People say that the types of Chinese food are as numerous as the stars.
The food of wonder - Chinese cuisine - has become internationally known.
The cooking style had a rich 4,000 year history.
Honed to perfection by the efforts of countless Super Chefs,
who competed desperately to better their craft.
Those days were known as the "Cooking Warring States" period.
During the 19th Century, a time of upheaval at the end of the Manchu Dynasty...
Two thousand kilometers southwest of the capital Peking...
In a rich land steeped with fog, where the Yangtze River flows...
In this town in Szechuan province...
A new Chinese chef legend is about to be born.
Genius Cooking Boy, Mao!
Yes! I found it!
The unique taste of this mushroom will make it the best ingredient.
Ouch!
I got it!
Whenever we're busy like crazy, he's never here.
Miss Karin, is Mao searching for ingredients at the mountain again?
He's probably playing around and skipping off from his work!
There's nobody else in our family. I wish he'd get more serious.
You have so many problems, it's hard for you to get married.
It's none of your business!
It's been a month since the head chef, Ms. Pai, passed away.
Yeah, but we all decided to work hard to maintain my mom's tastes.
All of us customers come here so we don't forget about her dishes.
After Dad died 11 years ago, Mom protected Kikkaro Restaurant.
She was one of the greatest head chefs ever. She was called the Fairy of Szechuan.
Many of her original dishes have changed this restaurant's history.
Her cooking made the Kikkaro national restaurant famous throughout the country.
Thank you very much for coming!
It was so good!
- Thank you!
What are you doing?
Be more careful!
W-welcome!
I don't care what you serve me.
Just as long as it's good.
I'm sure of it, Miss Karin!
Those weirdos will put down our food to pester us for money.
So what will we do, Jun Shin?
You can count on us. As Master Pai's best students, we'll cook the best food ever.
So they won't be able to complain. Right guys?
Yes!
Here you are.
Didn't you hear what I said?
What?
I said, I wanted good food. Feed this slop to the pigs or something!
Why are you doing this?!
What the heck are you doing?!
Argh!
Sis!
I've got so much stuff!
Sis, look at all these wild plants and mushrooms.
I've got so much...
Sis, what happened here?!
Who are these guys?
They complained about our food.
I just told you the truth.
Liar! How would you know? You just had a sip of the soup!
You were planning to do this from the very beginning!
That's right! It must be it.
If I can't judge the quality with a sip...
... then how can I be a Senior Chef?
Senior Chef...
You still don't have the right to destroy this place.
Of course I do.
Look at this. It's from Admiral Lee, a leading figure in the central government cooking society.
He sent me this order to be the new head chef of Kikkaro!
In short, Kikkaro will be my restaurant from now on.
I can't believe that Admiral Lee would give such orders to a complete stranger.
A stranger?
Have you already forgotten about me?
That burn! You must be...
Shou An!
It's you?
So you remember me now? I worked here for ten long years.
You're all so cold-hearted. I haven't forgotten about you even for a day.
Shou An, you can't cook the food evenly that way.
Put your heart into it.
Shut up, old hag! How many times must you tell me the same thing over and over?
I've stolen all your techniques a long time ago.
I don't need you any more!
You can't cook my dishes with only techniques stolen from me.
Unless you understand that, you'll never be a genuine chef no matter how long you try.
You must wake up, Shou An!
Shut up! don't treat me like a child all the time!
Shou An, are you all right?! You must get treatment right away!
Shut up! I don't need to be here any more!
Shou An!!!
You can't imagine how miserably I was treated after that.
However, I managed to put up with all the humiliation.
I trained desperately to qualify as a Senior Chef.
All I wanted during those years was to destroy Kikkaro Restaurant.
That's nonsense. You have no reason to blame us!
Mom worked so hard to improve you - her favorite disciple!
She worried about you until the day she died.
Pai, the Fairy of Szechuan, is no longer alive.
So I am now the head chef of Kikkaro Restaurant.
Don't!
Move out!
Get off me!
Damn it, I won't let him take over Kikkaro.
You stupid brat!
Wait.
Clear the way! Admiral Lee is here!
So he's Admiral Lee.
Admiral Lee?!
So you're Admiral Lee?!
Sir, I've been waiting for you.
I'm Shou An, the one you appointed as the new head chef of Kikkaro.
It's over now...
Mom's restaurant...
Shou An.
Yes sir!
I think you misunderstood something.
I would never appoint a new head chef for a national restaurant...
... without confirming how good the chef really is.
Only when my seal is on the order will you be officially recognized as the new head chef.
I don't understand.
I will decide on your appointment after I try one of your dishes.
I understand. Please request anything that you like.
I see. All right, cook me some fried rice.
Fried rice?
I get it. Fried rice is the very basis of Chinese cooking.
It clearly shows how good a chef is. Clever choice.
Amazing.
But why are there three woks?
Besides that, what is he going to do with that soup?
He may use it to season the fried rice,
but it will ruin the rice's crispness, which is the key.
You people will never understand...
What's he going to do?
I have surprised all the wealthy and the gourmets...
... who have tried all sorts of luxurious delicacies.
This is the divine technique of Senior Chef Shou An!
He's mixing the stir-fried ingredients with the soup, and combining the mixture with the fried rice.
What kind of fried rice is that?
It's hard to remove the fishy smell of shrimp, crab, and shark's fin.
I wonder how he handled this problem.
What a combination of sea delicacies and mountain food.
He upgraded an ordinary dish like fried rice into such a luxurious dish!
Excellent work. You really are the number one disciple of Pai, Shou An!
I thank you very much, Admiral.
However, I'm sure that I have already surpassed her.
You surpassed my Mom?!
Now, please give me your seal as you have promised.
Wait! Let me try the dish too!
Stay back, kid.
Mao!
It tastes good.
He removed the strong fishy smell of the seafood
and locked the taste of the ocean into the flavor.
I can taste it...
It's the flavor of something special.
I got it! This is it!
He added coriander marinated in Kinka ham sauce!
Brat...
Coriander!
But no. This fried rice...
It doesn't surpass my Mom's!
Even though he's Pai's son, he's still just a child.
What does a child know about cooking?
I grew up in the kitchen where my Mom worked.
I can remember all the tastes Mom created.
That's why I know that Mom's fried rice tasted better!
Shut up!
Admiral Lee, please ignore what he said. A child's memory can't prove anything.
The reality is that Pai has passed away. Her fried rice doesn't exist any longer.
It's impossible to compare it with my fried rice.
Of course...
... it would be another story if someone could reproduce Pai's fried rice.
I can.
What?
Admiral Lee, please let me cook my Mom's fried rice.
What are you saying? You've only played around and never trained to properly cook.
Let me remind you that the menu of a national restaurant
affects the prestige of our country and our 4,000-year old cooking style.
Serving a poor dish is equal to a serious offense.
Your youth won't exempt you from that.
Are you still prepared to say that?
Yes. I promise I'll reproduce my Mom's fried rice.
First, mix the eggs quickly. Once they are half-cooked, add rice.
Each grain of rice must not be sticky. And the eggs must not be fluffy.
Once the rice and eggs are mixed, season with salt and pepper.
Lock up the taste and aroma of the food immediately.
That's the life of Chinese cuisine - cooking with fire!
I did it! It's complete!
Humph. A dish cooked by a child isn't worth trying.
Mao has a big mouth.
He used only eggs. There's no way he can beat him.
Please go ahead, Admiral Lee.
Why is it shining?
Is that really fried rice?
What kind of fried rice is that?
Golden fried rice...
Yes!
Golden fried rice?
I thought I saw a light, but it can't be real.
Don't be fooled by the fancy name of that golden fried rice.
The truth is, eggs are the only ingredient other than rice.
It's just egg-fried rice without any special inspiration.
There's nothing to get excited about.
What's wrong?
It's over.
I knew it.
This... really is... Pai's fried rice!
No way! That can't be true.
It's true that golden fried rice is just a mixture of rice and eggs.
But only after each grain of rice is securely coated with eggs...
... can it shine as perfectly as gold.
Only Pai could cook this golden fried rice in Szechuan province.
Now, this mere 13 year-old boy has reproduced it!
Even next to Shou An's luxurious fried rice...
... it's quite hard to compare the two.
Admiral Lee!
You did well!
Mao.
My cooking has received praise from many gourmets.
I can't believe you equated my cooking with Mao's!
Even if you were once the general managing officer of the Imperial kitchen.
If you really think that Admiral, then I have my pride as a Senior Chef.
Please allow me to officially compete against Mao.
I would like you to permit us to have a national restaurant cooking competition.
One officially sanctioned by the Szechuan Chef Alliance.
A traditional cooking competition happens once every ten years.
Once you lose, your career as a chef ends right there and then.
It's a very serious fight within the Chinese cooking society.
You should know the rules of the cooking competition, Shou An.
If you lose, not only would Mao become the new head chef...
You would be stripped of your qualifications as a Senior Chef.
It will never happen unless a miracle occurs.
What do I have to worry about, going up against such a child?
I ask you as well, Admiral. Please let me compete with Shou An!
Mao, if you lost, it would be considered an insult to a Senior Chef.
Leaving Kikkaro with your employees won't be the only punishment.
Fine. I'm prepared for any kind of punishment.
A cooking competition to be the new head chef of Kikkaro Restaurant.
We can't miss it!
He decided without asking me!
I wonder what the subject will be.
There's no way he can win if it's a difficult one.
Now, let me announce the subject.
Shou An. Mao. I want you to cook Mapo Tofu.
All right! I know how to cook that!
But not just any ordinary Mapo Tofu.
It must be a mystery Mapo Tofu.
Mystery.
Originating from Szechuan...
Spiciness. Aroma. Color. Heat. Numbness.
The unity of these five factors is the secret of Mapo Tofu.
But mystery Mapo Tofu has six united factors.
Six united factors.
That's right. A mystery Mapo Tofu with six united factors.
That will be the subject.
One factor added to the other five. What kind of taste does it have?
"In the Bluest Sky, I Can Meet With You"
I felt a signal pass through me today
As I went out to meet up with you
In this crowded cityscape, an enlightening wind
Is blowing hard into my face
Up in the clouds, above the Earth, where the Angels' ladders reach with grace
I stretched out my arms, and climbed right on
Now I can go everywhere, gently riding a white wispy cloud
In the bluest sky, I can meet with you
No matter what the time, where the place The path to take, I want to see it through
I will never give up until the end
I want to gather up all pieces of the dreams that shine with seven rainbow colors
Ahh… perhaps the answers that I want
Are there all along in front of me.