Original subtitles

Welcome to the "fire masters" arena...

Where three chefs will push their grilling talents

to the limit in three blazing culinary challenges.

We're cooking. Cooking!

Man, it's hot in here. Whew!

-I love it. -Two will be eliminated.

Benoit: And the last chef standing will go head to head

against one of our "fire masters" judges

for the chance to win $10,000.

Spicy. Whose dish will the judges love?

It looks really, really pretty.

Benoit: Whose dish will they get rid of?

Skirt steak needs to be charred.

I hope she's as good as she is fast.

Oh.

This is "fire masters."

♪♪

three chefs think they have what it takes

to be a "fire masters" champion.

Let's meet them.

First up, daniel holloway from toronto, ontario.

I'm a vegan chef, but I'm here to cook animal protein.

I want to show everyone that I'm able to do so.

I'm ready to get in there and do something different.

Hi, chefs. Welcome.

Next, claude lewis from jersey city, new jersey.

Claude: I'm the chef and owner of freetown road project.

I was chef de cuisine of a restaurant

with a wood-fire grill,

and that's something that I specialize in.

Hi, chefs.

And last, jess stone from calgary, alberta.

Jess: To be the next fire master,

I can do it.

When I start a new job,

I often will move up quite quickly.

[ laughs ]

chefs, welcome to "fire masters."

here's who you'll need to fire up.

Chef tiffani faison is a james beard-nominated chef

who helms three hugely successful

boston-based restaurants.

-Welcome, chefs. -Thank you, chef.

Benoit: Chef hugh mangum is a legendary chef and co-founder

of the popular mighty quinn's barbecue in new york

and has 15 restaurants worldwide.

How's it going, chefs?

-Hi, chef. -Hello.

Benoit: Chef eddie jackson is a highly acclaimed chef, author,

and food network personality.

Which one of you is gonna take this?

-I am, chef. -Right here. -Right here.

We'll see.

Chefs, I hope you brought your a game

because it's time to turn up the heat.

♪♪

in this first wildfire round,

you'll each create a signature dish

that represents your personal style of cooking.

You will each have your own top-of-the-line grill station

and use of our "fire masters" firepit,

as well as access to our fully stocked and stacked pantry.

Your dish will be judged on presentation, creativity,

and, of course, taste.

Chefs, are you ready?

-Absolutely. -Yes. -Ready.

You've got 30 minutes on the clock.

And your time starts...

Now. -Come, on, guys!

[ applause ]

let's go!

Jess: I think I get my determination from my father.

Just want to prove to my family that I'm working my butt off

to try to make something myself.

For my signature dish, I wanted to pick a steak

that my parents would eat.

They're not the biggest foodies in the world.

The skirt steak, they would eat this steak

because it's a flavor bomb.

The signature dish I'm making today

is a grilled skirt steak with onion rings,

fried bone marrow, and my charred salsa verde.

These are tomatillos.

Pretty much the base of my salsa verde.

This is one of my favorite things to make.

Jess as fast. She's really quick.

Jess is nimble and jess is quick.

-Yes. -I hope she's as good

as she is fast. Oh.

♪♪

claude: Fresh thyme.

Maduras hot curry.

I love the cuisine of the west indies

because all of the ingredients are ingredients

that are healthy.

Luckily, it has good taste as well.

I'm cooking curry-glazed grilled chicken

with a scotch bonnet slaw.

Faison: Chef claude is west indian,

and I want to see all of that come through.

Coriander and the cumin and deep curry.

Give me the heat.

Bring the heat. I am here for all of that.

Claude: I take the chicken thighs, I put them in olive oil,

salt, pepper, a lot of curry, thyme.

Cooking chicken thighs on the bone in 30 minutes,

real risky because I can't serve them raw.

Hope it it pays off.

Smoke these,

and then finish them on the grill.

♪♪

daniel: This is some flank steak

that I'm going to grill off

and do smoked blueberries,

I tend to cook basically local ingredients,

and I really, really love sweet and savory.

Chef daniel, talk to me about the signature dish.

I'm doing a smoked wild blueberry compote

on top of grilled flank steak, some charred leeks and asparagus

with some blackened brussels sprouts

that I put it directly into the fire.

What's going to be your biggest challenge

in this first wildfire round? I'm a vegan chef,

so cooking a flank steak on an open fire pit properly.

Well, I know the judges like to see use of that fire pit,

so I'm really looking forward

to seeing how that flank steak turns out.

Thanks, chef.

Gonna go right on the grill here.

Faison: Flank, you want rare, medium rare, nothing past that.

If it cooks past rare, medium rare,

it can get very, very chewy.

Jess: I'm very aware of the clock,

and I have to start building my sauce for my skirt steak,

and I go and start taking my tomatillos,

my limes off the grill.

I have the char that I want.

♪♪

daniel: Gonna throw things right on the grill here.

Traditionally, west indian dishes

are spicy soups and stews

that don't have any acidity to them.

My signature coleslaw is cabbage, carrots.

These are scotch bonnet peppers with a bit of cucumber vinegar.

I like to bring the heat as well as acidity

and crunchiness to the dish.

The orange bell pepper I put on the grill to char

will be a soft texture in the coleslaw.

A lot of big flavors coming off chef claude's station,

and he's doing some sort of gastrique glaze.

Bring the heat.

There it is.

Daniel: I'm super excited to use the labneh,

because it's going to add that nice sour tone to the plate.

This is a little bit of sherry that I'm putting in the labneh.

Labneh is a cross between crème fraîche,

sour cream, and ricotta cheese.

I add a little bit of lemon with some garlic chives.

I haven't checked on my steaks. I got to go to.

Whoo!

And it's hot in here.

♪♪

jess: I start my onion ring batter with all-purpose flour,

some baking powder.

It's not too often we see deep frying

here in the "fire masters" arena.

It is risky to fry in this arena

and not burn the place down because there is no deep fryer.

But I'm confident, and I know my oil is a perfect temp.

Listen up, chefs. Only 10 minutes left.

Time to hustle. Let's go.

-Let's go, chefs. -Come on, guys.

-Come on, chefs. -Finish up!

Faison: Let's do it!

Claude: I'm feeling a lot of pressure.

At this point,

it's a race against me in the clock.

I need to hit the grill with that chicken real hard

and it starts dripping, and I start getting loud flames

and I don't want to serve my chicken burnt.

-Wow. -I'm feeling a little frantic.

Claude: I hope it doesn't cost me the round.

♪♪

claude: The chicken starts dripping,

and I start getting loud flames.

I'm gonna burn it.

Jackson: Whoa!

So I have to take them down,

put them on a lower level, and turn off the heat

so that the residual heat will cook them.

You know, you got to be very careful with chicken.

Yes! Let's go! Way to show up!

Let's do it!

Daniel: I'm really happy about these.

They're blackened, they're soft, cooked perfectly,

a nice char on there.

I'm raising the flank steak

because I don't want to overcook it.

Faison: So all of chef daniel's veg are off of his grill,

but we still have, like, this slow, six foot high roast.

What's the thinking behind that?

It's gonna get overcooked without proper sear.

That's exactly right.

♪♪

a skirt steak is actually a steak that gets a bad rap

because it tends to be chewy.

Basically just going to keep it nice and simple,

some oil, salt, pepper.

Let the meat speak for itself.

But it has a flavor like no other,

and I find it gets underutilized.

Jackson: Skirt steak is probably one of the easiest

because it's so thin. High heat, very quick.

That should have been at the very, very bottom,

almost touching the coals.

We got bone marrow action.

Jess: I take my bone marrow chunks

and I'm dredging them in a little flour,

and then I put them in the cast-iron oil

to be different and stand out.

Benoit: 7 minutes, chefs.

Heard, 7 minutes.

Got to let my meat rest.

Getting the cook on a flank steak

just right is a very small window,

but I feel like it's cooked properly,

kind of like a medium rare.

So I take the flank steaks and I take them back to rest.

Benoit: Chefs, only 5 minutes remaining.

Time to get some food on the plate.

Daniel: I think the blueberries are done,

so I'm gonna take those right off the smoker.

I noticed that my blueberries are a bit dry,

so I have to hit it with a little bit of sherry.

The smoke is there, so I'm really excited about that.

Jackson: Chef jess just flipped her skirt steak,

and it has absolutely no crust on it.

No char whatsoever.

Jess: One is good to go. I don't want to overcook it.

So I take my one piece off, let it rest.

Alright.

Daniel: I start plating my greens

because I'm running out of time.

I cut into my meat. I'm happy with

the nice, kind of like a medium on this cook.

Time really creeps up on you.

Holy crow.

That it does.

I'm just about to toss the chicken in the bowl.

I take the glaze, I put some in the bowl,

and I add a little bit of heavy cream to it

in order to tone down the saltiness and the spiciness.

And then I'mma get it on the plate.

Benoit: One minute left, only 60 seconds remaining.

Let's go. Hustle, hustle.

I love it. Skirt steak,

I like a little bit more cooked, closer to medium.

I grab my steak and I start plating it pretty meticulously.

Nothing looks different, all cohesive, all the same.

Judges: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Benoit: Time's up, chefs.

[ applause ]

-[ sighs ] -whoo!

Is anybody sweating as much as me?

Man, I'm soaked.

I didn't finish with my labneh sauce.

I only get the labneh on two plates.

♪♪

benoit: Chef jess, tell us about your signature dish.

That's a grilled skirt steak which charred salsa verde,

deep fried smoked bone marrow, and onion rings.

Jackson: Chef jess, right off the bat,

I love that golden brown that I see right on your onion rings

and the bone marrow. I also love the green color

that you've given us in that kind of a smoked

salsa verde as well.

Nice and bright and vibrant.

♪♪

chef jess, onion rings -- spectacular.

Your salsa verde has a nice tang to it.

But great steak needs to be charred, right?

Chef, the overall taste of the dish is great.

Your seasoning was pretty spot-on.

We appreciate that. Thank you.

Chef jess, I want to make sure that you know,

that you can drop that grate down, right?

I do, and I realize I should have now.

-Okay. -Thank you very much, chef jess.

Jess: I'm instantly panicking,

but I totally respect their opinions

on that steak 100%.

♪♪

benoit: Chef claude, tell us about the signature dish

you prepared for the chefs.

What I prepared for you

is a curry-glazed chicken thigh with a scotch bonnet slaw.

Chef claude, I look at your plate,

and I'm very excited about all the flavors

that I know are packed in here.

♪♪

jackson: Alright, claude, I've got to tell you,

this dish makes me very, very happy.

You had the spicy, you had the sweet,

but now we get to the chicken.

I'm getting that char and smoke flavor,

but what I really want to come through is that curry.

Whatever sauce you used,

I would have basted it every couple of minutes.

Chef claude, the cook on the chicken's really good.

The char is great on it.

Definitely got a little smoke on it, which I love.

The slaw's crunch and the vibrancy of the slaw is great.

I actually want more scotch bonnet.

I love where this is going and I really --

I love the flavors. I just want more of everything.

Heard, chef.

Chef claude, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, chef.

Claude: I really do agree that there wasn't enough punch.

I was holding back a little bit.

I hope it doesn't cost me the round.

♪♪

chef daniel, tell us about your signature dish.

Daniel: So what I mean for you today, chefs,

is a grilled flank steak with some smoked wild blueberry,

roasted brussels sprouts,

asparagus, and some leeks.

Chef daniel, the presentation of your dish,

you've got colors, there's interplay

between the green and the blueberries.

It looks really, really pretty.

I do notice that one plate is missing some sauce.

Do you mind if I try some of your sauce?

Seeing that I didn't get any.

Please, man. Thank you.

-Rough. -Just want one cohesive bite.

Absolutely, chef. My apologies.

♪♪

mangum: I think the labneh's a really great touch.

It's really inventive.

I do think your steak is overcooked and, you know,

maybe you could have cut from the thicker side.

Chef daniel, smoking the blueberries

is a really smart move

because there's a lot of moisture in them,

so they just soak up that smoke.

Chef daniel, I can get that char, you know,

from the asparagus, which I really, really love.

And even in the steak, you know, cut of meat,

that flank steak has a lot of natural flavor in it as well.

I just feel like you missed the mark

with the salt, pepper.

Right. You know what I mean?

And it really would have highlighted

everything on this plate.

Chef daniel, thank you very much.

-Thank you. -And thank you, chefs.

Let's give the judges a couple of minutes to discuss.

We'll call you back in when we're ready.

I might have fallen flat on the seasoning,

but I think my presentation and the char on the vegetables

will take me to the next level.

♪♪

alright, judges, the wildfire round in the books.

What are your thoughts?

Jackson: I think when you look at chef daniel's dish,

it was the most elegant.

You had the pops of the blueberry.

You can see those greens coming from the bottom.

And it had a freshness to it that I really appreciated.

There was just no seasoning to anything.

Nothing was elevated by the seasoning.

It was not particularly cohesive.

For me, chef jess was the one

that really came through with flavor.

She had seasoning.

That beautiful salsa verde she had was acidic and bright.

That dish with that sauce was complete.

But I do feel like chef jess obviously, with the steak,

you can't miss some crust.

Ultimately, flavor-wise,

I think chef claude shows the most promise.

I couldn't stop picking up the slaw

when we were standing there. I was like, "put it down."

put it down."

chef claude, his biggest mistake was just

he was cooking for someone's palate

versus cooking his food.

Yeah. Thing with the heat,

you know, it was like you just -- you want more.

Judges, it seems like it's a tight race

for the best dish in this round.

But have you made a decision?

We have. We have.

I think we have.

Let's call the chefs back in.

♪♪

chefs, in this first wildfire round,

you were asked to create a signature dish

that showcases your personal style of cooking.

So, judges, whose signature dish was the best in this round?

The chef with the best dish is...

♪♪

chef jess.

[ applause ]

congratulations, chef jess.

You will have an advantage heading into the next round.

Thanks. Thank you.

Judges, it's down to chef claude and chef daniel.

Who will you be sending home?

The chef who will be going home is...

Judges, it's down to chef claude with his curry chicken thighs

with scotch bonnet slaw, and chef daniel

with his flank steak and smoked blueberries.

So, judges, who will you be sending home?

The chef who will be going home is...

♪♪

chef daniel.

Thank you very much, chef daniel.

It was a pleasure having you in the "fire masters" arena today.

Thanks for having me.

Unfortunately, you've been eliminated from the competition

and it's time to leave the "fire masters" arena.

-Good luck. -Good job.

Thanks.

I had a lot of fun. I'm bummed to leave,

but I'm 100% happy with what I did

and I'm ready to just get back at it and cook.

♪♪

chefs, welcome to the crossfire round.

This round is all about choice.

There are two ingredients in this barrel,

and you will each use one of them in your next dish.

Chef jess, because you won the first round,

you have the advantage here

and you get to choose your ingredient first.

So which will you choose?

♪♪

open or shut?

[ laughs ]

this is gonna be good.

If you choose open,

you'll be working with scallops in the half shell.

If you choose shut, you'll be working with mussels.

So, chef jess, which do you choose to cook with?

I choose shut.

Shut, so you will be working with fresh mussels.

I'm surprised that chef jess picks mussels.

There's only so much you can do with it.

Chef claude, that means you'll be working

with scallops on the half shell.

Chefs, are you ready?

Ready. Ready.

You got 30 minutes back on the clock,

and your time starts now.

-Alright. -Let's go, chefs.

[ applause ]

oh, I'm stoked. I got the fire now.

A little less nervous. I got this.

I'm really surprised jess didn't choose the scallops.

Bacon.

That scallop is still attached to its roe.

The white part is the scallop and then the orange sack

next to it is the roe.

It was just out of the ocean.

Like, to be able to work with an ingredient

like that is next level.

And smoked roe into a vinaigrette is amazing.

But I feel like, with the muscles,

chef jess, she has an opportunity

to build so many flavors around it.

A nice smoky broth that will wow us, right?

Jess: Thinking I want to do a smoked beer char mussel broth

and a bunch of grilled veggies to go inside of it.

I have to get the tomatoes and garlic

in the smoker straight away because I want

the smoke to penetrate the tomato.

So when I squeeze it out, you'll get

some of that flavor out of the tomato.

I want to get the cabbage, that really charred aspect to it.

Throw on some parsley and some scallions.

And I want -- I want to get everything

as charred and smoked as possible.

It's gonna be awesome.

For the crossfire round, I'm making a seared scallop

with a tomato and okra concassé.

Typical west indian approach to using scallops

would be concassé.

It is a rendered down tomato sauce,

usually goes with fish,

but I am adding a pumpkin and garlic

and okra to west indian-ize it up a little bit,

I guess you could say.

Add them to the pan for them to sauté.

I add some tomatoes, three scotch bonnets.

And in my opinion, this is extremely hot and spicy.

♪♪

jess: I'm grabbing all my veg off the pit.

I get the char that I want

for that smoked stout char mussel broth,

and then I have to start cutting.

Chef jess, you chose mussels

in this crossfire round.

I'm just familiar with mussels,

and I know how to work with them pretty well.

It's a familiar ingredient,

which is smart play in this round.

What are the challenges you think that you'll face?

Seafood on a barbecue.

Seafood on a barbecue. In a shell.

Yes, very tricky. Thank you very much.

Thank you. I'm putting the bacon on the pit

as I just want another charred element.

Claude: With my curry glaze reducing,

I add some turmeric and some cumin

in order to round out the west indian flavor.

Chef claude, how we doing over here?

I'm doing great. I'm doing great.

Are you used to getting scallops on the half shell?

No, I'm not used to getting on the half shell.

Usually I get them already prepped out,

so I'll just have to make sure to get that --

this abductor muscle off.

Really a challenge, because if you don't get it off,

it's going to be chewy.

Glad to see you going for it.

Thank you very much, chef claude.

Thank you.

Jess: Hey, now.

All my chopping is done.

It's time to bring all the flavors together.

I do two pans just to make sure that the mussels

have enough room to steam and open up with the beer.

If these open up, I'll be feeling great.

Benoit: 10 minutes, chefs.

Let's go!

Claude: I'm very nervous because the time is running

and I have to keep reducing my concassé,

but also I know I got to cook scallops.

The appropriate way to cook scallops

is to sear it hard on one side and kiss it on the other.

But when I put the scallops on,

I'm not hearing enough of a sizzle,

so I decide to move

the scallops over the infrared burner.

I've seeing chef claude, though,

he keeps touching the scallops.

They don't need longer than two minutes in a hot pan.

Claude: And I'm watching them like a hawk,

checking the bottoms.

But the scallops aren't seared enough.

♪♪

jess: So go back over to the mussels,

and I just need them to open,

and I'm watching the clock and it's ticking

and it's ticking and I'm waiting.

♪♪

I just need them to open right now.

Claude: I got three minutes.

My concassé tastes good, good consistency.

Scallops are resting.

I got to char this bread,

which is going to top off the dish

as a crunch and texture.

I'm feeling a lot of pressure.

This is going to go down to the last second.

Chefs, one minute remaining, only 60 seconds left.

Let's get this food on the plate.

Come on, open up. Come out of your shell.

Yeah, they're opening. That's great.

I mean, I know there's bacon happening,

but what I didn't see, which those mussels would love,

is some butter.

I'm going through the muscles that are opened

and making sure that every single one

is cooked properly, I'm being meticulous.

I want the right ones to be on my dish.

Judges: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Time's up, chefs. -Alright, you're done.

[ applause ]

♪♪

okay. The one thing that's going to send me home

is if the mussels are undercooked.

Claude: I should have put the scallops on even later

and heated up the pan even more.

Worried.

♪♪

chef jess, tell us what you prepared using fresh mussels.

Jess: I made beer-braised mussels

with smoked and grilled veg.

Jackson: Chef jess, just right off the bat,

I love the amount of char that I'm seeing.

Lets me know I'm going to get a lot of smokiness.

Feel free, if you like, to take the charred lemon

and put it around.

-You got it. -Okay.

♪♪

so, chef jess, I took a bite of the veggies that you charred,

and it was a delicious bite.

I also love the mussels themselves.

They're nice and sweet.

Where I think you kind of failed

was you're missing fat inside of this dish,

whether that's from butter

or actually using the rendered fat from the bacon.

Chef jess, all of your thinking around food is really smart.

I love the char on the veg.

I think smoking the tomatoes was really smart.

Right now everything is like middle note, right?

No base note. I'd like to see a lot more garlic.

You really want to take time and develop that flavor.

Thanks. Means a lot.

Chef jess, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Jess: They're 100% right.

I wish that I could have developed the sauce

a little bit better by rendering the bacon fat in the cast-iron.

But I tried my best.

♪♪

chef claude, tell us what you prepared

using scallops on the half shell.

Claude: I prepared seared scallops

with a tomato and okra concassé.

Jackson: Chef claude, I appreciate the fact

that you're showing us a little bit of char with the bread,

but looking at the scallop, not getting a lot of char,

and that's kind of disappointing

because it's the star of the whole plate.

Faison: I'm very excited about how bright and vibrant this is.

♪♪

chef claude, round 1,

we said don't be afraid to bring the heat.

This is in every bite. It's euphoria.

Get a little bit of that kind of bitter as well.

I think that's your choice of the veggies.

But, chef claude,

an opaque scallop is not very pleasing.

These are really, really overcooked for me.

If you seared that scallop on one side

for a minute and a half, two minutes, high heat,

got a great crust on it.

We're talking a perfect dish.

Yes, chef.

Thank you, chef claude. Let's give the judges

a couple of minutes to discuss,

and we'll call you back in when we're ready.

Claude: The scallops were a harder ingredient

than I thought it was,

but both of us had problems with our dishes,

so it's still close.

Alright, judges. The crossfire round is complete.

How did these chefs do using fresh mussels

and scallops on the half shell?

Jackson: Chef jess really impressed me

how she utilized the arena.

I mean, she has so many elements

of char and smoke going on in her dish.

It's just rounding out her flavors

and, like, figuring out how to get that wow factor.

Mangum: The broth was obviously too loose.

I think I might lean to chef claude.

Chef claude's -- the veg, right?

That was the best side that we've tasted all day.

Yeah. Except that you could see

the scallops were improperly cooked

from a thousand miles away.

In fairness and difference to jess, mussels were cooked

perfectly, perfectly.

I'm torn. This is really hard.

-Have you reached an agreement? -Yeah.

-I think we have. -We have.

Let's call the chefs back in.

♪♪

chefs, in this crossfire round,

you were asked to work with either fresh mussels

or scallops on the half shell.

Chef jess, you made beer-braised mussels

with charred vegetables.

And, chef claude, you made seared scallops

with tomato and okra concassé.

The winner of this round

will move on to the final round

to face off against one of our judges.

Judges, tell us who will be moving on to the final round.

The chef who will be moving on to the final round is...

♪♪

chef jess.

Good job, chef.

[ applause ]

I literally got chills all over my body.

Thank you.

Chef claude, thank you very much

for an incredible cook.

We really appreciated you cooking from the heart

and showing us who you are.

Unfortunately, you've been eliminated from the competition,

and it's time to leave the "fire masters" arena.

-Thank you. -Thank you so much.

Looking back, my cast-iron wasn't hot enough

to get that caramelization fast enough.

Well played, chef jess. Well played.

♪♪

chef jess, in the first two rounds,

you showed the judges that you sure know your way

around the "fire masters" arena,

but now it's time for the ultimate test.

In this final round, you'll be going head to head

against one of our "fire masters" judges.

And the judge will be facing off against is...

♪♪

chef tiffani faison.

Alright!

-Let's go! -Let's do it, baby. Come on.

Jess: I know how great chef tiffani is,

and I got to make sure everything is 100%.

Good luck. You, too.

Faison: I think chef jess really is talented,

but to be able to put it all together and make magic,

I haven't seen that from her yet.

Chef jess, chef tiffani,

you are about to face off in the feast of fire.

Let's go. I'm ready.

♪♪

chefs, in this final feast of fire,

you must create a family style feast

inspired by today's theme...

♪♪

chinatown.

Yes!

Psyched.

[ laughs ]

benoit: Head to chinatown and find pork belly, duck,

lap cheong, and bok choy.

Give us your take on a chinese feast.

The stakes have never been higher,

so we're giving you each a sous chef

to help you create your chinatown-inspired feast.

Also, in this round, none of us will be here to watch you cook,

as these feasts will be tasted blind.

The judges and I will be leaving the "fire masters" arena,

but when we come back,

I will be taking tiffani's seat at the judges' table.

Chefs, are you ready?

I'm ready. Let's go. I'm totally ready.

There's 45 minutes on the clock,

and your time starts...

Now.

-Whoo-hoo! -Hi.

Okay, ready? -Okay.

Jess. Nice to meet you.

This is gonna be awesome.

Jess: At this point, my plan is just duck.

This duck is mine.

♪♪

no!

Alright.

I can't believe I wrestled a duck.

[ laughs ]

faison: I lost my duck,

and I'm feeling a little piece

the fire inside of me.

No mercy for you now.

Bring it on.

For my main, I'm making smoked chili chicken

with purple choy.

For one of my sides, pork and chive dumplings

with a dim sum dipping sauce.

For my other side,

spicy cumin lamb noodles.

For my dessert, watermelon lychee soup.

This feast is gonna kick butt.

I'm fine.

My repertoire is big enough to let the duck go.

Jess: Okay, cast-iron's on and super hot.

Let me know when you've got that duck breast ready.

For my main, I'm making seared duck breast

with raspberries.

For my side, I'm making a smoked portabella mushroom

and grilled tofu. For my other side,

duck fat-charred mustard greens and bok choy.

For my dessert, a five-spice-poached pear

crème anglaise.

And I'm going to whip up a quick sauce for it.

With the sauce development...

Oh!

...Sweet, a little bit of heat,

chili paste, some rice wine vinegar.

Throw some star anise in there. White sugar.

I want bold chinatown flavors.

Win is what I want to do.

The level of freak out...

Up there.

Faison: I'm ready to go, I'm ready to cook.

I get the pot going for my chili chicken.

I just want to make this really rich chili chicken broth.

So I have duck fat down with some chili paste, shrimp paste,

and then I dump some of the chicken in the pot.

And the richness of the duck fat's

just going to continue to layer those flavors.

I want the legs in the braise

where that becomes really chili chicken,

like, braised, fall-apart chicken,

but I still want very strong smoke flavor

on the chicken breast.

So breast, I rub it with some chili oil

and put it on the grill.

Get a really, like, strong, smoky flavor.

That's also going to keep that chicken breast moist.

♪♪

jess: Got some nice color on that already.

I'm moving it over to the grill.

Coming around hot.

Ah!

Good dumplings taste like heaven.

And I want to do some dumplings with a great dipping sauce

and I need to get my dumpling filling.

So the base of almost all asian cooking

is, like, an aromatic paste,

so it's scallions, ginger, garlic.

Then it's lamb, and then work in the pork

and the lop cheong sausage and the chili.

So I make my dumpling paste,

and then I just need to fold my dumplings

and then get to the bamboo steamer.

Jess: My plan right now, I'm going to develop my flavors

in my sauce for the duck.

Raspberries, white wine vin. Oh, beautiful.

Butter, raspberries, onion.

Sexy.

Now we're cooking with fire, buddy.

I have paired fruit with duck before.

A little bit of tart with the bitter of the onions,

the sweet duck fat -- I think it really works.

Let's start thinking about our dessert, please.

The big jobs still ahead are making sure my chicken

is cooked, steaming my dumplings,

and finishing the dessert.

I also need to finish this noodle dish.

Go and throw some aromatics in that lamb.

Yep, beautiful.

All that lamb fat, it's got cumin in it,

little bit of sugar.

A couple more chilis.

Black bean, asparagus.

I have noodles that I'm blanching.

You're going to get some really spicy lamb noodles.

You want to start working that watermelon?

Yep. Okay.

Good.

♪♪

jess: We're going to check the mushrooms, please. Yes, chef.

There's 15 minutes left, and the dessert,

it has to happen.

I throw some butter and brown sugar in a cast-iron

and pears cut in half face down.

Pears working.

I look at my duck,

I'm in a lot of trouble with my raspberry glaze.

I realize the sugar is getting a bit too caramelized.

I got to be on my game. If it's not perfect,

it's not going on the plate.

♪♪

jess: I look at my duck,

I'm in a lot of trouble with my raspberry glaze.

I realize the sugar is getting a bit too caramelized.

And I'm not happy.

What I think we're going to do is whip up

a little something else.

I'm just going to develop a new raspberry sauce...

Resting duck.

...To go on top of the duck.

Get a little bit of butter in here.

Oh, yeah.

Just going to let that get a good melt on it.

7 minutes.

Do you want me to put the lychee in there now

or do want me to wait? -That's it. You can go ahead?

Faison: The puree for the dessert is fresh watermelon,

a little bit of lychee, coconut cream,

a tiny bit of fresh ginger.

It's my favorite thing at my favorite dim sum restaurant.

-Are dumplings are ready to go? -Yep.

I think the noodles are pretty good. Really spicy.

Jess: At this point, I'm realizing

I probably should have took my duck off

about five minutes prior.

It's a little more cooked than I want,

but we'll have to hope for flavor.

Guys, 3 minutes left.

Jess: The dessert, it's everything I want.

The pears are soft.

The crème anglaise held up nicely.

It's looking good.

One minute, guys.

Jess: I like the new raspberry sauce

and I'm putting it across the duck

because it will enhance the flavor of the duck as well.

♪♪

-getting real. -Gonna plate these.

♪♪

jess and faison: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

♪♪

friend.

♪♪

alright, judges, the feast of fire is here,

and our theme this evening is chinatown.

This first chef prepared seared duck breast with raspberry sauce

and star anise,

smoked portobello mushrooms with tofu,

duck fat-charred mustard greens and bok choy.

And then we're going to finish it off

with five-spice-poached pear and crème anglaise.

Jackson: I tell you what I'm appreciating already is

that I see char on the bok choy

and the greens has a little smoky note to it as well.

I'm excited.

Mangum: The duck is really flavorful.

The seasoning on the duck is really good.

I'm actually loving

that combination of raspberry and star anise.

I mean, berries in general pair really, really well with duck.

There is some unevenness with the duck.

Was it on the firepit?

Because that could be the reason why it's so uneven.

But flavor is really, really nice.

I am loving these smoked mushrooms.

Mushrooms very popular in chinese cuisine.

Bok choy had a lot of earth,

a lot of umami from the char.

I think that's a smart choice to mix the bok choy

with mustard greens.

Mustard greens is also

another very sturdy green.

This is a really good plate of food.

And I would continue to eat more,

but we have dessert.

Could I interest either of you

in a five-spice pear with crème anglaise?

Absolutely. Certainly.

We're seeing caramelization, we're seeing all the things

you associate with high heat and fire.

I really like the pink peppercorns

and a bit of finishing salt on there,

so it's not so sweet on the palate.

The only thing that I think I'm missing from this dessert,

a little texture somewhere in there.

I don't know how you would try to incorporate that.

Yeah. I mean, flavor is great.

This first chef certainly didn't disappoint.

I can't wait to see what the second chef has in store for us.

♪♪

our second feast is here, and the aromas

coming off of this table are crazy right now.

This chef has prepared smoked chili chicken with purple choy,

spicy cumin lamb noodles, pork and chive dumplings,

and then we're going to top it off

with watermelon lychee soup.

Dumplings served in a steamer basket.

Noodles piled high on a plate. This is the real deal.

Okay.

This is white meat chicken still moist.

-Right. -I mean, that's spot-on.

I got the dark meat, and it's got

a beautiful crispy skin on the outside.

Spicy, sweet, with the chili,

you know, it's smoked. Really nice.

I love noodles.

I love the cook on them. They're still nice and meaty.

Do you think the asparagus

really goes in these noodles, though?

I don't think so. I think what would have been

a better option is some sort of bean, you know?

But I love the sauce that's been tossed in it.

It's spicy. It has a little sweetness.

The lamb in there also has some kick to it as well.

The flavor on those dumplings, I feel like

I'm getting some smoke off of those dumplings.

Probably in that sauce. There's got to be some of the aromatics

probably got either smoked or charred.

And even the dumplings with the sauce

you put on has kick as well.

But the spice is so strong,

I can't really taste any subtle nuances

of roasted ingredients or smoked ingredients.

This is a very spicy feast.

It is. I mean, it needs some relief, right?

Relief is on the way.

We got a refreshing watermelon and lychee soup for dessert.

♪♪

that's nice.

It's definitely refreshing.

Yes, what I'm not liking about this,

I was really hoping the chef threw

the watermelon on the grill to get a little bit of char

and a little bit of smoke infused to it

before they pureed it into a soup.

But I don't feel that that's happened.

You're in chinatown.

Like, there's no mistaking this, but...

You're not in the "fire masters" arena.

Exactly. It's gonna be tough.

Let's dissect these meals. First up, we've got raspberry

duck breast versus chili chicken with bok choy.

So in the first feast,

I absolutely loved the seasoning on that duck.

Mine appeared to be cooked a little bit further.

But again, the sauce played really nice with it.

But you got to admit, [chuckles] feast number 2,

that chicken was tasty. Very tasty.

And it packed a punch.

Let's take a look at our side dishes.

On our first feast. Those mushrooms

were all smoke and all flavor.

They really utilized the "fire masters" arena.

The lamb was awesome.

It was so good. Very tasty,

and it packed a punch.

I agree with you 100%.

Let's take a look at our second side dishes.

I was excited when I saw feast number 1 with that bok choy,

with those mustard greens.

You could see the char, nice little oil on there.

Now, going to those dumplings. Amazing, like, flavor dense.

I thought the dumplings were cooked perfectly.

Still had a nice chew to it. Right. Wasn't mushy.

But again, I'm not seeing the "fire masters" arena.

Last but certainly not least,

let's take a look at our two desserts this evening.

That pear with the crème anglaise

was one of the best bites I had all day.

It was nice and caramelized,

so it also, again, lets me know that that chef utilized

this arena and found some way

to bring out the natural sweetness inside of that pear.

Then we had the watermelon and lychee soup.

It was the perfect opportunity to char that watermelon,

to get a really nice caramelization

and bring the sweetness out.

And we just lost that.

Feast number 1 really utilized the arena in almost every dish

that came in front of us,

whereas feast number 2 really nailed home

the theme of the challenge, which was chinatown.

So who do we reward?

It's been a day of tough decisions.

Yes, yes.

It has. Real tough decisions.

But there can only be one champion at the end.

But I think we've made our decision.

Let's call the chefs back in.

Let's do it.

♪♪

with the feast, I'm feeling confident

and freaking out all at the same time.

I tried my best and I'm proud of myself.

Faison: After the rugby match for the duck,

I don't know. I tasted everything

and I liked everything.

I've not lost a feast of fire yet.

Chefs, excellent job.

Both of your feasts really gave us

the flavors of chinatown,

but we had to make a choice.

As you know, these feasts were tasted blind.

In the first feast, the seasoning

and the crispness of the duck were fantastic.

In the second feast,

we loved that smoked chicken.

Chefs, both of your chinatown-inspired feasts

were absolutely exceptional,

but there can only be one winner.

Tonight's winning feast is...

♪♪

the first feast with the raspberry duck

and the roasted pears.

♪♪

[ laughs ] honest to god, wow.

Jess: Thank you, judges.

I'm 100% shocked.

Chef tiffani's amazing.

Like, I...

I'm blown away.

Benoit: Congratulations, chef jess.

You just won $10,000.

Awesome, thank you. Thank you.

Jess is amazing.

Like, jess has, like, fought it out all day.

I'm psyched that she's got that money to take home.

The money is nice, but more importantly,

you won the title of tonight's fire masters champion.

Well done, chef.

Whoo-hoo!

Thanks, man.

Thank you so much.

I'm totally proud. You fight for the duck.

You fight for the duck. [ laughs ]

now you owe me a duck.

[ laughter ]

♪♪