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Here are the next installments from the elusive first season of Ryouri no Tetsujin.
Ryouri no Tetsujin 102 – The theme of the preliminary battle is Omurice. (From the reactions of the judges, some of these preliminary challengers didn’t do a very good job.) The main battle features Yousei Kobayakawa vs Rokusaburo Michiba. How will a traditional Japanese chef like Michiba handle a very non-Japanese ingredient? Like a master.
Even though it is his debut battle, look for the Michiba staples: the written menu and his Inochi no Dashi (aka Broth of Vigor).
Ryouri no Tetsujin 103 – The preliminary battle is a matchup of Spaghetti. Half of the challengers seem to be non-chefs this time. And the eventual winner is an Italian chef. (Kind of seems like they already knew who they wanted to be the challenger in the final battle.) This episode features the debut of Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi. The theme will be Fugu. Given the specialized skill needed to properly prepare Fugu, Kitchen Stadium provides trained Fugu experts to cut the fish apart for the chefs. (It should be noted that the Chairman Kaga character will eventually be “killed” by unproperly prepared fugu.)
Ryouri no Tetsujin 104 – The preliminary battle in this episode has a theme of Korokke (Croquette). Among the challengers is a 17 year-old student and a chef from La Rochelle. (Does that restaurant name sound familiar? It should. It’s the restaurant headed by future Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai.) The final is a French on French match-up. The theme is not a French theme, however, as the Chairman unveils Tofu. (“Shokuzai” = Ingredient) Ishinabe can only laugh while the challenger has a look of trepidation on his face.
私の記憶が確かならば. . .
If my memory is correct. . .I was going to try to think of something clever to write here, but I feel I would be downplaying the importance of the video I’m presenting to you today by doing that.
Many of you have probably already guessed what today’s special post is going to be. You are correct if you guessed that today’s special presentation is the first episode of the first season of Ryouri no Tetsujin.
Of course, the format of the show changed dramatically from the first episodes that aired in the fall of 1993.
–The show was only 30 minutes long when it started.
–There were two “battles” each episode. There was a preliminary battle between five outside challengers, and then a final battle between the preliminary winner and the Iron Chef.
–The cooking time for the final battle was 90 minutes (we barely get to see any of it in the show.)
But you also see the foundations of what we expect from an episode of Iron Chef. The Backdraft music is there in all its glory; Announcers Kenji Fukui and Yukio Hattori are there; Familiar judges are part of the tasting panel; a newly opened Kitchen Stadium is still the centerpiece of the show. And Chairman Kaga (looking young and eager to open his Bishoku Academy) takes his bell pepper bite in the same opening sequence that has become so familiar to us.
There will be more episodes from the first year of the show coming very soon to the site. I just thought that Season 1, Episode 1 deserved to be presented on its own. Enjoy this rare piece of Iron Chef history and finally see how it all began.
Iron Chef Episode 1 – Iron Chef Ishinabe vs. Maruyama – 10/10/1993
Everyone should give a special thank you to CraigV for finding and sharing these rare first season episodes with us.
SPECIAL NOTE: This, and the other first season episodes I’ll upload soon, all came from the recent rebroadcasts on FujiTV ONE. While these episodes have been found, we’re basically at the mercy of an anonymous Japanese uploader to continue sharing them. If you have the ability to provide these videos to us directly, please contact me. We don’t know how long Fuji will continue these rebroadcasts, so we would hate to miss this wonderful opportunity to see more original episodes.
As you probably know, there is no new Iron Chef Yomigaeru episode from Japan again this week. The show is scheduled to return to the Japanese airwaves on February 15th. But don’t fear, Iron Chef fans, you won’t have to go the whole weekend without new content.
Check back Friday morning (US time) for a very special addition to the Iron Chef Collection. Trust me when I say you won’t be disappointed.
There is no new Iron Chef Yomigaeru episode tonight, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share another classic Iron Chef special with you.
Tonight, I present the Iron Chef World Cup 1995. Kaga is taking Kitchen Stadium to, well. . .an actual stadium.
Some things to look for in the first ten minutes:
–Kaga makes quite an entrance.
–I love the parade of all the previous challengers (look for your favorites).
–And how great would it have been to sit in the stands and enjoy the live orchestra and choir presenting the theme music.
The first challenger is the head of a three star restaurant in France, Pierre Gagnaire. (You may remember him from the France Special and the recently added BKS video that followed Takeshi Kaga to various restaurants to celebrate his milestone years.) Next is an Italian chef whose restaurant rated 19.6 out of 20 in an Italian restaurant guide similar to the Michelin guide, Gianfranco Vissani. The third chef in this World Cup challenge is from the Regal Hong Kong Hotel, Hui Shing. And finally, we have Iron Chef Rokusaburo Michiba to round out the quartet of master chefs.
We get to see highlights from the two preliminary battles that were held to determine the finalists.
–Gianfranco Vissani vs. Pierre Gagnaire in the Europe battle with a theme ingredient of Maguro (Tuna)
–Rokusaburo Michiba vs. Hui Shing in the Asia battle with a theme ingredient of Ika (Squid).
Michiba vs. Vissani in the final. Who will be crowed the champion of Iron Chef World Cup 1995.
Ep. 339OA – Iron Chef World Cup 1995 – Michiba vs. Vissani – Duck – 10/6/1995
This episode is in Japanese with NO subtitles.
It’s hard to believe it was five years ago today, on February 1, 2008, that this website went live.
For those who don’t know the history of the site: There used to be a website called Stage6, which could be described as kind of like a divx driven Youtube. (And that’s why a lot of the older episodes here are in divx format.) People could create channels and upload videos. I stumbled upon an Iron Chef channel and noticed I had some episodes that they didn’t have available. At some point in late 2007, a lot of the videos were removed from the channel by the website. (I still don’t know why.) It was then decided that it would be a good idea to put up our own site to host the episodes. I’m the only one still around for updating this site (as sporadic as that gets sometimes), but it wouldn’t be here without those from the Stage6 days like DoomTurtle (Bill), Hevilift (Paul), Silent Inferno (James), Lostbabee (Angie), and I’m sure many others I’ve forgotten. (So sorry if I did. Let me know and I’ll gladly add you to the list.)
There have been many highlights during these last five years.
–We now have access to the entire run of dubbed episodes that were aired on Food Network.
–I have added 60+ episodes that Food Network never aired including many subtitled episodes from the pre-FN days and original Japanese language broadcasts. (And I still have more. I just need to get them up for you.)
–Over 75 videos in Beyond Kitchen Stadium where you get to see Iron Chef in a new light.
–Added several specials including World Cup 1997, Beijing Special, Japan Cup 2002
–Received a request from family of a challenger to see their episode. And I’m now Facebook “friends” with two challengers.
–While it isn’t the only place on the internet to get a copy of the new Japanese episodes, I try to make it one of the most convenient for you.
And you can still read every post that’s ever been made here, from that first one, to some of my goofy Episodes of the Week posts, up through today. (I was hoping we would hit 400,000 downloads before this anniversary day hit, but I’m still about 700 short of that number as of this morning.)
I will have a new “classic” special ready to go up tonight. Look forward to that.
Thank you all for your support, comments, and suggestions for these last five years. I look forward to many more.
Keith (aka Tuthead)
The Iron Chef Collection
Even though we’ve all heard the rumors that the show will be cancelled soon, let’s not worry about that right now and enjoy the next episode.
Once again, Kumiko Mori acts as the roving reporter for the show, visiting the home restaurant of tonight’s nominee. He is a chef for Hoshino Resorts. He will represent Japan at this year’s Bocuse d’Or in just a few days. He is Noriyuki Hamada. He will face “Mr. Perfect” Iron Chef Wakiya Yuji. It is a battle of French cuisine heavyweights.
Iron Chef Yomigaeru – Episode 9 – Iron Chef Wakiya vs. Noriyuki Hamada – 1/25/2013
I may try to go through and point out things that I am able to understand and/or look up. Anything below this point WILL contain spoilers.