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Does anyone watch Iron Chef?  I know the Food Network has the American version but unfortunately they don't play the original version (which surpases the new one by miles) anymore which I adored for years.  It was a staple of my Friday night viewings.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEMVMbhyCp8

I like Iron Chef. I'll watch the American version, but I like how they brought Morimoto over. I always root for him.

Sometimes I wish I knew how to cook really well, bu tI am sucha picky eater at times, I'd never be able to fix some of those fancy dishes. They'd just taste like crap to me. :teddyr:

Who takes it? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

If my memory serves me correctly... I loved the original Japanese version ... my fav was Rokusabaru Michiba up until he retired, I think undefeated. Then it was Hiroyuki Sakai, but I like Chen Kenichi too. I think I'd like eating Chen food the most, he was known for his hot and spicy food which I love.

I really like the episode with the somile, sommiler, sumil wine steward in it who wound up beating the iron chef. 

It took me a while to get into the American version of it, but now I like it.

Chen was an awesome Iron Chef because of his spicy dishes.  Always liked Morimoto who was like a machine in the kitchen. 

The best part of the show was the first 20 minutes in which the challenger enters and picks his opponant.  I often yelled out with the chairman when he said "IRON CHEEEFS" and whatever he said before the secret ingrediant was shown. 

I loved the Japanese one for the over the top way it was set up, the pagentry, the ritualized way the Iron Chefs and the secret ingredient were introduced, the meticulous way the commentators covered the food prep battle, and the feuds of schools of chefs wanting to take down certain Iron Chefs who they felt strayed from traditonal schools of cooking. Played perfectly straight, like Chairman Kaga was a real man who had set up this whole contest and and really had a Kitchen Stadium and a small army of chefs at his disposal in addtion to his valued Iron Chefs, like some sort of culinary Bond villain. It even reminded me of some cliches from action anime series I've seen, the flamboyant villain with his over the top obsessions.

It was a good way to fill an hour, I could zone out or not, or I could get jealous wishing I could try some of the dishes they prepared, or even picking up some odd ideas for when I cook. I tend to learn a recipe, get it down, then start to experiment with it, looking for thing I can change or ways to do things quicker or when I lack ingredients.

Only saw the American version a few times, liked that Alton Brown was a part of show, but it lacked that certain air. The American Chairman just came off as an actor who should be in some STV action flick. I guess the mystique fell away for me when I saw the show in my own language, rather than translated.

I always liked watching the show, even though it grossed me out a couple of times (duck's blood sauce? No thank you!). I kind of got away from it shortly before Food Network stopped airing it. I just chimed in here to add this thought: Wouldn't this show be even better if it were mixed with MXC? You know, the chefs would have to go through silly obstacle courses while they cooked and the host(s) would make jokes about them. Okay, maybe not. You don't really want to make fun of people with large knives.

I have watched the American version a bit, and, like Yaddo, I appreciate Alton Brown's part in the show. And while I would eat more of the dishes prepared on the American version, the original is definitely more entertaining.

I much prefer the Japanese version.   The American has too many personalities.  Its not "Random Chef" vs Japanese/Chinese/French food expert, but "random chef vs Mario Batali"   I like Mario just fine, but frankly, just don't care and even the powers of Alton Brown can't make me care. 

Interestingly enough, I was amazed to fid that the French Chef on the original show was the most popular in Japan. 

-Ed

Can't figure that one. I liked his cooking methods and the way he would try new and odd  things and improvise, but the way he seemed to express the most doubt, it went beyond regular humility, IMO. But I'm not Japanese, publicly expressing humility is supposed to be a popular trait in their culture. I would have guessed Chen Kenichi (the Chinese chef) was the most popular, he was on the show for so long and he expressed humility also, but more about himself than his cooking, IIRC.