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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
It’s been almost a year since I was officially announced as the webmaster of this site and it’s safe to say that, like the Spanish Inquisition, none of us expected it to turn out quite this way… 2020 may be wrapping up (and none too soon), but we’re looking forward to 2021 with great anticipation!
Firstly I want to thank everyone who has submitted a comment, a post, feedback, and so on for the site. My first responsibility is to safeguard the site, and my second is to be attentive to the needs of our community. Your interest matters and I always welcome your comments and critique. A very special appreciation goes out to those who have wished me and my family well during this unusual year.
Beginning in January of 2021, I will be starting the project that I’d dreamed of since the day I read the site was looking for a new webmaster: hosting the Internet’s most comprehensive Iron Chef Japan database, since, as many of you know, we are no longer allowed to host, archive, or link to Iron Chef episodes on the site. This project is going to take months to work out and will be rolled into this site by phases. Part of the speed of this challenge is driven by how often the show is continuously re-aired on available channels, and the other part is actually building the new database from information never before captured.
Being a source for Iron Chef Japan data will bring new interest to the site, but will also allow us to offer more expansive and interactive content from the site itself. As always, we appreciate your patience – because this work we’re putting in is a labor of love and not our full time jobs, we must all try to remain flexible on our output and expectations.
In the meantime, our site is as safe as its ever been: most of my work has been weeding bots out of our WP systems and keeping them from accessing the email addresses associated with our comment system. Along with keeping the site secure, the new programs we started this year are still ongoing at the same time: we have sent 45 requests for email interviews out to add to our Interviews section and we’re awaiting replies from the chefs or their agents or press persons. Also, we’re excited to post any submissions we receive from you for “Cook Like An Iron Chef”. Did you try out an Iron Chef’s recipe for the holidays this year? Post it in the comments!
Lastly, we wouldn’t be here without you! If you have any ideas for more options for the site, things you’d like to see, or feedback for the one free webmaster, please send us an email at ironcheffansinfo@gmail.com!
Iron Chef Fans:
I’ve begun a new section on the site for those who enjoy cooking and are inspired by the many plates that are seen on the Iron Chef shows! I call this new section Cook Like an Iron Chef. The plan is for our users to submit their recipes, inspired by foods seen on the Iron Chef shows so that we can showcase fan content here and bring the flavor of Iron Chef to each other! Recipe submissions should be sent to ironcheffansinfo@gmail.com and should contain a list of ingredients, cooking instructions, and plating or serving instructions (if you’re inspired to pull a Sakai-san). Pictures and videos are not mandatory to go with the recipe but would be appreciated!
OK – here goes. I’ve been making this one for my family for a couple of years, and it’s time to share the secret. Here is my recipe inspired by Chen Kenichi’s Prawns in Chili Sauce:
INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs fresh or thawed prawns or large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails on (it’s difficult to find proper prawns in the United States and impossible to get them fresh unless you are very near a coastline)
3/4 cup Heinz Ketchup
1 1/2 cup tobandjan (hot bean paste)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3/4 cup fresh chopped garlic
3 tbsp garlic infused oil (House of Tsang makes a wonderful garlic cottonseed oil perfect for this)
2 cups corn starch, separated into 1 cup portions
1 cup rice flour
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp black pepper
Serve with: White Toast Points or Jasmine Rice
Shortening melted over medium heat for frying, approximately 1 inch depth
Cooking Instructions:
Pat prawns as dry as possible. Use 1 cup of corn starch to coat the prawns all over. Beat the eggs firmly with a whisk and dunk the corn-starch-coated prawns into the egg mixture. Blend the rice flour and the remaining corn starch into a bowl and use this to batter the egg-washed prawns.
Fry prawns to a golden brown color in shortening, carefully turning three times during frying. Rest prawns on a rack after removing from the shortening to drain the excess oil.
Sautee fresh garlic in garlic-infused oil until browned. Add ketchup, rice wine vinegar, and tobandjan to the pan and stir until heated thoroughly. Spin fried prawns in the sauce immediately prior to serving. Garnish with salt and pepper to taste and serve with white toast points or jasmine rice.
Do you Cook Like an Iron Chef too? Send me your ingredients list, recipe, and the episode you were inspired by at ironcheffansinfo@gmail.com and we’ll get it posted here!
Our FIRST chef interview is Chef Philippe Batton, competitor on Iron Chef Japan in Battle Bacon. He graciously allowed us to interview him and we appreciate his time! Read on to learn about this amazing chef!
1/Looking at your time as a guest on the show, was there something that stood out that made Iron Chef something that you will remember, on-camera or off-camera? First I would like to say that this program was so well done, the shooting camera setting, the progress of the story of each series as well was perfectly organized and the story of each challenger was very interesting for the public.
2/Would you say that there has been a single greatest impact of Iron Chef on your career? If so, what has that impact meant to you? Of course it had an impact at the time because I won against iron chef SAKAI, because he was always winning against french chefs, the japanese customers really wanted to try my cuisine. I still have japanese customers who want to take pictures with me and come to my restaurant because I won. I am very happy because I am a french chef in a foreign country and it is very hard sometimes to make yourself famous and recognized.
3/What is your favorite book and why? I have plenty of books I like, I am not focused on only one same as movies, music or other hobbies, I think I am very open and willing to see many different styles. One I really liked was the name of the rose
4/Most of the Iron Chef Fans’ site’s members are culinary amateurs, used to our fair share of kitchen disasters throughout the years. Do you have a strong memory of struggling with a dish, ingredient, or technique that you could share? I would like to say that cuisine is a personal way of thinking and the appreciation of other people about some chefs’ cuisine is sometimes too much. I cannot say that I have a particular memory of struggling with any dishes. But the only technique everybody should pay attention when they are cooking it’s “always try your best, and cook with your heart”
5/What gave you the courage to pursue a culinary profession? The head chefs I met in my apprenticeship gave me this courage by their knowledge and sympathy. I thanks them all and in particular 2 great men, Bernard Noel my first head chef and the head chef of George V Pierre Larapidie.
6/Can you recommend a go-to song, artist, or short playlist that helps charge you up to do your best work? –
7/What advice would you give to people who want to enter the culinary field? Never give up.
8/What do you feel is the greatest thing you have learned about your profession between finishing school and this point in your professional career? Everything in this profession is great, you can go abroad, you can meet new people every day, you can enjoy giving pleasure to others by doing great food. And every day it’s a new challenge.
9/How has the pandemic focused your perspective on the essential nature of culinary-related careers? What do you feel is the best way for us as patrons to support your fellows in the industry? I think we learned from this crisis that we have to pay attention to what we eat and go back to the homemade natural cooking with home made ingredients and fresh products.Please everybody choose first the places where chefs used natural and good fresh products instead of going to cheap fast food. Think first about your health and not about money.
10/ What is the concept, restaurant, or project that you’ve been a part of that you’re most passionate about? My own project and business.
11/ Is there a charity or cause that you’re championing that those visiting our site can learn more about and give to? How has the mission of this organization impacted you? I think we should help orphans and give them a chance with our industry to find a family instead of being alone. I created the Epicurean World Master Chefs Society Japanese chapter when I first arrived in Japan and I chose an orphan house inside Tokyo and helped them by doing chefs events and charity dinner.
– Philippe Batton
Tiffany Ltd, Bistro Le Petit Tonneau
Our thanks to Chef Philippe Batton for his thoughtfulness and courtesy in answering our questions! Do you have a follow-up question for this chef? Are there other chefs you’re interested in hearing from? Leave a comment below this post!
I’ve taken some suggestions and drafted a series of introductory questions for any member of the Iron Chef shows that cares to respond. Sadly, I don’t speak or write Japanese, so the questions and responses are going to have to be in English, but there are about ten questions, spread across culinary interests as well as some to provide a more personal connection. A few of the questions include:
What gave you the courage to pursue a culinary profession?
Can you recommend a go-to song, artist, or short playlist that helps charge you up to do your best work?
What is the concept, restaurant, or project that you've been a part of that you're most passionate about? Why?
What gave you the courage to pursue a culinary profession?
I have a list of people who were on the Iron Chef Japan and Iron Chef America shows and am sending surveys out as I find reliable and current contact information for each person. Naturally (because of the time interval since Iron Chef Japan aired) we’re coming up with Iron Chef America and Next Iron Chef folks much quicker than Iron Chef Japan, but that’s to be expected.
The first three are sent out (Brown, Sanchez, and Lagasse) and we’ll see if there is a response! In the meantime, if there’s someone specific you’d like me to target with a questionnaire, post a name here and I’ll do my best to find them!
At the beginning of the year, this Iron Chef Fans website was in a different place and so were we as fans. It is no exaggeration to say that weeks after my last post on this site, the entire world went through a massive shift and everyone across the globe finds themselves impacted in one way or another. I hope that this message finds you all healthy and safe during this time.
Everyone is dealing with the impact of the pandemic to their jobs, their way of life, and television personalities are no different! Where some have chosen simple seclusion, others have focused on their social media, working their way through a backlog of fan emails to connect with their audience and keep them engaged.
I’m going to compile a list of your questions and send them to people associated with the Iron Chef shows – could be a guest chef, one of the Iron Chefs, commentators, guests, judges… Post your questions and who they are addressed to as a comment on this post and we will put your requests together and send an email! We’ll try to find contact information for your addressee – if you can help us find that and post it in the comment, it would be greatly appreciated! Any replies from these impromptu interviews will be posted here under a new “Interviews” section for your enjoyment!
Let’s see what you’re curious about! Who would you like to hear from and what would you like to know?
Stay safe and healthy!
-Scott