Do you remember that old television series about cooking called Iron Chef which ran from 1993 to 2002? Since over 300 episodes of that show have been aired (and are still actually in syndication today), Im pretty sure that anyone remotely interested in the culinary arts will remember that show. So, who was your favorite chef on that landmark cooking program? Chances are, you will select Chen Kenichi, better known as Iron Chef Chinese. Kenichi was the only Iron Chef to be on the show from start to finish. In addition, Chen won the Iron Chef competition 67 times and is now widely regarded as one of the great chefs of the world.
Born on January 5, 1956, Chen is actually the son of another great chef, Chen Kenmin, who is known in Japan as the father of Sichuan cuisine.
You can tell his fathers influence on Chen by his choice of his special dish, Prawns in Chili Sauce, which was inspired by a similar dish introduced by his father in Japan. Naturally, where several generations of excellence are involved in the same area of endeavor, comparisons between father and son are inevitable. The same applied to the Chen father-and-son combo as well. But the spectacular success...