The God of Cookery facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The God of Cookery
Hong Kong film poster
Directed by	Stephen Chow Lee Lik-chi
Produced by	Yeung Kwok-fai
Written by	Stephen Chow Edmond Lo Tsang Kan-cheong
Starring	Stephen Chow Karen Mok Vincent Kok Richard Ng
Music by	Ronald Ng
Cinematography	Jingle Ma
Editing by	Cheung Ka-Fai
Studio	Star Overseas Ltd.
Distributed by	Universe Entertainment Limited
Release date(s)	21 December 1996 (1996-12-21) (Hong Kong)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Money made	HK$40,861,655

The God of Cookery (Chinese: 食神) is a funny comedy film from Hong Kong. It came out in 1996. The movie was directed by Stephen Chow and Lee Lik-chi. Stephen Chow also stars in the film, along with Karen Mok, Vincent Kok, and Richard Ng.

Story of the Film

Stephen Chow plays a very famous chef who is actually a fraud. He runs a big food business but doesn't know much about cooking. He is very proud and judges cooking contests that are set up for him to win. Everyone calls him the "God of Cookery."

Chow Loses Everything

A man named Bull Tong (Vincent Kok) pretends to be Chow's student. He works with Chow's business partner (Ng Man Tat) to trick Chow. During the opening of Chow's 50th restaurant, Bull shows everyone that Chow is a fake. Bull then becomes the new "God of Cookery" and takes over Chow's business.

Chow loses everything and ends up living on the streets in a place called Temple Street. He tries a bowl of noodles from a street food seller named Turkey (Karen Mok). She has a scarred face and is a bit rough. Chow complains that her noodles are terrible. He tells her he is the "God of Cookery" but then begs her for money. Some tough guys beat him up for begging. Turkey feels sorry for him and gives him a bowl of delicious barbecue pork on rice. Chow is very touched and says it's amazing.

A New Start

Turkey and another street vendor, Goosehead (Lee Siu-Kei), are rivals. They often fight over who sells the best dishes. Chow helps them combine their two best dishes into a new one. They start selling it together, and it becomes a huge hit!

The vendors convince Chow to go to a cooking school. They want him to win back his title as the "God of Cookery." Before he leaves, Chow finds out that Turkey used to look up to him. She got her scarred face while fighting a gang leader who ruined her poster of Chow.

A Difficult Journey

The success of Chow's new dish makes Bull Tong worried. Bull, the new "God of Cookery," tries to have Chow killed on his way to cooking school. Chow finds Turkey has followed him. She asks him to finish drawing a heart for her as a souvenir. Chow knows she loves him, but he acts mean to her. He tells her he never asked her to do those things for him, like getting hurt. As he says he can never love her, Turkey sees the assassin coming. She jumps in front of Chow and takes the bullet for him. Chow is also thought to be dead and disappears.

Training and Return

One month later, Bull enters the "God of Cookery" competition. He is expected to win easily. But Chow arrives at the last minute! He tells Bull what happened: Chow survived the attack and went to a Shaolin Monastery. The head monk helped him get better.

Chow learns that the cooking school he was going to attend was actually the temple's kitchen. It was the same kitchen where Bull had trained for 10 years but quit. While training, Chow felt very sad about how he treated Turkey. His deep sadness made his hair turn white. This convinced the head monk to let him leave the monastery.

The Final Cook-Off

The cooking competition between Chow and Bull begins. They both try to make a dish called "Buddha Jumping Wall." They try to mess up each other's dishes in funny ways, using ingredients and kitchen tools. But Bull wins when Chow's old business partner makes Chow's cooking pot explode with a bomb.

With little time and few ingredients, Chow makes a simple dish called "Sorrowful Rice." It's barbecue pork rice, just like the dish Turkey first gave him on the streets. Even though "Sorrowful Rice" is better, Bull had already paid the judge (Nancy Sit) to rig the contest.

As Bull is unfairly named the winner, Chow says that there isn't just one "God of Cookery." He says that anyone who cooks with their heart can be the "God of Cookery." Then, something magical happens! The Imperial Court of Heaven appears. They reveal that in another life, Chow was a helper to the Kitchen God. He was sent to Earth as a human because he shared cooking secrets with people. They forgive him because of his sadness and humbleness. They then turn Chow's old business partner into a bulldog and put a big hole through Bull's chest.

A Happy Ending

After the competition, Chow celebrates Christmas with his friends on Temple Street. Goosehead tells him that Turkey survived the attack! She caught the bullet with her gold-plated teeth. She also had surgery to fix her face. She appears before Chow and asks how she looks. Chow responds by throwing her the drawing of two arrow-pierced hearts that he finally finished.

Main Characters

• Stephen Chow as 'Stephen Chow'
• Karen Mok as Turkey / Guanyin
• Vincent Kok as Bull Tong
• Ng Man-tat as Uncle
• Lee Siu-Kei as Goosehead
• Tats Lau as the head monk
• Christy Chung as the girl in the dream (a short appearance)
• Nancy Sit as herself (a short appearance)
• Lee Kin-yan (a short appearance)
• Law Kar-ying as the competition host

Planned Remake

In 1998, Stephen Chow thought about making an English version of God of Cookery. He wanted Jim Carrey to play the main role. The movie was going to be written in English by Marc Hyman. A company called 20th Century Fox bought the rights to the film. However, the movie was never made.

See Also

In Spanish: God of Cookery para niños

• Chūka Ichiban! (1995), a cooking comic and cartoon series set in China.
• Cook Up a Storm (2017), a Chinese movie about cooking.
• God of Gamblers II (1990), another Stephen Chow film about gambling.
• God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai (1991), another Stephen Chow film about gambling.