nylon.net's
IRON CHEF
EXCHANGE
(Ryori no Tetsujin)
Skip the intro and download my IRON CHEF EPISODE CATALOGUE (Excel format)
Version 59 (30 March 08) - freshly re-checked and cleaned up!
OK. You've all previously thought that Mr Nylon Net was
a pretty COOL sort of a dude, who uses COOL words like "cool" and "dude".
Well, maybe I am, but I'm also an IRON CHEF cool dude slut.
Don't ask me why.
Maybe it's Sakai's sad moustache.
Maybe it's Chen's playful girlish glee.
Maybe it's Michiba's stern majesty.
Perhaps it's timorous Kobe, who lurks in the dark recesses
of Iron Chef's corridors of shame, only dragged out when the ingredient is
not Italian.
I'm quite worried about Kobe... I fear the other Iron Chefs poke him mercilessly with chopsticks behind the rice cooker.
Anyway. Let's get back to our woks.
I am a digital collector.
I want to collect every picture ever
taken of Sabrina,
every episode recorded of the Goon
Show,
every Elvgren pinup painting,
every Hancock's Half Hour, Beyond Our Ken, and Round the Horne....
and every Iron Chef episode
I have collected many (about 203 at March 2008) episodes of Japanese Iron
Chef from torrents, TV and trades
but this is just over a two-thirds of the 308 Iron
Chef episodes.
Would you like to trade?
If you have nothing to trade, I suppose we can work out
some sort of arrangement, but that is not what I'm here for.
My aim is to collate, not to be a shop! It's worth asking me, however.
Email 
Important note! All the episodes I have to trade are in DivX format. They will play on a computer with software like Windows Media Player, and they will play on a normal DVD player if it has "DivX Certified" on the front. If you're desperate, you can convert DivX to normal DVD format with software like ConvertX to DVD. If you really have to trade only in true DVD format, I can only get 2 episodes onto a disk!
My episode list (click to download - Excel format) is derived from two respected sources. I'm chasing the missing ones, such as the famous OSTRICH BATTLE versus an Australian female chef - Gillian Hirst (not 'Jillian Harst' as the Japanese translations say!)
As you IRON CHEF fans know, many secret ingredients were used more than once : for example, beef appeared 5 times, bell peppers 4 times. I used to number the episodes chronologically (e.g. Squid 1, Squid 2) but now rely on the competitor's name in the filename to avoid confusion: no competitor has battled the same secret ingredient more than once.
When in doubt: refer to the theme ingredient and the competitor's family name! (e.g. Guinea Pig vs Hamataka). Please ensure you are not offering episodes I already have!
Anyway, let's get back to cooking those sheep of ours. I have many IRON CHEF episodes in DivX format. You may have episodes I don't have. Let's form a digital yakuza and swap, eh? The bonus is that in our yakuza, you don't have to get a full-body tattoo or cut off your fingers.
At the moment, burning DVDs and sending by airmail has proved the quickest, easiest and cheapest swapping protocol. If you have no episodes to exchange, but need some episodes from me, we might come to an arrangement but I am reluctant to upload episodes pro bono since it takes hours and I have a never-ending stream of such requests each week.
Download my IRON CHEF EPISODE CATALOGUE in Excel format
- You can sort the spreadsheet by theme ingredient, original broadcast date or by challenger.
- The first column shows the battles I need. If it says "Y" or "Y <anything>", I don't need it!
- Theme ingredient names are tricky - they are sometimes translated into English, sometimes in Japanese (e.g. Ayu = Sweetfish) and sometimes the Japanese names vary (e.g. Umi or Uni). Sometimes, translated names are not Australianised (e.g. shrimps are prawns here). It's a tough decision sometimes. I do the best I can. When in doubt, fast-forward to the competitor's name. It works every time.
- Competitor names can be tricky too. The chairman announces Japanese names as familyname.givenname (e.g. SAKAI HIROYUKI, when his family name (surname) is SAKAI and his first name is HIROYUKI. We westerners reverse this). Chinese and European names are given as givenname.familyname. Be careful out there.
How To Swap
You want to swap episodes? I'm game!
Please email me first at before sending files just in case I really DO have the episode but have not updated the spreadsheet (which happens more than I care to admit.) I try to keep the spreadsheet current, but I'm a slack bastard with a bad memory and a drinking problem... much like you, actually.
Anyway, after we establish you have an episode I need, we can negotiate how to make the exchange. Probably at midnight behind the wok burner. Shhh.
To prevent disappointment, be sure to watch the first 5 minutes and carefully note down the THEME INGREDIENT and the name of the CONTESTANT.
If you have an IRON CHEF episode I need, or you want to swap episodes, please let me know here at .
I'd especially love to hear from anyone with the OSTRICH battle! Soon we will have a global repository of complete Iron Chefiness - bliss! If we keep it up there may be Iron Chef: The Movie! At least we can hope that someone releases episodes on DVD for us sometime in the future. Sigh.
Mark, nylon.net
Allez cuisine!
DID YOU KNOW?
Does the challenger know ahead of time what the theme will be?
A week before the show tapes, both the Iron Chefs and the challenger were given a list of 5 ingredients. The final ingredient was chosen from this list but they didn't know which it would be until Kaga announced it during the taping. This way they had some time to request special ingredients and cooking utensils (not to mention special serving dishes like the ice bowls seen on Battle Salmon Roe). Also, after the theme ingredient was announced, the chefs had about 5 minutes to gather their wits and get their cooking strategy sorted out before the "Gong of Fate" sounded. Part of the reason for that is that the cameras and crew needed to position themselves for the next shot.
Where is/was the show filmed?
The weekly shows were filmed in FujiTV's V4 studio, the biggest studio they have in Odaiba, near Tokyo Bay. This set was used for many other shows, so it needed to be taken down after each taping session and reassembled each time. Special gas lines for the stoves and water lines were laid down each time, too. The fire department had a few members standing by during tapings to supervise.
Who are the commentators?
Mr. Kenji Fukui is the main commentator that does all of the introductions and most of the talking. The gentleman on the far left is Mr. Yukio Hattori, owner of the Hattori School of Nutrition. Hattori is quite knowledgeable about food and often provided insight and education about the theme ingredient or culinary techniques. The people in the middle are the guest commentators who tended to be celebrities and not necessarily food experts. Typically one woman and one man are the guest commentators/judges.
What is the broadcast history of the show?
In Japan, the show started in October 1993 originally as a 30 minute program on Sunday nights. The show was wildly popular, so they expanded it to an hour (45 minutes without commercials) and it was on air Friday nights at 10:00pm. Occasionally, a longer special would air. These usually tend to be around the New Years time frame. The viewing audience tended to be the younger generation, mainly men and women in their 20s and 30s. In 1994, the show was nominated for an Emmy. In 1997, it was nominated for another Emmy in the International Division under the "Popular Arts" Section. The show stopped its weekly production in September of 1999, though the producers said they would continue to make specials, about 4 a year. Two have been produced so far in 2000. The weekly show production was halted because the producer wanted to end the show while it was still popular (typical for Japanese programs) The high costs to produce the show - including Kaga's extravagantly foppy clothes! - may also have played a role.
How are the chefs scored?
Each chef may be awarded up to 20 points by each judge, with ten given for taste and five each for presentation and originality. Winners were determined by the number of judges who scored them higher. If tied, points were counted and the chef with the greater number of points became the winner. In later series, if still tied, a 30 minute "overtime" tie-breaker cook-off took place with a new (and cheap) ingredient.
How often did the Iron Chefs win?
Cuisine |
IRON CHEF | WIN |
LOSE |
TIE |
TOTAL |
Ratio |
| Iron Chef Chinese | Chen Kenichi | 67 |
22 |
3 |
92 |
76% |
| Iron Chef French (II) | Hiroyuki Sakai | 70 |
15 |
1 |
86 |
83% |
| Iron Chef Japanese (I) | Rokusaburo Michiba | 32 |
5 |
1 |
38 |
87% |
| Iron Chef Japanese (II) | Koumei Nakamura | 24 |
11 |
1 |
36 |
70% |
| Iron Chef Japanese (III) | Masaharu Morimoto | 16 |
7 |
1 |
24 |
71% |
| Iron Chef Italian | Masahiko Kobe | 15 |
7 |
1 |
23 |
70% |
| Iron Chef French (I) | Yutaka Ishinabe | 7 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
88% |
Info stolen archived for posterity from wikipedia
and the defunct ironchef.com
An extremely odd find on eBay - 1 July 2007. The back of the box says...
Welcome to Kitchen Stadium!
Get ready for codfish and tomatoes to start flying as The Iron Chef: Ultimate Cooking Challenge comes to your home. Based on the hit TV show, Iron Chef, this frentic board game pits four culinary challengers against each other in a race to build the perfect meal!
Do you prefer Chinese? French? Italian? Or how about Japanese? It all begins when the surprise ingredient is revealed. Spin the wheel and race about the board in an attempt to assemble a complete meal - appetizer, main course, and dessert!
The real Iron Chefs chop, dice, and mince - you need to collect, trade, and discard cards to beat your opponents. But pitfalls abound! Watch out for dull knives, burnt vegetables, and stoves that don't work. Complete your meal, enter the inner circle of Kitchen Stadium and await the Judges' decision! Defend your title! Will you be King of the Iron Chef? Allez Cuisine!
Iron Chef Curiosities
The boxed set of Iron Chef knives
And some more, in case you didn't have enough already!
Iron Chef Sakai's Royal Kona (Coffee for Royalty)
Chosen as his restaurant's signature coffee, it is a rich and smooth 10% Kona Coffee Blend Vienna roast.
Found on eBay, the description was: "This game is a Japanese Import Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium Tour multimedia disk for the Sega Saturn System. This multimedia disk contains chef profiles, introductions to various dishes and actual video clips from the famous Iron Chef TV show. This disk was released in very limited quantities and has become a highly sought after collector's item. To play Japanese Sega Saturn games, you must have Japanese Sega Saturn system."
Gourmet Iron Chef Sauces...
I wonder how kosher they are
A sumptuously-printed set of 4 Iron Chef books - in Japanese
Can you collect the full set of Iron Chef trading cards?
IRON CHEF LINKS
The Unofficial Iron Chef Compendium
A tribute to sideline reporter Shinichiro Ohta
Iron Chef at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
And if you get bored late at night, here's a good idea.
Memorise this prayer and recite it to every person you meet the next day.
Hours of fun are guaranteed!
A man's fantasy became a reality in a form never seen before: Kitchen Stadium, a giant cooking arena. The motivation for spending his fortune to create Kitchen Stadium was to encounter new original cuisines which could be called true artistic creations.
To realize his dream, he secretly started choosing the top chefs of various styles of cooking, and he named his men the Iron Chefs: the invincible men of culinary skills.
Iron Chef Japanese is Masaharu Morimoto.
Iron Chef French is Hiroyuki Sakai.
Iron Chef Chinese is Chen Kenichi.
And Masahiko Kobe is Iron Chef Italian.
Kitchen Stadium is the arena where Iron Chefs await the challenges of master chefs from around the world. Both the Iron Chef and challenger have one hour to tackle the theme ingredient of the day. Using all their senses, skill, creativity, they are to prepare artistic dishes never tasted before. And if ever a challenger wins over the iron chef, he or she will gain the people's ovation and fame forever.
Every battle, reputations are on the line in Kitchen Stadium, where master chefs pit their artistic creations against each other. What inspiration does today's challenger bring? And how will the Iron Chef fight back? The heat will be on!