China within a Fish
The gong sounded and both chefs are finished. The chiefs of Guangzhou cooking are the judges of the match. Leon starts the tasting with his dishes: 1st dish, sashimi. 2nd dish, stewed fish head with vegetables. 3rd dish, thin slices of fish porgy that is dipped inside boiling porgy soup stock. 4th dish, special fish head dish. The judges are all very happy with Leon’s cooking and Mao is amazed. It’s Mao’s turn. The ladies bring out a big dish and when they opened it, it’s the porgy. They asked if this is the first dish, but Mao answered that this is all his dishes. Mao then asked Shilou’s help and Mei Li pushed him, Mao asked Shilou to cut the string that holds the porgy at the same time. After the string was cut, the porgy moved and the flesh is spreading out like a fan, and when the food settled, the porgy is shaped like China! Mao’s dish is the Porgy Continental Seal. The judges started tasting the dish, each one tasting different sides of the porgy (north, south, east, west) and it contains the four tastes of the four major regions of china: Beijing, Szechuan, Shanghai and Guangdong. The elders finally announced that they came to a decision. It’s a tie! But just as the elders are about to finish the battle, Leon challenged Mao into an extension round and Mao accepted the challenge! Chouyu commented that Mao is at an disadvantage. Chouyu mentions that Leon hasn’t used any underground tricks left, and he still has a trump card. Leon finally revealed his trump card. The North Star Heavenly North Blade There is only one porgy left, and Leon asked Mao to choose the parts. Mao insisted that they have equal parts. Mao cut the porgy in half, with incredible skill. Mao claimed that he did this because he has respect for a great chef, which is Leon. Leon mentioned that he hadn’t hoped of using the secret knife. Leon crushed the end to the floor and pulled out a shining knife. Leon said that the winner will be the one who gives the g
Aired 01/03/1998EP 31 - China within a Fish
Cooking Master Boy
The story takes place in 19th century China during the Qing Dynasty, where the Emperor was weakened and the country was close to chaos. It is also during a fictitious era called "The Era of the Cooking Wars". It was an era in which top chefs with different cooking styles tried their best to improve their skills and to become the best chef in China. It is a country where insulting a high-grade chef or fooling around with cooking could land a person in a jail, and impersonating a top-chef is as good as usurpation of authority. Chefs compete with each other in order to gain respect and even power, but also with the risks of losing everything.
The country of China has four major regions: Beijing, Szechuan, Shanghai, and Guangdong.
The beginning of the story takes place in Szechuan, Mao's birthplace.
After the death of Mao's mother, Pai, who was called the 'Fairy of Cuisine', Mao becomes a Super Chef in order to take the title as Master Chef of his mother's restaurant. However, before he takes his mother's place as Master Chef, he continues to travel China in order to learn more of the many ways of cooking, in the hopes of becoming a legendary chef, just like his mother. During his journey, he meets great friends and fierce rivals who wish to challenge him in the field of cooking.