ICC Exclusive – Managatsuo Battle – Nakamura vs. Son

After a long absence, I have returned with a new episode for you. More should follow before next weekend.

The challenger is the grandson of a very famous chef who specialized in Shanghai cuisine. He was trained by his father and became a head chef at the age of 32. He is said to be the number one young chef in Yokohama Chinatown.

What makes this episode a rare and special treat for current Iron Chef fans is that it comes from the time before Iron Chef was aired on Food Network. It was recorded from one of the local stations broadcasting the show. (In fact, it still has some local commercials intact.) It is in Japanese WITH English subtitles. I know you will enjoy being able to experience this rare episode not shown in North America in over 10 years.

There are two options for viewing this episode. The pop-up player will use the usual divx encoded file. This smaller, lower quality file can also be downloaded directly using the “Download File” option. Also in the download menu this time is an option to download a higher quality VOB file (approx. 1.6GB). (You can play the vob file in VLC Player.)

New in the video database this week: 425s – Managatsuo Battle – Nakamura vs. Son

I thought I’d add this link sent to me by frequent commenter and contributor Hevilift. Iron Chef Chen and Iron Chef Sakai are in Australia for an Iron Chef dinner. Enjoy the article.

ICC Exclusive – Bacon Battle – Sakai vs. Batton

This is another one of those episodes where you will instantly recognize the challenger, despite the fact that you probably have not seen the episode yet. Why? Food Network (or Fuji) chose to include many chefs from 1996/1997 episodes they chose not to air in the added Food Network opening to the show. This is one of them.

Philippe Batton saw his mentor and two of his friends go down in defeat at the hands of Iron Chef Sakai. He began his culinary training at the age of 15. He became a head chef at the young age of 32. (He still lives in Japan. Here is a website for his restaurants.) Will the young French chef have what it takes to defeat an Iron Chef?

(Edit 3/22) – Only four days after posting this episode, I saw this story on one of the sites I read everyday. What are the odds?

(Edit 3/25) – Be sure to check out the comments to this post. You’ll see that we had a VERY SPECIAL visitor to the site. 🙂

What makes this episode a rare and special treat for current Iron Chef fans is that it comes from the time before Iron Chef was aired on Food Network. It was recorded from one of the local stations broadcasting the show. (In fact, it still has some local commercials intact.) It is in Japanese WITH English subtitles. I know you will enjoy being able to experience this rare episode not shown in North America in over 10 years. (And it has BACON!!)

There are two options for viewing this episode. The pop-up player will use the usual divx encoded file. This smaller, lower quality file can also be downloaded directly using the “Download File” option. Also in the download menu this time is an option to download a higher quality VOB file (approx. 1.0GB). (You can play the vob file in VLC Player.)

New in the video database this week: 426s – Bacon – Sakai vs. Baton (subbed)

Please make sure to thank our anonymous benefactor for continuing to provide us with these great episodes.

More Episodes on the Way

Hi, everybody.

I know it has been over a month since the last update, and I’m sorry about that. The good news is that you will be rewarded for your patience. I recently received 5 more pre-FN subtitled episodes that I will add over the next couple of weeks. Ryori no Tetsujin kono ato.

All from 1996 – Pomphret, Bacon, Clam, Fatty Tuna, Oyster

ICC Exclusives – Salmon Roe and Winter Melon

It is time for another pair of episodes that are exclusive to the Iron Chef Collection. Neither one of these episodes ever aired on Food Network.

• First is the Salmon Roe (Ikura) battle between Hiroyuki Sakai and the first challenger from Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. The challenger is considered one of the three best chefs in Hokkaido. He opened his award-winning restaurant at the age of 27. For 20 years, he has set the standard for quality cuisine in Hokkaido. (Keep an eye out for the current Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, at the judges table.) This episode is in Japanese WITH English subtitles.
• From the cool waters off the island of Hokkaido, we go to the warm islands southwest of Honshu: the Ryuku Islands for our second challenger this evening. The challenger leads a kitchen at a hotel on Okinawa. He is the first challenger from Okinawa to do battle in Kitchen Stadium. I don’t remember seeing Asako Kishi sitting at the announcing table before, but perhaps she should have done it more often. They seem to be having a great time during this episode. While I acquired this episode from the same source as our recent subtitled episodes, it appears to have been recorded in Japan. This episode is in Japanese with NO English subtitles. (There is some static in the audio of this file.)

New in the database this week: Salmon Roe – 424sub and Winter Melon – 440OA. Enjoy

More episodes this week

I am working on getting two more episodes (1 Subbed, 1 Japanese) ready for posting. I really doubt they will go up tonight, but they will be up by the end of the week. Sorry for the delay.

ICC Exclusive – Beijing Battle – Final

Today, I give you the final battle from the Beijing Special. Chen Kenichi takes on Son Rihei in the shark fin battle. (I didn’t have time to watch the whole battle again and make notes this morning. I will try to do some more early next week, if needed.) Again, a HUGE thank you to our secret Santa who provided this episode.

• Fukui asks the judges about their mood before the final battle. Saito says she is excited (“doki doki”). Tanimura says it feels like the World Series and that he is nervous (“kincho”).
• Does anybody know the music that was used for Kaga’s entrance? It certainly had a dramatic feel to it that set the mood perfectly.
• The theme ingredient cost about $20,000 (2,000,000 yen)
• Keep your eyes open for a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial.
• Chen has a problem getting the theme ingredient. Is a mistake this early in the battle a bad omen?
• The challenger may be using the same orange juice based soup he used in the preliminary battle. (I couldn’t understand enough to know for sure).
• After finding out that the challenger is using melon, Fukui comments, “Yesterday oranges. Today melons.”
• The challenger’s daughter said that her dad was “really cool.”

This episode appears to have been recorded from the original Japanese television broadcast. As a result, the episode is in Japanese with NO subtitles. All commercials and breaks are intact. Enjoy.

There are two options for viewing this episode. The pop-up player will use the usual divx encoded file. This smaller, lower quality file can also be downloaded directly using the “Download File” option. Also in the download menu this time is an option to download a higher quality VOB file (approx. 1.7GB). (You can play the vob file in VLC Player.)

New in the database this week: Beijing Special – Final Battle