Iron Wok Jan! (鉄鍋のジャン！)

THIS IS FICTION WITH NO INTENTIONAL RESEMBLANCE TO ANY PERSONS, ORGANIZATIONS, OR OCCURRENCES.

OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE SOURCE MATERIAL, THERE MAY BE SCENES CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE TO MODERN SENSIBILITIES.

It's the All-Japan Chinese Chef Championship!

Jan has defeated the fiery chef Sawada to move on to the second round!

But who will he face there?

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we will begin the sixth match of the second round!

From Gobancho's Chinese in Ginza, here comes Akiyama Jan!

I hope you lose, Akiyama!

Buzz off!

Poisonous mushroom freak!

Sure hasn't won himself any popularity here, huh?

Nope.

They really hate him.

Hey, by the way, Uncle...

Hmm?

Uh, Akiyama's grandpa... What was he like?

What brought that on?

Just curious.

Based on what I heard from people who worked with Kaiichiro...

They basically said he was the devil.

The devil?

Dished out abuse and cuisine in equal measure.

He was a harsh old fellow.

That's just hearsay, though.

So I was right...

Listen good, Jan!

You're not to drop a single pebble from that wok!

Y-Yes, sir!

Your left arm's slowing down!

You shouldn't be buckling after a measly thousand reps, imbecile!

Start over from the beginning!

Y-Yes, sir...

I wanna see that wrist flipping!

You've got to keep those stones moving!

Again!

Start over again!

Hear me, Jan.

The more effort that goes into a dish, the better it becomes.

A single flip of a wok done differently

can have a huge impact on the flavor of a dish!

Do you hate me, boy? Well?

That's fine. Despise me all you like.

But I won't hold back.

The only way to cook delicious food is to beat how it's done into you!

And you must always be thinking about how to improve!

The next step... Always be thinking of the next step, Jan!

And next, from the Kawahara Cooking School, it's Kawahara Yuji!

What gives? Does the crowd hate him, too?

Ohoho! They sure do, Kiriko-san!

This Kawahara guy is really something.

Everyone who goes up against him walks away hating him.

It's over his use of the latest cooking implements

and the way he mocks normal chefs.

The latest cooking implements?

The thing is that he's more like an engineer than a chef.

Just take a look!

Wh-What is that?

Right? And he uses it to cook!

What manner of machine is it?

This is why no one likes him.

Everyone else is relying on their skills,

but he gets his gizmos to do all the work.

Dumbass! Go to hell, Kawahara!

Get out of here, Akiyama!

And you two call yourselves chefs?!

These old-fashioned chefs seem to be causing quite a stir.

KAWAHARA KENZO KAWAHARA COOKING SCHOOL HEADMASTER

A bunch of simpletons who think they can win with their paltry knowledge.

Go, Yuji!

Show these chefs with their moldy traditions

and their desperate adherence to hierarchy what you're capable of!

Show them our 21st century cooking!

Ladies and gentlemen, the theme of the sixth match of the second round will be...

Poultry! They'll be making poultry dishes!

The competitors may now begin!

Huh, they're both using whole chickens!

Interesting.

They're both heels, and they're both taking the same approach...

Let's see which one of you scumbags can win!

I wish they could both lose!

Not exactly an encouraging atmosphere to be cooking in...

Tell me about it.

Looks like they've picked glass noodles and shark fin for their next ingredients.

I see. They intend on making stuffed chicken dishes.

Stuffed dishes, huh?

Right.

What they're picking now is likely what they'll be filling the bird with.

Wait, you're telling me Kawahara

is going for something as expensive as shark fin,

while Jan's using regular old glass noodles?

Looks that way.

Aw, man. He's always gotta do things the hard way!

Why use the cheap stuff?!

If they were using comparable ingredients,

it'd all come down to culinary skill!

That's just how he is.

He considers everyone he faces to be beneath him.

And his Akiyama pride would never allow him

to battle someone like that on equal terms.

That's a long-winded way of saying he's arrogant.

Is it just me, or is he going even faster than usual today?

I'd wager it means his dish requires that much more effort.

A whole chicken dish that requires extra effort?

My, my, looks like the competition has their hands full.

Well, I should begin.

What the hell? I dunno what he's doing, but it sure is weird.

It's givin' me the creeps.

What the hell? He's disinfecting all his stuff now!

What a freak. Like some kind of quack doctor.

This match is giving me a bad feeling, y'know?

The poisonous mushroom bastard versus the disinfectant freak.

Do it, Yuji! Show them the cutting-edge cooking of the 21st century!

This is no good.

It's overcooked, with the muscle fibers too contracted

and the juices all dried out.

Oh, my.

Oops! Guess we messed up.

Don't give me that!

You should've cooked it at the appropriate temperature!

If you're not gonna take this seriously, then quit, you dumbasses!

H-How mean!

What is this? You don't have to bite our heads off!

Pay attention, all of you. Our school isn't just any cooking school.

We quantify flavor, aroma, and nutrition for analysis.

It's a scientific cooking school.

I-I understand that, but...

Then don't screw up!

We strive to be chefs and scientists!

And I'm going to prove that our cooking is superior at the upcoming tournament...

by winning it all.

That's right. I'm winning this tournament.

These so-called chefs with their heads full of cobwebs

are going to get crushed by my high-tech tools.

This will elevate me to prominence in the culinary world.

A suitable first step.

Akiyama Jan...

The grandson of the conqueror of Chinese cuisine, Akiyama Kaiichiro.

You'll be the perfect stepping stone for me.

The harder you try, the better I'll end up looking.

Kawahara-kun!

Got a second to talk?

Sorry to interrupt you while you're working.

What exactly are you cooking here?

I'm not cooking anything...

Because I'm already done.

You are?

All that remains are some finishing touches and the clean-up.

I've made shark-fin-stuffed young chicken.

I flavored the shark fin with soup,

then added some wolfberry and sliced Jinhua ham...

And it all went into the bird, which is sous vide.

Pretty simple, altogether.

Honestly? I spent more time on making sure everything was hygienic.

Hygienic?

When you cook at low temperatures,

it's important to be extra careful in making sure everything's sanitized.

I-I-It's only been thirty minutes, though! Talk about fast!

Well, yes. But I've got great partners.

Partners?

Yes...

They're the best partners I could ask for.

My sous vide tools!

Sous vide tools?!

What's he talking about?!

Sous... what?

Sous vide cooking...

S-Say, Head Chef...

What exactly is the deal with sous vide?

SOUS VIDE

Sous vide!

You seal any variety of ingredients in a vacuum pack

and use hot water or steam to cook them at a low temperature!

It's a great way to avoid overcooking a dish and instead ensure evenness.

When you use a wok, it takes a certain degree of experience

to cook something exactly how you want.

But when you sous vide a steak...

All you need to do is prep the meat,

vacuum seal it, and set the temperature to 56 degrees.

The machine takes it from there.

Then you just add salt and pepper and fire it to get a nice color,

and you've got a medium-rare steak.

Sous vide means you never have to worry about uneven cooking.