The BEST episodes of Iron Chef season 3
Every episode of Iron Chef season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Iron Chef season 3!
Iron Chef is an innovative cooking competition from Japan. Originally produced by Fuji TV, Iron Chef combined the excitement of a one on one sports competition with gourmet cooking. The title Iron Chefcomes from the original Japanese title, Ironmen of Cooking. This innovative game show was always popular in its native Japan, but it found international success when the Food Network bought the series and began airing English dubbed episodes. It became a cult classic as viewers were treated to exotic ingredients and innovative cooking techniques. No expense was spared. Chefs seemed to have almost limitless supplies of the most exotic and expensive gourmet ingredients. The competition is hosted by Chairman Kaga, an over-the-top master of ceremonies. He introduced a "secret ingredient" that the challenger and the chosen Iron Chef had to incorporate into every dish. Originally, the program was 30 minutes long, but it was soon expanded to an hour format. Each chef presented his/her dishes to a panel of 3-4 judges who rated the dishes to crown a winner. All of the competitions occurred in a specially designed "kitchen stadium". The New York Times once described Iron Chef as "kamikaze cooking". Iron Chefs and their competitors became celebrities in their own right. Storylines developed between groups determined to defeat the Iron Chefs. The show was so successful in English speaking countries that several spin-offs, specials, and updated versions were produced.
#2 - Chen vs Lee Myong Suk (Liver)
Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/5/1995
Chairman Kaga welcomes his first Korean challenger, bringing with her a distinctive form of cuisine rarely seen in Japan.
#3 - Michiba and Sakai vs The Cuomo Brothers (Tomato)
Season 3 - Episode 33 - Aired 8/18/1995
Tag Team Battle! Two Iron Chefs vs 2 Italian Brothers in the battle of the tomato. After growing up in Italy, these brothers started their own restaurant in Tokyo. It is so popular that you must make reservations up to 6 months in advance. Judges: Yasushi Akimoto (Songwriter), Hideki Saijo (Singer), Asako Kishi (Culinary Critic)
#4 - Michiba vs Masao Suzuki (Matsuba Crab)
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/10/1995
The challenger is the head chef at a restaurant that Iron Chef Michiba himself dines at frequently. Judges: Tamio Kagayama (Novelist), Mayuko Takata (Actress), Asako Kishi (Culinary Critic)
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#5 - Chen vs Yukihiro Noda (Sardine)
Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/23/1995
Chairman Kaga is in a very bad mood. His Iron Chefs have lost their last two battles. Worse, the stress of the last loss has left the mighty Iron Chef Japanese Michiba in the hospital. And now, he has to answer a challenger representing the famed Italian restaurateur Don Sabatini. Can Chen avoid the fate of his fellow Iron Chefs and defend the honor of Kitchen Stadium?
#6 - Chen vs Tsuguo Fujiwara (Sea Cucumber)
Season 3 - Episode 38 - Aired 9/22/1995
Tsuguo Fujiwara is Managing Director of the Chinese Chefs' Association of Japan: the largest association of Chinese chefs in the country. Iron Chef Chinese Chen is placed in an uncomfortable position. As a lower member of the Association, he finds himself feeling like the challenger for once as he has to face his senior.
#7 - Sakai vs Tadamichi Ohta (Octopus)
Season 3 - Episode 48 - Aired 12/8/1995
Disappointed in the quality of the Japanese cuisine challengers this year (none of which have won to date), Chairman Kaga decides to call in a chef he'd been saving: Vice President of the Japan Chefs' Association and head chef of Nakanoboh-Zuien, a top-class ryokan in Arima Hot Springs.
#8 - Michiba vs Lin Kunbi (Potato)
Season 3 - Episode 41 - Aired 10/20/1995
The challenger is one of the best in Japan at Fujian-style cooking. He opened the first Fujian-style restaurant in Japan. He is also a sixth-degree black belt in karate. Judges: Nagisa Ohshima (Director), Yoshiko Ishii (Singer), Mayuko Takata (Actress), Asako Kishi (Critic)
#9 - Sakai vs Philippe Aubron (Crayfish)
Season 3 - Episode 37 - Aired 9/15/1995
Chairman Kaga desires to have more experience with the cuisine of France's southern Provence region. He learns of a man from Provence who now serves authentic Provencal cuisine to Japanese diners near Lake Biwa. He invites the man to Kitchen Stadium and presents him with crayfish as the theme: an ingredient well-suited to his style of cooking.
#10 - Chen vs Yoshiko Takemasa (Short-necked Clam)
Season 3 - Episode 34 - Aired 8/25/1995
It's tough, very tough for a woman to make her way into the kitchen of a traditional Japanese restaurant. But give the infamous Toshiro Kandagawa credit for recognizing the talent of this tough-as-nails woman from Kochi.
#11 - Michiba vs Zeng Mingxing (Blue Crab)
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/16/1995
The challenger is the top apprentice of the Mother of Chinese cooking in Japan. Judges: Shinichiro Kurimoto (Fmr Lower House Member), Chizuru Azuma (Actress), Asako Kishi (Culinary Critic)
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#12 - Sakai vs Kazutaka Okabe (Lamb)
Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 6/9/1995
Dissatisfied with the results of their last encounter, the young guns of Club Mistral send another challenger to face Iron Chef French Sakai, representing the old guard of Club des Trentes.
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#13 - Michiba vs Etsuo Joh (Broccoli)
Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/26/1995
How will the challenger (the king of sauces) deal with broccoli? Doc Hattori says his sauces are amazing. He even says he wishes he could take on all three Iron Chefs at once. Can he defeat one? Judges: Mayuko Takata (Actress), Toshiki Kaifu (Fmr PM-Japan), Sachiyo Kaifu (Wife), Yasushi Akimoto
#14 - Michiba vs Kenji Kaji (Umeboshi)
Season 3 - Episode 32 - Aired 8/11/1995
The challenger is a head chef in Kyoto. He has mastered the style of Ikama-school of culinary arts. To separate his restaurant from the other more traditional restaurants in the area, he began creating new dishes with local ingredients. He is among the top young chefs in Kyoto. He faces the returning Iron Chef Japanese, back after two months of recuperation, so Chairman Kaga chooses umeboshi (pickled plums), an ingredient associated with keeping good health. Judges: Shinichiro Kurimoto (Politician), Mayuko Takata (Actress), Asako Kishi (Critic)
#15 - Sakai vs Bruno Ménard (Escargot)
Season 3 - Episode 46 - Aired 11/24/1995
Bruno Ménard heads the Tokyo branch of the famed nightspot Tatou. Known as the Golden Boy for his time in Le Golden and for winning the Golden Key award for most creative chef in 1995, he is a trendsetter praised for his creativity and innovation.
#16 - Sakai vs Shigeo Yuasa (Cod)
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/17/1995
Shigeo Yuasa is the head chef of the Okayama International Hotel, famously known as "The State Guesthouse of the West," as it is the common roost of the the Royal Family when they visit western Japan. Yuasa uses shocking cooking techniques--using test tubes and litmus paper to get his meals to exacting pH levels--that make him seem less a French chef and more a scientist. Can Sakai prevail in this new age battle?
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#17 - Chen vs Li Jinlun (Swallow's Nest)
Season 3 - Episode 29 - Aired 7/21/1995
Fook Lam Moon in Hong Kong is said to be the best Chinese restaurant in the world. A man who once headed that world-famous kitchen how heads a kitchen in Tokyo. To best put his Cantonese mastery to the test, against the Iron Chef Chinese, Chairman Kaga unveils the ultimate Chinese ingredient: swallow's nest.
#18 - Chen vs Hisama Hirano (Sea Urchin)
Season 3 - Episode 31 - Aired 8/4/1995
Hisama Hirano is a Japanese culinary media dynamo. He appears frequently in magazines, teaches Japanese cuisine and hosts cooking shows on television, and he also introduces new concepts in Japanese street dining. He's also popular with the ladies.
#19 - Chen vs Toshiyuki Nakagawa (Mochi)
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/6/1995
The first challenger of 1995. The challenger heads a restaurant with seating for only 6, but it has hosted entertainers and even Prince and Princess Mikasa. He apprenticed at one of the oldest restaurants in Japan.
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#20 - Mr Iron Chef 1995: Chen vs Sakai (Chicken)
Season 3 - Episode 50 - Aired 12/22/1995
#21 - Sakai vs Philippe Groult (Oyster)
Season 3 - Episode 49 - Aired 12/15/1995
For Kitchen Stadium's 1995 Christmas Battle, Chairman Kaga brings in a highly-prestigious chef from Paris: then-youngest-ever recipient of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, the highest award the country bestows people of varying trades including cooking; a respected student of Joel Robuchon; and now owner of a two-Michelin-star restaurant.
#22 - Chen vs Sozo Miyamoto (Carp)
Season 3 - Episode 47 - Aired 12/1/1995
A Shanghai cuisine specialist, Sozo Miyamoto rose to prominence at the same time as Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi, and after tying for silver at the Chinese Cooking World Championships several years ago, they're now considered strong rivals. Chairman Kaga invites Miyamoto to settle the score in Kitchen Stadium with live carp, a mainstay of traditional Chinese cuisine, as the theme.
#23 - Chen vs Masahiko Hagiwara (Scampi)
Season 3 - Episode 43 - Aired 11/3/1995
Today's challenger is said to be the top Italian pasta chef in Japan, once trained under the legendary King of Pasta, Angelo Paracucchi, and now head chef of the Tokyo branch of the trendsetting El Toula.
#24 - Sakai vs Isao Yanagidate (Caviar)
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/12/1995
Old versus new French cuisine, Club Mistral versus Club des Trentes--a complicated battle deserves a high end ingredient.
#25 - Sakai vs Fuyuko Kondo (Apple & Chocolate)
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/27/1995
Kondo is the 4th woman challenger to take on Sakai. This time the dessert battle is best suited for Valentine's Day.
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