No new episodes this week, but we do have four new additions to Beyond Kitchen Stadium.
- IC on Scrubs – JD and Turk know what to watch on TV
- Morimoto Interview – Iron Chef Morimoto as part of Google’s Authors @ Google series.
- Kenji Fukui on Mecha Ike – Announcer Kenji Fukui is part of a segment with Fuji TV announcer/anchor Mizuki Sano on the popular (and one of my all-time favorites) Japanese TV show Mecha Mecha Iketeru. (As usual, I need some help with the question Okamura asked Sano. I think it said something about not being able to announce a variety show and retirement, but I could never get a good translation of it.)
- Nakamura Policeman – Iron Chef Koumei Nakamura is the honorary Police Chief for a day.
New in the Video Database this week: IC on Scrubs, Morimoto Interview, Fukui on Mecha Ike, Nakamura Policeman
Some theme ingredients in Kitchen Stadium were things found in kitchens around the world like chicken or carrots, but some of the themes were uniquely Japanese. This weeks Episodes of the Week theme ingredients are items that are somewhat common in Japan but maybe not so much in other countries.
- Natto (Fermented Soybeans) (221) – Iron Chef Rokusaburo Michiba vs. Kuniyuki Ishikawa
- Mochi (Japanese Rice Cake) (302) – Iron Chef Chen Kenichi vs. Toshiyuki Nakagawa
- Umeboshi (Pickled Ume fruits) (332) – Iron Chef Rokusaburo Michiba vs. Kenji Kaji
- Mochi (Japanese Rice Cake) (501) – Iron Chef Sakai vs. Kan Kasahara (This episode did not air on Food Network)
- Natto (Fermented Soybeans) (638) – Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto vs. Tatsutoshi Kumamoto
- Sushi (722) – Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto vs. Keiji Nakazawa – The ingredients for this battle are: Tuna (Maguro), Anago (Eel), Kanpyo (Dried gourd shavings), Egg, Kohada (Japanese shad).
The following episodes may be found by searching our video database: 221, 302, 332, 638, 722
New in the database this week: 221, 302, 332, 722
Shigeru Miyamoto never made an appearance on Iron Chef, but his most famous creation would have been right at home as a judge on the episodes featured in this week’s Episodes of the Week. (For those of you who do not know, Shigeru Miyamoto is the designer who created Mario for Nintendo.) This week’s episodes of the week theme is Mushrooms. I don’t remember any of the judges suddenly growing larger or gaining an extra life after eating any of these mushrooms, but I’ll probably watch the episodes again just to make sure. 🙂
- Mushroom (234) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Hideki Osako
- Matsutake Mushroom (239) – Iron Chef Sakai vs. Masamitsu Takahashi
- Matsutake Mushroom (336) – Iron Chef Michiba vs. Minoru Noda – This battle featured one of the few American born challengers to visit Kitchen Stadium.
- Shiitake Mushroom (409) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Takaya Nakazawa
- Mushroom (444) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Daniella Ozik (This episode did not air on Food Network)
- Matsutake Mushroom (537) – Iron Chef Kobe vs. Fujio Imai (This episode did not air on Food Network)
- Maitake Mushroom (642) – Iron Chef Kobe vs. Takatsugu Sasaoka
- Porcini (643) – Iron Chef Morimoto vs. Marco Molinari – This episode is best remembered for the way the challenger makes his pasta.
- Jumbo Mushroom (727) – Iron Chef Kobe vs. Shoji Yamaoka
You can find the following episodes by searching our video database: 234, 239, 336, 409, 642, 643, 727
New in the database this week: 234, 336, 642, 643
As one might expect from a cooking show based in Japan, a country that is a group of islands, fish was an often used theme ingredient on Iron Chef. It was used more than 15 times during the run of the show. Here are some of the highlights.
- Salmon (101) – Iron Chef Ishinabe vs. Go Maruyama – The very first episode of Iron Chef. (This episode did not air on Food Network)
- Sea Bream (204) – Iron Chef Michiba vs. Tanabe (This episode did not air on Food Network)
- Sweetfish (222) – Iron Chef Michiba vs. Hanato
- Sea Bass (228) – Iron Chefs Chen/Michiba vs. Bruant/Furutaka – A tagteam battle in Kitchen Stadium
- Angler (243) – Iron Chef Michiba vs. Kawada – This battle is 15 minutes longer than usual because of the theme ingredient
- Sardine (325) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Noda
- Red Snapper (607) – Iron Chef Morimoto vs. Hirayama – The first battle for Iron Chef Morimoto and the very first dubbed battle that ever aired on Food Network
- Sweetfish (620) – Iron Chef Morimoto vs. Miyanaga
- Carp (630) – Iron Chef Chen vs. Miyazawa
- Saury (640) – Iron Chef Sakai vs. Nagayama
The following Fish themed episodes may be found by searching our Video Database:
222,
228,
236,
243,
245,
317,
325,
328,
405,
411,
607,
620,
630,
640
New in the
Database this week: 222, 607, 620, 630, 640
We also would like to bring your attention to a new addition to
Beyond Kitchen Stadium. It is a clip from the Daily Show that features footage from the Red Snapper (607), the debut episode of “Naughty Morimoto.”
There were many special episodes of Iron Chef over the years. Despite the fact that the later FN show introduction mentioned and showed clips from some of these specials, most of them never aired on Food Network. (If anyone has any tapes of any of these specials, we will buy them from you. Contact us.)
- Hong Kong Special (313) – This special never aired on Food Network
- 1995 Iron Chef World Cup (339) – One of the challengers from this special, Pierre Gagniare, later did battle in the France Battle Special. We have a very short Beyond Kitchen Stadium video of Kaga’s entrance from this special. This special never aired on Food Network.
- France Special (415,416) – This special featured two battles fought in a castle in France.
- Beijing Special (441) – We have a Beyond Kitchen Stadium video of the opening from this show. This special never aired on Food Network.
- 1996 New Year’s Special (452) – This battle apparently had 100 judges. This special never aired on Food Network.
- 1997 Iron Chef World Cup (538) – The challenger from the final Kitchen Stadium battle, Alain Passard, was a part of this special. This special never aired on Food Network.
- 2000th Dish Special (631) – This battle featured the all-French team vs. all-Chinese team.
- Morimoto Retrospective (709) – Two hour special that showed Michiba and Morimoto touring New York City, then a battle between Nakamura and Morimoto. The only clip from this special I have seen is our BKS clip of Michiba announcing the theme ingredient, tamago (egg). This special never aired on Food Network.
- Indonesia Expedition (720) – This special never aired on Food Network.
- The Millenium Special (801) – This special never aired on FoodNetwork.
- New York Battle (802) – The memorable first battle between Morimoto and Bobby Flay.
- 21st Century Special (901) – Memorable for the shaved headed Kandagawa and the Morimoto/Flay rematch.
- Japan Cup 2002 (1001) – This special featured the shocking news that Chairman Kaga had “died” from eating bad fugu. This special never aired on Food Network. (We have added this episode to the database since this was written. Go check it out now.) (1001a, 1001b)
The following episodes may be found by searching our video database: 415/416, 631, 802a, 802b, 901.
New in the database this week: New York Battle (802a/b), 21st Century Special (901)
We have several related videos in our Beyond Kitchen Stadium collection. Be sure to go check them out as well as the new episodes we have this week.
Potatoes!! I’m going to go right into it and not mess around with you guys.
- Episode 341 – Lin Kunbi vs Iron Chef Michiba -> I’m not giving any spoiler on this episode so watch it.
- Episode 533 – Yoshinori Kojima vs Iron Chef Japanese Nakamura -> this episode did not air on Food Network
- Episode 724 – Michael Noble vs Iron Chef Japanase Morimoto -> Another exclusive brought to you by your friendly admin Tuthead (Don’t forget to thank him) since it’s nowhere to be found on the internet. This episode was actually requested by someone close to Michael Noble.
Episodes 341 and 724 can be found by searching our video database.
New this week to the database: 724 .
Part 2 coming next week…
We also have a little announcement this week. The fine folks over at the Kitchen Stadium message boards have graciously agreed to give us a place for people to post questions and episode reviews. If you have a problem that isn’t addressed in the FAQ, let us know. If you have an episode request, let us know. If you want to review an episode, write it up and post it over there. Maybe we’ll even put it on the main page. (And don’t worry. We will continue to respond to the comments and admin e-mail addresses.)