America's Culinary Cup
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Bitter Hamachi Crudo, Pomelo
Hamachi Crudo with Pomelo Dressing, Pickled Bitter Melon and Avocado
Buddha: "I'm slicing my hamachi. For my cold dish, I'll be making a hamachi crudo, which is going to have sort of Thai influence. Into that, I'm adding some bitter melon. Bitter melon is the epitome of bitter. It literally numbs your tongue. If you don't pickle it or make it sweet and sour, it's going to hurt your palate. It's a lot of risk using it, but I'm a risk taker."
Buddha: "They want a cold dish. I'm going to give them a cold dish. Believe it or not, the only times I've actually used liquid nitrogen is when I've been on television. If you use this ingredient properly, it saves you so much time. And what I don't have is time. I just put lemongrass, cilantro, scallions, a little bit of garlic, bird's eye chili, and I chopped it into a powder. I did that in 20 seconds because of liquid nitrogen."
Buddha (presenting): "Okay, so it's hamachi with a dressing made from pomelo and pickled bitter melon, with avocado."
Michael: "You certainly found the bitterness in all of these ingredients. There's no doubt about that. My only comment about this is that I think all of it kind of overwhelms that poor yellowtail."
Padma: "You really nailed the bitter, Buddha. But I have to agree with Michael. I think the fish is completely lost. It's drowning in everything that's put on top of it."
Wiley: "I might be the biggest fan of bitter at the table, and I love what's going on here in terms of the different textures and the bitterness. I like bitter melon. I've never had bitter melon like this. And you clearly, in a mere hour, came up with a dish that you put a lot of thought into."
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