Chen Kenmin (June 27, 1912 – May 12, 1990), also known as after naturalization, was a Chinese-Japanese chef. He is often credited with introducing

Sichuan cuisine Sichuan cuisine or Sichuanese cuisine, alternatively romanized as Szechwan cuisine or Szechuan cuisine (, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is a style of Chinese cuisine originating from Sichuan province and the neighboring Chongqing munic ...

to Japan. He was the father of Chen Kenichi, the Iron Chef Chinese on the television show ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle buil ...

''.

Early life

Chen was born in

Yibin Yibin ( zh, s=宜宾 , t=宜賓 , p=Yíbīn , w=I-pin, region=CN-SC-15; Sichuanese Pinyin: ȵi2bin1; Sichuanese pronunciation: ) is a prefecture-level city in the southeastern part of Sichuan province, China, located at the junction of the Min ...

Sichuan Province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

in 1912. He learned cooking from his mother, and worked in various restaurants in

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. He emigrated to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 1947 after the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, and to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1948, where he opened a Sichuanese restaurant.

In Japan

Chen emigrated to Japan in 1952 and became a Japanese citizen in 1954. Chen had originally specialized in Chinese imperial cuisine. However, in 1957, upon opening the restaurant in Japan, Chen arranged his dishes to cater to the tastes of his Japanese clients. Chen introduced Shanghai-style

to Japan through the ''Shisen Hanten'' Restaurant as well as through nationwide TV shows, particularly

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

's TV show, ''Kyō no ryōri'' ("Today's Cuisine" in English). Chen came to be known as the "father of Chinese Sichuan cooking" in Japan. In 1998, Masuyoshi Kimura, a chef who had been personally trained by Chen Kenmin, appeared as a challenger on ''Iron Chef'', but rather than competing against Chen Kenmin's son, Iron Chef Chen Kenichi, Masuyoshi chose Masaharu Morimoto to be his opponent. Chen Kenichi was present for and watched the battle.

Chen Kenmin's popular dishes

Among the many Shanghai-style Japanese Chinese dishes Chen popularized in Japan include: * "Prawns in Chili Sauce" ( zh, s=干烧虾仁, t=乾燒蝦仁, p=gān shāo xiā rén), which Chen renamed to for the Japanese. * Mapo doufu ( zh, s=麻婆豆腐, t=麻婆豆腐, p=má pó dòu fu).

References

Notes

1912 births 1990 deaths Chinese chefs Chinese Civil War refugees Chinese emigrants to Japan Japanese chefs Naturalized citizens of Japan People from Yibin Sichuan cuisine {{food-bio-stub