It’s time for another Iron Chef episode you won’t find anywhere but here. It is with great pleasure that I present to you the Iron Chef Beijing Special. We have all heard about this special for years, but there are probably very few of us have ever seen it. (Again, I think we should all offer a HUGE thank you to the special Santa who provided this episode.) Until now, I only had a short video of the introduction to this episode in BKS. Now, we get the full episode to enjoy.
- Peking (Red) – Son Rihei
- Shanghai (Green) – So Tokushin
- Canton (Blue) – Shou I Ka
- Szechuan (Yellow) – Iron Chef Chen Kenichi
The two chefs with the highest scores will do battle in the final.
Some things I noticed and enjoyed while watching the preliminary battle:
- It’s kind of strange seeing the Iron Chefs in street clothes.
- Chen doesn’t seem too enthused about working in a strange kitchen, but says they will all be in that situation.
- I love the entrances from both The Chairman and the Iron Chefs.
- I think the outdoor Kitchen Stadium is kind of cool.
- Kitchen Stadium is stocked with some unique ingredients this time. I saw frogs and snakes among the other ingredients. (The frogs will make a break for it later.)
- After the announcement to the chefs to begin, Chen is the only one who moved toward the podium. He finally waves the other chefs forward. (I’ll chalk that up to a language difference.)
- Chen seems particularly talkative at the beginning of the battle.
- I’ve noticed that Sakai always has such a big smile on his face when they do these specials (See the 1997 World Cup for another example.) Maybe it is because he isn’t the one doing battle.
- All four chefs make some really creatively beautiful dishes. I wonder if Sakai took any notes.
After the battle, we get to see the Iron Chefs Chen and Sakai exploring southern China.
- I think the restaurant’s mapo doufu is a little spicy for Sakai.
- They visit a place with huge containers of spices.
- Sakai appears to like the food at the second restaurant a lot more than the first.
- Chen and Sakai take an interesting (and sweltering) bus ride.
- I think they got off the bus one stop too soon and had to walk to their real destination. (I thought I heard 10km.)
- At the end of their walk, they visit some sort of shrine and offer up a prayer.
- After it is all over, both chefs agree that is was a fun trip.
- A commenter has added the following information: If I may, I’d like to correct some texts in the summary. My Japanes is kind of rusty, but I think the place Chen and Sakai visited at the end of the episode was his ancestors’ cemetery/grave. There was no bus from the village they got off and it took them about two hours to reach it. (Actually, Chen told Sakai that it was an-hour-walk.) On the way, they stopped at a shop to get something cool to drink. (Was that milk?) Also, that village was the place Chen’s father had lived before his immigrating to Japan. Chen hadn’t been there for six years. (Thank you, 5suchaya.)
This episode appears to have been recorded from the original Japanese television broadcast. As a result, the episode is in Japanese with NO subtitles. All commercials and breaks are intact. Enjoy.
There are two options for viewing this episode. The pop-up player will use the usual divx encoded file. This smaller, lower quality file can also be downloaded directly using the “Download File” option. Also in the download menu this time is an option to download a higher quality VOB file (approx. 2.5GB). (You can play the vob file in VLC Player.) This preliminary battle is in two parts. Part one is the full introduction and cooking portion of the battle. Part two includes the tasting, judgment, and Chen and Sakai’s Excellent Adventure.
New in the database this week: Beijing Special – Preliminary Battle
I think everything is updated and functioning. If not, let me know.
December 25th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
*Where* is the link to this episode?
December 25th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Sorry about that. I have added it now. (Mental note: Don’t try to add episodes on Christmas next year. I get sloppy.)
December 25th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Thank You,tuthead!!!!! best christmas gift ever
December 26th, 2009 at 3:36 am
Thank you very much Santa and tuthead for sharing this wonderful, rare episode! Also, thanks for the episode breakdown/analysis. This is truly a great Christmas present indeed!
December 26th, 2009 at 4:39 am
Thank you!
December 26th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Great way to wake up to Boxing Day. Thank you Tuthead!
December 27th, 2009 at 4:49 am
I can’t extract http://ironcheffans.info/episodes/1996/Beijing/BeijingPt1.zip
December 27th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
having trouble with pt. 1 zip, too. says file corrupted.
December 27th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I couldn’t get the part 1 zip open either.
December 27th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Sorry about the problems with part one. I will re-zip and upload another one tomorrow. (I’m not in town to do it tonight. Sorry.)
December 29th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Thanks, tut!
January 1st, 2010 at 5:05 am
Sakai looks normal in street clothes. Chen on the other hand looks like he’s on his way to a lumber yard lol Chen is still awesome though. Thanks for sharing this with us!