ICT: Battle Fugu, Episode 3

BATTLE DATA FILE
Episode: 3
Japan Original Airdate: 10/31/1993

Hotei, a Chinese chef from 500 years ago, is the subject of Kaga's opening monologue today.  Since Ishinabe and Michiba have already battled, I think it's pretty obvious who today's Iron Chef will be...more on that in a bit, though.  First, let's hand it over to Fukui for the preliminary battle...

I wonder what the chefs are looking at when Fukui addresses the audience for the first time.  It's kind of funny to watch them in the background.

Today's theme for the preliminary battle: spaghetti!

And sitting on today's panel:
--Novelist Tamio Kageyama
--Newscaster Mitsuko Ishii
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano

First to face the panel for the spaghetti preliminary: 27-year-old...I can't catch his name, but he prepares a black spaghetti with (I presume) parmesan cheese and an avocado sauce.  I can't tell how the judges react to this one, but Ishii bizarrely swirls the spaghetti on her plate.  Hmm.

Next to face the judges: Masani Matsui.  He roasts a tomato over the open flame, and finishes with a tomato-basilico spaghetti.  Looks very much like a traditional spaghetti.

Third up: Naoki Narita.  Clams, a whole fish, and other seafood are stewed in white wine before being poured over plain spaghetti.  He dubs this dish "Spaghetti alla Pescatore, Mare del Tokio." It's certainly the most impressive-looking of the dishes so far.  Hirano likes the sauce.

Fourth up: I think I heard Fukui mention he's Korean!  Kim Yong-pil, if my ears serve me right.  He makes his noodles from scratch--essentially, he makes jjajangmyun (Chinese-style black bean noodles).  Not terribly original, but it gets the job done all the same.

Last up: an Italian, 38-year-old Paolo Indragoli.  (OK, everyone else can go home now.)  Crabs play a big part in his spaghetti, and if my ears serve me right, the dish is called "Spaghetti al Grancchio."  Ishii really likes it, which is a really good sign if the last two preliminaries are to be believed.

And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the winner of the preliminary is...Paolo Indragoli!  And he's incredibly delighted to be facing the Iron Chefs.

BATTLE OF IRON CHEF

Of note: Kaga introduces our challenger simply by his first name..."Paolo!"  And the Italian hero strides confidently into Kitchen Stadium.  And without any further ado, Kaga calls forth the Iron Chefs!  (What, no calling them "the pride of the Gourmet Academy" this time?  Guess Paolo wouldn't have understood anyway.)

And as he's asked who he wants to challenge, Paolo says something in Italian, but I think I caught "Signore Cin" at the end of that...which means Chen Kenichi is today's target.

Now, the big question...what's today's theme ingredient?  As Kaga rips the red tablecloth off the ingredient stand, we see a tank containing two fish...our first live theme ingredient!  What is it, though?

"Kyo no tema wa...TORA-FUGU!"

...what the hell?  Seriously, they're using fugu?  Hoo boy, this oughta be interesting.  Hope nobody dies at the end of this episode.  Well, we're about to find out what'll happen as Kaga delivers the familiar call to battle...ALLEZ CUISINE!

And with that, the Gourmet Academy has provided two licensed fugu chefs to prepare the fish for today's combatants.  This will not be counted as part of the 60-minute battle.

For those who don't know, fugu is extremely poisonous--some would say about 200 times more potent than cyanide.  A strict exam is administered to anyone wishing to handle the fish, and a third of all applicants fail (some even die as a result, because they have to consume their prepared fish as well).  Basically, if you screw up, your guests are dead.

But seeing as how we Iron Chef fans know the judges make future appearances (not to mention Kaga himself), I think everyone's going to be OK.  So with the preparation complete, the real gong goes off, and the battle clock officially begins ticking.

Hattori makes a note that fugu is pretty expensive...I may have heard wrong, but each fish today cost ¥30,000.  Today that's about $300, but take inflation into account, and that number is more along the lines of $500 or so.

Straight away, Chen wastes no time in slicing his fish.  Challenger Paolo is boiling some whole tomatoes, and slicing some other raw ones.  And Ohta's back on the floor--the first thing he says is that this is Paolo's first time working with fugu.  Guess it's just as well that he had someone kill the fish for him.

Chen is making sashimi-sized fillets of fugu...hey, Paolo knows a little Japanese!

Paolo: Chin-san, genki?
Chen: Hai, genki desu.

Paolo is cutting an orange on his side...Ohta reports that he's making a Mediterranean sauce with oranges, lemons, garlic, and...something else that I didn't catch.

15 minutes gone already, and Chen is wrapping asparagus with fugu fillets as Paolo breaks out into song on the other side.  At least he knows how to have fun.

Something just went into Chen's steamer that I didn't catch, while Paolo has his fugu  pieces in a saucepan for a quick saute.  Chen, meanwhile, is dredging some of his.

Already Paolo is plating, halfway through the battle--the fugu pieces from his saucepan, orange, and lemons have joined the plate.  And then...Paolo throws the fish back onto the heat.  Guess it wasn't done.

Chen has the beginnings of a soup on his side, while Paolo is breaking down yet another orange.  And...aha, it was the asparagus wrapped in fugu that went into Chen's steamer!

Another look at Paolo's saucepan reveals the fish from earlier and a sauce of some kind...

Chen's wok is in action...can't tell what went in that, but maybe we'll get a report from Ohta on that.  Hattori mentions "nouvelle Chinois" on Chen's side as he plates the mixture from his wok...his dish looks like something out of Ishinabe's playbook!

And Paolo comes over to Chen's side to see what's up!

Three minutes left, and Ohta comes in with a report...that I can't understand.  Chen is plating a soup of some kind, with fugu meat and fins at the bottom. Sorta resembles a shark's fin soup, if you ask me.

Paolo's fugu is finally being plated by the oranges and lemons.  1 minute left now, and Paolo has some vegetables and tomatoes in a pan that he's also plating...and Chen is just watching Paolo struggle to complete his dish in the last 30 seconds!  Will he get it done in time?  The final seconds tick down...and THAT'S IT!  The cooking's done, the Fugu Battle is OVAH!

Iron Chef Chen has two dishes:

Meanwhile, Challenger Indragoli has just this one:

So...how will the tasters react to these dishes?  More to the point, will they survive this tasting?

Paolo's dish gets an...interesting reaction from Ishii, as she proclaims "It's sweet" and reaches for her napkin.  She mentions the orange while shaking her head.  This can't be good.

Hirano, meanwhile, goes off on a monologue that I can't understand.  And while Kageyama's talking, Kaga has this look on his face that just says something like, "Yes, go on...I definitely agree, the challenger missed the mark today..."

And quickly, they move on to Chen's dishes.  Kageyama really likes the soup, and Ishii doesn't react nearly as violently this time as she did the first time.  So I guess it's pretty obvious who's going to win this one, but let's ask anyway...who takes it?  Will it be the Iron Chef or the hero of Italian cuisine?  Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

"Tetsujin, Chen Kenichi."

And thank heavens all the tasters are still standing!  So all three Iron Chefs have won their debut battles.  Can they each go two in a row in their second?  We'll find out...

My thoughts: Now that's just cruel, making an Italian chef work with fugu.  The poor man probably had never seen it in his life until that day!  I gotta hand him some creativity points, though.  But he was definitely beaten on taste, if the reactions of the judges were any indication.

Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.

ICT: Battle Foie Gras, Episode 2

BATTLE DATA FILE
Episode: 2
Japan Original Airdate: 10/17/93

Continuing with our special look at the first season of Iron Chef, we now proceed to the second episode ever produced.

Kaga begins talking about French chef Escoffier in his opening monologue.  He mentions ice cream and the dessert peach melba as well...hmm.  Apparently peach melba was named after one Marie Melba.  (I've never had it, so I can't say too much...)

Anyway, on to the preliminary battle--today's preliminary theme is Omurice!  In other words, rice in an omelet, usually topped with ketchup.  But today's battle will be decided, at least in this writer's point of view, by how creatively the chefs flavor the rice.  Bonus points to whoever does anything creative with the eggs themselves.

On the panel today:
--Producer Yasushi Akimoto
--Newscaster Mitsuko Ishii
--Culinary Critic Asako Kishi

First to face the panel: Noboru Ishidoya (I may have that last name completely wrong).  He makes a donut-shaped omelet, with ketchup rice, onions, and bacon. A mushroom sauce fills the hole in the middle.

Ishii's reaction says it all...

"Something is very, very wrong."

I pick up her saying "zannen desu."  If my viewings of Japanese "Millionaire" are any jumping-off point, Ishidoya's toast.

Next to face the panel: Shinya Abe.  Potatoes and mixed vegetables go into his omelet, which ends up looking like an egg pizza with red bell peppers.  His rice looked like it had some Vienna sausage in it as well.  The ketchup rice is placed right in the middle.

Ishii, once again, gives away what she thinks, as she reaches for her water glass straight away.  Akimoto says something that makes Ishii react quite profoundly...wish I knew what he said, because she agrees with him...and how!

Next to face the judges: 21-year-old Masanori Oshima.  He mixes red food coloring into his eggs.  Matsutake mushrooms flavor his rice, and a sauce containing said matsutake is poured over the top of the entire omelet.

Akimoto calls it "ninja rice," whatever that means.  At least this one wasn't a flat-out "no" from the panel, at least as far as I could tell...

Fourth up: Yosei Kobayagawa.  12 different spices are mixed together with butter and rice.  A sour cream sauce is draped over the eggs...and the panel likes it!  The first time I actually hear "oishii" said.

Last up: computer operator Haruhiko Kaniuchi.  His omurice resembles a sushi roll.  A demiglace sauce accompanies the arrangement.

And Ishii is struggling to hold back a laugh, for some reason.

But in the end, as if we had to guess...the winner of the preliminary is...Yosei Kobayagawa!  He advances to face the Iron Chefs...but whom will he challenge?

BATTLE OF IRON CHEF

Kaga seems to be much more imperial today, entering and declaring quite loudly, "My Gourmet Academy is forever!"  After some more soliloquy, he finally welcomes Kobayagawa into Kitchen Stadium...and summons his Iron Chefs for the second time.  (I think he's starting to get the hang of this.)

So, who will Kobayagawa call out today?  Ishinabe already has dispatched the first challenger...so Kobayagawa opts for Iron Chef Japanese, Rokusaburo Michiba!  They go so far as to call him the "God of Japanese cuisine!"  (Think you made a mistake, Kobayagawa-san?)

So it'll be a French/Japanese battle today, according to Kaga.  What theme will he give the two chefs?  A doozy for Michiba, as far as the untrained eye can tell...foie gras.  In other words, something completely unheard of in Japanese cuisine.  Advantage challenger, for the moment...

An interesting fact pointed out by our Chairman: Europe has been using foie gras for the last 4500 years.  Japan?  Only for the last 10 (as of '93, anyway).

But we Iron Chef fans already have an idea how Michiba will handle this difficult ingredient, and now we get to see his first battle begin with Kaga's call to battle: "ALLEZ CUISINE!"

The time limit has already been lowered to one hour beginning with this battle, as both men advance to the ingredient stand very slowly.  And both chefs, at least for the first couple of minutes, stand there staring at the foie gras--Kobayagawa gets a sniff at his, but both have this look on this face that just screams, "What on Earth am I supposed to do with this?"

Michiba begins his first menu 3 minutes into the battle, and Fukui says something along the lines of, "Well, let's remember, he's only got an hour!"

Meanwhile, Kobayagawa looks to already be slicing his foie gras into bite-size pieces.  Michiba has fetched a flounder from the pantry, and we begin to see the beginnings of Michiba's first Inochi no Dashi (Broth of Vigor).  He's become known for this--dumping huge heapings of bonito shavings into konbu broth.

Kobayagawa has leeks, mushrooms, and...something else boiling in water--Hattori confirms there's no foie gras there, though.

Michiba begins slicing his foie gras into fillets (almost just like filleting sashimi, if you ask me).  Kobayagawa has asparagus on his side, and just like that, 15 minutes are gone!

Michiba has a different fish (amadai or tilefish) on his side that he's filleting, while the challenger is carving flowers out of tomatoes.  He also has lemons and...something green on his side.  Presentation points, indeed.  The asparagus he had out earlier has found some boiling water...and there's another pot boiling as we hear half the battle is gone!

Michiba has dredged some of his foie gras in flour and is giving that a quick saute, while Kobayagawa appears to have sprinkled some pepper over a small portion of his.  Something has gone into Michiba's steamer, and we see (as the 20-minute mark is announced) foie gras and matsutake about to be wrapped in fish fillets (the flounder from earlier).  And--wait a second, that's not Ohta at all!

15 minutes left now, back to Kobayagawa's side, he has a sauce in the works.

Michiba's fish fillets have hit the steamer, and he's got a can of caviar out on his side as well.  Kobayagawa is finally sauteing his foie gras with 5 minutes to go.

Michiba's first dish is beginning to take shape--a foie gras salad with fish fillets and ponzu sauce.  Meanwhile, Kobayagawa's sauteed foie gras is plated over some asparagus.  It's later joined by some shrimp and that sauce he was working on earlier.  A decorative plate, to be sure.

1 minute left now, and Michiba's fish fillets are coming out of the steamer.  Both sides appear to be done with about 15 seconds left...the final seconds tick down, and without any applause, the Foie Gras Battle is OVAH!

Challenger Kobayagawa has just one dish:

Iron Chef Michiba has two:

The bottom dish was his steamed fish fillets.

And now, the moment of truth: tasting and judgement.  This time, the challenger's dish is tasted first--it's well received, but I can't tell what Kishi thinks about it.

Michiba's dishes get even *more* of a positive reaction from Akimoto, at least...

Well, Iron Chef fans should probably already guess who wins this one...and frankly, I think I already have an idea.  But we turn to Kaga for the announcement of today's winner.  So who takes it?  Will it be the Iron Chef or the hero of French cuisine?  Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

"Tetsujin, Michiba Rokusaburo."

And here's something we don't see...at the end, we get a credit roll of the recipes for all three dishes!  (Though this probably didn't last long.)

My thoughts: If I didn't know the challenger was a French chef, this really could've gone either way.  What it really came down to (since it appears they were about on par in taste and presentation) was originality.  And clearly, Michiba isn't going to lose that kind of battle.

Watch this episode at the Iron Chef Collection here.

Iron Chef Timeline Special: Battle Salmon, Episode 1

I'm going back in time quite a ways in the timeline, but there's a very good reason for that.

Yes, you're reading that right.  Episode 1, as in the very first Iron Chef episode to air anywhere in the world.  It was recently rebroadcast in Japan on a premium channel (as a companion to the new series, I suppose), as have been many classic episodes never before seen in the United States.  Now, thanks to the wonderful Iron Chef Collection, I can dutifully recap this very special episode here.

Note: I'm watching the original Japanese--no subs, no dubs.  So I'm trying as best I can in what little Japanese I understand.  I'll admit I've learned a lot just from watching this show, but I've got a long way to go.

That being said...on with the show!

BATTLE DATA FILE
Episode: 1
Japan Original Airdate: 10/10/1993 

The format of these first episodes was slightly different from what we know today...more on that in a little while.  Meanwhile, Kaga's first monologue begins in his library.  He mentions Béchamel from France, Enbai from China, and Rosanjin from Japan--three great chefs of the world.  We get an interesting shot of what appears to be concept art for what we've come to know as Kitchen Stadium--before we see Kaga step into the real thing, into the opening sequence we all know so well.

Kaga then explains the concept behind the Gourmet Academy.  But before the Iron Chefs make their appearance, we need to have...a preliminary battle!  We join Fukui on the Iron Chef's side of the stadium, where five chefs are examining the layout of the kitchen.

Speaking of the stadium, a red curtain is hiding the half where Kaga usually stands.

The format of the preliminary battles is as such: a theme "dish" (not ingredient) is presented.  The chef who best articulates that theme dish will face one of the Iron Chefs.  In this case, today's theme is...gyoza!

And after a monologue from Kaga about gyoza, we meet the tasting panel:

--Novelist Tamio Kageyama
--Newscaster Mitsuko Ishii
--Rosanjin Scholar Masaaki Hirano

We start the preliminaries with Seiji Yamada, 33.  He wraps whole shrimp in a gyoza skin, putting those into a hot chili sauce.  And a dessert dish is also prepared--strawberries were definitely involved, but wrapped in gyoza skins?  Hmm.  He gets presentation points from me, though.

Kageyama likes it--I can't tell what Hirano says, but he brings up the sauce.

Next to face the panel: 57-year-old Masatoshi Kondo.  I think I heard pork and shrimp went into his gyoza--which are, for some reason, colored green across the top.  Apparently this is called "fei tsai fa yen" in Chinese.

Kageyama says something about the color--he might've said something about it being a little strange.

Third up: 18-year-old Takahiro Yamakura.  Gelatin goes into his gyoza, which he boils and serves in a kind of soup.  Some other kind of meat went in there, but I couldn't catch what kind.

The fourth man is the first international chef: from Nepal, Piremu Rama.  He grinds some spices, combines them with pork, and serves it in a rather large gyoza the tasters have trouble picking up.  Two sauces are included: coriander and (I think) tomato.

Kageyama says it's good, but Ishii is clearly having trouble picking up the large dumpling with her chopsticks.

Last up: Takeshi Maryuama.  Ground meat, green onions, and shiitake mushrooms are combined into a filling for his gyoza, which look like little purses.  Those are stir-fried.  He calls it "nira-manju."  (Anyone with info about that name, please comment below.)

Judging by the panel's reactions, I think they all like it...but then we turn to Kageyama for the announcement of the winner of the preliminary...Takeshi Maruyama!  He'll face one of the Iron Chefs shortly.

After the break, we see Maruyama waiting behind the challenger's curtain as Kaga makes his first entrance.  This is the first time I've seen him acknowledge any crowd at all, as he openly waves and thanks those in attendance.  He's behaving a bit more like an emperor than a chairman, but that's just me...

He then welcomes Maruyama, the very first challenger, into Kitchen Stadium--and this is an odd sight--Maruyama strides into Kitchen Stadium without applause or any narration from Fukui.  Hmm.

Well, no matter...for the first time, we hear Kaga's immortal words: "Come to life, Iron Chefs!"

And for the first time ever, the world meets the Iron Chefs:

Chen, Ishinabe, and Michiba.  The invincible men of culinary skills make their appearance for the first time...with no introduction of their background.  But the question is, who will be thrown into the shark tank first?

With determination, Maruyama calls out...Ishinabe!  The man in green, the one they call the Visconti of the culinary world, the God of Sauces, acknowledges Maruyama's challenge with a raise of his bell pepper and descends to the kitchen floor to take part in the first-ever battle.

Of note--Michiba is still standing at the dais while Kaga is announcing the theme ingredient.  Speaking of...the first theme ever comes with Kaga's invitation to use any of the wide range of ingredients the Gourmet Academy has to offer.  With that, Kaga rips off the red tablecloth for the first time and reveals...salmon!  (Quite dramatically, I might add.)

And after a proverb about salmon from Kaga, he booms forth the now-familiar call to battle: "ALLEZ CUISINE!"

The gong is banged, and the first battle--which has a time limit of 90 minutes--is underway rather slowly as both men approach the ingredient stand with trepidation.  Fukui and Hattori are alone in the announcer's booth, but they'll be here to guide us through this culinary confrontation all the same.

Maruyama is going grocery shopping on his side of the stadium, while Ishinabe seems puzzled by the available plates.

Maruyama's wok is fired up, and he makes a sign about wiping sweat off his brow.  On the other side, the first action we see is Ishinabe chopping onions and carrots, while his assistants look on.  After an edit that magically takes us 25 minutes into the battle, we see Maruyama finally beginning to break down his salmon.  Takes him a couple of cleaver chops to do so.

Ishinabe has a deconstructed Ise-ebi (Japanese lobster) in his food processor, which shakes violently as he starts in.  30 minutes into the battle (which isn't announced, but shown on-screen), we get our first report from Ohta on the challenger's side: I don't know what Ohta just said, but Maruyama seems embarrassed for some reason.

Back to the Iron Chef's side, Ishinabe is deboning his salmon with tweezers (or is that forceps?).  We swing back to Maruyama, who has a hunk of salmon in his wok.  Ishinabe is slicing up his salmon into smaller, more manageable fillets, while we get another report from Ohta about the challenger--I think he may have said the challenger is intimidated by the cameras.

Ishinabe has scallops and Japanese lobster meat on this side.  And as Hattori speculates about a mousse of some kind, Ishinabe acknowledges in kind!  Fukui flips out as Ohta confirms that Ishinabe is indeed making a mousse.

A graphic reveals that there are about 15 minutes left in the battle.  Maruyama has a minced mixture that he's stir-frying in his wok, while Ishinabe's salmon fillets from earlier have hit the skillet for a sauté.  The commentators are trying to figure out what Maruyama's mixture is...all they conclude is that it's ground meat of some kind and vegetables.  Kinda stating the obvious, but then...

Ishinabe's scallops are laying on top of the salmon fillets in the skillet, and the lobster joins it.  Maruyama is arranging a circle of Chinese cabbage on a plate, while Ishinabe magically has a green spinach sauce.  Fukui is quick to point out that said sauce matches the color of his costume.

10 minutes to go (hey, the first time call!), and Ishinabe's salmon has hit the plate, as has Maruyama's ground meat mixture.  Ishinabe is dotting his salmon with the green sauce, adorning the plate with a lobster head.  Maruyama's plate gets some slices of lemon, while the challenger dashes off to the fridge to fetch some lettuce.  It doesn't appear as though Maruyama has used a lot of his fish--a shot reveals what he hadn't used, and there's still a considerable portion left!

Ohta comes in with a report that makes Fukui sound like he spit his coffee out--something about salmon, that much I understood...and somehow, we fast forward to 15 seconds left in the battle...Maruyama is preparing some lettuce to serve alongside his ground meat dish...but does he make it in time?  The final gong rings just as Maruyama chucks some unusuable portions of lettuce into the trash (and as he does, you can hear some beeping in the background...maybe that was their official clock at the time?).

Now, for the first dishes ever presented on Iron Chef:

Challenger Maruyama has just one dish:

Iron Chef Ishinabe has two dishes:

And in a move that we probably won't see until Iron Chef America many years later, Iron Chef Ishinabe's dishes are tasted first.  But a surprise--the chefs themselves are not present to provide commentary on their dishes!

I don't understand much Japanese, but what I *do* understand while Maruyama's dish is being tasted: Ishii makes a face as she looks over the lettuce wrap, and says, "Where's the salmon?"  This alone probably doesn't bode well for Maruyama...

But after all that...who takes it?  Will it be the Iron Chef or the hero of Chinese cuisine?  Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

"Tetsujin, Ishinabe Yutaka."

Kaga doesn't shout the verdict as we've become accustomed to him doing...he just plainly states it like that, and without any postmortem from Fukui, the show fades to credits.

And that's how it all began on that one October day in nineteen hundred and ninety-three.

My thoughts: Obviously, every show experiences some growing pains when they first start.  And while this is such a fantastic look into the episode that started a legend, I think we can all agree that it's a good thing they changed the format.  It was pretty obvious Ishinabe was going to win once the battle was over, but personally, I love seeing this first show and wondering what must've been going through everyone's minds.

Watch this battle at the Iron Chef Collection here.