake,
which was a great idea. All credit to you
to re-transform an ingredient and do something like this.
But it needs a little something else
'cause it's a very, it's heavy on the bread side.
-Mmm-hmm. -The fish cake needed some relief.
It is very bready and somewhat dry.
And so part of the reason we keep going back to that sauce
is because it's absolutely needed.
But I really, really enjoy the fried leeks.
[Daniela] I love your presentation.
I love how you cut long ways the pig lips,
because they match with your cut of the leeks,
that were all so fabulous.
It's beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you.
[Nick] I could have utilized the ingredients a little bit more,
but I think all in all, it was a good bite of food.
So, I think it's enough to get me to the next round.
[Andres] I wish those fish sticks were crispier.
I think it's between me and Nick,
but I'm excited to go see who's chopped, man, let's do this!
[Ted] Whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Andres, you've been chopped. Judges?
Chef Andres, we felt like the leeks were really the star on the plate,
and the other three ingredients took a backseat.
And also the fish sticks didn't add a crunch element to the dish.
And so we had to chop you.
I understand. Thank you, chefs.
Am I disappointed? Yeah, of course.
But I have loved the experience.
I would do it again 100 times.
You don't lose. You win or you learn.
Chef Duyen, chef Nick, chef Jon,
let's see what you got.
Oh, hell yeah.
[Ted] And you're looking at pork tenderloin.
Pork tenderloin, all right. That's something I can work with.
-[Ted] Brussels sprouts. -[Jon] Brussels sprouts.
What is this?
[Ted] A vegetable goat cheese log.
Really beautiful.
Oh, messed up this time.
[Ted] And cola.
[Duyen] I don't even think I've drank cola in the last twenty years.
This is a 30-minute round, and the clock starts now.
-[scattered cheering] Whoo! -[Tiffany] Let's go.
[Daniela] Let's go.
-Coming through. You're good. -Real sorry.
[laughing]
Why you throwing stuff, Jon?
[Ted] Judges, Brussels sprouts have come a long way.
When some of us were kids, nobody knew how to cook them properly.
Several years ago, they've had a renaissance,
and they're still going strong.
[Daniela] You know, you can shave them super thin.
You can crisp them up.
You can even stuff the little pockets.
[Nick] Let's get some color on the plate.
I love cooking with fresh seasonal ingredients.
I'm using the Brussels sprouts to make a caponata.
A traditional vegetable caponata is vegetables
cooked down low and slow with some tomato.
I'm making roasted pork tenderloin,
a Brussels sprout vegetable caponata,
herb goat cheese cream, and a cola glaze on top.
In the second round, I'm definitely gonna let
the basket ingredients try to shine a little bit more.
The pork is definitely gonna be the star of this plate.
And I'm just seasoning it basic with salt and pepper.
And then I'm just gonna get a good sear all the way around
and then finish this off in the oven.
Chef Duyen, what are you doing? Tell us.
I'm gonna make some Vietnamese pork patties.
And I'm gonna add some of that Brussels sprouts into my mixture.
-And then I'm gonna do a curry. -Okay.
[Duyen] What's inspiring this dish is Vietnamese street food.
Pork patties are often seen for lunch.
So, I wanna make sure that I'm really highlighting
a little piece of my heritage.
And I want some nice color on these.
[Marc] In the first round, I was impressed by Duyen.
The creativity with that first basket.
And I love that Duyen is sticking to her Vietnamese roots.
-[Daniela] Totally. -[Jon] Down the line. Down the line.
After hearing the judges critiques,
I am starting to eyeball chef Duyen.
-Breadcrumbs... -Second shelf, left side.
But like, I've wanted to be on Chopped since I was 18.
And for a chef, Chopped is kind of like our NBA Draft,
and I will not squander this opportunity.
I'm making crispy pork medallions
with Brussels sprout hash, cola glaze,
and garlic herb goat cheese butter.
Brussels sprouts love a little fat,
so that pancetta should work out really well.
Chef Jon, what are you doing with the cola?
Um, the cola and the Brussels sprouts are gonna have themselves
a nice relationship and turn into barbecue Brussels sprouts.
-Beautiful. -[Marc] I've never actually cooked with cola.
It's sweet. You can reduce it down.
-I'd rather just use real sugar, but it's in the basket. -Right.
-They gotta use it. -It was in the basket.
Chefs, 15 minutes on the clock.
Yeah, this clock is moving super-fast.
Normally, my curries take two days to make,
so I'm trying to fit a two-day curry into 15 minutes.
But I am not afraid to go after what I want.
I attribute the strong work ethic from my parents.
When we came from Vietnam to the U.S.,
they had sacrificed everything
just so that I can live my dream.
So a win for one person is a win for all of us.
In my curry, I have coconut milk,
red curry paste, curry powder, and turmeric.
For the aromatics, I'm using lemongrass.
Boom.
And I'm hoping the goat cheese adds a nice tang.
And then I'm using the cola to add that sweetness element.
I'm actually gonna add more goat cheese.
In the basket is a vegetable goat cheese log,
and really, it's just goat cheese.
But, you know, having it with the right ingredient,
being able to just give it that salt,
give it that tang to something would be really nice.
[Nick] I think the goat cheese is gonna be
a nice little sauce for the bottom of the plate.
And to form my goat cheese cream,
as soon as I remove it from the blender,
I add in some scallion, tarragon and parsley.
I have four amazing kids.
My fifth child is definitely my restaurant.
Winning the $10,000 would definitely allow me
the opportunity to step away from the restaurant.
Just spend some quality family time.
It feels like I spend more time there than at my actual house.
-All righty, what's next? -[sizzling]
[Jon] I'm going to use this goat cheese log to make
herbed garlic goat cheese butter.
I add in chives, parsley and rosemary.
The tenderloin is a very lean protein,
so this will add a little fat to a dish where it's needed.
-Are you cooking it yet? -Uh, no. That's the next thing.
Pork tenderloin's pretty quick. I don't want to overcook it.
My plan with this pork tenderloin is to get it nice and crispy on the outside
and if I pound it out to an even piece, it should cook quickly and evenly.
Jon is legitimately bare knuckling his pork.
[Jon] I'm good. Appreciate it.
[chuckles]
He doesn't need a mallet.
-He's using his fists. -He doesn't need a mallet. He doesn't need a mallet.
"This is what I'm doing to my competition."
[Jon] There's no point in wasting 30 seconds
running into the pantry for a mallet,
when you got these.
I still want to season my pork with barbecue flavors,
so I grab garlic, onion, ancho paprika and drop them in the fryer.
Five minutes to go, chefs.
[Duyen] Time is going fast.
[Nick] So for the cola glaze, I'm gonna use that cola to deglaze the pan.
And then I'm gonna add some of the demi-glace,
a little butter, and then add a little bit of red wine vinegar
to kind of brighten the whole thing up.
That's pretty good.
The medallions are looking golden brown and delicious. I'm ready to plate.
Behind, Duyen. Three minutes.
[Duyen] I want to add a nice textural element.
I'm going to take off some of the petals of the brussels sprouts
and then drop them in the deep fryer.
Behind.
-[Ted] 30 minutes never went by so fast, chefs. -Ugh.
[Ted] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one...
Time's up.
[Duyen] Oh, man.
-There you go. -[Duyen sighs in relief]
It's hot. It's hot in this kitchen, but I feel good.
My competition came to bring the fire today,
and they're not gonna make this easy.
To my competitors, I think, I mean, looking at their plates right now,
they look absolutely beautiful,
but it's not intimidating because I'm very confident in the flavors I can bring.
Chefs, you created main dishes from a vegetable goat cheese log,
brussels sprouts, pork tenderloin and cola.
Start with you, Chef Jon, please tell us about your main course.
[Jon] So I have a crispy pork tenderloin medallion over a brussels sprout hash.
Cola barbecue glaze and then a herbed goat cheese butter.
I loved your presentation. It was so pretty.
I felt like it was kind of like a biscuits and gravy type of situation.
I loved what you did with the brussels sprouts.
-And you kept deglazing with cola, right? -Mmm-hmm.
It worked so good with the herbed butter. I love that combination.
But for me, it was, uh, down to,
like, the pork, you know, it was a little dry.
I... I saw you pounding the pork over there and, uh...
I almost feel like I maybe would have rather had a thicker piece,
so it would have stayed a little bit more moist. But it all works together.
But separately, this is a little heavy.
This is a little dry, and this is a little too fatty,
but once you put it all together,
-it's... it's actually a great bite. -Thank you.
[Tiffany] The goat cheese where, you know, there's lots of herbs,
you needed the brightness on the plate with everything else.
I do feel like the pork is a little dry,
but I think you have a really delicious
-plate of food together. -Thank you.
Next up, Chef Duyen.
Chefs, what you have in front of you are Vietnamese pork patties
with a cola-coconut curry, and rice noodles.
[Ted] There's $10,000 at the end of the rainbow for one lucky competitor.
What would you do?
I would reinvest it into my business.
Uh, my pop-up series called Duyen's Friends.
Um, it wasn't meant to be a global pop-up series,
but I've just had people from all over the US and Europe as me to pop up,
and so I would use it to travel
and pop up in new cities and hopefully, also Asia.
So Duyen, the curry itself, is rich and creamy.
Um, you definitely get the sweetness with the cola.
The pork patty itself has just like lots of flavor.
But the one thing that I am craving here is more herb.
I will have to agree with you, Chef. Just more herbs.
I love the use of your brussels sprout in there.
That was really brilliant, and pork and fish sauce are best friends...
-Yeah, definitely -...you know, once you
caramelize them and cook them together,
it's just, like, the secret sauce.
[Marc] You know, more herbs would have been great,
but I would have loved a lot more of those brussels sprouts on here fried.
For me, the brussels sprouts
really just brought in a whole other dimension to the palate
while you were eating it all together, that it was really good.
I got two or three, which was great.
-I would have liked to have more of those. -Yeah.
-But again, another good dish. -Thank you.
[Ted] Finally, Chef Nick.
[Nick] So what you have in front of you is a roasted pork tenderloin,
brussels sprout and vegetable caponata underneath that,
and then there's a herb goat cheese cream and then a cola glaze on top.
[Marc] You've done a great job here.
I think it was a good idea to use the brussels sprouts in this manner
and like trying to weave them into your vegetable medley at the bottom.
But I'm having a hard time with the cola.
If you had gone with the caponata and used the cola in that,
I think that could have helped in the usage.
But, god dog it, you know how to cook a piece of pork tenderloin.
It's beautiful, a little pink in the center.
Um, it is extremely tasty.
And I really like the goat cheese.
I like the tartness it brings to the plate.
The pork, mine was, uh, overcooked,
but... but I see the other chefs', uh, wasn't,
so maybe it was just I got probably the ends...
-Yeah. -...of the tenderloin, um...
Actually, the cola glaze is pretty nice.
But then it was mixed with the goat cheese,
and I don't know if that worked very well for me.
-But overall, the dish looked, uh, really pretty. -Thank you.
The pork might have been a little dry,
but I'm hoping the judges appreciate the flavors I put on the plate.
The level of competition is a lot higher than I expected it to be.
Everybody is breaking the thunder,
so it's like you want to feel safe and you can't.
[Nick] Jon might be on the chopping block.
You know, the judges said his pork was a little overcooked.
I thought I cooked my pork beautifully.
I thought my sauces were nice.
I would definitely say it's a tight competition.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[mouthing] Oh, my God.
Chef Nick, you've been chopped. Judges?
Chef Nick, your pork tenderloin was inconsistently cooked.
Uh, the goat cheese and the cola sauce just clashed together.
And so we had to chop you.
Hey, thank you guys so very much.
You guys, good luck.
-Best of luck to you, Chef. -[Nick] Thank you. Thank you.
I'm like, second guessing every single thing I did on that plate,
but you can't go back in time.
At the end of the day, my kids will definitely still be proud of me.
Chef Duyen. Chef Jon. Dessert baskets are ready for you.
And open them up.
[both exclaim]
[Ted] And you've got salted egg yolk paste.
What is salted egg yolk paste?
[Ted] A pink pineapple.
I'm feeling this pineapple.
[Ted] Wafer sheets.
-Wafer sheets? -[Duyen] Wafer sheets?
[Ted] And finally, spice drops.
[Jon] Did you find these in my grandmother's purse or something?
This is like church candy.
This is... This is not for cooking.
Uh, a candy.
What am I gonna do with a candy?
[Ted] 30 minutes for your final round.
-Clock starts now. -Whoo!
Judges, candy, fruit, crispy wafers? Okay, smooth sailing.
And then we have this salted egg yolk paste.
Trouble?
-I... I don't think that's the trouble. -[Daniela] No.
No, that's not the trouble.
-[Ted] That's not the trouble? -No. No, no.
I don't think you've ever had the spice drop.
Normally, when we talk about candy, we say, "Let's just pick one."
And you know, if it's red, it's probably strawberry or cherry.
But that's not the case here. The green one is made... It's spearmint.
-It's like your toothpaste in the morning. -[Ted] Ooh.
[Marc] If they can get past these spice drops,
they've got this salted egg yolk paste.
It's not salty but it's savory. It's super grainy.
Maybe it can be a topping, like with butter and sugar
and the egg yolks with the wafers.
And you, you could maybe try to make a custard of some sort.
[Jon] So the clock is ticking and I'm trying to figure out
which direction I want to go in.
I look at these wafers, and I'm just like,
" All right, we're gonna try to do kind of like a play on the Napoleon."
I'm making a not-Napoleon with spice drop and rum,
caramelized pink pineapple and citrus salted egg yolk crema.
That's not a Napoleon.
Because I've learned to not commit to certain terms
because then they judge you based off of that.
For my citrus crema I start whipping heavy cream,
orange zest, lemon zest, lime zest,
a little bit of vanilla and the superfine sugar,
and I'm like, "This is the perfect place
to hide the salted egg yolk paste
to kind of balance out that sweetness."
The spice drops taste like sweetened cough medicine.
So I'm going to melt them into simple syrup,
and then I'm working with the wafer sheets.
Pop them in the oven. Make it a little toasty.
[Ted] We've had a bunch of really competent cooks today,
and I feel like these two chefs...
I feel really confident about both of them.
[Tiffany] I mean, they have been definitely
fighting and fighting to be on the top.
And right now we're going to see.
[Duyen] I know that Jon has been putting out some great dishes.
But I'm going to remain focused
and make sure that I bring home this $10,000.
I'm making a salted egg yolk mousse
with a pineapple compote and a pistachio wafer crumble.
Duyen, how you feeling over there? What's going on?
I'm making a salted egg yolk mousse.
So I'm gonna put it in the ISI and then my ramekins are in the blast chiller,
so hopefully it'll be done in time.
I need to make my mousse right away
because I know that it needs some time to set.
I'm hoping the blast chiller will get my mousse cold quickly
and that my gelatin is going to set.
[softly] All right.
The crispy wafers are really like an ingredient
that should go on the inside of a candy bar
with a lot of chocolate on the outside to make it taste like something.
Which they could do, I suppose.
You're only using it for crunch.
You're not using that for flavor. It has zero flavor.
[Marc] If you wanted to do a layered thing
and probably put like a pastry cream in there or something.
[Duyen] I'm using the wafer sheets and I add pistachios, butter,
flour and sugar to make a crumble to add texture to my dish.
Chefs, 15 minutes on the clock.
[Tiffany] Well, thankfully, they have the pink pineapple.
This particular pineapple, it's been basically molecularly modified.
So instead of it being so astringent, that flavor on the pineapple
that can numb your mouth a little bit...
-Enzymes, right? -...um, that is actually what's taken out.
And so you're... you just get, like, really sweet, juicy pineapple.
If you cook down that pineapple and you put dairy in it,
you can make like a really, really beautiful mousse or butter.
[Duyen] For the pink pineapple compote
I'm reducing it with the spice drops.
I'm hoping to just infuse the flavor of the spice drops without overpowering.
[whispers] Fires, lime juice, grab some mint.
I initially learned to cook watching my mom and my grand mom in the kitchen.
My grandmother ran the food bank at her church.
And then my mom ran a catering business,
and food is my gift to share it with people.
[Duyen] Nope, it's not gonna work.
I check on my mousse in the blast chiller,
and it's still not set and it's starting to deflate.
Five minutes to go, Chefs.
[Duyen] If this mousse doesn't set,
I will be giving the judges a soup.
I know I need to pivot, and I am panicking.
[Duyen] Behind.
This mousse has the salted egg yolk,
and I need to make it onto the plate.
I think the problem may be the blast chiller,
so I take more of the mousse base and put it into the regular freezer.
Just in case plan B doesn't work out,
I'm already working on plan C.
It looks like Duyen is now making her mousse for the third time.
[Duyen] I grab some mascarpone and heavy cream
and I add some salted egg yolk paste and I start whipping it.
If the moose doesn't set, I'm going to use this as the base of my dessert.
[Jon] So I have these beautiful pink pineapples.
I pour that simple syrup I made from the spice drops right on top.
Toss it with a little mint. Add a little rum.
Now I just need to let all of that liquid cook down
and kind of glaze those pineapples, and it'll be where I need it to be.
Less than three and a half minutes to $10,000.
Let's go.
[Marc] Look at Jon, he's suspending his...
his wafer on top of little dollops of whipped cream or something.
[Tiffany] Oh, God, "suspending". Wow.
[Duyen] I go to start plating the second mousse...
Nope, it's not gonna work.
...and it's still not set.
[sighs] Chef!
[Duyen] I have to go with the mousse number three.
This is not going my way,
but my family, they have sacrificed so much for me to even be here,
I will not give up until my dessert is on that plate.
-[Ted] 15 seconds. -[Tiffany] 15 seconds.
Go. Go.
Come on!
-[Marc] Vamonos. -[Daniela] Come on, chica.
[Ted] Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one... Time's up.
[Jon] At the end of the day, I put something beautiful on the plate.
I have nothing but respect for Chef Duyen. She is a beast.
[Duyen] I had to pivot twice.
I mean, that's just part of being a chef.
You have to think quick on your feet.
I still think it's a really great dessert.
-Oh, man. Push comes to shove... -Cheers.
...this is way more fun on TV.
[Ted] Chef Duyen and Chef Jon.
You found yourselves making desserts with salted egg yolk paste,
a pink pineapple, spice drops and wafer sheets.
Chef Jon, please tell us what you made.
[Jon] Um, I made a spice drop and rum caramelized pink pineapple.
Not-Napoleon, but salted egg yolk crema.
So why are you saying not-Napoleon?
Because I don't want to be held to Napoleon standards.
There's not pastry cream on there and some other things.
-So it's not a Napoleon. -[Ted] Okay. All right.
[Daniela] The pineapple is delicious.
You were very successful dressing, uh, the pineapple with the spice drops,
and it's not overpowering.
But the wafer got really soggy.
I think what happened was
-that the pineapple was hot... -Mmm-hmm.
...when you put it on the wafer.
I think the flavors worked out. The pineapple tastes great.
Um, I like the cream that you made.
I just think that the wafer...
Yeah, it didn't really work in the application you were looking for.
You were successful with creating some good flavors.
The pineapple and the rum... You're crema is good.
It definitely still has a little bit of that
kind of texture that the egg yolk has, you know.
-Um, but you don't really mind because it really tastes good. -Thank you.
Finally, Chef Duyen.
[Duyen] Chefs, what you have in front of you
is a salted egg yolk mousse with a pineapple compote
and then a wafer and pistachio crumble.
I think I think the best bite is a little bit of pineapple
with a little bit of cream and the crumble.
But I think maybe there's a little too much of the cream
because it's just hard to detect the flavor of the egg in there.
It's just, you know,
-it's like a bowl of whipped cream almost. -[Tiffany] I agree.
But the pineapple has lots of flavor.
It's nice and sweet. It's delicious.
I like the flavors. I think the biggest problem here is the ratio.
And how desperate you were to just get it done.
I think it lacks your personality,
uh, because you're so bright and so fresh
-that, uh, would have been nice to see that. -I appreciate the feedback.
Thank you, chefs.
I think one of the cleverest things I saw today was Jon with those fish sticks.
Turning them into a little fish cake.
[Tiffany] I think the idea was great.
I do think that not adding some relief in there
leaves it very bready and dry.
But the agrodolce and pig's lip was delicious.
And, of course, the finger chilies.
-Nice little pop. -I know.
-[Tiffany] It gets a little sp-- Yeah. -I love those.
[Marc] Duyen, she just put them in the salad but they were just right.
They popped. That salad was delicious.
The lettuce definitely kind of wilted in.
And you didn't get as much of the vinaigrette,
but the salad really had a lot of flavor.
If you're talking about creativity,
I want to have that pork tenderloin patty
that Duyen made for the second round again.
It was just beautifully done with a lot of care.
Actually, I think that dish needed more brussels sprouts. It needed more herbs.
And then Jon made that great sauce with the cola,
and he made it with his brussels sprouts.
-But the main thing, the pork was dry. -So overcooked.
It was a good fight but I think dessert
-took them both down. -You're right.
Well, this was a memorable competition, but who won?
We know, Ted.
[Jon] Realistically, Chef Duyen was a great competitor.
And I genuinely feel like it's a 50-50 coin flip right now.
[Duyen] I am a little nervous that this dessert round almost cost me the win.
But I hope the judges see I never I gave up.
It would mean everything to me to be the next Chopped champion.
So whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Jon, you've been chopped. Judges?
Chef Jon, we start with the appetizer.
That fish cake was just a little bit too bready.
The main course, the pork got a little overcooked,
and then a dessert round, unfortunately, that wafer just got soggy.
And so we had to chop you.
Appreciate you guys. Thank you.
-Congratulations, Chef. -Thank you.
When you lose a competition, you tend to want to be salty and angry about it.
But, like, I don't mind losing to Chef Duyen.
She's a beast. So It's still a win for me.
And that means Chef Duyen Ha, you are the Chopped champion. Well done.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much, guys.
I'm really excited to win for my family
and also for the Vietnamese community.
Hey, Mom and Dad, I did it.