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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.
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!
This is definitely one I wanted to make sure you folks are aware of for a whole bunch of reasons. Back in August 2017, there was an Iron Chef charity dinner at the legendary Sydney Opera House that raised $26,500 AUD for Opportunity International Australia (via Dining For Charity) to help alleviate poverty in Asia.
It featured Iron Chefs Sakai, Chen, Michiba and Kobe in what was, in all likelihood, Kobe’s final Iron Chef event before his tragic death in 2019, and while that would be amazing enough, they weren’t alone. Joining them was Chen’s son Chen Kentaro, seen cheering on his father in King of Iron Chefs and as a challenger in Iron Chef Yomigaeru, who had received two Michelin stars by that point. Others who assisted included Singaporean patissier Janice Wong, considered the best in Asia and who fittingly helped with the desserts, and executive chef Hal Yamashita.
There is a Japanese TV documentary on the event that has no subtitles that both shows the event itself and the behind-the-scenes preparations for the event, while the official event website in English is still up – including the menu. Hope everyone enjoys!
Official Event Website (English) – Event Menu
The fine folks at Tofugu posted this story about one of Iron Chef Chen’s mabodofu restaurants.
https://www.tofugu.com/travel/chin-kenichi-mabodofu/
And there is a note at the end of the story that they are working on a series of articles about other Iron Chef restaurants in the Tokyo area.