Let's hear it for fan participation! Chopped viewers finally get their chance to weigh in on a weighty question: What should go into the mystery baskets? In the first round of this special competition, the chefs must figure out how to make the fans proud by cooking a dish made with a favorite regional meat product. Then for the entrée round, the viewers have chosen a jarred ingredient that few professional chefs are likely to like. Will one chef's ambitious plans backfire as the clock runs out? Then, while trying to figure out how to combine black licorice root with a salty snack food, one of the final two chefs uses a clever time-saving technique in the dessert round.

Snails are the first order of business in the Chopped kitchen. Can the competitors make escargot go with red jalapenos? A mishap with a paper towel leads to a dangerous situation at one chef's station. With Chinese eggplant and ground lamb in the entree basket, three chefs all choose a similar direction for their dishes. Then two very driven finalists compete to make great desserts from garnet yams and roasted noodles.