Tournament of Champions ™
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Bone-In Pork Katsudon
In this challenge, the randomizer selected the following conditions that had to be met by each chef:
Protein: Double-Cut Pork Chops
Product: Hatch Peppers
Equipment: French Fry Press
Style: Comfort Classic
Wildcard Ingredient: Ketchup
Kaleena drew on her love of Southeast Asian cooking to craft a katsudon-inspired comfort dish. The double-cut pork chop was left bone-in and seasoned with curry powder, turmeric, garam masala, ginger, and onion powder before being breaded and fried. The curry sauce was built with vegetables cut through the french fry press, ketchup (for sweetness and acid), hatch chili, kombu, mushroom, soy veal stock, Worcestershire sauce, and shiitakes. Hatch pepper rice accompanied the dish. The curry sauce was poured over the fried chop katsudon-style. A hatch pepper spicy relish added brightness. The french fry press was used throughout for cutting vegetables for the curry and presentation.
Maneet Chauhan called it a hug on a plate and praised the genius of using ketchup's sweetness in the curry sauce base, calling it absolutely incredible. She felt a touch more acid would have balanced the spices, but praised the flavor development in such a short cook time and the use of the french fry press for the visible vegetables.
Susan Feninger called the concept amazing and perfectly suited to the comfort classic challenge, and praised the hatch chili usage.
Hubert Keller agreed it worked as a true comfort and classic dish, noting the rice, vegetables, and tomato curry came together beautifully. He noted the pork chop was slightly overcooked.
Kaleena scored 81.
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