Iron Chef 5

Sakai vs Kasahara Hiroshi (Rice Cake) (1997)

Chen vs Michifude Hiroshi (Dried Scallop) (1997)

The challenger is the 25-year-old son of a prominent Chinese cuisine chef whose restaurant "Kochouran" in Kobe was demolished during the huge earthquake back in 1995. It's been 2 years by the time they taped this, and the chairman, while disappointed that the chef of Kochouran permanently quit the business when his restaurant was destroyed, was pleased to find the chef's son as the head chef of Canton Shuka "Ten" in Kobe. Kaga's theme announcement expressed confidence that Kobe was indeed building its "pillars" or foundations firmly after the disaster. The word for "pillar" in Japanese is "hashira". This immediately brings to mind "kai-bashira" (shell-pillars, a common idiom for the adductor muscle of bivalves). But not just any kaibashira - no, they had to be the most prized "kaibashira" in Chinese cuisine - dried scallops, also known as ganbei or conpoy. Judges: Eimoto Takinori (Baseball?), Megumi Oishi (Newscaster), Zaitsu Ichiro (Actor?), Asako Kishi (Critic)

Sakai vs Rory Kennedy (Rabbit) (1997)

The challenger is the head chef of a London restaurant that was established in 1798. He is a master of Gibier (wild game) cuisine. Only four months after this episode originally aired in Japan, Chef Kennedy died after a fall in his restaurant.

Sakai vs Rory Kennedy (Pigeon) Overtime (1997)

It is only the second overtime battle in the history of Kitchen Stadium. The chefs used most of the supplies and ingredients in the first battle, so they must be creative during this 30-minute overtime cook-off.

Nakamura vs Morieda Hiroyoshi (Crab) (1997)