Dim Sum king, Lakon 1600-years-old Soul-Calming Steamed buns
In this episode, King Lakon prepares the Spirit Calming Buns of the Hakura Family. The bun’s secret ingredient was a piece of 1600 year old ‘lao mien’, a piece of fermented dough passed on from his ancestors (apparently the older the better). The 8 types of buns altogether: all of them first rate seafood which includes shark’s fin, abalone, lobster and sea cucumber, served in a bamboo boat. Method of preparation: Clay pots. The judges give the dish a thumbs up. While Lakon cooked up his dish using the traditional methods passed on for generations, Steel Stick Shell used his own creativity to cook up: Fried Laughing Buns. Even King Lakon was shocked when it laughed in his hand. Secret ingredients: diced steak (not minced) and vermicelli (to retain the juices during frying). Secret method: To make the buns laugh, Shell made a slit on each bun. While frying, the oil will rush in and cook the insides. However, the slit will be sealed trapping the juices inside. Once taken out of the fryer, the pressure inside the bun will reopen the slit and the air coming out of it creates the laughing effect. The judges loved the buns, delicious and fun. Now comes the judgement: the judges were told to raise a red spoon for Shell and a white spoon for King Lakon. It ends with a cliffhanger: None of them lifted their red spoons when asked to do so!
Aired 03/05/1998EP 37 - Dim Sum king, Lakon 1600-years-old Soul-Calming Steamed buns
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.