I'm Bobby Flay. Each week, one brave chef
will try to take me down in my house.
-This is my show. -Today it is.
Tomorrow, who knows?
-Ooh. -Trash talking.
This culinary battle is gonna shake down in two rounds.
-[bell dings] -Round one, to get to me, two contenders have to go
through each other using an ingredient of my choice. -It's do or die, Bobby.
[Bobby] Two people that know me well will decide who's got
the skills to beat me. -Yeah!
-[bell dings] -[Bobby] Round two, I go head-to-head with
the winning contender. -Let's go!
It's their turn to surprise me with their signature dish.
-What? -Ah!
Don't try this at home.
I know you didn't, Bobby!
[Bobby] Bottom line?
You're going to run out of time!
Everyone's out to beat me.
[snaps]
[bell dings]
[audience cheering]
[Bobby] What's up, everybody?
There's a cold front coming through,
and my co-hosts are here to freeze me out.
[audience cheering]
[Bobby] Please welcome Food Network's Sunny Anderson
and meteorologist Ginger Zee.
Mmm, I smell what Sunny's cooking -- it's good.
Cooking up something for you, Bobby.
Oh, you got props?
[audience cheering]
Did you like the scent of what I've been cooking up?
Oh, it smells like stanky loser.
-It does, right? -A little bit, right?
-It's always a thing. -Bobby, I thought I would cook up...
defeat! -[all laughing]
-Oh, yes, I have many with you, Bobby. -Yes!
24 to be exact.
This is Victor Albisu, steak and eggs.
We've got Robert Sisca, bouillabaisse.
-[Bobby] Good job! -That's right.
You can't do bouillabaisse, Bobby?
Oh, my God.
How many people saw the travesty that was
Buddy Valastro and that cake?
What was that cake?
If we could just please right now
put up a photo of that cake.
Thank you, that was horrible.
To be honest with you, pick a feat, any defeat,
there's so many of 'em, and this is what we're here
to do today, right, Ginger? Come on! -Yes!
[audience cheering and clapping]
[Sunny] Now, I'm not the only one
that has brought something for you, Bobby.
-OK. -Mnh-mnh, OK?
You know I love you, but Ginger has someone
in her family that loves you more.
-Really? Who? -[Ginger] I do.
My six-year-old, he is obsessed.
-He wrote you a note. -Really?
"Dear Bobby Flay, I watch your show all the time.
I love your cooking skills. My name is Miles."
Oh, I love that. Thank you so much.
See that, Sunny? I have a fan.
No, he is the only one that wants you to win.
-I know. -[all laughing]
OK, Bobby, it's time to meet your competition.
Our first contender is bringing
a fresh perspective to Asian cuisine,
and he's ready to kick the competition to the curb.
From Newport, Rhode Island, it's Chef Basil Yu.
[audience cheering and clapping]
Come on, Basil!
-Whoo! -[audience cheering]
Our next contender is known for his modern Indian cuisine.
And like you, Bobby, he loves cats.
Tonight, he's getting his claws out.
Meow!
[Ginger] From Orange County, California,
it's Chef Sanjay Rawat.
[audience cheering]
[Sunny] Yeah!
[audience cheering and clapping]
Good evening, Basil, Sanjay, how you guys doing?
-Doing all right? -Feeling good?
-Yeah, chef. -[Bobby] I'm gonna put 20 minutes on the clock.
I'm gonna give you an ingredient of my choice,
and you must make that ingredient the star
of your dish. And that ingredient is...
[tense music plays]
...Tuscan kale.
-[Ginger] Ooh, yes! -All right.
-[audience clapping] -I've used kale once or twice.
-Love it! -That's confidence.
All right, guys, 20 minutes to prevail with the Tuscan kale.
-[bell rings] -[audience cheering]
Tuscan kale!
Love kale, I like when it is raw, but I also love
to cook with it. -[Bobby] This is my favorite kale.
[Sunny] A little bitter, but not as bitter as other kales.
[Ginger] Yes.
Basil, what are you making over there?
Pretty much gonna be a kale salad,
but there's gonna be kale tempura fried, kale sautéed.
-Ooh. -Oh, and poached egg.
Your name is Basil, so whatever you're gonna cook
that's green, I'm in, all right?
[Basil] My parents immigrated from China to the US with nothing,
and the only job that they could do was work in restaurants.
And they tried very hard
to convince me to not go into the restaurant industry.
But yet, I took a big risk, and I opened my restaurant,
Yagi Noodles, in 2020,
drawing in flavors from Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine.
One of my proudest culinary moments was receiving
a James Beard nomination for Best Chef Northeast.
My parents sacrificed a lot moving here.
I wanna win to show them that their hard work has paid off.
[Sunny] Look at that knife work!
[Ginger] It's so bright too.
-I love that color. -Sanjay, what are you making?
Kale and quinoa salad
with a kale and ginger vinaigrette.
Oh, ginger.
Are you gonna fry anything, says my thighs?
Yes, I'm gonna braise the kale. I'm gonna fry the kale.
[soft music plays]
I grew up in Northern India, where my grandma taught me
everything I know about Indian cooking.
Today, I'm the chef de cuisine at the Ritz Carlton
in Orange County, California,
where I oversee three restaurants.
I think there's still misconception
about Indian cuisine.
People think it's a comfort food
and it's too spicy and it can't be elevated.
I want people to see how stunning Indian cuisine can be.
Tonight, I'm here to honor my grandmother,
the woman who taught me everything.
Bobby, get ready.
I can't lose with my grandma on my side.
-[audience] Whoo! -Hey!
So let me see what kind of chef-ese you're gonna put
on this kale today. You said you're gonna fry it.
I see you've got the cornstarch.
[Basil] Start with my kale and start wilting it down.
I get my garlic in there to really infuse with the oil.
Hazelnuts and kale? I like this.
-I'm doing a dressing. -OK.
[Sanjay] My kale dressing has hazelnut, pomegranate molasses,
white vinegar, salt, and sugar to kill that bitterness.
Wow, yo, yo -- delicious!
I think what we're getting from Basil is kind of a classic
with a twist -- you're gonna get that poached egg.
It's gonna be oozy. But yeah, it would be nice
if he had something extra, not just the yolk.
[upbeat music plays]
Sanjay, what are you frying? What is that?
I'm gonna fry quinoa, Chef.
He's doing crispy quinoa, Bobby.
-Ooh. -Ohh!
-I'm gonna use that. -Ohh!
That's like crispy rice times ten, Bobby.
[Sanjay] Fried quinoa gives the egg that nuttiness.
Can we have a moratorium on the crispy rice?
I haven't done it once this season.
You haven't?
Sunny does not like my crispy rice game.
I'll tell you one person who does -- Miles.
[Sunny & Bobby laughing]
Seven minutes, 30 seconds left. We are getting there.
-Sanjay. -[audience cheering]
-Can I help get a couple spines off just in case you need extra? -Yeah, yeah.
'Cause I learned how to do this.
-You just slide. -Oh, did you? Yes, ma'am.
-What else do you got going? -I -- I fried this kale in here.
Uh-huh, just with my fingers.
-[Sanjay] Yes, ma'am. -OK.
That's nice. That's a very light fry.
-[Sanjay] Yes. -What's that spice, Sanjay?
-Onion curry. -[Ginger] Mm-hmm.
-[Sunny] Six minutes, chefs. -Oh, yes.
-[Sanjay] Six minutes, heard. -Six minutes.
-Thank -- thank you. -[audience cheering]
-[Ginger] Basil. -[Basil] Yes.
-I see, is this tempura? -This is tempura working.
I mixed in cornstarch, a little rice flour.
-And club soda? -[Basil] Yes.
Have any of you eaten tempura kale?
No, right?
I like that, that it's different.
Very exciting. Basil, Sanjay, good luck.
-Thank you. -[audience cheering]
[Bobby] Sanjay, he just started cooking some bacon with,
like, under three minutes to go. -Come on!
Render the bacon out, add my kale and deglaze it
with white wine.
[audience] Oh, whoo!
[Bobby] Let's go, Sanjay. One minute.
-Yes, Chef. -He's not gonna finish.
Not all of it. He'll get something on there.
[Basil] So I get my sauteed kale on a plate.
I top it with the poached egg.
I garnish with tempura kale and sliced radishes.
-What is the time left now? -20 seconds.
-Do it, put that fried kale on! -20 seconds to go.
-[Bobby] Oh, my God. -This is unbelievable!
[tense music plays]
-You gotta go. -Plate the food. I can't even watch it.
[Sanjay] I'm throwing my sautéed kale and quinoa,
adding my dressing to it,
and then top it up with fried kale and quinoa.
[audience] Five, four, three, two, one.
-[bell dings] -Whoo!
[Ginger] Yeah.
-[exhales] -[Sunny] Unbelievable.
I can't believe he got that on there.
[Sunny] Yeah.
What's that? There's a storm system
coming in, Ginger?
'Cause we are about to rain on you tonight, Bobby
[audience laughing]
It's gonna come down to what you did with this Tuscan kale.
Chef Basil, tell us about your dish.
So on there is a sautéed kale with garlic and lemon.
I have a tempura kale served with a poached egg,
a little bit of radish.
I'm going straight for the fried piece, sorry.
I'm gonna open that egg up and let it really get out.
Ooh.
[Sunny] The crunch is crunching.
Man, let me tell you, I love it.
Your texture is perfect, but that little bit of lemon,
I think, could have been a little bit more
because it's kind of missing.
Now, the sautéed kale was just how I like it,
but the mixture together, I agree.
I wish there was just more punch.
Sanjay, what'd you make for us?
A kale and a quinoa salad with ginger and bacon.
I have a crispy kale and then kale vinaigrette.
[Ginger] I could taste that crispy kale on the top,
and then under it, crispy quinoa.
That was so smart, that pop and that crisp.
I mean, it's popping. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
You said there was some bacon in here?
-Yes, ma'am. -Dónde?
-I didn't find anything. -I don't see the bacon.
-I can't even taste the bacon. -Ahh --
Oh, I see a little piece right here.
I see it.
-Mm-hmm, more bacon. -[Sunny] Yeah.
Give us a moment while we discuss.
[Ginger whispers] Both of them?
I think maybe I should have gone bolder with my flavors.
The chef moving forward to beat Bobby Flay is...
[tense music plays]
...Chef Sanjay.
-[audience cheering] -Look at him.
He's surprised,
[Ginger] He's surprised.
[Basil] Go get him.
Even though this was a loss, I think I still made my parents
proud just being here on TV.
-Way to go, way to go. -You think you've
got this tonight? -Definitely.
I came here to beat Bobby Flay tonight, yeah?
Come on! Come on!
[audience cheering and clapping]
♪ Yeah, we all rock-stars ♪
♪ Yeah, we are all-stars ♪
♪ Yeah, we gonna go far ♪
♪ Yeah, we got them scars ♪
-Sanjay, congratulations. -Thank you, Chef.
[Bobby] Your dish smelled amazing.
Beautiful flavors and spices
and aromas. -Thank you, Chef.
OK, Sanjay, what are we cooking tonight?
-What is your signature dish? -My signature dish is...
[tense music builds]
...chicken tikka masala
-Oh, OK. -[audience] Ohh!
Classic.
This is good. We're going for 25.
Make it number 25.
Forty-five minutes on the clock, and your time starts now.
[audience cheering and clapping]
Second time around on chicken tikka masala
in the Beat Bobby Flay Stadium.
He lost the first time.
-We would like a repeat. -[Ginger] Mm-hmm.
-Yeah, let's take it down. -Yeah, we want the same thing,
same thing.
The chicken is marinated in yogurt, right?
So there's not a lot of marination time that's
gonna happen, but yogurt's a pretty strong marinade.
It's got a lot of acidity to it.
There's a tomato base, and then the tikka is
bits, right? So little bits of food.
So the chicken's gonna be cut up to bits.
-It's easy to eat. -[Ginger] Mm.
-Sanjay? -Yes, ma'am.
How many times have you made this dish, approximately?
So this is something that my grandma taught me,
and since I started cooking, I have been doing this recipe.
I am making a chicken tikka masala
with cumin rice and mint chutney.
I am going to make my own garam masala blend,
which is going to have green cardamom,
black cardamom, maize, nutmeg.
This spice blend is my grandma's recipe,
and this is, like, 50 years old and never fails me.
I like what he's doing. There's onions in there.
-There are peppers in there. -Wow!
[Sunny] Butter, tomatoes. My God, look at all that spice!
I'm gonna start getting my rice ready.
Sanjay, is that cinnamon? What else is going on in there?
Oh, so there was bay leaf, cinnamon and cumin seed, Miss.
[Sunny] Bobby, what are you measuring?
[Bobby] What? I'm making rice.
You gotta make rice with this dish.
-He's allowed to make rice. -OK.
[audience laughing]
[Bobby] I'm making chicken tikka masala
with crispy garam masala chicken skin,
pomegranate mint and almond relish,
and crispy coconut rice with lime and scallions.
Get lots of different contrasting textures
and hope it all works out.
Bobby, what's in your yogurt marinade?
[Bobby] Got some yogurt, some turmeric, cardamom,
some garam masala, some ginger, some garlic.
I don't really have a lot of time to marinate it,
so I'm really using this as almost like a wet spice rub.
[Sunny] They're both using boneless thighs.
Smart, that's where the flavor's at.
So good.
[Sanjay] My spice blend for my chicken
marinade, cardamom,
cumin, black cardamom, mustard oil, white vinegar,
salt, pepper, ginger, garlic, and cilantro.
-[Sunny] 34 minutes to go! -[audience cheering]
[audience member] Whoo!
-Bobby, you know I said my son's a big fan. -Yes.
So I need just a little video, maybe like a,
"Hi, Miles, it's Bobby Flay in the kitchen."
-God -- OK. -[all laughing]
Hey, Miles, it's Bobby Flay in the kitchen.
Come on, let me show you something really good.
We got some chicken here, marinated in yogurt
and lots of spices.
I have my tikka masala sauce going over here.
-Looking pretty good. -What about -- what about, "Make your bed"?
Definitely make your bed.
Uh, what about, "Be kind to Mommy"?
Be kind to Mommy, always.
-Always and forever. -[all] Aww!
-This is a little crème fraîche. -OK.
Creme fraîche? [laughs]
[Bobby] 'Cause this sauce actually has,
like, a cream finish to it. -Right.
Did Bobby just put crème fraîche in an Indian
dish, y'all? -He did.
-Be careful. -Yeah, I will.
Ooh! OK, that's kind of...
-Flavor? -That -- yes!
-Too spicy? -No, I like it like that.
-[Bobby] Mmm, that's good. -[Ginger] Yeah.
-Good luck. -Bye.
-Not really, bye. -See you later.
-OK, Sanjay, how you doing? -How you doing? I have my chicken.
It's cooking here. I have the rice ready in here.
Ooh, it looks good.
Maybe I should do one video where you just say,
"Hey, Miles, I'm the guy that's gonna beat Bobby Flay."
Hey, Miles, I'm the guy gonna beat Bobby Flay, right?
-Yeah! -[audience cheering]
Do anything for our kids.
[Sunny] Coming up on 26 minutes!
-[audience cheering] -Smells good? Yes?
Good? Love it.
Talk to me about the masala that Bobby was mixing,
because you said it was good. -Yes -- it was.
And then I thought, "Oh, my God."
I like really spicy.
-Bobby. -I can't hear you.
What are you doing, Bobby?
Are you putting it in the blast chiller?
One of the famous steps
of making your crispy rice, Bobby?
Bobby, Bobby, Bobby.
-Bobby? -Stop saying my name!
Every time she's here, she must say my name 150 times.
-Excuse me? -[Ginger gasps]
-What? -You want a piece of me?
[all laughing]
Bobby, wouldn't you feel better about your skills
if you didn't always rely on crispy rice? -Oh, yeah!
[audience cheering and clapping]
You know how many times I've seen him crispy rice?
-How many? -Crispy rice is a verb now.
[audience laughing]
[Bobby] I add some scallions and some lime zest
to flavor it with the coconut.
[Sanjay] Now my sauce is reduced,
I'm going to add heavy cream to it.
I add the chicken into the sauce.
-Let's go check this game out, girlfriend. -Yes, please.
Come on. Coming up on eight minutes!
What else do you have left to do?
Uh, I'm pretty much done.
-Careful, this is hot. -Oh, yes, please.
-This is delicious. -Wow.
-[Sunny] Oh, my God. -[Ginger] Mmm, that's beautiful.
[Sunny] Oh, this is really, really good.
-This is the real deal. -[Sunny] I love it.
And you've got all your stuff worked out here.
What's your red onion? Is it pickled, like a quick
little pickle vibe or something? -Yeah.
He's got his whole mise en place for plating ready to go.
You've got seven minutes to go. It feels like you're very calm.
-Have you checked your rice? -I am.
How is it? Is it toothsome? 'Cause that's the worst thing
since he's doing crispy rice. Can I taste it?
That's what he was doing with that cinnamon.
-That's what it was for! -I knew it, I knew it, oh! It's gonna be delicious.
[audience laughing]
My mint chutney has cilantro, mint, Serrano chili,
white vinegar, salt, and oil. -Hmm, look at your crispy rice.
It looks kind of like burnt-y rice.
[Bobby] No, it's good.
Is that what the crispy rice is?
-I know you didn't. -[all laughing]
He just swatted my hand away, Ginger.
-I saw. -H.R.!
[all laughing]
Girl, y'all make some noise for Sanjay!
-[Ginger] Hey! -[all cheering and clapping]
Those are very different dishes.
So when we walked past, it looked like he made
a cilantro-mint chutney. -Girl.
[Ginger] And then he's gonna drizzle that on the dish?
Drizzle till you can't drizzle anymore.
I'll take it.
-And let's talk about the sauce on Bobby's side. -[Ginger] OK.
-Very tomatoey. Not enough spice. -Yeah, mm.
-How much time we have left? -[audience] One minute.
They letting y'all know. One minute.
One minute, chefs.
[audience cheering and clapping]
I add my chicken tikka masala to the plate
and serve the rice with it. -30 seconds.
[Bobby] I put some of the chicken
with the sauce on one side of the plate,
and then I put some of the coconut rice down.
And then on top, I put some of the garam masala chicken skin,
and then the relish with some fresh lime zest
and some scallions.
-Ohh -- go Sanjay! -Come on, Sanjay.
You got this. Oh, look at him.
Oh, he came with a secret sauce.
-He got the trick. -[audience] Eight, seven, six.
[Sanjay] Some pomegranate and pickled onion.
Three, two, one!
[audience cheering and clapping]
Nice job, beautiful.
My grandma would be so proud of me,
and these are all authentic flavors.
[Bobby] I hope that the texture of the sauce is right.
I hope that I don't get dinged for using
the almonds and the mint
and the pomegranates on top. We'll see.
Bobby, Sanjay, congratulations on toughing it out.
45 minutes of chicken tikka masala.
Now it's time to introduce you to the judges.
First up, the chef-owner of East Wind Snack Shop,
Chris Cheung.
Chef and cookbook author, Aliya Leekong.
And the executive chef
and partner of Semma, Vijay Kumar.
[audience clapping]
[Sunny] Judges, please start with the first
chicken tikka masala in front of you.
[anticipatory music plays]
There's so many things happening, and it's very
non-traditional, but it all works together really well.
There's a lot of textural contrast in terms
of the crispy rice. The chicken skin is amazing.
The nuts, I also really loved the fresh herbs on top
rather than as a chutney.
I think that that's a really nice touch.
Chicken was cooked perfectly, juicy, tender,
and the crispy rice, while the texture was great,
the rice just felt slightly soft.
The beauty of Indian cuisine is you have to cook this,
like, sauces a little longer in order to get the nice aroma,
and I still taste some of the raw flavor from the spices.
If they'd have cooked a little more longer, that could have
been an amazing dish. -[Sunny] Thank you, judges.
We're gonna have you switch your plates, please.
♪♪
Chicken, again, well cooked, tender, juicy.
The rice was really good, cooked very well.
I love the pickled onions on top.
The addition of the mint cilantro chutney,
which I actually wish there was more of,
'cause I would love to taste it more.
In terms of flavor,
I felt like the sauce was very cumin forward,
and it wasn't balanced with sweetness.
And that's where it kind of threw me off a little bit.
[Vijay] I feel like there's some, a lot of masala.
Yeah, the spice is a little overpowering.
I would have loved a little more mint chutney in it.
Thank you, judges. Now it's time to vote.
Sure.
I...could have done a little better.
I'm really not sure, like, which direction
it's gonna go.
[whispers] Thank you.
And the winner is...
[tense music builds]
...Chef Bobby Flay.
[audience cheering and clapping]
Thank you.
There we go.
[audience cheering and clapping]
Was it the crispy rice? Answer me.
Actually, no, it wasn't the crispy rice.
Don't lie to me, girl. Don't lie to me, Aliya.
For me, it was really about just the textural contrast,
I thought was really, really lovely.
The flavors were spot-on, just really well balanced.
[audience cheering and clapping]
Thank you.
[Sanjay] I'm really happy that I could showcase my Indian flavors,
and I think I still did my grandma proud.
When the challenge gets risky, my rice gets crispy.
-[audience member] Whoo! -[audience cheering and clapping]