[Soo] Cowabunga, Ted.
[Ted] Cowabunga indeed.
[Bao Bao] Oops, sorry.
[Ted] Buckle up for our noodle-palooza battle.
I am the noodle queen, so pass me my crown.
-[Scott] She does not play. -[Danny] No, not at all.
She's here as a boss. I love this.
Oh, yeah!
So many things going in my head right now.
[Esther] Everybody loves noodles.
I mean, I own a noodle shop.
[AJ] I studied in Italy. I'm coming for the win.
Boom!
-[Evan] I was born to noodle. -She's made a noodle dish from scratch.
There's a huge risk.
[Ted] Five minutes to get this done!
[Soo howls]
[Ted] Go!
[clock ticks]
[AJ] I spent two years training in Italy.
I learned how to make pasta from the creators of pasta themselves.
I'm the executive chef and owner
of ESO Artisanal Pasta in Morristown, New Jersey.
Let's make some pasta.
We sell fresh pastas, sauces, imported goods from Italy.
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese.
My style of cooking is always paying homage
to traditional dishes
while putting my own modern twist on them.
Training in Italy gives me a large competitive advantage.
[speaking Italian]
[in English] That's ESO pasta, baby.
[Evan] The best part about working with noodles
is how much fun they can be.
I've been playing the drums for about 28 years.
Anything that I can get my hands
to mold and shape is fantastic.
I'm the chef-owner of Twined NYC.
We create menus based off of the bounty that you can find
at markets all around the city.
All right.
I am definitely an adrenaline junkie.
Anything that I can do
to get my blood pumping and my heart racing.
We're all loco!
I'm here to compete and show people what I have.
And I'm also here to see what the other chefs have to bring to the table.
[Soo] Noodles are blank canvas and if you give me a blank canvas,
that's a dangerous game to play with me.
I'm the executive chef at Adalina
in Chicago, Illinois.
I love stuffed pasta.
Raviolis, raviolos, tortellini.
I love that surprise when you bite into it.
On the outside, it can look plain,
but then, on the inside, it can be filled with whatever you want it to be.
Prior of being a chef, I was a professional golfer.
Four days on the golf course.
However, in the kitchen, I'm very competitive.
There is no hit and miss with me.
[Bao Bao] Oh, I love noodle.
Noodle is my life.
And I'm a queen of the noodle dish.
[chuckles]
I am Suchanan Aksornnan AKA Chef Bao Bao.
I am executive chef and owner of Baoburg restaurant in Brooklyn.
[speaking foreign language]
[in English] My mom is my inspiration.
She own two restaurants.
And she taught me how to be a good chef.
My style of cooking is Southeast Asian street food.
Spicy, sour, sweet.
Other chefs should be scared because
Chef Bao Bao is in the building.
Welcome, chefs.
-Cowabunga, Ted. -[all exclaiming]
[Ted] Cowabunga indeed.
Buckle up because you are here for our noodle-palooza battle.
Woo-hoo!
-[Evan] Noodles! -[claps]
For your competition,
you must use noodles from the pantry in some way.
There are oodles and oodles of noodles
from which you can choose,
so pick whatever serves you best.
Remember, it all comes down to the ingredients
you'll find inside these.
Let's see those appetizer ingredients.
-[all exclaiming] -Oh, wow.
Incredible.
[Ted] You got a bucket of meatballs.
A bucket of meatballs.
That's a big bucket, all right.
Ooh, nice.
[Ted] Persian cucumbers.
Nice and fresh.
I'm good with this.
[Ted] Hot chicken seasoning.
Spicy.
Oh, boy.
[Ted] And peanut brittle.
I'm confident.
Twenty minutes to conceptualize and complete your noodle dishes.
Clock starts now.
-Let's go, chefs. -Let's go.
-[Danny] You got this. -[Esther] Good luck!
[Danny] You got this, you got this.
Oops, sorry.
Scott, you're in very good company with two special guest judges.
Celebrated modern Korean restaurateur, Chef Esther Choi.
And James Beard award winning Chinese cuisine expert, Chef Danny Bowien.
Welcome to you both.
-Thank you so much. -Thank you.
-Come now. -[Soo] Coming hot.
Judges, slurped out of soup or twirled around a fork,
noodles or pasta are staple foods all over the world.
Why the appeal?
There is just something so comforting about being able to tuck into,
like, a bowl or a plate of noodles.
And there's so much versatility.
[Esther] And it carries a lot of different flavors.
You can do anything with it.
[Scott] I agree with you 100%.
And this is a little bit of a different approach to the competition.
We have the basket
and then, we have the various pastas and noodles inside the pantry.
So, the chefs know that they have to identify
some kind of pasta or noodle from the pantry
and incorporate it inside the dish.
Coming down, coming down, coming down.
[Bao Bao] At my restaurant, Baoburg,
we serve so many different type of noodles.
-Chef Bao Bao. -Yes, Chef.
What type of pasta or noodle are you using, Chef?
[Bao Bao] I am using the ramen noodle today.
Doing stuffed ramen noodle patties with the meatball.
And also teriyaki sauce
that I use from the peanut brittle.
-Nice, nice. -I love that she's being creative.
-Yeah. -[Soo] Coming down, coming down.
Sorry, Chef.
[Scott] So, these are beef, pork and chicken meatballs.
It's a great platform to be able to create other things with.
I would immediately rinse that tomato sauce off.
[Danny] I agree with you.
If you're gonna go on a, like, an Asian direction.
It's all about balancing that sweet, spicy, meaty flavor profile.
Coming down, coming down, coming down.
-[Scott] Chef Soo. -Yes.
What are you gonna do with this appetizer to impress us, Chef?
Oh, man, I don't know. Little bit of this,
-little bit of that. -[Esther chuckles]
We'll see.
And what type of pasta or noodle are you utilizing?
I'm using the Asian white rice noodles.
-Rice noodles. That's smart. -[Danny] That's smart.
It's quick. Quick cooking.
So, we're going a little bit of sweet salty,
herbaceous crunchy.
I'm gonna make a spin on a Pad Thai.
Pad Thai has sweet, spicy and sour components.
So, I'm gonna quick pickle these Persian cucumbers.
And Pad Thai usually has crushed peanuts on top.
So, I'm roasting some cashews
with some of the hot chicken seasoning.
Let's go. Let's go.
[Scott] Chef AJ,
what kind of pasta or noodle are you utilizing?
[AJ] Capricci.
I'm gonna keep things simple.
I'm making a nice pasta "alla Bolognese"
using those meatballs.
I've got my spicy chicken seasoning in here
and little bit of that peanut brittle,
so I got sweet and spicy action going on.
A nice little fresh brunoise cucumber salad on top.
We love all of this.
Behind, behind.
At my shop, I make all the pastas and sauces from scratch.
I know how to make over 20 to 30 different pastas.
I studied in Italy.
I own a pasta shop.
I'm coming for the win in this competition.
I think one of the most beautiful things about noodles
is that it's the texture.
Like, there's something about, like, having something
that's really chewy and slippery.
And you know, it can, like, suck up a sauce.
Everybody loves noodles.
I mean, I own a noodle shop.
I love noodles because they can be a base for pretty much anything.
You can use them in any way shape or form.
I am making bucatini alla Norma
with a cucumber, basil puree.
Norma is a roasted eggplant sauce
that is tomato based.
Oh, yeah.
After I graduated college,
I started to work at restaurants,
all Michelin-starred.
So, I got a very wide range of restaurant work in my career.
I want to win Chopped
because I think it's an incredible stepping stone
to what could happen next.
Ten minutes left in this round, chefs!
-[Evan] Oof. -[Soo] I think the time is going by little too fast.
That happens.
[Bao Bao] I saute the meatball
with the chicken seasoning just to give it a nice sear.
Then, I assemble my ramen patty in the ring mold.
I grew up eating noodles in Thailand
with my grandma who is the great, best home cook ever.
And then, I decided to move here when I was 15
and started to work for my mom in her restaurant.
It's all right if I take some of your salt, Chef?
-Sure, sure, sure. -Thank you.
I would love to win this for my grandmother, my mom and me.
[Soo] I'm sauteing my meatballs
in peanut butter, mirin, sambal and soy sauce.
Chefs, less than five minutes to get this done.
-[Soo howls] -[Ted] I know! I know!
Five minutes!
I pull the eggplant out of the oven
and I realize it's cooking too slow.
So, I toss them directly into the pan.
I'm really nervous that, like,
he hasn't touched half of the basket.
Yes, got it.
Yeah. And I feel like, it shouldn't be an afterthought.
Especially, with something like seasoning.
[Scott] Yeah, you need to cook that out.
[clock ticks]
Yes, got it.
Chef Evan hasn't even touched his hot chicken seasoning
or his peanut brittle yet.
[Evan] I decide to use the hot chicken seasoning in my meatball sauce.
Crumble, crumble. Let's go!
I'm always thinking that
a pasta should have bread.
So, I take the peanut brittle
and I'm making the glaze to brush on to the bread to get it toasted.
Chef, less than two minutes to get it done.
-Think about plating! -[Danny] Let's go, you got it.
[Bao Bao] I slice up the cucumber and toss it with some frisee.
More to give some freshness to my dish.
[AJ] I'm making my cucumber salad with fresh mint
brunoise cucumber,
olive oil and a dash of the peanut brittle.
[Scott] Get it all on the plate, chefs.
The judges are watching you, chefs.
-[Esther] Get it out on the plate! -[Ted] Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five...
-[Ted and judges] Four, three, two, one. -[Scott] Let's go!
[Esther] Whoo!
Time's up. Please step back.
[all applauding]
How did you go?
[Soo laughs]
-[Evan] Yeah. -[Soo] Can I get ten more minutes, please?
Yeah. Right?
[AJ] Man, that 20 minute time limit is no joke.
I think that I highlighted the pasta well.
I know that the flavor is there.
I would not have put the peanut brittle into my dish,
but I'm proud of what I put together
and I hope the judges really like it.
[Ted] Chefs, you have arrived at the chopping block.
In the appetizer round,
you got a bucket of meatballs,
Persian cucumbers,
hot chicken seasoning and peanut brittle.
Chef Soo, please tell us about your dish.
So, I made a Pad Thai inspired noodle dish.
I never would have guessed this was like a tomato sauced meatball in here.
The flavor of the meatball itself is very flavorful.
And it really, like, incorporates and blends into this dish seamlessly.
One thing I will say is I wasn't really getting a lot of the hot chicken seasoning.
That really, like, in your face
flavor and heat.
I like that you took that peanut brittle
and then, doubled down with cashews.
You can identify it, but it's not overwhelming
the rest of the nuances, the flavors that you created.
I think this is delicious.
I think you really personalized this basket.
-You made it your own. -Thank you.
Chef, I love eating Pad Thai. It's one of my favorite noodle dishes.
But 'cause you put it in a small bowl,
the noodle has kinda seized up
and became, like, very clumpy.
In terms of the Persian cucumbers,
I love that you pickled them.
it's really nice, like, acid note.
And overall, I think you did a really great job.
Thank you, Chef.
Next up, Chef Evan.
So, what you have in front of you, the inspired bucatini alla Norma
with a hot chicken seasoning meatball sauce.
Cucumber, basil puree.
And of course, what is a pasta without bread
to soup all that sauce and deliciousness.
Chef, I thought the pasta was cooked really well.
Sauce, I love the hot chicken seasoning in there.
And I really like usage of the meatball as well.
Thank you, Chef.
I think the meatball itself,
the way you incorporated it is great.
You know, I thought it was like a nice foil for the hot chicken seasoning you used.
I think your cook on the pasta itself was great.
But the eggplant is undercooked.
And I think the usage of the peanut brittle
is a little bit sweet.
Thank you, Chef.
[Ted] Chef Evan, thank you.
Next up, Chef AJ.
So, I made capricci alla Bolognese.
Chef, what would it mean to you to win this competition?
[AJ] I'm from Morristown, New Jersey
and I'd love to make my hometown proud.
I graduated from Morristown High School.
Now, as a business owner, I go back to do seminars with the students,
teach 'em how to make pasta,
speak about my experiences in Italy.
And become a bit of a role model
for the next generation that's coming up.
And so, this would just be a further inspiration to the youth.
Good for you, man. That's great.
So, Chef, I think your... first of all the cook on the pasta is spectacular.
Thank you, Chef.
Clearly, you know, what you're doing.
But there's a tremendous amount of sweetness from that brittle.
I thought that the cucumber and peanut brittle
was really an after-thought.
But overall, the meatball was lovely in here
and the pasta itself with the sauce was delicious.
I think the choice of noodle is really excellent.
I think that the sauce itself
is very delicious.
I do get a little bit of the sweetness from the peanut brittle.
Other than that, I think that it's a pretty, like, seamlessly executed dish.
-Thank you, Chef. -[Ted] Chef AJ, thank you.
Next up, Chef Bao Bao. What do we have?
I make for you today,
it's a stuffed ramen with the meatballs.
And the sauce that I made is the peanut teriyaki glaze.
And also with a Persian cucumber relish.
I think this is fantastic.
I love the textures that you created.
The crispy part of the noodle,
the soft part of the noodle.
Thank you, Chef.
I'm already done with mine. I ate it so quickly.
I think it was a great portion size for an appetizer.
I like that the meatball,
you couldn't decipher that it was a meatball anymore.
Incorporated in a really clever way into the dish.
Thank you, Chef.
Such a creative, fun dish.
This is what I want to see in the top kitchen.
And the sauce is just delicious.
And then, I feel like the cucumber salad, because it's so acidic,
paired really well with the sweetness.
I only wish that there was more cucumber salad.
I would have liked a big mound of it.
I see. Okay. Thank you, Chef.
Chef Bao Bao, what would winning Chopped mean to you?
Winning Chopped...
it's not just about the money,
it's about the title.
And that's why I come here, you know, to...
show off... [chuckling] at the showcase
that being a female chef in New York City is...
is not easy,
but if you're here, you're good enough,
you can prove that women can do it
and beat the heck out of other male chefs.
[all chuckling]
Chef Bao Bao, thank you.
[Evan] All in all, I think the flavors that went into the dish
were very well composed.
The judges definitely liked the use of my noodles,
so I think we'll be in an okay place.
[AJ] I like the fact that the judges appreciated the cook of the pasta,
but I think I could have done a better job utilizing that peanut brittle.
That was a bit of a curveball for me.
[clock ticks]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[dramatic music intensifies]
Chef Evan, you've been Chopped.
Judges?
Chef Evan, your use of the bucatini was really great
and the cook was perfect on it.
However, the eggplant was undercooked.
And the peanut brittle on the toast
read a little sweet.
And so, we have to chop you.
Thank you, chefs.
Good luck, guys.
-[AJ] Good luck. Thanks, man. -Good luck.
[Bao Bao] Chef.
-[Evan] Good luck. -Chef.
-Goodbye. -[Evan] Thank you.
I'm definitely disappointed,
but by going through all of this,
it's gonna make me a better chef.
Chef Bao Bao, Chef AJ, Chef Soo,
you have made it to round two.
Are you excited?
[contestants exclaiming]
[Ted] All right.
Let's see your hands on these entree baskets.
And open 'em up.
Whoa.
Hmm.
[Ted] And you'll be making noodle entrees
with canned sardines.
[AJ] Nice pack of sardines.
Wild caught. Very nice.
[Ted] Pea shoots.
[AJ grunts]
Awesome.
[Ted] Mussels.
Ugh, okay.
What have we got here?
[Ted] And freeze dried stuffed olives.
[Soo] For a pasta. Oh, man!
So many things going in my head right now, I don't even know.
Incredible ingredients.
Thirty minutes on the clock for this one.
Time starts now.
[all applauding]
-Round two. -Let's do this.
[Scott] Big round, chefs. Big round.
[Soo] Coming down, coming down.
Judges, noodles are so widespread and so familiar
that I think people might erroneously presume they're easy to make.
I actually think they're very easy to mess up.
Coming down.
Once a noodle is overcooked,
no sauce that's gonna save it.
-Game over. -[Esther] Yeah.
And Bao Bao is actually making her own pasta dough.
Wildly impressive.
Chef Bao Bao, you're making your own dough.
Yes.
Is it based with rice or with wheat or...
Rice flour with tapioca flour.
-[Ted] Wow. -[Danny] Amazing.
[Scott] Chef Bao Bao, she does not play.
-No, not at all. -She does not play.
She's here as a boss. I love this.
[Bao Bao] It is definitely a risk to make your own noodles.
But my mom taught me,
if I wanna achieve something in my life,
I have to fight hard for it.
I'm making surf and turf fresh noodle roll
with sweet and sour sauce.
AJ and Soo are definitely tough competitors,
but I'm a noodle queen,
so I'm not afraid of them.
Coming down.
Chef Bao Bao definitely pushed the envelope on round one.
Now, I gotta match her energy, if not more.
-Chef Soo. -Yes, sir.
What noodle are you using today?
I'm making a ravioli.
And so, are you making the pasta dough fresh
or do you have some pasta sheets?
They have some made for me, thankfully.
Anybody can cook with dry pasta.
But I believe that a stuffed pasta
takes a bit more skill.
So, I decided to roll the dice.
I'm making sardine-filled ravioli
and quick pickled mussels.
For my ravioli filling, I'm cutting up some sardines
and mixing it with ricotta.
-Ugh. -Right behind. Yeah.
[Bao Bao] So salty.
I thought it was a good idea for you to see these
freeze dried olives and give them a taste.
When you freeze dry things, it really intensifies the flavor.
It, like, accentuates what it tastes like.
They have that salinic pop, that, like, oceanic brine.
[AJ] Freeze dried stuffed olives, this is a no-brainer.
I've got shellfish and seafood.
Olives bring that briny flavor to the picture.
I can definitely incorporate that into a sauce.
That's a layer of flavor.
Chef AJ, how are you feeling?
Feeling good, I've got a flat linguine
that has nero di seppia
-which is squid ink in it. -[Danny] Okay.
I'm gonna let that shine through with the mussels.
I'm gonna build a white wine sauce.
[Danny] Amazing.
[Esther] I feel like my favorite part of mussels is the broth.
Like, the briny broth that it brings...
like, that's what I wanna see.
Chefs, you've got less than 20 minutes to do this.
Heard, 20 minutes.
[Bao Bao] My dough is falling apart
and not looking how I want it to.
So, I fix the batter
by adding a little bit more water.
This one looks better. Much better. Woo-hoo!
So, next, I get started on my filling.
I saute garlic and chorizo.
Chop olives and sardines.
-For me, canned sardines, it means umami. -[Danny] Yeah.
[Esther] We used to put into kimchi jjigae
and make, like, a stew out of it.
-Oh, really? -Yeah.
Like, to me, it's kind of a gift.
[Soo] The competition is pretty stiff.
Garlic, garlic, garlic.
[Soo] But I played professional golf for seven and a half years.
Golf definitely refined my competitive nature.
I try to just focus on myself and just stay in the moment.
I want to add some texture into the dish.
So, I fry some pasta dough.
All right, chefs, less than ten minutes to go here.
[AJ] Winning Chopped would mean the world to me.
I would use the $10,000 to re-invest into my business.
In five years, I'm hoping that my business has expanded to a full-blown restaurant.
Pasta classes. You name it.
If it's pasta related, we're there.
[Soo] Coming down.
[AJ] I'm adding tomato paste into the sauce
to cut through the vibrant flavor of the white wine.
[sizzling]
Less than five minutes to go, chefs.
All right.
One thing I'm excited about seeing how they use is the pea shoots.
It's not something that's super delicate.
It has a lot of flavor and it comes through in raw or cooked form.
[Bao Bao] I'm adding a pea shoot salad
on top of my noodle
to add some brightness.
Okay.
[Ted] Chefs, less than two minutes to get it done.
[Soo] The texture of these freeze dried olives
lends itself to a dust.
So, I'm gonna press them through the chinois
and dust my pasta sheets.
And then, I take the pea shoots,
toss them in olive oil and lemon juice.
I just have to push through and get everything on this plate.
-[Ted] Forty-five seconds. -[Esther] Yeah, chefs!
Let's go, chefs, get it done.
[Danny] Forty-five seconds.
[Esther] All four ingredients.
All right, you got this, chefs.
Get it done, get it done.
-[Soo] Whoo! -[Ted] Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five,
four, three, two,
one.
Time's up.
[all applauding]
These guys are pros.
They really are.
-[Danny] Nice to see. -Good job, chef.
-That was... -[Bao Bao] Good.
Was that shorter than the first one?
[Bao Bao] It's pretty intense.
But I think I give, like, 100% into this dish
and I feel like this represented me.
[AJ] I'm feeling good about this dish.
I definitely tried to bring some creativity.
I hope this dish will get me to that dessert round.
[clock ticks]
Chefs, your second puzzling set of ingredients...
canned sardines,
pea shoots,
mussels
and freeze dried stuffed olives.
Chef Bao Bao, could you please tell us about your dish?
I made for you surf and turf
steamed fresh noodle roll
in sweet and sour sauce.
Chef Bao Bao. First glance, wow.
Beautiful presentation and it's so clever.
I love the usage of the pea shoots.
I think that using it raw and also sauteed inside the filling
was amazing.
Thank you, Chef.
I think it's very ambitious.
The noodle, I love the idea of it.
The thing I don't love...
As I think this texture is a little bit off.
Feels like it's almost little gummy.
I agree about the noodle itself.
I feel like it's breaking apart.
But I think that some of your flavors here are really nice.
[Ted] Thank you, Chef Bao Bao.
Next up, Chef AJ.
So, today, I did a play on linguine al nero di seppia.
Well, Chef, clearly you know how to cook pasta. Right?
Which we don't often see here.
You know, it's a good pasta when you look at the bottom of the plate.
There's no residual sauce.
But the white wine,
I think it needed a little bit more time to cook out.
To cook out.
So, there's... still has that residual acidity,
that raw wine element.
I will echo what Scott said about the white wine.
But, I mean, the seasoning is perfect.
Thank you.
Just the flavor that you got from the mussels were just...
so delicious.
-Chef's kiss. -Thank you, Chef.
[Esther] But the pea shoots, I only got like two or three strands on mine.
But if you added more, it would have been nice.
Okay. Thank you, Chef.
Finally, Chef Soo.
Chefs, for you, I have a sardine and ricotta stuffed ravioli
with some quick-pickled mussels.
I love your creativity. I definitely see your exploration of textures,
flavor profiles.
At first, I didn't know if the pickled mussels would work.
But it doesn't kinda give it, like, a nice acidity and an edge,
like, to cut through
a lot of, like, the richness.
The things that's a little challenging for me
is the choice of the pasta that you chose to use.
It's thick. There's something about it, there's just kinda like,
it's hard.
The first thing I did notice when I cut into the ravioli
was the thick pasta.
But the filling itself was actually very tasty.
The sardines and the cheese, like, really work together,
you know in a odd way, it was delicious.
[Scott] Chef, I really like your approach.
One of those pickled mussels on top of that pasta
with a little bit of that pea shoot is a great bite.
It's really, really spectacular.
Your flavor profiles are exactly on point.
Thank you, Chef.
What would winning Chopped mean to you, Chef?
I used to be a professional golfer
and then, was executive chef at a Michelin starred restaurant
and I feel like this is the next hurdle
that I would wanna just jump.
And give me a little validation.
I could use some help with my backswing.
I'll get you right after this.
[all chuckling]
We could trade. You know?
-I'd love that. -[all chuckling]
You guys all saw that.
Chef Soo, thank you.
We appreciate the good work you all did in that round.
Still, another chef must soon be chopped.
[Soo] Yeah, I wish I could have rolled out the dough a little thinner.
And feel like, I should have focused more on the execution part of the dish.
[AJ] I think saving time on making pasta
gave me more time to execute the sauce the way I wanted it to be.
But I don't know if I'm safe or not.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Soo, you've been chopped.
Judges?
[Danny] Chef Soo.
I love your creativity.
But at the end of the day, this is a noodle competition.
And unfortunately, your ravioli, the dough was too thick.
And so, we had to chop you.
Thank you.
-Thank you, Chef. Good luck. -It was great having you, Chef.
[Soo] I thought I definitely thought outside the box.
And I was being creative and whimsical.
But the competition is fierce.
With Chef AJ and Chef Bao Bao going into round three,
I think it's anyone's game.
Chef Bao Bao, Chef AJ.
Do you have what it takes to become the next Chopped champion?
-100%. -[AJ] Absolutely.
Well, the dessert round would be a great time to show us.
Open 'em up.
Whoa!
Wow. Ooh!
[Ted] And you've got pork floss.
This is a wild run.
[chuckles] I love pork floss, but not in dessert.
[Ted] You also have Thai basil.
What is this?
[Ted] Rock candy.
Rock candy.
Holy-moly. [chuckling]
Smells tasty, what is that?
My goodness!
[Ted] And Vietnamese egg coffee.
Odd batch of ingredients.
Okay. [sighs] I have to come up with something real quick.
Remember, this is still a noodle competition,
so you must use noodles from the pantry in some way.
Thirty minutes, restored to the countdown clock.
Time starts now.
[judges cheering]
-[Esther] Yes, chefs! -[Scott] Good luck.
[all applauding]
Eggs.
I feel like these two chefs are very oddly different. Right?
Chef Bao Bao is very, very creative.
Outside the box thinking.
And then, with Chef AJ, he's very technique driven.
Fundamentals are there.
But what are they gonna make for dessert 'cause, like,
what are noddle-y desserts.
Going to use sugar.
You could take pasta, cook it all the way, then deep fry it.
You could even, potentially,
think about pasta as a cannoli.
-Oh, right. Yeah. -Maybe do rigatoni or paccheri or something like that.
And then, use the coffee
as a coffee cream for the filling.
Well, it looks like AJ is gonna make whipped cream.
And it looks paccheri that he has on his station.
While I was in Italy,
I worked a dessert station.
Paccheri, it looks perfect to pipe something into.
So, my mind immediately went to cannoli.
I'm making paccheri cannolis.
I drop my paccheri in a salted water.
And I start making my whipped cream.
Add vanilla and some sugar.
[Danny] The Vietnamese egg coffee...
It's like a ribbony luscious foam of, like,
condensed milk and egg yolk
with a little bit of warm spice, in this case, cinnamon.
Delicious.
[AJ] Behind.
[Bao Bao] Vietnamese egg coffee...
It looks like cappuccino.
I think it will be fun to make ice cream
with that flavor.
I'm making Vietnamese coffee ice cream
with a noodle churros patties
and a meringue
to make my churros.
I'm using a fresh Korean cup noodle.
And I'm going to mix it into my churros batter.
Twenty minutes on the clock, chefs.
Thai basil is obviously a very floral, pungent herb.
Similar to basil, obviously, but more concentrated, I would say.
[AJ] I add some butter to the pan
along with my pasta and saute with Thai basil.
Chefs, you've got ten minutes to finish.
[Scott] Chef Bao Bao is on a mission.
She's taking noodles and chopping them and putting them inside
choux paste.
[Bao Bao] Winning Chopped is not just for me,
it's for my grandma, my mom and also my business.
If I win this $10,000,
my plan is to put this money back into Baoburg.
And maybe who knows,
you're gonna see the second Baoburg.
[sighs wearily]
[AJ] I still need to use this rock candy.
So, I'm gonna micro-plant it into my whipped cream
to hopefully, get some color.
So, pork floss, it's almost like a shredded beef jerky.
It's very dry, it's very fluffy.
Kinda salty. Vey umami.
Sometimes it can be spicy, sometimes it can be sweet.
[AJ] I decided to add my pork floss to the whipped cream.
Because it's a sweet and savory component.
All right, chefs, you're under five minutes now.
Oh!
Come on, come on, come on. Work for me.
So, I go to check my ice cream...
Come on, come on.
Argh!
And it is really thick.
Chef Bao Bao's ice cream looks very over-churned.
And that's the only place that she added
the Vietnamese egg coffee.
[Bao Bao] I have a basket ingredient in this ice cream.
I don't even know, I'm not sure if I I'm gonna everything on the plate.
Gosh, making me nervous right now.
Come on, work for me.
Come on, come on, come on.
Argh!
Chef Bao Bao's ice cream looks very over-churned.
And that's the only place that she added
the Vietnamese egg coffee.
Come on, come on.
I have a basket ingredient in this ice cream,
so I really need to figure it out.
Come on. Work for me.
It looks like very chunky.
She had to open the ice cream machine to take it out.
Just under two minutes.
[Bao Bao] I mix the pork floss
into my ice cream to give a little bit of umami flavor.
[Ted] Check your basket. All the ingredients, chefs.
[AJ] I create my paccheri cannoli
by piping my cream mixture
into the pasta.
[Bao Bao] The clock is running out
and I need to put everything together.
[Scott] Chef Bao Bao is running
and frantically.
So, I'm a little concerned that she may have a little too much going on.
How are you feeling, Chef AJ?
-Doing all right. Doing my best. -[Bao Bao] Me, too.
I top my meringue with the Thai basil.
And break rock candy as a sprinkle on top.
-[Danny] Here we go. -Final seconds to the final round.
-[Scott] Four ingredients. Check your inventory. -Ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five,
four, three,
two, one.
Time's up.
[all applauding]
-Wow. -[all applauding]
-[Esther] Wow. -Good job.
-Ooh! -Good job. It looks beautiful.
Oh, my gosh. I thought I'm gonna run out of time.
There was so many struggles.
But my goal is to win.
Go home with title of Chopped champion.
[AJ] Bao Bao's creativity has been on point.
But I'm really hoping to bring it home
by the creativeness of utilizing
the paccheri pasta as a cannoli.
So, may the best man or woman win.
[Ted] Chef AJ and Chef Bao Bao.
In the final round, your mission was
to make sweet and tasty dishes using pork floss,
Thai basil,
rock candy
and Vietnamese egg coffee.
Chef Bao Bao, what do we have?
So, right in front of you is Vietnamese pork floss ice cream
and a noodle churros.
On top of it is a meringue.
Chef, your creativity throughout all the rounds,
um, just shines.
You know, the churro batter and adding the noodles to it,
thought that was really smart.
I really loved that you shaved the rock candy on top.
But I really wish that you infused
at least one of the elements with the Thai basil
because I felt like that was a little bit of an afterthought.
I will say that I don't feel like your ice cream is over churned.
I thought... we all thought it was.
-Right. -[Esther] Mmm-hmm.
So, it came out really good.
But the churro patty was still hot.
And you put the ice cream on the bottom and the patties on top
and that really melted the ice cream.
But otherwise, I think as a noodle dessert, it's very convincing.
Thank you.
I really admire the incorporation of the pork floss
in the ice cream.
I think that the umami flavor is kinda cool.
But it's a dry pork product. Right?
So, it was a little tricky to eat.
Yes, Chef.
[Ted] Chef Bao Bao, thank you.
Finally, Chef AJ.
So, here I have my play on the cannoli.
I'm calling it a paccheri cannoli.
With this round I really just wanted to get
outside of my comfort zone.
I've never done something like this before.
But I really just wanted to end things with a bang.
[Danny] I really love your ambition.
But the thing that's challenging for me,
it's just the two textures that's soft cream
and the soft cold noodle.
If you just fry that pasta
and then, pipe it,
it might have given a little bit of a textural variance.
Understood.
Maybe, if you mixed breadcrumbs with pork floss,
it could have given that, like, texture
which would have been really fun here.
But I really loved the basil bites.
Like, when I got the basil, I almost felt like,
it became a little savory sweet
which I love in dessert.
Chef, the Vietnamese coffee,
I really get that flavor profile inside the cream.
And I think you have amazing idea here.
It's just not executed,
but it's a very cool approach. Truly.
Thank you, chefs.
Chef AJ, thank you.
Now, the judges have to pick the winner.
Thank you, chefs.
Judges, gotta choose a champ.
How are you going to decide?
I think we start with the appetizer rounds.
That little appetizer that Chef Bao Bao created,
that was craveable. Right?
[Esther] But overall, I wanted more cucumber salad.
Chef AJ's technique was really on point with his pasta.
The flavor was really good.
[Danny] Yeah, he has tons of technique.
There's so much finesse.
His flavors were nice, but it was really, really sweet.
AJ's misstep in this entree round
was that the sauce wasn't quite there.
It was a little too much.
But the squid ink pasta, very delicious.
There was a creative level from Chef Bao Bao.
She made that beautiful noodle.
But I don't think she allowed that dough to sit long enough.
Because it kinda cracked a little bit.
I think, inherently,
the dishes that Chef Bao Bao were cooking
were just more creative.
On the other side, you know,
Chef AJ was utilizing technique.
But somehow, they wound up in the same place. Right?
[AJ] I'm feeling pretty optimistic.
At the end of the day, I gave it my all.
l left everything on the field.
So, I'm hoping that I can pull through.
[Bao Bao] Feeling confidence because of my creativity.
I think that I am the next Chopped champion.
No doubt.
So, whose dish
is on the chopping block?
Chef AJ, you've been chopped.
Judges?
Chef, in your appetizer round,
the usage of that peanut brittle
just rendered the dish overall a little bit too sweet.
In your main course, little bit too much white wine,
just rendered a little tangy
on the back end of the palette.
And so, we had to chop you.
Understood. Thank you, Chef.
Okay.
This didn't go the way that I wanted to.
Great job, Chef.
-Real pleasure to meet you. Thank you. -Absolutely.
But I'm sure the folks back home will still be proud of me
for coming out here
and representing Morristown to the best of my ability.
[Ted] And that means, Chef Bao Bao,
you are the Chopped champion
for using your noodles better than everybody else.
You're walking away with $10,000.
-Congratulations, Chef. -[Esther] Good job.
-[all applauding] -[Esther] Get it!
What is your mom gonna think?
Oh, we're gonna go have some drinks tonight.
[all laughing]
Winning Chopped means a lot to me.
My grandma, my mom, they believe in me.
-[both exclaiming] -Congratulations!
Thank you!
They have pushed me to get to where I am today.
So, this one is for them.
-Yay! I'm a Chopped champion. -[all applauding]