Happy Independence Day from the Iron Chef Collection

Today is Independence Day in the United States. To help you celebrate the Red, White, and Blue, I have picked some battles with an American connection or with a red, white, or blue theme. Enjoy.

• 610 – RED Snapper – Morimoto vs. Hirayama – The debut battle of the American-based Iron Chef Japanese Morimoto.
• 336 – Matsutake – Michiba vs. Noda – The first American-born challenger.
• 901 – 21st Century Battle – RED Snapper/Spiny Lobster – Sakai vs. Kandagawa and an All-American rematch featuring Morimoto and Bobby Flay.
• 324 – BLUE Crab – Michba vs. Mingxing
• 802a – New York Battle – Part 1 – The Iron Chefs tour New York.
• 802b – New York Battle – Rock Crab Battle – Morimoto vs. Flay – The first battle to take place in the United States.
• 802OA – Original Japanese version of the New York Battle – (Read this for a list of differences between the original version and the Food Network version.)
• 709OAa – Morimoto Retrospective – Iron Chef Michiba visits Morimoto in New York.
• Morimoto RAW – Special detailing the opening of Morimoto’s restaurant in Philadelphia.
• 636 – Lobster – Sakai vs. Siegel – The first American challenger to win in Kitchen Stadium

Enjoy some Iron Chef. Fire up the grill. Watch some fireworks. Have a great holiday.

This Week in Iron Chef History (6/21-6/27)

This week in Iron Chef History, June 21-June 27:

• 224 (6/24/1994) – Milk – Chen vs. Masahiko Miyamoto
• 325 (6/23/1995) – Sardine – Chen vs. Yukihiro Noda
• 426 (6/21/1996) – Bacon – Sakai vs. Phillipe Baton
• 524OA (6/27/1997) – Blacktip Grouper – Chen vs. Chow Kuen Chung
• 622 (6/26/1998) – Kamo Eggplant – Kobe vs. Yasuhiro Sasajima
• 723 (6/25/1999) – Black Pork – Sakai vs. Isao Makio

TWICH Notes: The milk battle features a challenger who trained under two of the top five chefs in France. Chen’s Sardine battle comes after two straight Iron Chef losses and a trip to the hospital for Michiba. You have seen the challenger from this week’s ICC Exclusive episode many times. When? You see him in every Food Network opening. He is the chef who enters behind the Hong Kong Colonial Flag and is wearing several medals around his neck. Now you finally get to see him in the Blacktip Grouper battle. Kobe takes on a chef known as “The Innovator.” Finally, we get to see Sakai make a visit to his hometown and cook for some of his school friends.

New in the database this week: 524OA – Blacktip Grouper – Chen vs. Chow Kuen Chung

This Week in Iron Chef History (6/14-6/20)

This week in Iron Chef History, June 14 – June 20:

• 223 (6/17/1994) – Sea Urchin – Sakai vs. Yuji Wakiya
• 324 (6/16/1995) – Blue Crab – Michiba vs. Zeng Mingxing
• 425 (6/14/1996) – Pomfret – Nakamura vs. Son Kangi (This battle did not air on Food Network. We don’t have a copy of it.)
• 523OA (6/20/1997) – Amberjack – Sakai vs. Kunio Sato (This battle did not air on Food Network. We DO have a copy of it.) 🙂
• 621 (6/19/1998) – New Potato – Chen vs. Kentaro
• 722 (6/18/1999) – Sushi – Morimoto vs. Keiji Nakazawa
• 722OA (6/18/1999) – Original Japanese language version of episode 722 (Sushi)

TWICH Notes: The Sea Urchin battle sees Sakai battling a chef who was eventually selected to be an Iron Chef. (He never did battle as an Iron Chef.) Michiba takes on an apprentice of the “Mother of Chinese cooking in Japan.” Our ICC Exclusives episode this week features a chef from the Izu Peninsula. New Potato sees the return of the Kobayashi family. Can the son be half as entertaining as his mother was? Finally this week, we have the first official Sushi battle in Kitchen Stadium. Remember that Morimoto started his career as a sushi chef. Does he still have what it takes to win a sushi battle?

New in the database this week: 523OA, 722OA

See you next week.