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In late April 2019, there was an Iron Chef collaboration with the long-running NHK show Today’s Menu (きょうの料理) to celebrate the end of the Heisei Era when Emperor Akihito (son of Hirohito) abdicated the Chrysanthemum Throne and was succeeded by Crown Prince Naruhito.
It featured Sakai, Michiba, Chen and even Kenji Fukui in a collaboration that would normally be unthinkable since Fuji TV and NHK are competitors, which goes to show how big an occasion the end of a emperor’s era is in Japan.
All three Iron Chefs participated in one of the show’s long-running segments, “Dinner in 20 Minutes”, which was actually conceived by Katsuyo Kobayashi, the chef who bested Chen in Battle Potato I (232).
Today’s Menu has been airing since November 4th, 1957 and its list of guests includes Chen Kenmin and a younger Michiba, as NHK Archives on Facebook posted:
Fans of the Iron Chef Indonesian Junket episode with Morimoto and Michiba will likely enjoy this. TV Tokyo aired an approximate 90-minute special that appears to be sometime during the show’s original run (can’t tell exactly when, though). Part travel documentary and part cooking show, it featured Michiba, Chen and Sakai visiting and cooking in Shanghai, Seoul and Ho Chi Minh City. The three Iron Chefs took turns to do the cooking from stop to stop, which meant Michiba cooked in Shanghai while Chen cooked in Seoul and Sakai cooked in Ho Chi Minh City). Joining in is another face that will be familiar to Iron Chef fans – Yoko Akino, the actress, cookbook author and frequent Iron Chef judge.
Definitely highlights all around and no bad parts, but what jumped out to me were Michiba handing Shanghai crabs (since Chen was the Iron Chef challenged both times Shanghai crab was the theme) and Chen helping prepare the Chen family signature Mapo Doufu (Tofu) but served bibimbap style (in a sizzling pot with vegetable toppings) for a unique Korean twist.
If memory serves me correctly, last year, I’ve spoken a number of times about having contributors for the site, and I’m pleased that, as 2021 begins, we have our first two!
Please welcome Carlos as a contributor to the site. Carlos is an Orlando resident and Disney fan who enjoys sharing Iron Chef facts and memories, including some lesser-known ones. He’s come with a number of tips and tidbits that you probably did not know about before and is excited to continue to share throughout the year. Look for his first contributions in the “Beyond Kitchen Stadium” section of the site!
I’m also pleased to welcome Greg as a site contributor as well. Greg’s contributions will be coming throughout the year over time as part of our “deeper dive” strategy into Iron Chef Japan’s original run.
Throughout 2020, I’ve continued to receive requests from site members about watching episodes on this site or downloading episodes from this site or its archives. Under my leadership, this site will continue to respect the rights of the original copyright holders meaning that, until the licensing agreement changes to allow us direct access to show materials, we are unable to directly host episode recordings or episode download links (including torrent files and other P2P opportunities) on site-owned properties. Any site posts or comments which do so are subject to removal and the accounts used for those subject to ban or blocking.
The rights to Iron Chef Japan may have changed recently with respect to the USA-based Food Network channel – they seem to have pulled that content from their lineup. Cooking Channel has as well. I would love to host a show schedule here so folks can find when the show might be on a network they have access to. So far I haven’t found it available on any streaming platform such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, though there are some Twitch channels that love the show (https://www.twitch.tv/ironchef_episodes).
If you’re interested in becoming a site contributor, writer, researcher, etc – please reach out by GMail and contact me at ironcheffansinfo@gmail.com and let me know what you’d be interested in sharing on the site! We have plenty of new spaces for recipes, anecdotes, and rare content honoring the Iron Chef shows!
As my intro/profile says, I’m a Disney fan living in Orlando, so I’m definitely excited to talk about the restaurant that Iron Chef Japanese Morimoto has had at Disney Springs (originally Downtown Disney) at Walt Disney World since October 2015.
It’s Morimoto’s first pan-Asian restaurant, focusing not just on Japanese food but also Chinese, Korean and Thai food as well. When I ate there with my mother, I assured her that the sushi had to be good given that Morimoto started out as a sushi chef, and she was thrilled that that was indeed the case. Personally, yet another reason I like it is that it has good ramen – one of the rare things that had been hard to find considering all of Walt Disney World’s food offerings. A Quick Service option, Morimoto Asia Street Food, is also present.
The restaurant is also a partnership with Patina Group, which also associates with Disney Parks Italian restaurants including Tutto Italia, Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar and Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria at the Italian Showcase at Epcot and Catal Restaurant and Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria at Disneyland in Anaheim.
Reservations may be made either on the restaurant’s main website or through the Walt Disney World website – I recommend the latter especially if you are visiting the parks so you can keep all your plans together. Be advised that the restaurant did reopen when Disney Springs reopened in July after a temporary closure due to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic and I made sure to go there, but they were working back up to a full menu (though I definitely and thankfully still enjoyed myself!)
This one’s more funny and lighthearted, but it is definitely cool. A Japanese variety show, Unnan no Rough na Kanji de, had a May 2010 episode that was part of what was called the “We Didn’t Expect that You Would Say OK to Do It!!” Tour. Here’s where Iron Chef comes into the picture: Iron Chef Sakai was challenged to make fried rice while Iron Chef Chen was challenged to make pasta…and both agreed!
The hosts watched Sakai and Chen prepare the dishes and then voted on which dish they liked better without asking each other, and this is where a particularly comic twist comes in: only those who voted for the winning dish got a whole plate! A lot of Iron Chef references including via music (including Show Me Your Firetruck and Burn It All), so I wanted to make sure you folks got this.
As far as I can tell (with my limited Japanese, some of which I got from watching Iron Chef subbed or raw), here’s what I found each dish included. If I missed something, do let me know pronto via comments so I can get it straight.
Remember how Gordon Elliott was the English-speaking host for the New York Special battle and how the footage leading up to the battle showed Iron Chefs Japanese Michiba and Morimoto preparing a surprise dinner for a family in Rye (just outside New York City) using just leftovers and other items in the family’s refrigerator? Someone has posted a nearly 10-minute cut as it appeared on Door Knock Dinners with a lot of Iron Chef references, including “dubs” and Elliott channeling Takeshi Kaga.
For added perspective, the list of chefs who have cooked on Door Knock Dinners includes Tyler Florence and Paula Deen.
Hope everyone enjoys!