The Great Chef A.K.A. Peking Restaurant

A Chinese restaurant is like the world in miniature… many things happen there everyday”

An aging restaurant owner is at odds with his chef about how to make jajang-myeon-a savory soybean condiment served over chewy wheat noodles. The chef says that the taste needs to be manufactured with additives and the owner says the only way is to make it from scratch. The chef leaves and goes to work at a high volume slop house and the Peking Restaurant comes under dark times as the owner falls ill and shuts down.

Enter a young chef from Beijing who steps into the kitchen and works with the old staff to bring glory back to this old restaurant.

What I found most interesting is a movie created around a plate of food. Jajiang-myeon is considered a national Korean symbol and is the most one of the most eaten foods in this country. Origins of the dish are from Northern China where the flavors of the bean paste are less sweet than in Korea but delicious non the less. If you do go to Beijing there is a classic restaurant called Old Beijing Zhajiang Noodle King where you can taste these norther Chinese specialties. See my website for the address.

“the busier you get, the more important it is to remember the steps”