is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended on September 24, 1999, although four occasional specials were produced from January 5, 2000, to January 2, 2002. The series aired 309 episodes. Repeats are regularly aired on the Food Network in Canada, the Cooking Channel in the United States until Asian-American specialty television channel ChimeTV took over reruns in 2022, and on Special Broadcasting Service in Australia; in the United States, it is streamed by Peacock TV and Pluto TV. There are 5 spinoffs, with the latest being Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.
Fuji TV aired a new version of the show, titled , premiering on October 26, 2012.
Features and story The host of the show is the flamboyant Takeshi Kaga, known on the show as the aristocrat . He begins most episodes with his signature words, taken from Arthur Rimbaud, "If memory serves me right..."(Jadis) si je me souviens bien..." and starts the cooking time with the phrase "Allez Cuisine!". The show has two regular commentators, Kenji Fukui, who narrated the action on the floor, and Yukio Hattori, a food scholar and founder of the Hattori Nutrition College. A floor reporter, Shinichiro Ohta (Yusuke Numata and Takahiro Yoshimizu in the October 17, 1993 and May 20, 1994 episodes respectively), reports to Fukui on what the challengers and Iron Chefs are preparing, their strategy, and their comments, breaking Fukui's train of commentary with a polite "Fukui-san?". One or two guest commentators (who also serve as judges) also made frequent appearances. The commentary covers ingredients, history of contenders, and other background information to give viewers context for what was happening in the kitchen.
The kayfabe "story" behind Iron Chef is recounted at the beginning of every episode of the English dub. A title card, with a quote from famed French food author Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin first appeared: "Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you what you are." Then, it was said that Kaga "realized his dream in a form never seen before" and specially constructed a cooking arena called "Kitchen Stadium". There, visiting chefs from "around the world" would compete against his Gourmet Academy, led by his three (later four) Iron Chefs. Chairman Kaga himself was a showpiece, dressed in outlandish examples of men's formal attire. The English name Iron Chef comes from the show itself: Kaga would use this translation of the Japanese title when summoning his chefs at the beginning of the "battle".
Iron Chefs and statistics From the beginning of the show in 1993, the three Iron Chefs were: Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba, Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi, and Iron Chef French Yutaka Ishinabe. After the first season, Ishinabe decided to step down and become an 'honorary Iron Chef', thus passing the mantle of Iron Chef French to Hiroyuki Sakai in 1994. Ishinabe returned for two more battles during season three. At the beginning of season four in 1996, Michiba announced his retirement and debuted Koumei Nakamura as the new Iron Chef Japanese. Michiba returned on rare occasions for special Kitchen Stadium battles. In 1997, Chairman Kaga announced a new, additional Iron Chef to the group: Iron Chef Italian Masahiko Kobe. He was the youngest of the Iron Chefs and battled sparingly throughout the rest of the show, ascending to the stage separately from the three main Iron Chefs, and surrounded by a chamber string ensemble. In 1998, Nakamura also decided to retire and passed the title of Iron Chef Japanese to Masaharu Morimoto.
Iron ChefTitleWins LossesDrawsNo ContestsTotalWin %Based on weighted average (.5 victory for a draw). Iron Chef Chinese6624309372.6% Iron Chef French (I)7100887.5% Iron Chef French (II)7015108682.4% Iron Chef Italian167102468.8% Iron Chef Japanese (I)335103985.9% Iron Chef Japanese (II)2211113566.2% Iron Chef Japanese (III)178102667.3%
On-screen talent and show staff The show staff was gleaned from many of the original Japanese episodes.
Kenji Fukui, Announcer/commentator (English-language voice: Bill Bickard) Yukio Hattori, Commentator (English-language voice: Scott Morris) Takeshi Kaga (as Chairman Kaga), Host (English-language voices: Duncan Hamilton, Kent Frick) Shinichiro Ohta, Kitchen reporter (English-language voice: Jeff Manning)
Planning: Osamu Kanemitsu & Takashi Ishihara Composition: Masahiro Ito & Kundō Koyama Narrator: Toshiyuki Makihara (First two episodes and Japan Cup 2002 only) Technology: Yamine TV Technical Director: Kiyoyuki Nakagawa Camera: Toshihiro Kase Audio: Yoshio Ishizuka Video Engineer: Hideho Tanaka Videotape Recording: Takanozawa Shinichi Lighting: Toshihiko Imado (Fuji Lighting and Technology Inc.) Crane: Meiko Select Co., Ltd. Location Techniques: Masayuki Nonomura Editor: Hironobu Inoue, Masaaki Yamamoto (Replaced Inoue after five episodes) Visual Creator: Ken Sonobe (TDK Core Corporation) Sound Effects: Chiaki Kado (Project 80 Co., Ltd.) Sound Adjustment: Kiwamu Watanabe Art Producer: Shigeo Yamada Art Designer: Shinji Ishimori Art Directors: Semba Fumio & Junji Kashino Title Logo: Tetsuya Shimomura CG Title: Takao Momozono Costume Stylists: Momo Ejima & Toshiko Hatano Photographer: Kazuma Uogaeshi Food Stylist: Mio Meguro Food Coordinator: Setsuko Yuki Public Relations: Emiko Ogasawara Timekeeper: Kumi Mizuno Advisors: Bon Kawai & Hiromichi Naga (Home Run Research Institute) Location Cooperation: KENSINGTON Material Cooperation: Hattori Nutrition College Countdown Voice: Yuko Sumitomo Assistant Directors: Takashi Umakoshi, Tomomi Nakamura, and Chinatsu Suzuki Assistant Producer: Hanako Aso Director: Keiichi Tanaka Producers: Kenichi Koga & Toshihiko Matsuo Production Cooperation: Japan Telework Production Copyright: Fuji Television
Original format Originally, challengers vied with each other in preliminary "battles" to earn the right to face an Iron Chef in a 90-minute competition, and should a challenger win twice against Iron Chefs, the challenger would be given the title of "Honorary Iron Chef". However, this format proved unpopular, the preliminary round was scrapped and the main contest was reduced to the now familiar 60 minutes. The awarding of honorary Iron Chef titles to challengers was also discontinued (although this was largely a moot point as few challengers ever defeated two Iron Chefs in separate contests), but was given as an emeritus title for a retiring Iron Chef. Once honorary titles were no longer issued, challengers who beat an Iron Chef had to settle for, according to the English version's introduction, "the people's ovation and fame forever".
In each episode, chefs have one hour to cook and improvise a multicourse meal around a theme ingredient that must be present in each dish. Before the actual taping, the chefs are given a short list of possible themes, allowing the producers of the show to get any ingredients that may be needed. Judges' primary goal was said to be determining which chef was able to "best express the unique qualities of the theme ingredient". In rare cases, the format changed—angler fish battles were typically 75 minutes in length, and noodle battles had the Iron Chef stop after 50 minutes of cooking, only to resume after the challenger's dishes were tasted so that the noodles could be served right after cooking.
Preliminary round The first five episodes featured a preliminary round between five challengers. The one who made the dish that impressed the judges the most would battle the Iron Chef. Challengers who are bolded were the winners of this round.
October 10, 1993 (Theme dish: Gyoza) Challenger NotesSeiji Yamada (山田誠司) (Japanese) Head chef at Utsunomiya Grand Hotel.Masatoshi Konno (今野正敏) (Japanese) Member of the "Let's Join the Men's Kitchen Association".Takahiro Yamakura (山蔵隆弘) (Japanese) Musashino Culinary Institute.Pilem Lama (Nepali) Cuisine "Thuprai" Chef.Takeshi Maruyama (丸山 剛) (Japanese) Zhou Tomitoku's top disciple. October 17, 1993 (Theme dish: Omelet rice) Challenger NotesNoboru Ishidoya (石戸谷 登) (Japanese) St. Marianna University School of Medicine Administrative Staff.Shinya Abe (阿部晋也) (Japanese) Chef of German restaurant "Keitel".Masatada Oshima (大島将忠) (Japanese) Chef of Japanese restaurant "Hanagasumi".Yosei Kobayakawa (小早川陽青) (Japanese) Lecturer at Kagawa Nutrition College.Haruhiko Taniguchi (谷口晴彦) (Japanese) Student at Seitoku Culinary Institute. October 31, 1993 (Theme dish: Spaghetti) Challenger NotesTakashi Yonezuka (米塚尚史) (Japanese) Special effects makeup artist, and designer of the Fuji TV campaign character Frog.Masami Matsui (松井雅美) (Japanese) Space Producer.Naoki Narita (成田直己) (Japanese) Chef of Italian restaurant "Solanark".Kim Young Bi (金栄必) (Korean) Chef of Chinese restaurant "Reirin".Paolo Indragoli (Italian) Chef at "Sabatini" in Shibuya. November 7, 1993 (Theme dish: Croquettes) Challenger NotesMotoki Hashino (橋野元樹) (Japanese) 3rd year student at Komazawa High School.Janan Daran (Indian) Chef of Indian restaurant "Nile Restaurant".Toshiyuki Kudo (工藤敏之) (Japanese) Chef of French restaurant "La Rochelle", and Hiroyuki Sakai's top disciple.Hiroyuki Takahashi (高橋裕之) (Japanese) Fashion Designer.Koji Adachi (足立浩二) (Japanese) Chef of "Naimeiken". November 14, 1993 (Theme dish: Spring rolls) Challenger NotesTetsushi Karibe (苅部哲史) (Japanese) General Manager of Development, Nomura Co., Ltd.Tran Thi Le (Vietnamese) Chef of the Vietnamese regional cuisine restaurant "Vietnam", and the only woman to participate in this round.Toru Okuyama (奥山 徹) (Japanese) Student at Hattori Nutrition College.Zhou Tomiteru (周 富輝) (Cantonese) Owner of Yokohama Chinatown "Seikoen".Luo Bowei (羅 拔威) (Taiwanese) Chef at "Tainan" in Shinjuku.
Theme ingredients Featured ingredients tend toward the exotic and expensive. Many theme ingredients reflect the Japanese origin of the show—river eel, tofu, udon—though ingredients more familiar in the West, such as bell peppers, summer corn, and peaches, are spotlighted, as well. In one episode devoted to asparagus, the challenger boasted that he used over $1,000 worth of lobster (which he then discarded) simply to flavor his asparagus in this battle against Iron Chef Morimoto. Some theme ingredients, most infamous the snapping turtle—a live creature meant to be killed by the chefs during the battle—, sparked controversy in Western audiences for being prepared in gruesome and inhumane ways.
Initially, a minimum of three dishes was to be prepared, although some challengers have finished only a single dish, and one challenger, Jaques Borie, won with only one dish that met the requirements to be judged; four is the typical number. The record for highest number of dishes prepared for a battle was eight, first set by challenger Kenji Kaji against Iron Chef Michiba in "Battle Umeboshi". Five (later six) servings of each dish are prepared, one each for the chairman and judges, and one for photography and presentation.
Assistant chefs Each chef is also given two assistants, who are supposedly students of Kaga's "Gourmet Academy" (in reality, they are students of Hattori Nutrition College). If the challenger does not speak Japanese, students who can speak in the challenger's native language are sometimes provided. In a notable exception, San Francisco chef Ron Siegel struggled with his assistants, who did not speak English. One assistant, Kenichi Miyanaga, became a challenger himself, taking on Iron Chef Morimoto in a sweetfish battle.
Commentary and judging