GR13: Iron Chef

By Jim Coursey

Morimoto Masaharu grew up in Hiroshima, a high school pitcher heading for the pros until an arm injury cut his career short. Instead, he enrolled in a sushi school upon graduating high school. In 1985, he moved to New York City to pursue a career as a chef. By 1994, he was high profile, landing a gig as head chef at Nobu in fashionable Tribeca.

Now Morimoto's reputation has extended overseas and onto Japanese television. During a trip home to Japan, he cooked for a dinner party. Among the guests were Iron Chef commentator Hattori Yukio and one of the show's producers, who happened to be shopping for a new Japanese Iron Chef at the time. The rest is history.

The Iron Chef TV show challenges top chefs to cook up a banquet based on a surprise ingredient. Imagine making five or six dishes out of watermelon, milk, or eel! Then do it in an hour with cameras, commentators, and judges!

In many ways, Morimoto was a daring choice for the role since he has lived in New York City for 13 years and is something of a hybrid-even down to the stars and stripes on the back of his silver satin uniform. He's just as likely to make sashimi as he is to use bagels, potato chips, or hot dogs in his dishes. This puts Morimoto in a tricky position when he's supposedly representing his native country's cuisine, but he takes this challenge in stride.

GR: Do many people come into Nobu because they know the show?
MM: Yeah, a lot.

GR: They come to taste your food because you're the Japanese Iron Chef?
MM: Yeah. And "Can we take a picture with you?" "Can I get your autograph?" "Can I shake your hand?" Or something like that.

GR: Do people recognize you on the streets of Japan?
MM: Very few. Mostly I wear short pants and a baseball cap and a t-shirt. Doesn't look like an Iron Chef. [laughs]

GR: Is it easy to be an Iron Chef?
MM: No, it's not easy. Very difficult. I have to go to Japan often. They have four Iron Chefs including me, and the other three Iron Chefs are already owner chefs or top, top, top, chefs in their own restaurants. So they don't have to work so much. But I have to be here from the morning until 12:00 midnight, working so much. Then I have to go to Japan to do the shooting. There, I'm the Japanese Iron Chef from New York. I cannot do things the Japanese way or the American way so much. So if I do things the authentic way, people say, "This is not your way. You came from New York." If I do New York way, people say, "But you are the Japanese Iron Chef. You should do Japanese." So this is why my position is so difficult.

GR: The judges seem to like you.
MM: Depends on the judges, or what kinds of people are the judges. More than 60 percent agree with me... maybe 20 or 30 percent say, "This is not Japanese way." Really, I don't care.

GR: What do you think of the judges? Do you like the judges?
MM: The judges are very fair. They have special knowledge of the cooking, how to make it and how to eat it.

GR: All of them?
MM: Mostly the first seat and the last seat.* But in the middle they have actors and actresses. Kind of like, you know, amateur judges. [chuckles] Anyway, mostly I trust them. I've explained already that my food is difficult for the judges. Mostly judges say to me, "This is very delicious. But I have to think about this as made by an Iron Japanese Chef. So, you know, delicious, but hmm... Iron Japanese Chef? Hmmm..." Sometimes I lose. [laughs] I think they are very fair.

GR: In your first battle, I think it was Okada Masumi** who was a little unsure about your food.
MM: My seventh battle was tofu. And Okada Masumi came again. I made a very special soup for him, and he really loved it. So he gave points to me and I won, 4-0.

GR: Who's your favorite Iron Chef?
MM: I respect everybody. Mostly Chin and Sakai. They've been doing so great since the beginning, already they've spent five years. I've just spent six months.

GR: Do you have a favorite theme?
MM: No. I'll do anything. Mostly the theme comes from the challenger's side, not from the Iron side. So if the challenger is German, I have to do sausage.

GR: That can be hard. Do you think there's an advantage or a disadvantage to being the Iron Chef? As an Iron Chef, you get more practice cooking in the Kitchen Stadium.
MM: I'm still new. I've been doing it six months. Sakai and Chin have a lot of experience in the Kitchen Stadium, but I'm still new. The same as the challenger.

GR: Is there a dish you remember making on the show that you'd call your best dish?
MM: I remember everything. I can't say what is the number one best... everything.

GR: How about worst?
MM: Worst? There was a very special episode. Kaga has been there for 1,999 dishes already, and the Chinese team and French team are making one dish each for the 2,000. Then they choose the best five dishes in the first five years and the worst three dishes in the first five years. They choose me for worst one. [laughs]

GR: Oh no, which one?
MM: Asparagus smoke. From asparagus, my fourth battle.

GR: You won that one right?
MM: Yes, I won that. But asparagus smoke was one of the "worst five dishes in the past five years." But that's okay.

GR: How about the challengers? Have you ever battled them and felt that something they made was really, really bad?
MM: Actually, I don't care what the challengers make. I have to make my own style, my own dishes. I don't care where they come from or what kind of dishes they make.

*Recurring male judges sit in the first seat. They include writers, politicians, actors and photographers. The last seat is filled by food critic Kishi Asako, known for her stern manner.

**Okada Masumi is an "amateur judge." He's a portly actor with an enthusiasm for eating. The beef tongue episode practically elicited tears of joy from the man.

| GR13 || Toshiharu Ikeda | Iron Chef | Gigi Leung |