A Chef Challenges Bobby With a Recipe He's Never Even Heard Of

It’s time for an Asian-inspired showdown as chefs Logan Sandoval and Laurence Louie squared up for the opportunity to take down Bobby Flay. On "Are We Having Fun Yet?," chef Ayesha Nurdjaja, one of Bobby’s Triple Threat Titans, pulled up with BBQ Brawl judge Carson Kressley to psych out the legendary chef when he was tasked with a challenge that was completely foreign to him.

“Carson’s been judging me whether he’s here or not.”

“Silently, for years…” Carson confessed.

In Round 1, the two contenders had 20 minutes to whip up a dish starring maitake mushrooms. Let’s see who impressed Carson’s “Queer Eye for the Fungi.” (He’s been holding on to that one since Queer Eye Season 1.)

From the Cage to the Kitchen: Chef Logan Sandoval

Former MMA fighter and BBQ Brawl contestant chef Logan Sandoval returned to Bobby’s arena to redeem himself from a disappointing exit in Season 5. He is the chef and owner of ZEF BBQ in Simi Valley, California. Known for blending Texas-style BBQ with Hispanic and East Asian flavors, Logan has a distinct game that sets him apart from the competition. He doesn’t have time to smoke a brisket, but that didn't stop him from putting up a fight against chef Laurence Louie.

Boston’s King of Hong Kongese Cuisine: Chef Laurence Louie

Chef and owner of Rubato in Quincy, Massachusetts, chef Laurence Louie took a small bakery and turned it into a modern Hong Kong café. The “Asian food gangster,” as he was dubbed by his competition, came ready to win for everyone who had their food made fun of during lunchtime. His training in southern China and Turkish kitchens led him to deep runs in 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing Season 2 and Top Chef Season 12, but now, he has the chance to beat Bobby Flay — the ultimate culinary achievement.

Out of the Wheelhouse and Into the Fire

The matchup was tough for chef Logan, whose comfort zone of Asian-inspired food lies smack in the middle of chef Laurence’s realm of mastery. To stand out in the competition, he tapped into his Hispanic roots with a maitake tostada with lemon crème fraîche and sweet corn. He was paid a visit by Carson to talk sports: an old friend from his BBQ Brawl days. “Maitake mushrooms just make me feel so freakin’ butch!”

Despite the buddy-buddy act, Carson was the BBQ Brawl judge who delivered the crushing line, “The person going home tonight is … Logan.” As a lifelong competitor, Logan knows there’s no motivation as powerful as defeat. But with the shared enemy that is Bobby Flay, Carson and Logan found themselves on the same team.

Making Dad Proud

Rather than taking the Cantonese/Hong Kong approach Logan predicted, Laurence used the tricks he picked up working in Turkish and Mediterranean restaurants to showcase the star ingredient.

As Laurence fried his maitake börek (a Turkish savory pastry) with orange crème fraîche and feta, his dad looked down from the rafters in immense pride. Ayesha was impressed, noting that if her mom were there, “She’d be hanging off the rafter and jump right in and tell me what I wasn’t doing well.”

“He’s going all the way,” Laurence’s dad added.

“And we’re gonna kick Bobby’s a**,” Carson added.

Round 1: A Crème Fraîche-Off

Coincidentally, each of the contenders’ dishes featured the same co-star: crème fraîche. Unfortunately, the standout of Logan’s was the jalapeños. Despite a crunchy tostada that perfectly complemented the meatiness of the maitake, “lingering” was how Ayesha and Carson both described the pickled peppers.

Laurence’s börek had similar strengths to Logan’s dish in the expertly prepared maitake with a crunchy contrast. The shortcomings came in the opposite form, with Ayesha dubbing the crema “under-seasoned.” After enjoying “baby’s first börek,” Carson, as he did previously, copied right off Ayesha’s notes: a beautifully crisp wonton wrapper with a bland crema.

Despite the underwhelming crema, Laurence came out on top in Round 1, setting him on the path to “kick Bobby’s a**.”

Round 2: The (Cheung) Fun Begins!

One of the most important rules of battle is to know your enemy. Chef Laurence knows Bobby Flay, and he knows he’s never cooked cheung fun before. The Cantonese dim sum classic is a steamed rice noodle rolled up and loaded with pork, shrimp, and vegetables and topped with a healthy dose of soy sauce. Chef Laurence made a name for himself putting a modern spin on Southern Chinese dishes like cheung fun. But the first rule of Beat Bobby Flay: never underestimate the G.O.A.T.

He’s only eaten the dish a couple of times (which sounded generous), but as Ayesha warned, “Bobby’s got tricks up his sleeve.”

Chef Laurence got to work dual-wielding cleavers to turn slabs of pork shoulder into a pile of ground meat, infinitely cooler than using a meat grinder (and something one of the judges took note of later on). In addition to the traditional shrimp and minced pork, he added Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts, topping it off with toasted ginger-scallion panko and pickled chilies. “Best one I ever made in my life,” Laurence bragged.

On the other side of the kitchen, Ayesha gave Bobby a taste of his own medicine: “I’m gonna do what you do to me when you sit at my bar and watch me cook.” She turned to the audience and explained, “Bobby comes to my restaurants, and the kitchens are all open with the bar there, and he likes to sit there and pretend that he’s talking to his guest when he’s watching me cook.”

A few minutes later, as Bobby plated his cheung fun, the tissue-thin rice noodle cracked down the middle as it moved from the pan to the plate. This gave Carson the ultimate opportunity for a food joke: “Do you think they look good or do they look like crêpe?” (Asking the King of Brunch if he's making crêpes is a frequent heckle on Beat Bobby Flay.) To distract from the chasm in the middle of his cheung fun, Bobby garnished his with sweet soy sauce, chili oil, crunchy garlic and chives.

Don’t Make Fun of His Cheung Fun

Round 2’s judges, Chris Cheung, Emmeline Zhao and Wilson Tang, made it known how easy it is to mess up cheung fun. It was also clear they knew whose dish was whose during the blind taste test, talking about Bobby’s like it was a valiant first attempt. Conversely, they judged Laurence’s as they would one that’s the result of years of trial and error.

Chris loved the hand-chopped filling and rolling technique, Emmeline was impressed by the modernized array of textures and flavors, and Wilson declared, “The addition of Chinese sausage is — poof — mind-blowing.”

“IT’S LAURENCE!” screamed Ayesha, basking in the glow of Bobby’s defeat.

The judges gave a simple explanation: “All of us agreed that the skin was just better.”