Ming Tsai, Marcus Samuelsson's 'Iron Legend'-worthy recipes

The two new Iron Chefs from the culinary competition reboot join "GMA."

July 22, 2022, 8:13 AM

"Iron Chef" is back and the newly streaming reboot, "Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend," takes a supersized approach to the ground-breaking culinary competition that started it all.

The culinary challenge, where world-class cuisine meets high-octane sports, brings five new trailblazing Iron Chefs into the Kitchen Stadium arena with challenger chefs. The competition's most successful challenger will then return to battle in a grand finale episode for the chance to be named the first ever "Iron Legend."

To celebrate the return to Kitchen Stadium, celebrity chefs Ming Tsai and Marcus Samuelsson joined "Good Morning America," along with host Alton Brown and judge Nilou Motamed, to face off with dishes worthy of an Iron Chef.

The chefs were both presented with a secret ingredient and asked to make pineappled the star of their dish.

"Pineapples are awesome, they're so sweet so I like to bring some heat -- to balance the sweet and spice," Tsai said as he whipped up a spicy pineapple salsa to go with his fried rice.

"What's incredible about both of you you've gone in completely different directions yet both are a great success," Moutomad said after tasting the two creations. "Ming, what you did with the pineapple is super smart with the secret ingredient -- you ended up using it and mellowing it out, but still getting nice spice off it. I mean fried rice, it's kind of a walk in the park."

"Marcus -- you made it a little bit almost with an Italian twist because of the cheese," she said of his shrimp and pasta dish.

Check out their full recipes below.

Chef Ming Tsai's Watercress Fried Rice with Watercress Salad

Ingredients
1 package plant-based chorizo (Tsai prefers Before the Butcher Chorizo)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 bunch scallions, sliced; greens and whites separated
1 jalapeno, minced (pith and seeds removed)
1 cup plant-based egg substitute, scrambled (Tsai prefers JUST Egg)
3 cups cooked jasmine rice, hot
2 cups chopped watercress, 1 cup whole leaves for salad (Tsai prefers B&W watercress)
2 tablespoons dim sum dipper
1 lemon, juice, and zest
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grapeseed oil, for cooking

Pineapple salsa
2 cups diced pineapple
2 tablespoons Dim Sum Dipper, (recipe below)
2 tablespoons minced ginger
Scallion greens

Dim Sum Dipper
2 parts soy sauce
1 part rice vinegar
1/2 part sambal

Directions

Place wok over high heat, coat lightly with grapeseed oil and add the chorizo. Cook through.

To the same wok, add the scallion whites, garlic and ginger. Stir. Add the jalapeno, egg substitute, jasmine rice, and chopped watercress. Stir.

Add dim sum dipper and mix well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining watercress, lemon juice and zest, and olive oil. Season with more salt and pepper, to taste.

In another small bowl, mix the pineapple salsa.

Plate the fried rice with watercress salad, garnish with scallion greens, serve hot and enjoy!

Chef Tsai's Tips:
The white pith is spiciest part of the jalapeno.
When it comes to scallions, the white is stronger, which can be used for cooking, while the greens are for garnish.
Watercress has abundant benefits with six times the vitamin C of fresh orange juice.
Plant-based proteins are impressively good.

Marcus Samuelsson's Shrimp and Risoni

Samuelsson said the quick cooking pasta is a perfect ingredient to treat like a risotto when you have less time.

Ingredients
1 cup risoni cooked as directed on package
8 pieces 16/20 peeled and deveined shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup crushed canned tomatoes
1/2 cup clam juice
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup fresh corn kernels
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 lemon cut in half
10 leaves each of basil, cilantro, and mint
Salt to taste

Directions

Place olive oil in a paella pan over high heat. Add in shrimp and sear for 1 minute on each side. Remove from pan. Add in garlic and reduce heat to medium. Cook garlic for 2 minutes then add in tomato, clam juice, coconut milk, cumin and paprika and simmer for 5 minutes. Add risoni and cook for 1 minute then stir in the peas, corn and shrimp. Let cook 3 more minutes until the shrimp are done and the risoni starts to caramelize a bit in the pan. Garnish with lemons, parmesan, and herbs.

Chef Samuelsson's Tips:

The shrimp can be any kind/varietal that you like.
You can add other proteins if desired like sausage or even other seafood.
It's important to let the risoni caramelize a bit on the bottom of the pan so fight the urge to stir at the end.