This is the third edition of our Iron Chef Collection Exclusives Episodes of the Month. Of course, this is where we present to you Iron Chef episodes that did not air on Food Network. Today, we present our Episodes of the Month for September. Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll.
- There are many Iron Chef specials that did not air on Food Network. We have been able to bring some of them to you over the last few months (Japan Cup, Millennium Special, Morimoto Retrospective), and this month, we bring you another one. In the final year of the regular run of Iron Chef, Morimoto and Michiba made a visit to Indonesia. The episode is unique for Iron Chef in that there is no actual competition. There is a great write up about these episodes done by the Iron Chef Reporter way back when the show was airing on local California television. (ICR Report Pt 1, ICR Report Pt 2)
- The second choice from the poll this month is the Pitan battle. Pitan is also known as “Thousand-year-old egg” is an egg that has been preserved for several weeks to several months. Chen vs. Takagi.
- The final addition this month is another unique one in that there was not a theme ingredient. The theme of the episode was Hanami (花見). Hanami is the Japanese tradition of enjoying the beauty of flowers, usually Sakura (桜) or cherry blossoms. The episode aired during the traditional Hanami time of the year. The judging takes place outdoors under the cover of Sakura. Nakamura vs. You
The following episodes may be found in our episode database: Indonesia Special Part 1 (
720aOA), Indonesia Special part 2 (
720bOA), Pitan Battle (
519OA), Hanami (
513OA)
tuthead
30 September, 2008
The most famous version of this song was released by the Bobby Fuller Four. (I kind of like the Green Day version myself.) These theme ingredients tried to use their claws to fight the Iron Chefs, but none of them won. Well, if you count being turned into a tasty dish as “winning”, then maybe they did.
- Lobster (227) – Sakai vs. Shimizu – The challenger was once the head chef at the Japan branch of La Tour d’Argent.
- Shanghai Crab (244) – Chen vs. Sugita – The challenger is the first Peking-style Chinese chef to do battle in Kitchen Stadium.
- Hair Crab (343) – Chen vs. Ikegawa – The challenger was once a sumo wrestler.
- Lobster (636) – Sakai vs. Seigel – It has been ten years since Ron Siegel visited Kitchen Stadium. Here is a recent interview with the American chef who took on Sakai in a seafood battle and won.
- King Crab (705) – Miromoto vs. Iio – The challenger is trying to be the third from the Royal Park Hotel, Tokyo to get a win in Kitchen Stadium.
The following episodes may be found by searching our video database:
227,
244,
343,
636,
705
New in the database this week: 227, 244, 705
Next week’s Episodes of the Week post will be our monthly ICC Exclusives post. Don’t forget to vote for your choice of episodes in the poll on the left. The poll will close this weekend.
tuthead
23 September, 2008
The theme ingredients this week had an advantage over the chefs in Kitchen Stadium. Unfortunately for them, the fact that they had more arms than their human adversaries meant little once the Gong of Fate sounded. The theme for the Episodes of the Week this week is armed sea creatures.
- Octopus (106) – Chen vs. Kazuhiko – One of the first season battles. (Never aired on Food Network)
- Squid (Surumeika) (632) – Sakai vs. Miura – The challenger is an expert at using garlic.
- Octopus (645) – Kobe vs. Yoneda – Japanese pop star Go Hiromi. (A performance by Go Hiromi has been added to Beyond Kitchen Stadium this week.)
- Cuttlefish (Aoriika) (731) – Morimoto vs. Watanabe – The challenger is the head chef at one of the restaurants operated by one of the largest companies in Japan.
New in the database this week: 632, 645, 731, BKS-Go Hiromi
tuthead
16 September, 2008
To paraphrase the classic line from Daffy Duck in Rabbit Seasoning, “He doesn’t have to cook me now. Wait ’til you get to Kitchen Stadium.” And since we’ve already seen Elmer Fudd in action in the kitchen, let’s leave it to the Iron Chefs this time. I thought Daffy would fit right in this week as our Episodes of the Week theme is bird battles.
- Duck (219) – Sakai vs. Kimura – The challenger is very devoted to creating Chinese cuisine.
- Quail (246) – Sakai vs. Kawasaki – The challenger is one of the best in Japan at Gibier (game meat) cooking.
- Turkey (248) – Michiba vs. Furusho – The manager of the Yakult Swallows recommended this challenger. (And I found another reason to like Mayuko Takata: She’s an Ichiro fan.)
- Duck (644) – Sakai vs. Hazama – The challenger is the third generation of a gourmet family.
The following episodes may be found by searching our video database:
219,
246,
248,
644
New in the database this week: 219, 246, 248, 644
We would also like to announce our latest project, the
Iron Chef Collection Wiki. To be honest with you, it still has a long way to go before it is as complete and as useful as we think it will eventually become, but we thought it was time to let everyone know it is there. We added a link to the blogroll a couple of weeks ago, and we had links on a few of the download pages, so some of you may have already made your way over there. It runs on the same platform as Wikipedia, so if you’ve ever edited a Wikipedia page, you can comfortably edit one of ours. We encourage everyone to add and edit pages to make it a true community resource for all the Iron Chef fans out there.
tuthead
10 September, 2008
My Mayuko Takata love continues with yet another addition to Beyond Kitchen Stadium featuring my favorite Iron Chef judge of all time. This video is an episode of Mago Mago Arashi that originally aired in Japan on 6/2/2007.
This episode features two members of the Japanese singing group Arashi trying to take vegetables and cook them in such a way that a pair of picky eater children will eat them. Their guest is Mayuko Takata. The parents of the children tell the guys that their kids don’t like carrots, peppers, or eggplant. Their challenge is to make dishes with those ingredients that the kids will eat and enjoy. Takata offers some cooking tips to the boys, but her biggest contribution is showing off her mothering skills and getting the crying little girl to take a nap. (And we get to see a side of Takata we never saw on Iron Chef when the boys keep trying to use the blender when the girls are sleeping. I wouldn’t mess with her if I were there.)
This video is in Japanese with no subtitles, but it is still a fun watch.
This video, along with many others, may be found in our Beyond Kitchen Stadium section.
tuthead
5 September, 2008