America's Culinary Cup
Baker:
Season:
Week:
Challenge Type:
Scallops, XO Brown Butter Miso
Roasted Scallops with XO Brown Butter Miso, Celery Root Purée, Glazed Pioppini Mushrooms and Pickled Celery Root (Sweet + Umami)
Chris: "I'm doing simple delicious today and hope it pays off. All I got to do is cook a good dish, and if I go home because Buddha beats me, at least I know I went out with a dish I can be proud of."
Chris: "Doing scallops, XO brown butter, celery root purée, and then, like, sweet glazed pioppini mushrooms. Other umami bangers folded into all that."
Chris: "I'm taking less risks on this one. I keep getting the same comment about putting too much of everything on the plate and it's hard to self-edit. But with a million dollars on the line, I'm going to try to tighten up and just focus on three components. Beautiful purée, well-executed scallops, and roasted mushrooms."
Chris: "XO sauce is the umami bomb of the dish. It's made from dried shrimp, scallops, garlic, onion, chilies, often dried pork product. Then I'm adding fish sauce, lemon juice, some sweet soy as well, and a little bit of miso, and I'm going to use that to dress the scallops. Really hammering home that sweet umami combination."
Chris (presenting): "I chose sweet. So I have for you roasted scallops with XO brown butter miso, celery root purée. There's also some roasted pioppini glazed in a little bit of reduced pickling liquid. And I also pickled some celery root for a little crunch and texture."
Padma: "This is such a well-composed, focused dish. Scallops are cooked beautifully. The purée is luscious and creamy. I do think you hit the sweet element and the umami element beautifully."
Wiley: "Scallops are well prepared. I like the mushrooms on the side — maybe a little sweet, but very impressed."
Michael: "Chris, what I like about your dish is that the scallop comes through very clearly. And of course, you use the XO to great effect, and that gave you the umami in this dish. The celery root itself, the pickled bits, they have a little bit of a weird chew to them, but they do bring a lot to the dish, and they do deliver on flavor."
Padma: "It's very hard to decide who had the better dish here, but ultimately, only one of you can go to the finals. While both dishes were extraordinary and delicious, there was one plate I felt demonstrated the two taste profiles a little bit better than the other. And that plate was Chris's."
Michael: "Chris. It was unanimous today. It was Chris."
[Result: Chris wins the cookoff and advances to the finals.]
Would you like us to create a recipe to match this dish?
We try to create several recipes every day, and we'd love to prioritize a recipe for you. Just fill out the form and watch your inbox - no cost, no catch.
Your request has been submitted
An error occurred. Try again later
