Iron Chef: The original Japanese incarnation

[Chris Cognac]

I love the really good theme's such as "Battle Milk" and "Battle Yogurt"..I also am in love with Mayuko Takata who is often one of the "guest giggling bimbo's" ..She is so hot!

[Katherine]

I cannot bring myself to watch more than a few brief minutes of this program before I am desperate to watch anything or nothing else.  The head dude in charge is so over the top cheesey that I don't usually get past that.  Talk about full of one's self!  Its all just a big nasty ball of velveeta to me.  I've tried to get into it but its just not gonna happen for me.  I can live with that :D

I'm with you nessa.

too stupid for words.

It's just a self-parody.

[srhcb]

It's just a self-parody.

Bingo!

[srhcb]

..I also am in love with Mayuko Takata who is often one of the "guest giggling bimbo's" ..She is so hot!

Check out: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www...-8%26oe%3DUTF-8

Click on her pic in the middle of the second row down. Be sure to note her educational background if you're among those who despair of the "giggly" female judges.

SB (likes IC Sakai best)

[Andy Lynes]

Last night's episode in the UK was the Tuna battle from 1994 with Takashi Mera against Michiba. The iron chef's assistants ran straight for the head of the $10,000 tuna and Michiba proceeded to gouge out the eyes and broil them. They actually went down a storm with the judges and he won the battle, although I have to say his dishes all round were better than the challenger's. Mera's USP was that he uses the longest knife of any chef in japan, which they only mentioned about 20 times.

[Chris Cognac]

..I also am in love with Mayuko Takata who is often one of the "guest giggling bimbo's" ..She is so hot!

Check out: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www...-8%26oe%3DUTF-8

Click on her pic in the middle of the second row down. Be sure to note her educational background if you're among those who despair of the "giggly" female judges.

SB (likes IC Sakai best)

OK, she is smart...but she is still hot and does giggle alot!..I love the outfits she wears..so over the top sometimes. I am glad the UK people are getting this show as its so entertaining and fun, I really find myself getting into it!...I would give anything to see a battle of "Anthony Bourdain vs Emeril Lagasse"....Now just to find the perfect theme ingredient for the battle, I wold pay serious money to watch that!

[arjay]

For Bourdain and Lagasse I would suggest gollic or possley. BAM!

[Carolyn Tillie]

Eight years ago, while living in SoCal, I visited my sister in Napa who introduced me to the show. Back then, it was only showing in San Francisco on some weird late-night channel. It was not dubbed or subtitled and we didn't even know the name of the program - just watching frantic chefs prepare unknown ingredients was good enough for me.

Then, a year later, it showed up on a Los Angeles station on Sunday nights, at the odd time of 6:45 in the evening. I was terribly addicted and started recording them. Then they started adding subtitles and I was in heaven - I could actually figure out what was happening. There was a small following of addicts like me who recorded the shows, shared tapes, and discussed the show. (I cherish a challenge which was staged in The Forbidden City; Battle Chicken - I don't think it has ever been shown in the U.S.) We were located in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Hawaii - the only places Iron Chef was being shown. It was pre-Morimoto time.

I used to have Iron Chef parties -- I would invite friends over to watch the show and they thought I was nuts but also watched with rapture.

Then The Food Network stepped in, adding silly dubbing. Soon there was the American knock-off with Captain Kirk.

I miss the genesis of this phenom but am proud to have felt apart of it. I still watch my old tapes but rarely bother with it on FN. I was given the IC Cookbook and calendar, but am sorry for its commercialization.

[jcsaucey]

For me the camp, costumes and commentaries - which some find unwatchable- come second to the fact that Kenichi, Sakai, Ishinabe, Kobe and Michiba are unbelievably tallented cooks, with technique that makes most North American cooks drop to their knees in awe. Has anyone ever seen the episode where the French IC's took on team China. A bombast of insperational high-wire cooking. Just watching the three French chefs peel potatoes in unison with their 17" slicers gives me chills.

[Mayhaw Man]

I have enjoyed the show over the years and have resisted buying one of the books mentioned above, but one question burns-Do the chefs have any advance notice of ingrediants and are they able to prepare mise en place ahead of time (I suppose that "mise en place ahead of time" is redundant, but forgive me and besides-you know what I mean )?

[fifi]

I have also wondered what they have in "the pantry" available to use. That pantry must be really something.

[Mayhaw Man]

Yes. I often find myself woefully short of fatty netting, fois gras, and white truffles.

Although I am happily usually running a bit on the shy side when it comes to natto

[rickster]

I have enjoyed the show over the years and have resisted buying one of the books mentioned above, but one question burns-Do the chefs have any advance notice of ingrediants and are they able to prepare mise en place ahead of time (I suppose that "mise en place ahead of time" is redundant, but forgive me and besides-you know what I mean  )?

The is/was a fan website for all things Iron Chef -www.ironchef.com (?)- that claimed the chefs were given a short list of 5 possble ingredients in advance, from which one was chosen for the theme ingredient.

[kellycolorado]

Carolyn, I used to watch it too probably 5 years ago in the San Francisco bay area, on Fuji TV, channel 8 I think. It was on Saturday night at 8 maybe. It was the nondubbed version. I heard there were dubbed versions, but some kind of lawsuit or disagreement ensued between Fuji TV and the producers.

Half the fun was trying to figure out what the ingredient was though- Sometimes there was that one word of english on the bottom right of the screen, ie. "carp" sometimes not! And taking away the original Japanese took away some of the flavor somehow. One guy spoke japanese with lightning speed like he was on crank. It didn't translate as well into the dubbed version.

[TrishCT]

I have enjoyed the show over the years and have resisted buying one of the books mentioned above, but one question burns-Do the chefs have any advance notice of ingrediants and are they able to prepare mise en place ahead of time (I suppose that "mise en place ahead of time" is redundant, but forgive me and besides-you know what I mean )?

As Rickster says, according to various sources, both challenger and IC are given a list, in advance, of 5 ingredients. One will be the secret theme. That way they can prepare their menues, and accompanying service ahead of time. By service, I mean they can pick their serving dishes, decorations, etc... The book says the chefs do NOT know which will be the chosen ingredient, that it remains a surprise till it's elevated with the dry ice thing. Doc, the talkative color analyst on the show, is credited for selecting the theme ingredient.

After the theme is announced, taping stops and the chefs are given time to re-group, meet with their assistants and put their menues together.

If the chefs have special ingredients they want to use they can bring them, but apparently Kitchen Stadium has a huge pantry filled with delicacies. There are also some terrific perks. Say a tin of caviar is opened and only a small portion is used, apparently the chef can keep the opened tin. Apparently that's one reason why there is so much foie gras and caviar flung around.

Edited January 5, 2004 by TrishCT (log)

[Andy Lynes]

Iron Chef is now back on Challenge TV in the UK everyday at 7.00pm for the remainder of February at least.

[Tim D]

I've been drawn to it over the years, first in an after-shift social way. Then in a morbid curiosity way and finally in a "Why is there so much crap on FTV these days? I guess it's Iron Chef or nothing" kinda way.

Now if it's on I'll watch it for a little while, but it's falling fast from my viewing patterns. As is the vast majority of FTV shows.

[TrishCT]

I think Iron Chef's heyday is over. In my opnion the show jumped the shark with the Flay re-match (and also because there are no longer new episodes being filmed). Re-runs (pardon the pun) just don't cut it.

I still enjoy a favorite show here and there, but it hasn't been must see tv for a couple years now. I'm keeping my IC quotation for now, though...

[VeryApe77]

I think Iron Chef's heyday is over. In my opnion the show jumped the shark with the Flay re-match (and also because there are no longer new episodes being filmed). Re-runs (pardon the pun) just don't cut it.

I still enjoy a favorite show here and there, but it hasn't been must see tv for a couple years now. I'm keeping my IC quotation for now, though...

Well this is true enough, I suppose. However, I'm glad they still show all of the re-runs. I wasn't living in the US at the time, so I'm just getting to see most of these for the first time. It isn't as if Food Network are coming up with anything better to replace it with either. I say they should re-run IC as much as they like.

[sequim]

The rotating guest guys and then the invariably tittering young women.  "It's all so good!"  Giggle-Giggle.  They're all interchangeable.

omigod, they're different people? The actress(s?) is too much - last week she had a dress on with wings! And she eats so daintily.

They are a hoot and speak so poetically.

I love the maestro - is that Kanga? He is a cutie with great jackets!

[luv2cook]

Has anyone else ever played the Iron Chef drinking game? We downloaded off of the Food Network web site. It has rules, like, If the challenger is a female, take 3 drinks, When the Iron Chef symbol flies towards you before and after commercials, take one drink, If Kishi is not on the tasting panel, take 2 drinks, when the geisha du jour giggles and says something stupid, take one drink, and so on.

There are 3 pages of rules, so by the end of 1 show you can easily drink a bottle of wine by yourself. We played with a bunch of people and it was a blast. Maybe we're all nerds, though. Most people go to bars.

[luv2cook]

I love the maestro - is that Kanga?  He is a cutie with great jackets!

That is Chairman Kaga. Kanga is Roo's mom, as in Winnie-the-Pooh. No dessert for you!

[NickMach007]

Has anyone else ever played the Iron Chef drinking game? We downloaded off of the Food Network web site. It has rules, like, If the challenger is a female, take 3 drinks, When the Iron Chef symbol flies towards you before and after commercials, take one drink, If Kishi is not on the tasting panel, take 2 drinks, when the geisha du jour giggles and says something stupid, take one drink, and so on.

There are 3 pages of rules, so by the end of 1 show you can easily drink a bottle of wine by yourself. We played with a bunch of people and it was a blast. Maybe we're all nerds, though. Most people go to bars.

I actually downloaded the game too, but my friends kinda gave me weird looks, so we never played. But I would have.

My favorite part was that FN said to play only with non-alcoholic drinks! A drinking game with non-alcoholic drinks! Does that even exist? (I know, I know, their legal dept.... Come on, but a drinking game with no alcohol?)

Oh yeah, and Iron Chef Sakai is clearly the best. He even won the King of Iron Chefs Tournament. Any more proof needed? I think not!

[chengb02]

I love the show and have gotten a number of friends hooked on it as well. I think my favorite episode is the one with the female chef from China, where she comes in with a Chinese flag in the background, everyone in her supporters box is wearing Mao jackets and hats, and there are huge portraits of Mao and Zhou above her supporters box, all that pomp and a really good battle. I would really love to see the battles that took place in the Forbidden City, HK, and France, but Food Network hasn't shown them...

haha, does anybody have any clue where Chairman Kaga shops??? I got the Iron Chef book for my father for Christmas and it was very interesting because while it goes into detail on everyone and every aspect of the show, Chairman Kaga receives almost no mention whatsoever and no bio...

Edited February 11, 2004 by chengb02 (log)

[Mabelline]

Did anyone ever see the Gordon Elliot show Doorknock Dinners or whatever where he would invade some yuppie house with a renowned chef and they took over the poor slob's kitchen and said victim chef prepared a meal from what was in the larder? That being said, one time I was watching and the Iron Chefs were in New York, so G.E. loads them all up in a motorhome and Sakai and Michiba end up in a suburban house somewhere takin' over someone's totally unfamiliar kitchen. Talk about surreal!