I stumbled upon this when trying to look up the NHK Today’s Cooking episode with Chen that one of our users, Tuthead, speaks of, and found this. NTV caught up with Sakai after Chen passed away in March, and one could tell he was emotional as he paid tribute even if he kept it together.
It doesn’t have subtitles, so help with that would definitely be welcome. Also, I recommend watching on the YouTube mobile app because it allows Google Translate to be used on comments and one can read a bunch of thoughtful tributes from other Iron Chef fans.
A special challenger, for a special Christmas battle:Philippe Groult, who studied under Joel Robuchon at Jamin from 1981-84.In 1982, at age 28, Groult won the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF, a prize also awarded to Robuchon, and to Claude Le Tohic, currently head chef at Robuchon’s restaurant in Las Vegas).Groult went on to open his own restaurant, L’Amphycles, in Paris.He earned two Michelin stars in two years.
Robuchon himself has a few words for the Chairman:“Although it’s going to be an uphill battle, I trust his talents.I want him to proudly represent the true flavors of French cuisine.With his depth of knowledge, skill, and experience, I’m sure he can win.”
Groult challenges Sakai — a strictly French battle.The unveiled ingredient is “what the French go crazy over on Christmas Eve, with champagne glasses in hand–”
“Oysters!”
Actress Fumie Hosokawa (After seeing some of her other work, a special BKS edition may be needed. 😉 -Keith) and Honorary Chef French Yutaka Ishinabe join Kenji Fukui and Dr. Yukio Hattori on the commentators’ panel. (more…)
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
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. 🙂
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)
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
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.”