His most memorable dish was chili prawns.ĭespite his excellent record on the show, Chen often appeared endearingly surprised and relieved at victory. He also has a run of 14 consecutive victories, the longest of any Iron Chef. Ultimately, it was fellow Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai who convinced Chen to stay, with their agreement that should one leave the show, so would the other.īecause of his long tenure, Chen has fought more battles than any of the other Iron Chefs, at 92battles. Even though he is the longest-serving Iron Chef and the only original Iron Chef, having been an Iron Chef for the series' six-year run, Chen had on several occasions considered leaving his position among his reasons was the desire to tend to his restaurants, which had become booked every night since the show's start, as well as about of depression following the death of his mother. Iron ChefĬhen originally accepted his position on Iron Chef out of the need for a challenge, although the format of the show intrigued him. As a result, Chen is often compared to his father on the series, with some saying that Iron Chef helped the son exceed the skills of his father. Chen's special dish, "prawns in chili Sauce" (Ebi Chili) (干烧明虾), is an adaptation of a dish that his father had introduced to *an.
ContentsĬhen is the son of Chen Kenmin (陈建民), who is regarded as the father of Sichuan cuisine (四川料理) in *an. He was born in *an to a *anese mother and a Chinese father of *anese nationality, Chen Kenmin and his formal name is Ken'ichi Azuma (東 建一, Azuma Ken'ichi). He is the only Iron Chef to have held his position throughout the life of the show. Nicknamed The Szechuan Sage, he wears a yellow outfit and rises into Kitchen Stadium holding a large Chinese chef's knife in his hand.
IRON CHEF CHEN KENICHI FOIE GRAS SERIES
*anese chefIn this Chinese name, the family name is Chen.Ĭhen Kenichi (陳建一, Chin Ken'ichi, born 5 January 1956), whose name is often romanized Chin Kenichi in *anese sources, is a chef best known for his role as the Iron Chef Chinese on the television series Iron Chef (料理の鉄人).