Xiang Chaohui: From the Stove to the Podium, Guarding Two Thousand Years of Taste

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In Wenzhou, Ou cuisine is not just a collection of dishes; it is the two-thousand-year taste memory of this coastal city. As one of the four major schools of Zhejiang cuisine, it features seafood as its main ingredient, with a fresh, light yet not bland flavour. Its cooking follows the rule of "two lights and one heavy" — light on oil, light on starch, and heavy on knife work. In 2012, Ou cuisine cooking techniques were officially inscribed on the Zhejiang provincial intangible cultural heritage list. Among those who have brought this craft to new heights is Xiang Chaohui.

Xiang is a native of Lucheng, Wenzhou. Immersed from childhood in the food culture of the Ou-Yue region, his dream was to become a master chef. Thirty-five years ago, he did not hesitate to enrol in Wenzhou Huaqiao Vocational School — then the only school in Wenzhou with a cooking programme — and began his journey with the stove.

From novice to master craftsman, Xiang relied on extreme diligence. Every morning he arrived at the restaurant earlier than anyone else to practise basic skills; late into the night after work, he was still recording and reviewing the ingredients, seasonings and cooking processes of the day's dishes. Years of accumulation brought leaps in his knife work, hot dishes and cold platters. His knife skills are the most admired: in cooking competitions, he could arrange the ingredients of an assorted platter so thinly that light passed through, revealing the view on the other side — a level of mastery that astonished observers.

Throughout his career, he has held to the belief of "master the craft through hard work and strive for excellence," leaving no detail to chance and striving to perfect the preparation of every dish. The Ou cuisine dishes he developed have long been loved by guests and once set trends in Wenzhou's dining scene. "

Lucky Lobster Balls" is one of his signature dishes; he also excels in Coral Fish, Banana Fish Rolls, Double-Flavour Swimming Crab, Hydrangea Snow Fungus, Sweet and Spicy Prawns with Water Chestnuts, and Garlic Fish Skin. At the 4th National Culinary Competition, he won a gold medal in hot dishes and a silver in cold platters, and was honoured as an "Outstanding Chef."

"As a Lucheng native born and raised on this Ou-Yue land, it is my responsibility and mission to explore and promote our hometown's food culture, and to pass on traditional cooking techniques," Xiang says. To pass on his craft, he has established the "Zhejiang Xiang Chaohui High-Skilled Talent Innovation Studio" and the "Wenzhou Xiang Chaohui Culinary Master Studio," attracting a stream of talented young followers. To date, the studios have trained more than 30 senior skilled professionals and more than 30 master technicians — many now serving as key technical staff at hotels, others medal-winners in cooking competitions.

To drive innovation, he plans to compile the Ou Cuisine Culinary Techniques Standardisation Manual, turning the processes of 67 traditional dishes into quantifiable data models, to provide a scientific foundation for the preservation and development of Ou cuisine. He has also founded the "Ouyan Banquet Studio" to explore promoting Ou cuisine through "physical exhibition plus skill demonstration."

In 2025, Xiang was elected the first president of the Wenzhou Ou Cuisine Craftsmen Federation, which has gathered 138 industry elites. Facing the real challenges of a generational gap and flagging innovation, he plans to build a 4,000-square-metre Ou cuisine museum in Longwan, so that Ou cuisine becomes "nostalgia you can see, history you can taste." From the stove to the podium, from craftsman to president, Xiang Chaohui has infused Ou cuisine with new vitality through more than thirty years of unwavering commitment.