Country Cooking in the Eighties

Reborn as a country girl, she's perfectly content, but her hands are itching to get back to cooking with a wok.

In just half a day, Chang Jiankang decides to become a country chef.

As a top private chef who can prepare a full Manchu-Han banquet, she figures she can handle cooking for weddings and funerals without letting anyone down.

What? You say she's too young?

Then tell me, was that plate of fragrant pork belly good or not?

Huh? You say she lacks life experience and doesn't understand the pull of home.

But she can steam, braise, and deep-fry anything. From the nine-bowl banquet to the endless feast, from fish banquets featuring the rivers and seas to beef and mutton feasts from the mountains and plains, she may not know how much the word "home" weighs, but every ingredient dancing in her pots and pans comes from this land. Surely that is enough to stir people's hearts.

They say it's hard to leave one's homeland, and that even plants and trees are full of sentiment. She has no such worries. As long as the weather is warm and the roads are good, she'll gladly travel, even to distant mountains and grasslands, meet the locals, gather with them beneath the open sky, and savor the blessings and warmth of everyday life.

A note on the food: The banquets I've eaten have mostly been from southern China. Details about regional banquet customs and traditions have been refined using personal experience, books, documentaries, online videos, and other sources. I'll cite any particular sources where relevant.

Theme: Every feast is a blessing.