yan can cook

I was watching Iron Chef America - Battle Opah on television last night. If you're not farmiliar with the show, it's a 1-hour dramatic cook off, that is focused on a "secret ingredient", between a guest chef and the Iron Chef of his/her choice (Iron Chefs are: Cora, Flay, Morimoto, and Batali). The cuisine is judged at the end by a panel of judges on originality, presentation and taste. The show is based on the Japanese show Iron Chef which ended in 1999.

Firstly - I've never seen Opah before this and I just wanted to say what an incredible looking fish it is.

Secondly - one of the panel judges on Battle Opah was Martin Yan, the host of Yan Can Cook. I mistook him for the Vancouver-based chef Stephan Yan, the host of Wok With Yan. Peaking my curiosity I looked both of them up on the internet and read their bios. Definitely two different people, but both uber talented pioneers of cooking shows.

Thirdly - I'm glad to see that Iron Chef America is finally getting more creative with their "secret ingredient". The Japanese version always had the craziest ingredients that really challenged their chefs. Every time I watch the American version it seems to be something standard like beef.

ps. I love how over-dramatic Asian game shows are.