The story of how I came to devote too much time and effort searching for a single Chinese individual—there are over a billion of them, remember—is hardly high drama.  He is not holding my children hostage, nor did he run off with my wife, bless her.  He is simply—possibly—the hero who will save Chinese cuisine in the West, and heaven knows Chinese cuisine needs a hero these days.

As you survey the gastronomic landscape of America, you’ll find traditional Chinese cuisine in the doldrums.  Asian Bistros, Hong Kong Grills, shopping mall take-outs, a plague of cheap buffets, and fusion concepts abound.  Thai and Vietnamese food, and of course, the great bully of Asian fare, Sushi, have given Chinese regional cooking a sound drubbing.  As for home cooking the cuisine, most new Chinese cookbooks include in their title the words “Quick” “Instant” or “Healthy,” or all three, reflecting the obsessions and pace of American life.  Your humble editor, a passionate devotee of Chinese cuisine for 5 decades, has witnessed this decline with sadness akin to, say, watching my favorite old dog, Blinkie, begin to grow blind and drag a hind leg.

Then, one day last year, as I wandered distractedly through a Florida flea market, I stumbled upon a satchel of yellowed pages of Chinese writing and other oddities.  On a hunch, I bought the stuff and immediately showed it to a Chinese-American friend who knows a smattering of Chinese.  He guessed that I’d purchased the writings and personal effects of a man named Wang Jiao.  Among sundry other things, the satchel contained the man’scrawled notes on traditional Chinese food—recipes and techniques—photos and miscellaneous notes; a bundle of love letters, unaddressed and unsent, and lastly but certainly not least, 4 rounds of ammunition. This was too good to be true, I thought. Could this man be a master chef from the east? Or a stir-fry lacky with delusions of grandeur? Could these writings be the Larousee Gastronomique of Chinese food, or the mad scribblings of a troubled wanderer?  Better yet, I'm going to cast aside objectivity and hope he might just be what Chinese cuisine needs—a hero, an artist, bringing his passion, his genius to the world stage—the world wide web stage—to revive the greatness of Chinese food.

That is how this site came to be.  With Cynthia helping me late into the night, the support of my loving wife, and the stingy expertise of our translator—plus tips and advice from people who have crossed paths with this possibly great man--we will compile the remarkable evidence, search the archives, and call the police when necessary to find Chef Wang and bring his remarkable genius--if it is genius--to the world.  That is our mission, our solemn duty.