Iron Chef Chen's Knockout Chinese
A Chinese of Japanese nationality born January 5, 1956 in Tokyo, Japan, Chen Kenichi is best known as the Iron Chef Chinese on the original JapaneseIron Cheftelevision series. He is the only Iron Chef to have held his position on the show throughout its 6-year run.As the son of Chen Kenmin, who is regarded as the father of Sichuan cuisine in Japan, Kenichi is often compared to his father on the series, with some saying thatIron Chefhelped the son exceed the skills of the father.Despite the fact that he is the only lifetime and longest-serving Iron Chef, Chen had considered leaving the show on several occasions. Among his reasons was the desire to tend to his restaurants--which, unsurprisingly, had become fully-booked everynight since the show's beginning--as well as suffering a bout of depression following the death of his mother. It was fellow Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai who convinced Chen to stay, both agreeing that should one leave, so would the other. Because of his long tenure, Chen has fought more battles than any other Iron Chef--a whopping 92 in all--with a win/loss record of 67223, including a record 14 consecutive victories.