Fried Halibut with Mole Verde| Contestant Dish

Fried Halibut with Mole Verde

As seen on TV

Which Show?

Tournament of Champions ™ Season 07

Who made this dish?

Dan

In this challenge, the randomizer selected the following conditions that had to be met by each chef:

Protein: Halibut

Product: Watermelon Radish

Equipment: Metal Skewers

Style: Sunday Supper

Wildcard Ingredients: Canned Nacho Cheese

Dan approached Sunday supper through the lens of a Wisconsin fish fry reimagined with Mexican mole verde. Halibut fillets were coated in tapioca cornstarch seasoned with Aleppo pepper and fried until golden. The mole verde was built by charring onion, serrano, garlic, and tomatillos, then blending with cilantro, kale, Mexican oregano, Chinese five spice, fish sauce, and nacho cheese functioning as an emulsifier for body and flavor. Watermelon radish was used two ways: thick batons skewered with diced onion and eggplant, seasoned with Aleppo pepper and olive oil, then grilled; and a quick escabeche made with red wine vinegar and lime juice. Cilantro rice accompanied the dish. The mole verde was plated beneath the fried fish with the skewer alongside and escabeche on top.

Maneet Chauhan declared nacho cheese should now be a requirement in pepita mole, praised the batter on the halibut as incredible, and called it a deeply successful Sunday supper dish. Susan Feninger praised the flavor of the mole as really nice and was blown away by the nacho cheese integration, but noted her halibut was a little overcooked and slightly underseasoned. Hubert Keller praised the representation of the randomizer through the radishes and their crunchiness, but noted the grilled radishes were slightly charred and left a bitter flavor. Dan scored 77.