Originally aired on YPR’s Flavors Under the Big Sky
Lee Johnson, owner and chef at MontAsia in Fishtail, became the first chef from Montana to compete on the Food Network’s culinary competition show, Chopped. Competitors are given ingredients to create an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The show, Mizuna Matata, aired on March 4 with Chef Lee competing against Jen Williams from Colorado, Soleil Ramirez of Minnesota, and Michael Sibert of South Carolina.
The show derived its name from the first ingredient found in the mystery basket. Matata is from the original phrase in Swahili and the plural form of “trouble” or “entanglement.”
At the watch party at MontAsia, Chef Lee shares, “Mizuna, I made the executive decision to pretend that I knew what it was when I saw it. I knew it was green; it looked like arugula, so I was thinking spicy and peppery, and it turned out to be Japanese mustard greens.”…