Cooking up a storm

Last September, Wang decided to move back to his hometown with his family and became a full-time video blogger, often referred to as a vlogger. "One reason is that the fans encourage me to keep doing it, and the other is that the income is double－sometimes more than what I earned as a chef," he explains.

So, he rented a place, installed a professional kitchen and bought a proper camera to create his own studio. Now, each day he takes one hour to shop for and prepare ingredients, shoots for one hour, then spends several hours editing the footage into a video for the web.

The cooking of each dish is filmed in one take, and except for the plating scene which is shot by his wife, all other footage is captured by a camera mounted on a tripod.

Having taught his followers how to make around 200 dishes, Wang says it's only about one-third of the dishes he knows how to make, excluding the ones he's created himself. "I also want to learn how to make and then teach signature dishes from all of our 56 ethnic groups," Wang says.

Roy Chen likes to watch Wang's videos on YouTube while having meals. Sometimes he goes to the market to buy the ingredients to cook a dish after watching one of the videos. Living in Seattle, the United States, the Chinese cooking videos remind Chen of the flavors of home.

"Watching him cutting and cooking is so satisfying," Chen says. "His cutting skills are so enjoyable to watch, and he's not even trying to show off.

"It's like watching him in a restaurant kitchen, and I wonder where I can go to eat his food?"

Chen's question may soon have an answer as Wang is planning to open his own restaurant in the next three years.

"Making these short videos is a way for me to realize my dream," Wang says. "But I still want to be a chef and have my own restaurant."

Contact the writer at liyingxue@chinadaily.com.cn