# Help me identify an episode of the original Iron Chef **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking, reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [May 2, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712 "2026-05-02T01:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/1 "2026-05-02T01:02:00Z")
I recall watching an episode of Iron Chef back in the day, probably in 2008, and I’m trying to find out which episode it is. Apparently at least some of what I remember about this episode is not correct based on trying to find it using Google and Chat GPT. In my recollection, this episode featured Iron Chef Michiba. I don’t recall the secret ingredient, but I do recall that Michiba prepared only one dish. The dish was a maki sushi roll, which was apparently expertly crafted. I recall it being shown in cross section, and looking like a stained glass window. Michiba ended up winning, with a near perfect or perfect score, despite the fact that he only presented one dish. Which episode am I likley remembering, and which of my recollections is incorrect? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/2 "2026-05-02T01:20:18Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Which episode am I likley remembering, and which of my recollections is incorrect? I’m confused. _Iron Chef_ only ran from 1993 to 1999, so your 2008 doesn’t say much useful. Perhaps that was when you caught a particular rerun episode? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/3 "2026-05-02T02:03:03Z")
Read all about it on the IMDB: > # Iron Chef > > Original title: Ryôri no tetsujin > > [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220265/?ref\_=fn\_t\_1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220265/?ref_=fn_t_1) And here. Scroll down for lists of episodes and the iron chefs on those episodes. > **[Iron Chef](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef)** > > Iron Chef (料理の鉄人, Ryōri no Tetsujin; literally "Iron People of Cooking") is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended on September 24, 1999, although four occasional specials were produced from January 5, 2000, to January 2, 2002. The series aired ... > The host of the show is the flamboyant [Takeshi Kaga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kaga), known on the show as the aristocrat **Chairman Kaga** (鹿賀主宰, _Kaga Shusai_). He begins most episodes with his signature words, taken from [Arthur Rimbaud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rimbaud), “If memory serves me right…「私の記憶が確かならば…」”(Jadis) _si je me souviens bien_ …" and starts the cooking time with the phrase "_Allez Cuisine!_ ". I remember watching it in the late '90s. It was soooo campy. This was before all the extreme reality shows. It was almost a caricature of itself. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/4 "2026-05-02T02:15:19Z")
It was a great show. I have never seen the episode in question, though. I wish they’d put it on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/5 "2026-05-02T02:28:27Z")
If you want to try to track it down, this link appears to show all of the battles that Michiba was involved in: > **[Rokusaburō Michiba - Iron Chef Battle Database](https://ironchefdb.com/iron-chefs/rokusaburo-michiba)** > > Visit the Iron Chef Battle Database to learn more about Rokusaburō Michiba. He is a chef who competed in 39 battles on the show Iron Chef as Iron Chef Japanese. Youtube does appear to have most of the episodes available so you should be able to jump to the end of each episode and see what the dishes were. The few I looked at showed multiple dishes for both challenger and Iron Chef, not a single dish. My suspicion is that the “single dish” aspect of your recollection is incorrect. ETA: Apparently “scores” were not a thing until 1995 and later, so if you distinctly remember a score being involved that might cut it down a bit. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2026, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/6 "2026-05-02T13:52:05Z")
I watch the original Iron Chef every morning on basic cable (there is nothing else on). I don’t recall the episode you mentioned, everyone seems to make 4 or 5 different dishes with the main ingredient. The unfortunate live eels! Dispatched and filleted within 2 minutes! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/7 "2026-05-03T15:50:47Z")
I can’t recall that episode, but there was definitely an episode of Iron Chef America where Chef Morimoto did a “stained glass” sushi roll. The dish has been a signature item at several of his restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![schnebs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@schnebs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnebs)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/8 "2026-05-07T05:29:05Z")
Ah, Iron Chef! Some family friends of mine got me hooked on the show when it first aired in syndication in the US- I think mainly because they used clips of the score from “Backdraft” in the opening and closing credits. Someone re-syndicated the original series a few years ago without the “Backdraft” score, and it was still fun, but somehow just wasn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/9 "2026-05-07T14:16:10Z")
> [@Jack\_Burden](#): > > I can’t recall that episode, but there was definitely an episode of Iron Chef America where Chef Morimoto did a “stained glass” sushi roll. The dish has been a signature item at several of his restaurants. I’m pretty sure that’s the episode. I must have really mashed together various episodes in my head 🤣 . Another example of the Mandela effect. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/10 "2026-05-07T14:24:34Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > the Mandela effect. It’s called the “Mandala” effect. At least in this universe. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/11 "2026-05-07T14:32:39Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > > > the Mandela effect. > > It’s called the “Mandala” effect. - > > At least in this universe. I distinctly remember it being named after Nelson Mandela. deadpan face ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-an-episode-of-the-original-iron-chef/1029712/12 "2026-05-07T14:42:41Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I distinctly remember it being named after Nelson Mandela. It’s named after the mandala, the symbol of the collective unconsciousness. It calls to mind how reality is only true from how we perceive it. That there is no absolute “true” except for what we agree on. Winky emoji