Original subtitles

All right. Oh my gosh.

- What a day yesterday was. - My God.

Very excited about today's challenge.

I won last night,

and now we're gonna be in The Trench.

There's no time to think about it at all. It's all about what I can do today.

Look at this.

- I think we're in for something. - What the hell is this?

There is no telling.

So we walk out to The Trench, and there's dead silence.

We're all by ourselves, right?

This is crazy.

The judges and Michelle are not there.

Producers, crew, there's no one.

I'm not gonna lie. This gonna be different.

Okay.

Check that out.

Shovels, hooks...

So you just hang stuff here?

Looks like a torture device, don't it?

Wow.

- That's one hell of a grill there! - Yeah.

They got a lot of stuff,

but it's like, who gonna cook on what, and what we doing?

Oh God! A wok!

- You did anything like this? - No, never.

You see that big clock there?

- Oh my God! - We got a clock!

Are all y'all's mind's going a million miles an hour right now?

Clock on.

Oh, there's five minutes on the clock, guys.

- What does that mean? - I don't know.

- This is freaky. - I know.

Start the clock.

- Look out. - A countdown!

There's no one around, just a giant clock, and it's counting down.

I've seen this in a horror movie before. Like, this is weird.

What are we counting down?

What's happening?

- I don't know what it is. - What in the world?

Open the doors.

- Uh-oh. Look out. - Oh, Stace!

Oh my God!

When the doors open, the first thing I see are hanging ducks.

No. No, no, no. You... Get out of here!

And we walked up, and we're looking at all these different proteins and whatnot,

some that I'm not really familiar with.

Oh my God. I know, without a doubt, there's gonna be another twist.

They're just moseying in there.

- Still don't have a clue. - Don't have a clue.

I think I'd be moving a little faster.

Mercy goodness.

What are chicken oysters?

-Not gizzards, are they? -No, they're like the back of the chicken.

It's a really tender...

The little thing, medallions on the back or whatever?

I mean, Kareem's pointing at stuff. Sloan looks confused.

Kent is like, "This is the nicest store I've been in."

There's three and a half minutes left on the clock, so...

Has anybody even looked at the clock?

I think we're gonna have to all cook in a different kind of style.

God.

I'm wondering, are we gonna have to use these type of flavors in the food?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

So Gerald just noticed that there are seven trays,

that there's seven of them. Okay, Gerald.

There's only seven, right? So...

- The clock is ticking! - The clock is...

Oh, I'mma just grab a tray and see what happens.

-Wait, are we... -Clock is ticking? Oh, you... Man.

We gotta get smokin'!

Oh my God!

All right. They figured out what they're supposed to do. Finally!

Oh my God! Clock is ticking! God dawg it!

What in the world are we supposed to do?

Everyone grabbed a tray. I was probably the last one to get one.

What did you get? Flank steak? That ain't bad.

End up with duck wings and a flank steak. I'm thinking, "I don't want duck wings."

Who eats a duck wing?

Not in my country. We don't eat 'em. Them things just keep on flying.

- Oh, hey! - Sneaking up on us!

Jesus, what is going on, Lord?

-What in the world? -What did you guys do to us, man?

What's going on, you guys? Time's up. Let's taste what you've cooked.

Here you go.

By all means!

Bon appétit!

If you haven't guessed by now, this is a street food challenge,

and the trays that you chose

feature the protein that you'll be working with.

It's no secret

some of the best barbecue in the world can be found on the street

in places like the Philippines, South Korea, Brazil.

And when you find good street food, it stops you in your tracks.

You just gotta have it.

So for this challenge, each of you will be paying tribute

to any culture known for its incredible street food.

You'll have two hours to cook two proteins and two sides,

all of it on open fire right here in The Trench.

You said two hours?

Yes, ma'am. I said it was a challenge. I didn't say it was a gift.

A challenge!

Melissa and I designed this challenge to test your open-fire cooking skills

across a range of barbecue cultures.

Now, we know y'all can smoke low and slow like a six-fo',

but can you stop traffic hard and fast?

All right!

Street food has soul.

It speaks to that culture, and it has something to say.

Tell me something I won't forget,

and make me wanna travel to the place you repping.

We'll be looking for a range of perfectly executed open-fire techniques

across your dishes.

This is all about time and fire management.

We want authentic execution of flavors and portability.

I've gotta be able to grab it and go.

Street food is all about being on the move.

So I'm coming out of the bottom two yesterday,

so I need to bring my A game with this dish.

Okay, let's do this thing. Y'all ready?

In three,

two,

one.

Get smokin'!

- Let's go. - Oh.

- Don't drop it. - Don't trip and fall.

- It's time to go to war. - Oh Lord!

- Let me get as much as I can. - I definitely need this.

- Chicken stock. - Looking for thyme.

- What you looking for, honey? - I'm looking for thyme.

- Thyme? - Literally.

- Yeah. - Why would they do that to us?

Nephew, you doing all right?

- I'm trying to get a early start. - I know what you mean.

So these cooks only have two hours to make a street food open-fire dish.

Like, where do you even begin?

It's a quick cook. You have to have time to plan your menu.

When you're cooking hot and fast, you're getting it in and getting it out.

You're cooking directly over the coals with a heat source right there.

You got time to think up a good menu and come up with a good plan,

but don't overthink it. It's fast cooking.

I'm going with picanha kabobs. What are you doing?

I'm gonna do some kind of steak taco and a pork burrito.

We're going to Peru today, baby.

- No kidding. - We're going to Peru.

When you're eating street food, there's no silverware.

There's no linen napkins.

I need to be able to take it. It needs to be portable.

Look like you got an idea of what you're doing, K-Dog.

I love street food. We have a lot of different styles in Egypt.

In Egypt, we have a major street food scene

in different regions

and in different cuisines, different flavors.

Today, I feel so excited to take the judges

on a journey to the streets of Cairo.

I have a lamb rack and a picanha roast.

I am so glad that I got lamb chops. Yeah, that's my wheelhouse.

Like, I've cooked thousands and thousands of racks of lamb chops in my life.

So I'm feeling very confident about the lamb chops,

but I don't know about picanha.

What am I gonna do with this? It is not Middle Eastern by any means.

I'm presenting the judges today

with a classic handheld market food in Cairo.

I'm making picanha kabobs, grilled lamb chops, and grilled corn.

I'm also gonna be making my favorite Egyptian dip,

which is baba ganoush.

You'd think hummus is the most popular dip, but it's not.

People think we brush our teeth with hummus.

Baba ganoush is a roasted, charred eggplant dip.

It's packed with flavor. It's creamy, and it has texture too.

The first thing I'm gonna do is throw my eggplants on the grill.

Get that going as I start to cut down my meat

and get 'em on marinade.

Lots of garlic. The secret of Egyptian barbecue marinade?

Onion water.

We purée it.

Actually breaks down the meat, and it gives it all the beautiful flavor.

Don't tell anyone, okay?

I wanna pack as much flavor as I can

because I know very well The Trench is super freaking hot.

I'm getting all those meats under marinade.

Today, it's all about live fire.

I love the heat.

I love the flavor. I love the smells.

I love going home and smelling like barbecue.

My girlfriend loves it too.

She calls me "smoking hot" when she smells me.

What is The Trench really all about?

The Trench is badass. They better be badass to keep up with it.

I think The Trench can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

We have these things called fire tables,

and they are the ultimate, fully customizable,

open-fire cooking apparatus.

In the center, you have a firebox

where you're burning logs down to embers.

Those embers can be distributed anywhere across the base of the table

as your heat source.

And then you have a plancha,

a hard, flat griddle surface,

perfect for hard sears at scalding-hot temperatures.

On the sides, you have grill grates for direct and indirect cooking,

and up top,

you've got hooks that you can use to suspend meats, vegetables, fruits,

really anything to roast.

It really makes the cream rise to the top as far as cooking goes.

Guys, I just wanna say our fire pits are communal today.

Every time you go out, please go ahead and load one.

To be cooking open fire,

live fire in The Trench is gonna be different

because you gotta continually keep the fire going so you can use it.

Even though each person is cooking a different item, it's a group effort.

Hope it works.

All right.

I don't know.

I just feel like I need to get a fire going

before I do anything else.

I do not have much experience with live-fire cooking.

I don't go camping a whole lot. This is not what I do.

But I know that I have competition here that loves to cook on open fire.

So I need to get the fire going, and then I can go focus on all the dishes.

I mean, we have Cowboy Kent here.

This dude cooks on open fire all the time.

Every challenge that we're in, he is cooking on open fire.

Cooking on live fire for cowboys on a ranch is nothing new to me.

We cook outside with a chuck wagon, and Mother Nature is our competition.

There's the wind. There's the rain. There's the hail. There's the snow.

It's minus 20. It's 110. We're not in a controlled environment.

Jungle gym's a little hot now, but don't grab a hold of it.

But this is what life is about.

This is where I'm supposed to excel, and I'm here to win it.

But when I'm talking about street food,

I've never been to places to where they had street food.

This is all new to me, so I'm sticking to what I know.

How you doing, Staci Lou?

I'm doing good. I've got my plan together.

It's just if I can execute it or not and get it all done in time.

- I know what you mean. - That's making me nervous.

How are you doing?

Well, for an old guy, I'm doing pretty good. Still breathing.

Cooking duck wings. I'll tell you, it is my first time to cook a duck wing.

How you gonna cook 'em to make 'em tender?

'Cause I eat a lot of chicken wings.

But think about it. Chicken walk around on the ground.

Duck do this all day long, every day.

Feather and bone and skin. What's there to eat?

I don't know, but I'm gonna find out.

We'll treat 'em like any other piece of chicken

and just try to make 'em edible. That's the name of the game.

Today, I'm making Mexican flank steak fajitas,

fried duck wings with an Oklahoma Tex-Mex sauce,

sparkling potatoes,

Mexican street corn elote,

and a grilled fruit kabob with a chocolate whiskey cream sauce.

You know, I'm cooking everything really the simple and easiest way that I can

to put it all together in this short a time.

Two hours is not long.

We will put it in a Dutch oven first with a little butter,

a little chicken broth to steam it, then we'll finish it over open fire.

When it gets time to pull it out of that Dutch oven,

we're gonna slap it on there and give it some good color and some good char.

Whoo!

It's hot!

I just gotta hurry up and get this marinating.

When I think "street food," I think "Jamaica."

Me and my husband, we go to Jamaica every year.

I love the culture. I love the flavors.

I have veal tenderloin and chicken oysters.

And it comes from the back part of the chicken thighs.

They're very tender.

They are so delicious.

I am making jerk chicken oyster skewers,

curried veal tenderloin skewers,

rice and peas,

fried plantains,

and a rum pineapple upside-down cake.

I am all things Jamaica

that makes me feel good and bougie while I'm there, so...

I'm just gonna try to go with that.

I've never really worked with veal tenderloins.

You know, Jamaica, a lot of its food is made with thyme,

so I wish I had more time as well. Y'all got me with that.

Two hours!

I'm making it.

Kevin, who do you think has the biggest challenge?

I actually think Kent does with those duck wings.

Duck wings are very tough.

That's something that's working 24/7.

He's gonna have to do some type of braise, some type of wrap,

something to get some steam and moisture in there to get those things tender.

Melissa also tried to cook over open fire in the last challenge,

and it was... less than a success.

So, hopefully, she learned some lessons.

And Shaticka is, you know, used to cooking in her professional kitchen.

She has a fine dining background.

So take her out of the element, put her out in the elements,

and you're just not thinking like you normally would

in your comfort zone.

I think I could do this in a quick amount of time.

So it might be, uh...

That might be perfect for this challenge.

Hey, Gerald.

Hey, what's going on, guys and gals? How are y'all?

So tell me what proteins you have.

I have a pork loin and skirt steak.

So I plan on doing yaka mein.

It's basically a Vietnamese dish

that we do a lot in New Orleans, where I'm from.

So we cooked the meat, browned it.

I got the Holy Trinity and the pope in here.

So we just gonna keep this in here until the meat gets tender enough to pull.

Throw spaghetti noodles in it, and it's gonna be yaka mein.

It's a great street food. The other one I'm doing is a pork loin.

I haven't started yet. I think I got time for that.

Where you gonna cook that pork loin?

If this gets tender enough, I can take it off and put it on a warmer.

- Then put a grate over this and use this. - Hopefully, there's enough time.

Yeah, I know. I need to get moving.

Skirt steak is pretty tender. It's got a nice fat content.

I don't think it's gonna take long to tender up.

You can't really mess up when you have the Holy Trinity and the pope in a pot.

Never say never.

But I will try not to mess it up, that's for sure.

- Good luck, Gerald. - Thank you. Appreciate you.

So we know he's making a yaka mein.

He hasn't even started his pork tenderloin,

and I still don't know what he's doing for his sides, so...

Come on. Okay.

You okay, Sloan?

- Yes, ma'am. Thank you. - Feeling good?

- I'm all right. How about you? - All right. I'm working.

I've approached this challenge to be hopefully optimistic.

I know that I don't have to win every challenge.

I just don't wanna be at the bottom. And I grabbed something I really liked.

It was a tri-tip and iberico pork shoulder.

I'm making a pork shoulder burrito,

a tri-tip taco,

refried black beans,

and Mexican rice with a fresh salsa on the side.

My dish is inspired by Texas,

the Lone Star State.

So I'm gonna use the iberico just like I would pork carnitas.

I will only put kosher salt on this pork, that is it,

and it will so enhance and bring out the flavors of the pork,

you need nothing else.

Less is more. That's gonna... That's my motto.

Tri-tip, I'm not the queen of it in any means.

Number one, I don't want to overcook it. Number two, I don't want to undercook it.

And three, I don't wanna char it.

I'm gonna put it on the grill in just the right spot

that's getting enough indirect heat,

but just a kiss of fire to kind of bark it up a bit.

Sloan, how do you feel about this?

Oh man. I tell you what, I... I usually say I don't get nervous. I get excited.

I'm not sure about this feeling.

Thank God it's not a beauty contest. I'm gonna be a mess when this is over.

Once I look down at my tray

and discover I grabbed chicken livers and duck legs,

it's like, oh good Lord,

chicken livers, you either fry 'em, put gravy on, or it's catfish bait.

And duck legs? I have no clue.

I've worked with the breasts before, but not the leg.

Skin off, and then I wanna render it down and fry it when I'm done.

My brain is going Asian with the chicken livers

and going tropical with the duck legs.

Today, I decide that I'm gonna make shredded duck leg tacos with mango salsa,

chicken liver skewers with Chinese 5 spice and sweet soy,

and a kimchi fried rice.

My inspiration for the chicken livers is my kids.

They are so obsessed with, like, Japanese, Chinese, Asian flavors.

Even their Halloween costumes

were anime characters that I've never even heard of.

Holy cow.

They're heavy.

For the duck legs, I'm thinking tropical,

and I'm thinking roasted and making tacos out of 'em.

I'm gonna have muscles like He-Man by the time this is done.

Oh Lord.

We got another day with wind blowing, and that wind has not been our friend.

Oh good God!

I think my meat's gonna be smoked.

My fire is not coming up to kiss those duck legs like I want 'em to.

I know I have got to get some kind of barrier up.

I decide to go grab deflectors and put around my contraption

so it can protect the fire from the wind

to where that fire will actually go up and get those duck legs.

Cooking with live fire is like a dance.

You gotta dance around and play with the fire and be just right.

Is anybody using this bench over here?

Can I share with you? Staci, is this your spot?

- You can use it if you need it, honey. - I love you so much.

I think street food is really fun.

You get to pick and choose lots of different things,

and some of it's handheld and, you know, eat on the go. So I'm excited for this.

Oh my God, I'm dropping something. I gotta stop running.

I got, fortunately, my chicken thighs and lamb loins.

- Melissa, how you feel about street food? - That's my favorite way to eat.

- Really? - I like finger food.

So what you making today?

-I'm going Peruvian today. -Peruvian?

Peruvian food is some of my favorite food in the world.

Okay. Gotcha, gotcha.

I had a coworker who was from Peru,

and she would always bring in food that her mom made,

like authentic Peruvian food,

and she would tell us all about what it was like in Peru.

And as someone who loves to learn about culture through food,

I was just fascinated.

So today, I'm making a Peruvian lamb stir-fry,

marinated chicken skewers with a Peruvian green sauce,

salsa criolla, and I'm using some charred tomatoes,

and I'm making grilled plantains.

I am skewering my Peruvian chicken

and trying hard not to lick my fingers 'cause that is unsanitary,

but the sauce smells real good.

The stir-fry that I'm making is a Peruvian stir-fry

that's traditionally made with beef.

But I think the flavors of it will work perfectly with the lamb as well.

So I've actually never cooked lamb loin before.

It's a bit of a curveball for me, but that's okay.

I also have the grilled plantains that are very simple,

but something about the sweetness develops when you put it over the fire,

and I'm gonna sprinkle it with a bit of salt and some lime zest,

and I think it'll be the perfect complement

to the savory from the other dishes.

Time is my biggest nemesis today, but I... I feel good about my plan.

I tried to be hyper-organized.

My mom would be proud.

One hour, guys!

One hour left!

Jesus! It's going fast!

Got one hour! Is that true?

- Anybody else sweating? - Uh-huh! Profusely!

This challenge has more pressure, really,

because of the time crunch that's going on.

It's quicker, things are happening,

and, folks, it is getting hot out here in the playground.

These sparkling taters are not only a favorite of mine but also my grandkids

and every cowboy in the world that's ever had some of 'em.

So a long time ago, when we were snowed in on a ranch,

we found out that we didn't have no cooking oil,

but we did have... a lot of Sprite.

They will cook in that liquid.

They will caramelize, and it's just a great way to eat a tater.

Bacon, jalapeño, garlic,

and we's good to go.

When cowboys eat it the first time, and then they come back

and ask for another plate, it's pretty good.

When they come back a third time and ask if they can have it for breakfast, too,

you better keep it. It's worth eating.

Not gonna lose to The Trench. I am not gonna lose to this Trench.

I am not gonna lose to this Trench.

This is the hardest food day of my life, like, ever.

For my sides, I'm doing grilled cheese and bacon-fried cabbage.

Reason I decided to do grilled cheese is because it's cultural in New Orleans

that when you have a gumbo, when you have a yaka mein,

that you do a little grilled cheese sandwich with it.

Sometimes, you can dip it in the broth and you can eat it like that.

We ended up doing Gruyère, Colby-Jack.

We ended up putting a little Parmesan on it.

So more than just Velveeta.

There's a small window when you're doing grilled cheese.

It could be fine, it could be getting close,

then you could burn it real quick, especially on open fire.

What a challenge.

- You all right, Sloan? - I am.

Lord, please don't let these burn.

Oh God.

I got a little more char on mine than I wanted.

I think that I have just over-charred my tri-tip.

Burned, basically. It's not gonna taste good.

Our judges like medium. They don't want medium rare.

They want perfect medium. They want you to be perfect.

I think I'm gonna pull it about right now.

Forty-five minutes!

This place is busier than a ballgame

serving free tickets and hot bologna sandwiches.

I didn't understand much of that, but I thought it was funny as hell.

Cooking all this in this short a time

is tougher than an old snake's belly on a hot dirt road.

- How is everybody feeling? Hot? - Nervous!

- Busy? - Nervous!

Yeah, all of the above and then three more!

I'm a little behind, but I think I'll stay behind.

I'm hoping that these duck wings get tender enough that they can be good.

There's corn here, there's this here, and there's that there.

It's like prison overcrowding. This is gonna slow things down just a tad.

I'm trying to get a little char on this meat that is already tender

and call it a good day. Time is of the essence.

I have these beautiful chicken skewers

that have the perfect amount of char on 'em, and I'm thrilled about them.

Whoo!

Oh! Are you kidding me right now?

To be out in The Trench,

there's a big intimidation factor there, you know?

Especially over open fire, you have to keep an eye on everything.

That's okay. That's all right.

It's all right.

I've got a little bit extra chicken, so I think I should be okay.

That's what I'm telling myself.

Thirty minutes, everybody!

Thirty minutes!

Whoo.

Feeling a little crunched.

It's a super short challenge.

Just as soon as I get these on,

lamb chops,

and get the baba ganoush done, I should be all set.

I skewer all my picanha kabobs,

take all of my lamb chops, and I sprint back to The Trench.

I'm using the fire table because, why not, you know?

I've never used the fire table before. It's just, like, talking to me.

Kareem, with only 30 minutes left, just got his meat on.

But he got two fast-cooking meats,

so even though his time management has been horrible before,

but he always comes through at the end.

I'm not too concerned about him not getting those done in 30 minutes,

especially not on that fire table.

But will he still have time to plate?

Will he still have time to get his sides where they need to be?

So, uh, he could be in a good position, or he could have a little jeopardy.

Never cooked picanha this way before.

Well, fingers crossed.

These look beautiful. Just the way I want 'em.

This is just how it's like back in the streets of Cairo.

Gonna trust my finger this time.

So there's this trick,

way more accurate than probing a small, thin cut like that.

So I just feel it.

So if you feel this part of your hand, this right here is raw or rare.

If you touch your index finger, this is medium rare.

Middle finger, medium.

Ring, medium well.

And this is trash.

Hey, Kent.

- Hey, sugar. - How you doing?

Like the monkey said when he got his tail in the lawn mower,

"It won't be long now."

Oklahoma Tex-Mex sauce is just the flavors that we grew up with in Oklahoma

and then Tex-Mex.

You know, it's like a sweet honey heat barbecue sauce.

So we're gonna blend this together,

so when we cook them wings,

we can toss 'em in that sauce.

Everything is bathed in that sauce.

I'm gonna bury this into your fire, sugar.

Kent, anything for you. I like playing with fire with you.

I do too, sugar.

Shaticka, how you doing over there?

I'm trying to get this chicken cooked.

Feeling okay?

It's coming down to the wire.

Oh my God. These skewers, they're not cooking.

Come on, baby. There you go.

Get like that. Nice and caramelized.

I ain't never been so tired a day in my life.

Char, char, char.

Come on, cook.

I'm a little anxious. I'm a little scared.

It's 'cause my meat ain't doing what I want it to do right now.

I want it to cook faster. Get done.

I need to check my temperature.

So it's very nerve-wracking.

Shaticka is trying to get a temp on her kabobs over an open fire.

That's not really optimum time to try to start temping food.

You really need to take that off the fire in order to get a proper read.

Damn you!

Oh God! Babe, I done dropped two kabobs.

If I drop one more damn kabob, I'm out of it.

I was a little nervous about making sure that the temp was correct on the chicken.

Open fire. That is crazy to me.

Oh, I'm tired.

Boy, when I tell you I'm worn out...

I feel like I played in the Super Bowl.

I'm tired, my back hurts, but I feel like I have a solid product.

- You all right? - I'm rolling, Unc!

It's like when they're coming to turn the electricity off.

You're trying to hurry.

It's beginning to get nerve-wracking.

Well, I was running a little behind, but we still gotta slice meat and plate.

Closer than we was.

I really think the corn is on the money, dessert is okay,

but I got this feeling them duck wings just ain't right.

Got 'em tossed in that sauce.

They're edible, but I don't think they're quite as tender as they should be.

We'll go with what we got. We just hope we make it.

Sick of this! Come on!

I'm praying that I can just get it to temp before time runs out.

I... I don't know. I don't know.

Calm down.

Don't burn, babies. Don't burn.

I am really nervous about the finished cook on my chicken.

I'm hoping that it got cooked all the way through.

Time is almost up.

So I'm making sure

that my rum pineapple upside-down cake is where it needs to be.

Let's do this.

And I just need everything to be perfect.

Okay, I'll take it. Little bitefuls.

Fifteen minutes, guys!

Ah! Oh!

Okay. Told y'all, my mind somewhere else.

What am I doing?

Coming to the end. Gonna finish my dish.

I'm doing okay. Trying to figure it all out.

My tri-tip, it looks ugly.

I'm praying to God, man, that my flavors are there

and the doneness is perfect 'cause all that has to be on point.

If it's ugly and it tastes good, I'm okay.

But if it's ugly and doesn't taste good, I'm out. Bottom line.

I don't have time for this. Come on. It's all about how it looks too.

I'm making street taco shells.

I'm improvising using my kimchi lid.

Time is winding down. I'm... not the most confident.

My brain's going everywhere. I'm questioning my decisions.

Am I gonna go home because I did not do one cohesive dish?

I've got two totally different flavor profiles

sitting in front of me.

What are they gonna think of that?

Five minutes, you guys!

Five minutes!

Five minutes is all it is.

If you was gonna eat a grilled cheese sandwich,

you wanna cut it like triangles, or you wanna cut it in rectangles?

Baby, I'm bougie. I want a triangle! Make it cute!

-Triangle. Triangle. Yeah. -That's it. Triangle it is.

Time is running down. All my sides are done.

Everything is just evenly, beautifully charred.

I am just making my ají verde sauce.

Cilantro.

Just a little something pretty on top.

Oh God. I hope this gets me through.

And one of those.

Ninety seconds, everyone!

Ninety seconds, Melissa!

- What a challenge! - One of them kind of days.

That's two of those.

Five, four, three,

two, one!

Show me the meat!

- God! - Whoo!

The shortest challenge but the longest challenge.

Today, each of you took us on a real food journey.

You each made barbecue street food dishes in The Trench.

Let's eat.

Sloan, you're up first.

Here you go.

What proteins did you choose? Tell us about your dish.

Today, the proteins that I picked up were

a tri-tip and an iberico pork shoulder.

I like pork carnitas, so I kind of did a take on that,

and then the beef tri-tip fajita with avocado.

Just a real fresh salsa on the side.

Black beans, I refried those, and then our Mexican rice.

So what street food culture are you representing here?

Texas is Tex-Mex, you know, straight up.

And it's something that I eat a lot of myself.

So that's what came to me when they said "street food."

Is the salsa a little warm for you?

See, I must say,

I like it hot, and I went real light on that.

So I apologize if it gets you a little bit there.

-Maybe a kick in the back. -I've never felt so alive.

- Sloan. - Yes, ma'am?

I really like the creaminess of the avocado with the pork.

I can taste the seasoning on the pork.

I didn't feel like I had as much flavor of the fire on the tri-tip

as I did the pork.

- Okay. - But the tri-tip is cooked perfectly.

These refried beans have such a depth of flavor,

and the texture is really good.

Thank you.

This is some good Tex-Mex.

And I am so glad

that you didn't put the salsa on the food

because we can really taste your cooking abilities

on your tri-tip and on that pork. You had perfect cooks on it.

Thank you, guys.

Gerald, you're up next.

So I chose the skirt steak and the pork loin.

I did skirt steak on beef yaka mein with a side of a grilled cheese sandwich,

and with the pork loin, I did pork chops.

The reason I did the yaka mein, it's a Vietnamese Creole dish.

Everybody kinda knows that in New Orleans, we like to have a good time.

So the next day when you wake up,

Old Sober is supposed to be there to help sober you up.

The pork chop is an ode to Saint Rose and where I'm from.

I thought your skirt steak was cooked excellent.

Had good flavor.

But I just think that your broth was just lacking a little seasoning.

Your grilled cheese,

that was like... took me back to the eighth grade watching cartoons.

And I thought your flavor on your loin, man, was spot-on.

The pork tenderloin was maybe just a little tough texture

because I think it did go over, but this grilled cheese?

That is an elevated, fantastic grilled cheese.

And I pick up a little bit of salt with the grilled cheese

if you dip it in the yaka mein.

Sober soup, you know, is pretty darn good.

Thank you.

Kent, you're up next.

Hope you all enjoy.

Well, today, I had flank steak and duck wings.

We steamed the flank steak a little first to try to get it tender.

Finished it on the grill.

We also topped that off with our Cowboy Chutney.

It's a chipotle green chili base.

Duck wings, we tossed them in Oklahoma Tex-Mex honey hot sauce.

Mexican street corn elote. Sparkling potatoes.

For dessert, pineapple and a mango skewer with a whiskey chocolate sauce.

You know, when we talk about street food and the sparkling potatoes there,

on my street, that's what they all come for.

You know, there may be a street in there in a 18,000-acre pasture.

But duck wings? We don't see a lot of duck wings.

- Kent? - Yes, sir?

OG. I thought the cook on your flank steak was perfect,

but I couldn't taste it.

All I taste is that overpowering sauce.

Your duck wings, that's a tough cook.

When you picked it, I said that is a tough cook.

Hardly no fat on those.

The taste and the glaze and even the char that you got on it... was good.

When we bite into the meat, it's tough, and it's just a little underdone.

I'm gonna tell you. These sparkling potatoes, I'm a fan.

I didn't think I would be.

The char on the pineapple is really good.

I might have left the chocolate off

because the chocolate doesn't meld well with the char on the pineapple.

Thank you, ma'am.

Melissa, you're up next.

I had chicken thighs and lamb loins.

So I have a Peruvian lamb stir-fry,

marinated chicken skewers with a Peruvian green sauce,

salsa criolla, and grilled plantains.

I had a coworker who is from Peru,

and she would always bring in authentic Peruvian cuisine

that her mother made, and I fell in love with it.

And so I took a few of those traditional Peruvian dishes

and tried to twist them into a street food style for you today.

Peruvian food is probably my favorite food.

Uh, for me, the lamb was just a little bit, I think, overcooked.

The chicken, you know, I love the little kiss of fire you got on that,

and I like the brightness of the sauce.

What did you marinate your chicken thighs in?

Soy sauce, garlic,

ají amarillo, which is used frequently in Peruvian cuisine.

It had a very good char. I mean, look at your char.

But on the bite, it's just a little dry.

And give me my sauce on the side, if you can, so I can dip it.

I've never been a big fan of just straight-out raw onions.

And so for me, this is,

you know, it's not my favorite, but I understand it,

and I can really tell that you put a lot of effort and energy

into paying homage to Peru.

-Thank you, Melissa. -Thank you so much.

Who's next? Shaticka.

I chose chicken oysters and the veal tenderloin.

I did a jerk oyster chicken skewer,

curry veal tenderloin

with rice and peas.

I did some fried plantains

and dark rum pineapple upside-down cake.

I chose to do Jamaican flavors

because that is my favorite place to be with my husband.

Shaticka, so I've never seen you run so much during a challenge.

What was going on for you while you were making this?

I've never cooked, like, just open fire like this.

So it was a real challenge for me.

I'm in these boots trying to be cute, and so I was running back and forth, baby.

So I was just trying to make sure I got it done within the time.

Did you check the temperature on both of these skewers?

I checked the temperature on the chicken,

and I took a piece of the meat off of the veal.

I want you to look at this.

Yeah. It looks a little underdone.

Let me be the judge of that. That is perfect.

Oh Lord!

The chicken oysters and the veal are so great, so bright, so Caribbean,

but I'm gonna tell ya, your dark rum pineapple upside-down cake

can be upside-down, inside-out, right side up.

I'm eating it all. I wanna know if there's any of this left

'cause this is... this is going home with me.

Thank you. Thank you.

The chicken oyster on that back,

there's only two pieces of it, and that is some good meat.

You charred it well. Perfect cook.

The veal? Perfect cook.

The rice and peas? I'm totally digging 'em.

I spent a lot of time in the Caribbean,

and I have to say, you nailed those flavors.

Thank you.

Kareem, you're up.

Today, I decided to take you all on a journey through the streets of Cairo.

I made a picanha kabob,

and I made grilled lamb chops,

and I made grilled street corn from Cairo,

and to go with that, I prepared my favorite barbecue dip,

which is the baba ganoush.

Kareem, about to call you the Cairo Cowboy.

That lamb?

The texture is good. The flavor's good. The seasoning's on point.

You got a perfect cook on it.

The picanha, I thought you got a good char on it,

but it's just lacking flavor for me.

For me, the picanha, I liked the kiss of the fire that you got on it.

And for me, the texture was just not something that I'm crazy about.

Totally digging the corn.

If I wanna go to the streets of Cairo and I can't make it,

I'm just gonna come to your house. That's where you took me to on this plate.

Thank you all so much.

Staci, you're up.

Yay!

I got a humdinger of a combination today.

Chicken livers and duck leg quarters.

The chicken livers I did in a Chinese 5 spice and deep-fried.

I did a kimchi rice,

and then I did a roasted duck leg taco with a mango salsa.

My kiddos were the inspiration for part of it.

They are so obsessed with, like, Asian flavors.

They are majoring in Japanese in college.

The duck tacos? That's just something for Mom.

Whenever I can get away,

which is not very often, you know, makes me think of the beach,

someplace tropical, someplace you can go and relax.

I will tell you that I thought you got a perfect cook on those chicken livers.

Thank you.

And I really like the sauce that you put with them.

I'm really proud of the chicken livers.

I am too now!

Um, the mango salsa duck leg tacos?

I didn't think it had a lot of flavor. For me, it was just okay.

I took a piece of the duck by itself.

It was excellent.

Overall, I think you did the best you can with some of the toughest proteins.

So, you know, I gotta give you kudos for that.

Thank you. That means a lot. It means a lot.

Thank you, guys, so much for cooking some amazing barbecue street food dishes.

I mean, it really feels like I've traveled.

The judges have a lot to think about though.

Kevin and Melissa, should we take a minute?

All right.

- Are you nervous? - Everybody's nervous.

I think it's my time, y'all. I'm not even joking.

- What? - Yeah.

I... I was in the bottom yesterday, and I needed to really nail it today.

-I think it's gonna be a close one. -It is. It's a tough one.

You can get some of the boldest,

most authentic barbecue in the world on the street,

and y'all showed us that to be true today.

Your street food was some of the best barbecue

that we've seen from you.

The range of flavors

and open-fire technique on display today was so impressive.

So y'all should be proud.

But there was one dish that was just out of this world.

Today's winner is...

...Shaticka.

- Yes! - Good job.

You really took me on a trip to Jamaica.

I felt like I could really understand the Caribbean culture through your food.

-Incredible. Good job. Good win. -Thank you. Thank you.

And there is one more cook

who really showed up today and impressed us.

Sloan, well done.

Oh, thank you. Thank you very much, guys.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Unfortunately, it's time for us to make a hard pivot to the bad news.

Hmm.

Kevin, who's at risk for going home today?

Kent...

and Melissa...

your dishes just wasn't on the same level as everyone else's tonight. Sorry to say.

You know, this decision is always tough.

Both of you guys are fierce competitors. We already know that.

And it's unfair that we even have to choose right now

if I'm being honest.

So,

we're not going to.

Ooh!

Kent, Melissa,

neither one of you are going anywhere just yet.

This one was just too close to call.

We need to see more from each of you.

So we're throwing you one more challenge to settle the score,

one more shot to stay in the competition.

And here's what you're cooking.

Oh my God.

- No. - Oh my gosh!

What?!

What the...