Street Chef Always Insulted, Challenges World’s No 1 Chef To A Cooking Competition

Hi, Mystery Recapped here. Today I am going to  explain a Hong Kong–Chinese culinary drama film  

called “Cook Up a Storm.” Spoilers  ahead! Watch out and take care!  

The movie centers around a famous local  restaurant named the Seven, in Spring Avenue  

Hong Kong. The talented chef of the restaurant,  Sky Ko, specializes in southern-style cuisine.  

A TV host features the thirty-year-old restaurant  and its chef on a culinary program. Sky shows his  

talent on national television, even though he is  already popular as the best chef in all of Spring  

Avenue. Alongside him, his friend Uni is also  introduced to the people. She usually manages  

the financial aspect of the restaurant. Sky is  very definitive about the quality of food and  

time they provide to their customers which is part  of the reason why their restaurant is so popular.  

Most of the time, it is so packed that a queue of  people has to line up outside the restaurant.  

That day, a rude customer barges in after breaking  the queue. Sky refuses to serve him even though  

the customer boasts about the power and money  he possesses. Before leaving, the man laughs at  

their small restaurant and discloses that his  boss has invited a world-class chef to open a  

three-star restaurant opposite theirs. The thought  scares Uni but she dismisses it as a bluff.  

Meanwhile, in France, the crowned king and queen  are welcoming their newborn son. They hold a  

massive ball to celebrate the birth and invite a  world-class chef to cook for the guests. We are  

introduced to the said chef, Paul Ahn. He is a  Michelin-starred Korean chef trained in France.  

Paul has a special way of cooking that doesn’t  see boundaries in one particular style. He loves  

to mix cuisines from different countries and hence  create innovative dishes. For the chef’s special,  

he presents the queen with a dessert that looks  like a red egg but is filled with mango puree  

and coconuts. The dish is inspired by the  tradition that symbolizes red eggs as a  

blessing to the newborn. The delicious dish  and the meaning behind it touch the royals’  

hearts and they applaud Paul’s brilliant work. After the successful ball, he and his assistant  

Mayo return to the restaurant that they currently  work in. The owner and their co-workers welcome  

them with cheers, congratulating them on their  success. The owner also announces that they have  

promoted Paul to the executive chef of the whole  Art Nouveau franchise. The step is a huge one for  

him; however, to everyone’s surprise, he declines  the offer. Paul wants to return to Asia and pursue  

a bigger and higher ambition. He and Mayo have  been invited by a Chinese businessman who wants to  

open a three-star restaurant. The staff supports  their decision and wishes them farewell.  

Back in Spring Avenue, one of Sky’s regular  customers informs him that the rumor about a  

new restaurant being established is true. The  news is bittersweet for Sky because he wants  

his small colony to develop, but a new restaurant  would mean fewer customers and more competition.  

When Sky was ten years old, his father used to hit  him and insult him for having no talent as a cook.  

One day, he abandoned Sky and chose to pursue  his culinary career over being a father  

with the excuse that Sky couldn’t even make a  decent bowl of noodles. Ever since, Uncle Seven,  

the master and owner of the Seven  restaurants, has taken care of him.  

He also taught Sky everything that he needed to  know about food, unlike his father. Currently,  

Sky hasn't met his father in over twenty years  and has no plan to reconcile with him.  

The following morning, Paul arrives in Hong  Kong and goes to the market in search of a  

big grouper fish. The seller only has one  of such and decides to sell it to Sky,  

knowing that he will cook it better. Paul argues,  insisting that a shopkeeper shouldn’t be biased.  

They get into a small argument before  the seller cuts the fish in half  

for both of them. A few weeks later is the  opening ceremony of the three-star restaurant  

named Stellar that is right in front of the Seven  restaurant. The chairman and manager of the Li  

Management Group arrive as the first guests of the  restaurant and are welcomed by Paul and Mayo.  

At the same time, the people from the Seven  restaurant start announcing about different  

discount offers they are offering for the next  week. When the security guards from the Stellar  

restaurant try to stop them, a conflict arises.  This attracts Paul and the guests’ attention,  

making them come out to see what the fuss  is about. When the conversation gets heated,  

Mayo suggests they hold a competition to see which  cook is better. Sky and Paul recognize each other  

from the market and accept the challenge. They  decide to indulge in a fish cutting competition.  

Paul goes first and skilfully picks all the  ribs of a fish in no time Following that,  

Sky takes the same fish and cuts it into even  pieces in under a minute. The crowd claps for  

him and even Paul is impressed. The chairman of  the Li group has to announce the results.  

In an unbiased way, he claims that the  true results will only be announced in the  

International Chef Challenge Competition that both  chefs have taken part in. He also announces that  

he is planning to take over the entire Spring  Avenue colony to remove all the buildings and  

modernize it. If Sky wins in the competition,  the chairman is willing to withdraw his plan  

to preserve the heritage of the colony. However,  if Paul wins, he will go through with the plan.  

With the future of the entire colony in his hands,  Sky feels pressured, still, he is determined to  

do his best. For the next few days, the number  of customers at the Seven restaurant decreases.  

Uni is worried that might soon go out of business  but Sky assures her that is not possible. He gives  

her an example of escargots and field snails,  claiming that there will always be people who  

like one more than the other. They do not  have to change their food to be better than  

the Stellar restaurant, because there will  always be customers who like one better.  

The following day, Sky is met with disappointment  when he goes to the market and finds out the  

Stellar restaurant has bought all the good  fish. The day is frustrating for the workers  

in the Seven restaurant until they find out  that Sky has been selected for the culinary  

competition. He will soon go against Paul to  be selected for the semi-finals. But then,  

it is also announced that the victor will have to  go against the two-time winner of the competition,  

Mountain Ko. Sky is shocked to see that his  father has achieved the success he wanted to.  

He is now even more determined to reach  the finals and compete against him.  

That night, uncle Seven returns home from his  trip and calls Sky to a pub. Excited to meet  

him after long, Sky runs to the location  but finds his father with uncle Seven.  

Mountain bluntly says that he still doesn’t  believe in Sky and doesn’t regret leaving him  

for his career. The words are the most hurtful  thing Sky has ever heard but he hides his pain  

with anger. He promises to win the competition  and prove that being a good cook doesn’t  

require being a bad person like Mountain is. On the day of the culinary duel, the contestants  

get ninety minutes to cook a dish of their  choice and present it. Sky makes a traditional  

salt-baked duck while Paul makes a foie gras  sorbet. The entire ninety minutes are intense  

as both cooks show great expertise while cooking  their respective dishes. Sky cuts the duck’s  

inside with little to no effort and pulls it  out efficiently, making the audience gasp.  

In the end, he bakes the duck in salt and breaks  the additional layer to reveal a well-cooked duck  

with vegetable stuffings. The judges try it  and seem to be more impressed by Sky’s duck  

than Paul’s sorbet. When it is time to vote, Paul  receives three 9s and a whopping 10 out of 10,  

scoring a total of thirty-seven points. Right  after, Sky receives two 10s from the first two  

judges. The third one gives him nine but  the last judge only gives him an eight.  

Because both chefs tied in points, the head  judge makes the executive decision to make  

Paul the winner because his dish presentation  was superior to Sky's bland plating.  

Although Paul’s victory should've  solidified his abilities as a cook,  

things do not go as expected. While celebrating  their victory, the manager informs Paul that he  

wants to replace him with Mayo to compete in the  finals. According to him, a woman is far more  

appealing in the media than a man. When Paul  tries to defend his position as head chef, Mayo  

exposes that he has difficulty tasting certain  flavors like saltiness. For the past few months,  

he has been using a notebook containing all his  recipes to cook and can do nothing on his own.  

Mayo also discloses that she never wanted to  befriend Paul and only sided with him to surpass  

him as a chef. Betrayed and hurt, Paul storms  out of the restaurant to never look back.  

That night, Sky bumps into a drunk Paul in  front of an event stadium. They forget about  

their rivalry for a few minutes and share their  past and troubles. Paul reveals that his father  

was a great chef and his dying wish was for Paul  to be like him. Sky also tells him about his and  

mountain’s relationship. After the conversation,  they find mutual respect for each other. They also  

throw bottles of alcohol at Mountain’s picture on  a billboard while cursing at him in Korean.  

Paul doesn’t want to give up on the competition  yet. Since he cannot take part as a representative  

of the Stellar restaurant, he decides to  participate as an individual chef after  

debunking the rule book. He even asks Sky to  join him for the semi-finals. At the same time,  

the manager of Stellar is at the Seven restaurant  urging Uncle Seven to sign away his restaurant to  

the Li group. Right then, Paul and Sky appear and  announce their partnership. Paul also reminds the  

manager that as the winner of the competition, he  is eligible to compete at the championship.  

For the next few weeks, Sky and Paul work  and train together. They try each other’s  

style of cooking and reach a common ground  of modernization of traditional cuisine.  

The semi-final of the Culinary Competition  takes place at the Studio City Casino in  

Macau. The one to win the round will have to  face the current God of Cookery, Mountain Ko.  

The competition starts and Sky and Paul use both  their culinary strengths to compete against four  

other great chefs from different parts of the  world. Somehow, the Li group has also made Mayo  

take part in the competition. She cooks extra  carefully to prove that she is better than Paul.  

She makes an oyster dish with frozen foam that  the judges compliment initially, but on being  

served, they seem to find it mediocre. Meanwhile, Paul and Sky create a deconstructed  

mapo tofu. Sky's sense of taste helps determine  the flavor of the ingredients while Paul’s  

understanding of the culinary artistry helps  with the techniques and processes used. Together,  

they create a traditional dish with a modern  design. The judges complement the dish in detail,  

thoroughly impressed by it. In the end, they  win the competition and reach the finale.  

As everyone cheers, Paul looks at Mayo who  stands with her head low, ashamed that she  

betrayed him and couldn’t prove herself. For the final round, only one of the chefs  

can compete against Mountain. Paul thinks that  because of his lack of taste, he is ineligible  

to participate. He also knows that Sky's desire  to beat Mountain is a very personal one, hence he  

suggests Sky face Mountain in the finals. The following day, Sky stands face to face  

with his father. The competition asks  them to cook anything they want in an  

hour. The father and son do not share  words before the competition starts.  

Mountain immediately begins to cook  but Sky is distracted by his thoughts.  

He remembers how Mountain abandoned him and how  much the people in the neighborhood mean to him.  

The thoughts overwhelm Sky and he can hardly  focus. To get him to come back to his senses,  

Mountain splashes water at his son's face. The action brings Sky back and he immediately  

starts making dough. By the end of the hour,  Mountain makes an aesthetic sugar display of  

molten lava with a flower on top. In contrast,  Sky's dish is a bit more simple but personal. He  

makes noodles, like the noodles that Mountain  made years ago before abandoning his son. The  

judges try Mountain’s dish and are impressed by  it. However, Sky never hands his dish to them.  

Instead, he gives the bowl of noodles to  Mountain. Mountain eats it and is moved  

as he remembers what the noodles represent.  At last, he has no choice but to acknowledge  

his son’s brilliance in culinary art. The  winner of the competition is unclear because  

the judges never got to taste the food. In the following scene, we see a crowd has  

gathered outside the Seven restaurant to celebrate  the Chinese new year. They enjoy a meal cooked by  

Sky and Paul together as a family. Subscribe for more videos like this,  

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