Original subtitles

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?

Oh, trash talking.

This culinary battle is gonna shake down

in two rounds.

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.

Two people that know me well will decide

who's got the skills to beat me.

Peter! 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? Don't try this at home.

I know you did it, Bobby!

Bottom line, you're gonna run out of

time! Everyone's out to beat me.

Tonight, one of my co-hosts is a Titan in

the Kitchen and the other a Titan of

Comedy. Come on out, Chef Brooke

Williamson and actor Randall Park.

MUSIC APPLAUSE

Randall Park is here.

He's in a lot of my favorite comedies,

that's for sure.

Office, Fresh Off the Boat.

Look, I like the way you do that without

a smile.

What's going on, Randall?

Excited to be here.

So happy to have you.

You're an LA guy, right?

LA guy. Have you ever been at Brooks

Restaurant? No, but I'm going.

We were just talking about it.

It's so good.

It's so amazing.

Thank you. You know, my character on

Fresh Off the Boat owned a steakhouse.

Right. So I feel like I know a lot about

cooking and food.

Really? Yeah. Are you a good cook?

Yeah. What's your specialty?

Like toast.

LAUGHTER Toast is an art.

Well, toast can go in a lot of different

directions. Exactly. That's right.

Light toast, dark toast.

Exactly. You got any strategy tonight,

Brooke? I've been here a few times and I

Randall, my track record is really good.

It is really good.

It's really good.

Why is that?

When I'm here, I just, I bring my A game.

You know what?

I guarantee you're going to lose today.

I guarantee it.

Well, I'm going to bring out some chefs.

Let's get this going.

Our first chef is a Venezuelan chef who's

spent more than a decade cooking on super

yachts. It's chef Marcos Spaziani.

APPLAUSE Whoa. Let's go!

Our next contender is known for putting

modern spins on his mother's Vietnamese

recipes. Here to dance circles around you

tonight, it's chef Richard Van Le.

Yeah! APPLAUSE

Uh-oh. What?

What? What? What?

What? What? He won!

Can you do that, Bobby?

That's pretty good.

Marcos, Richard. How's it going?

I'm here to smoke you.

You smoke? Oh, you're here to smoke me?

Bobby, I hope you know how to swim

because I'm going to sink you tonight.

Oh! Oh! All right, well, before that

happens, you must go through each other.

Going down, baby, going down.

Here's the way it's going to work.

I'm going to put 20 minutes on the clock

and you must make the ingredient of my

choice, the star of your dish.

And that ingredient is...

vaneer cheese.

APPLAUSE Find this in a lot of Indian

cooking. Very firm cheese.

All right, guys, 20 minutes on the clock.

Time to kick it into high gear with this

paneer. APPLAUSE

You like this cheese brook?

I love it, but it doesn't have a lot of

flavor. What would you pair this with?

I think I would focus on getting a really

heavily seasoned crust on the outside of

that cheese and maybe turning it into a

bread salad of some sort.

Randall, are you a fan of paneer?

I love paneer.

Yeah. I put it on my toast.

LAUGHTER Ingredients like this with no

flavor. You need to try to use acidities

and spices. Flavors that pop.

Marcos, what are you making?

Tostada. It comes in my mind right away

to make a tostada with paneer cheese,

great food, pomegranate seeds, avocado

mousse. That sounds really smart.

Yeah, I love it.

I'm born in Caracas, Venezuela and my mom

pushed me on the culinary path.

When I graduated as a chef, I manifest

everything I knew already.

I want to be in magazines and newspapers,

cook for celebrities, presidents, working

in a super-jazz.

I saw myself and I did it.

In my restaurant, we cook Asian and Latin

American and European all together.

It's super unique.

This is my first competition ever, my

entire 26 years of career.

I'm here today to prove that the more

pressure, the more sharper I become.

Bobby, coming for you.

Hope you know how to swim.

How you doing over there, chef?

Swimming, bro. I've never worked with

paneer cheese, but I've eaten a lot of

Indian curries that had paneer cheese in

it. Richard, what are you doing?

I'm gonna do a paneer, Vietnamese yellow

curry. I'm gonna fry the paneer up with

some rice flour.

Very good. Yellow, Vietnamese curries.

Pretty common in my family.

Hopefully, this will enhance the cheese.

I like both of these ideas a lot.

Everything's crumb.

What's up? My name is Richard Bang Le.

I grew up around a lot of amazing women

who made incredible food.

My restaurant, Mata, is a perfect

representation of what it is to be

Vietnamese American. Because I live in

Portland, I source all of my vegetables

and proteins from the Pacific Northwest,

but I still apply all of these Vietnamese

techniques that I've learned from my

family. I was named a rising star chef by

star chefs in 2023.

I'm here to showcase my family's legacy

dishes on the big stage.

If I'm not cooking, I'm breaking.

Today, I'm here to break Bobby.

You messin' with a whole lot of different

beats. I think I'm gonna have to start

getting some tattoos.

What would you get?

I don't know.

I don't want to get something like a chef

knife. Do you have one of those?

No. I have a spoon.

I have a chef knife.

You do?

Full front chef knife.

The cheese I season it with garlic

powder, onion powder, paprika powder,

salt and pepper to at least bring some

flavor. I have blitz ginger, garlic,

chilies and shallot for the foundation of

the curry. I'll also add some curry

paste. 15 minutes left, guys.

So what are you making?

Right now, I'm working on this yellow

curry. I'm gonna add some turmeric, make

it a little more yellow.

Awesome. You have a few people in the

audience here? Yeah.

My homie, Terrence from Portland, and I

got my two sisters, Mai and Trang.

Oh, cool. A tear for Richard, guys.

Once I add in the coconut milk, then I'll

make the sauce.

Nice and thick.

Marcos, how are you feeling?

I'm great. You're happy to be here?

Life is always a competition, so I

compete every single day.

Avocado mousse is very simple.

Olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice.

And I hear you have a few people in the

audience tonight. Ah, my boy, Smos and

Andy. A tear for Marcos.

Thank you.

Now that I have the broth simmering on

the side, I dredge the paneer in rice

flour and some buttermilk before I drop

it into the fryer.

Then I get the blue corn tortillas.

Nice and crispy.

Marcos, when you came in here, were you

like making a toast out of it, or did the

ingredients send you that direction?

When you taste the cheese, it's gonna

pop. Got it.

And then you're gonna fell in love.

Hey, man, you can't smooth the judges,

bro. He's a charmer for sure.

Just under nine minutes, chef.

Nice to see you.

So nice to meet you, man.

Nice to meet you.

I love you.

I'll freshen off the boat.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you. What are you working on right

now? Working on the paneer cubes right

now. Do a little double fried situation

on these. Oh, double fry?

Oh, nice, nice.

Are you worried about your competition

over there? I'm more nervous about my own

mess-ups. Your competition is yourself?

My biggest competition is with myself.

I love that.

You know. Got a lot of fans.

Keep killing it.

Thank you, bro.

Thank you. Marcos, how's it going?

I'm good to go.

You're good to go?

Yeah, but I need to hold a little bit.

I like that balance of sour and sweet.

You know what you said, that we're gonna

fall in love.

She's gonna fall in love.

Oh, God. I may fall in love.

You don't know.

You never know.

Good luck, guys.

Any good intel?

Oh, it's a nightmare out there.

Oh, really? No toast.

No, they're doing great.

They're in their zone.

To plate, I'll ladle in the curry broth.

The cheese is fried perfectly, nice and

golden. I'll take the Thai basil, the

cilantro, the mint, a lime wedge on the

side. I'm gonna take the cheese, avocado,

grapefruit, some pomegranate seeds.

And then I'm gonna have a couple herbs.

Oh, look at this veneer tostada coming

alive. It's gorgeous.

Cherubina grid on top.

10, 9, 8.

They both seem very confident.

You don't see this very often.

They're both pros.

4, 3, 2, 1.

I was able to happen to using an old

curry recipe from my family.

A lot of love went into this dish.

There you go.

I feel proud of myself.

It's actually a very complex dish.

It is a winner.

Fresh grapefruit. I think that I would

have loved more salt on the whole dish.

And these microgreens, they don't really

add a lot of flavor on top of that

tostada. If I would have done it, I

probably would have put, like, spaghetti

on top.

Just next time, just think about that.

Chef Richard. Today I made Vietnamese

yellow curry and fried paneer on top.

My head never would have gone in this

direction, and I'm so glad yours did.

Also, breading the paneer.

You gave us another texture that this

bowl really needed.

I would have loved for you to cut the

cheese a little bit smaller.

For sure. The way you cook the paneer

with the texture and everything, it's

amazing. I guess if I would have done it,

I would put spaghetti on top.

I think both of you could take Bobby down

tonight. But we're gonna have to pick the

one. Just for tonight.

Both plays are beautiful.

They like both.

It's pretty much 50-50.

Moving forward tonight is...

Chef Richard.

This is my first competition, but not my

last competition. That's for sure.

So, Richard, the whole dish just really

came together. It was craveable.

It couldn't stop eating it.

Thank you. Who else in here thinks that

Richard can beat Bobby?

We about to break the mold.

Ready, set, go!

All right, Richard.

How you feeling about the second round?

Feel good. What are we cooking tonight?

What's your signature dish?

Tonight's signature dish is...

Bunsail. Bunsail? It's a Vietnamese

crepes. I've eaten them.

Bobby, you've made this dish before, and

you've messed it up royally before.

I don't really remember.

What do you say we make this a little bit

more interesting? If Bobby loses, he has

to mimic your dance moves.

Oh, perfect. Yeah, I can match his moves.

That's a yes.

That's a yes.

On that note, 45 minutes on the clock,

time starts now.

You know this dish?

I know, but I love Vietnamese food.

It's a stuffed crepe, but it's not the

traditional French crepe.

It's made from rice flour, some turmeric,

and it's like a shallow fried till it's

crispy. Oh, wow.

And then you stuff it with things like

shrimp or pork belly.

Usually served with a dipping sauce on

the side. See, I'm thinking like a chef.

I would do the crepe, and then inside the

crepe, but ravioli.

Man, I'm ready to take this dude down.

I'm making bunsail, which is a Vietnamese

crepe filled with fish sauce, glaze, pork

belly, spice by shrimp, and nip jam,

which is a dipping fish sauce.

I'm gonna win.

Well, my approach is to make like a good

quality, crispy coconut crepe.

My fillings are shrimp and crab with some

curry spices and some crispy bacon.

It's not that far off the beaten path.

Okay. I'm gonna start making my crepe

batter, rice flour, corn starch, some

turmeric, some coconut milk.

How are you feeling, Bobby?

Are you worried because last time you

attempted this with a fiasco?

I think it's turning into a fiasco

already. The consistency is a little

thick. I'm just gonna add a little water.

No question about it.

I'm gonna struggle here.

I make rice flour and coconut milk

batter. I want to make sure that it gets

a nice thin consistency.

I'm ready for this challenge.

Coming up on 35 minutes, guys.

Bobby, you've cooked so much bacon.

What is happening over here?

I have no idea.

It's starving.

What else are you making?

I kind of winged the batter a little bit.

Winged it? Totally winged it, because

like it was like so dry.

It seems okay.

It seems okay.

Yikes. You know, I grew up in Saigon.

What neighborhood? Saigon Central.

If I lose to Bobby on this dish, I might

need to reevaluate myself a little bit.

Richard, you better beat me.

What was I doing?

Richard is extremely poised, extremely

confident. Traditionally with Bunsail,

you want to have a really nice sauce.

It's called Nick Jum, which is equal

parts sugar and fish sauce.

Lime juice, Thai chilies, and garlic.

Recently, my auntie re-taught me how to

make the sauce.

It really pops.

Bobby, are you doing a dipping sauce?

Yeah. It's got some fish sauce, some lime

juice, got some sugar.

Stop looking at Richard's table.

Uh, some chili peppers.

What are you doing over there, man?

You see it?

I'm so excited to see Bobby dance.

So I just sauteed the shrimp and the

crab, both with curry powder and salt and

pepper. It's going to have tons of

flavor. At the end of the day, it's going

to come down to how the crabs are cooked

and the flavor of what's inside.

The pork belly, it's going to get glazed

with my Nick Jum.

And for the shrimp, I want to do a five

-spice seasoning. I want it to be

flavorful and perfectly cooked.

All right, you got two minutes.

What? I'm kidding.

22 minutes. Jeff Richard, are you excited

for your victory and the dance that will

come with it?

I'm more excited to see Bobby try to do

the victory dance.

What, do you think you can show us a

little preview? Yeah, I can show you a

little something. All right, all right,

all right. Just a little, yeah, just a

little bit. Just a little taste.

Just so Bobby can see it.

Okay. That's

it. That's it.

Just a little taste, you know?

Yeah, that was amazing.

I got nothing.

Oh, Bobby, you're screwed.

Oh, a little shoulder?

Pathetic. Pathetic.

Oh! All

right, I'm warming up, Richard, warming

up. Good luck, guys.

I put the shrimp and the crab and the

bacon in the pan.

I poured the batter over it.

No matter what, I'm going to make sure

that these crepes have crispiness to

them. Normally, I don't do this many

crepes all at once, but because we're on

a time crunch, I decided to do four pans

at once. I add in the onion and the bean

sprouts and let them saute for a little

bit. Firepops, the crowd's going crazy.

I then pour in the batter, make sure that

I get a nice, thin layer.

The thing that Richard has going for him,

too, is that this recipe has been passed

down his family for years.

It might just feel second nature to him.

Yeah. From there, I take the pork belly

and add the shrimp in.

I feel really good about my dish.

Seven minutes and 30 seconds, gentlemen.

So pretty. This looks delicious.

It's great. Very in control.

Look at that nice little sizzle, and now

it holds together.

I let it cook and get crispy and fold it

over. I'm serving my crepes with some

lettuce leaves so they can take some

crepe and wrap it in the lettuce leaf,

some mint and some cilantro and my

dipping sauce. But they just look sloppy

and they're too thick.

If I serve this to the judges, I might as

well just go home now.

There's like no way I have a shot here.

Embarrassing. What is happening over

there? I'm ditching my crepes and Brooke

and Randall are like, what is he doing?

Good question. You're going to go with

salad? Yes. Got the plan.

I didn't like the way the crepes came

out. I need to make these again.

Do you need a moment?

Yeah. You're looking stressed over there,

Brooke. Good luck, Richard.

Good luck, Richard.

I've done crazier things with six minutes

to go in this kitchen before, so I'm

going to make some more crepes.

Let's go. Because if you want it, you got

to believe it.

You got to believe it.

You got to believe it.

Is he making a new batter?

Are you starting over with your batter?

I'm over here making rice flour crepes

like I've been doing in my whole life,

baby. I would be panicking right now.

I'm going to put the sauce on top of

that, and my fish sauce is perfect.

I look at my crepes, they have a perfect

golden crust. I just hope they're not too

thick, but now I'm just watching Bobby

struggle. 30 seconds.

I'm running out of time, but...

Uh-oh. I get my second set of crepes on

the plate. Uh-oh, Richard.

They look better.

Throw it in shape now.

I see it.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,

4, 3, 2, 1.

Good job, dude.

You too, man.

That was thrilling.

So good.

Richard, Bobby, we'd now like to

introduce you to our judges.

The executive director of Food & Society

at the Aspen Institute, Corbie Cumber,

the chef and owner of Saigon Social,

Helen Nguyen, chef and restaurateur,

Franco Nuriagan.

Judges, tonight's challenge was Bonseo.

Please start with the first plate in

front of you.

So, Corbie, what do you think?

I think it's a terrifically elegant dish

with these subtle flavors of shrimp and

pork belly. And yet, I think it's a

little soggy. Helen, what do you think?

I'm very excited that there's a

combination of pork and shrimp because

it's very traditional.

This nguh-chum was perfection.

Very nice balance of stitches, of heat,

although the crepe itself is a little

soggy inside. Franco.

The flavors of the shrimp and the pork

are very good.

But then when you take a bite, it feels a

little doughy and thick.

All right, judges, please try the second

Bonseo. Corbie,

what do you think?

Bacon might not be traditional, but why

was it good with shrimp?

This crepe, which was thin and crispy and

just, you know, fun to eat.

But quite a hot for a chili sauce.

Quite hot for a chili sauce.

Helen, your thoughts?

This has a really nice thin crisp to it.

In terms of, like, you know, technique,

it's really nice.

I love bacon, but I felt like with

Bonseo, you should be able to taste,

like, the coconut milk.

And I think the bacon just overpowered it

a little bit.

Franco. I love how thin the pancake was.

It's super crispy, and it's crispy

throughout. I would have liked a little

more caramelization on the proteins, but

I think overall it's a very well-balanced

dish. All right, judges, please take a

vote. My chest is pumping.

My hands are a little waterfalls now.

I'm super nervous.

And the winner is...

Chef Bobby Flair.

I had to pick this dish.

It was joy on a plate, and the texture of

the crepe... irresistible.

All right, well, I want to say one thing.

I love your energy so much, and your food

is amazing. Like, I want you back every

season. Oh, say less.

Say less. I want Bobby Flair's heart, and

he likes what I do.

I'm on cloud nine.

Boom! We can still celebrate, shall we?

Yeah. It's not quite as exciting.

It's kind of exciting.