File photo/NBD

On March 11, Sichuan cuisine chef Chen Jianyi passed away in Japan at the age of 67. 

Chen Jianyi was a well-known celebrity chef in Japan. His father Chen Jianmin was even known as the "God of Sichuan Cuisine" in Japan. The life experience of them is one of the sources of inspiration for the animation "Chuka Ichiban/Cooking Master Boy", which is the childhood memory of many post-80s and -90s Chinese. 

The author of the animation "Chuka Ichiban/Cooking Master Boy", Etsushi Ogawa, recently posted an article to mourn Chen Jianyi.

On March 26, famous documentary director Ryo Takeuchi posted an article to mourn Chen Jianyi: People of my generation in Japan all know the name of Mr. Chen Jianyi, because he signed up for the popular variety show "Iron Chef" thirty years ago. Mr. Chen Jianyi introduced many kinds of Sichuan cuisine that Japanese people had never seen in this show. Now, stir-fried shrimp has become one of the most popular Chinese cuisines in Japan. Mr. Chen Jianyi is a great man and popularized the charm of Chinese cuisine in Japan. 

In 1993, Chen Jianyi signed up for the "Iron Chef" challenge of Fuji Television as an amateur player. With a record of 67 wins, 22 losses, 3 draws and 17 consecutive wins, he created an unprecedented record in the history of the show and caused a great stir in Japan.

This show had a strong sense of entertainment, and chefs from many countries showed off their talents based on the topics of each issue, and then they were evaluated and scored by food critics and celebrity guests. Each time when ingredients were made public, other chefs were busy preparing, only Chen Jianyi calmly formulated recipes and thought about cooking steps in his mind, this different style and demeanor, like a martial arts master, attracted many Japanese people.

This show had a large number of Japanese viewers, including Etsushi Ogawa. He said that he was deeply impressed by Mr. Chen Jianyi's demeanor when he cooked "Ma Po Tofu" on the stage of "Iron Chef", and even recorded the show to watch repeatedly. Therefore, he used the "Ma Po Tofu Showdown" as the opening scene of "Chuka Ichiban/Cooking Master Boy", opening the prelude to the whole story.

In a sense, without Chen Jianmin, there would be no "Ma Po Tofu", without Chen Jianyi, there would be no "Chuka Ichiban/Cooking Master Boy".