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I previously had this episode in Japanese only. Now, I am happy to present it to you with subtitles.
It’s the Prince of Pasta vs. The Prince of Chinese. The Chairman admits he is jealous of these two princes and decides to throw a “thorny” theme their way. The challenger began cooking at the age of 15. After 7 years, he went to the US to continue his training. He returned at age 31 to become head chef of the 500-seat Peking Hanten.
541sub – Chestnut Battle – Masahiko Kobe vs. Yuji Seki – 10/31/1997
This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.
The challenger is a talented French chef who satisfied many entertainers in his restaurant. Chairman Kaga calls him a magician with salt.
Now, he appears to be at La Palme d’Or in Mie Prefecture. You can see his pages Here and Here. (Both sites are in Japanese.)
540OA – Freshwater Prawn Battle – Hiroyuki Sakai vs. Masashi Goto – 10/27/1997
This episode is in Japanese with no subtitles.
The challenger’s restaurant is often visited by Crown Prince Akihito, Princess Masako and Princess Kiko. He started his culinary training at the age of 15. He became a head chef at 24. The Chairman spent 1 million yen on the theme ingredient for these young chefs. (That’s a little over $12,000 now, about $8,200 back then.)
You can visit the challenger’s restaurant’s homepage here. (Unfortunately, there is not an English version of it.)
537sub – Matsutake Battle – Masahiko Kobe vs. Fujio Imai – 10/3/1997
This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.
This challenger is the youngest ever to enter Kitchen Stadium. At the young age of 22, she already heads the kitchen of a bustling Chinese restaurant in Tokyo. She was only 7 when she began helping her father in the kitchen that she eventually took over. She feels that a chef’s job is more important than that of a doctor. Once again, Chen is called upon to take on a female challenger.
See how the challenger looks now (almost 15 years later) by visiting her homepage.
536sub – Cucumber Battle – Chen Kenichi vs. Miyuki Igarashi – 9/26/1997
This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.
The challenger has declined many invitations from Chairman Kaga to do battle in Kitchen Stadium. He heads a French restaurant in Aoyama, Tokyo. He trained in top restaurants in France. It’s a French on French battle as Toshiyuki Nakajima takes on Iron Chef Sakai in Battle Beef Cheek.
To add to the tension, apparently Sakai’s restaurant is not far from the challenger’s. According to Google Maps, it’s about a 10 minute walk between restaurants. See for yourself here. (This location of La Rochelle has closed as of 9/30/11, but this is where it was in 1997.)
For more information about the challenger’s restaurant, visit the website here.
535sub – Beef Cheek Battle – Hiroyuki Sakai vs. Toshiyuki Nakajima – 9/12/1997
This episode is in Japanese with English subtitles.
Three of these episodes have been available in their original airing Japanese language form for some time, but now I am able to add the English subtitled versions.
— 531 – Eggplant – Chen vs. Kawaguchi – The challenger is a Bhuddist monk who specializes in vegetarian dishes.
— 532 – Melon – Sakai vs. Androsoni – Another dessert battle for the undefeated Sakai. The challenger won a top dessert award in Italy as a young chef.
— 533 – Potato – Nakamura vs. Kojima – This battle is a comedy of errors. How bad was it? So bad that Chairman Kaga had to do something he had never done before.
— 534 – Shiroshita Flounder – Nakamura vs. Kojima – A rematch between the combatants from episode 533.
Enjoy.