Xiang chu, the village cook
The cook a village engages for a feast: taking work by the occasion, arriving with helpers and stoves, from a few dozen tables to a hundred or more.
Pronunciation xiāng chú｜Rites of life｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
A xiang chu is the cook engaged for a village feast, not a restaurant chef. He takes work by the occasion and moves from village to village; once engaged he comes the day before to look at the site, fix where the stove goes and give the list of ingredients, and lights the fire before dawn the next day.
He brings helpers: cutting and portioning, steaming and stewing, carrying dishes, each with someone on it, a dozen or more where there are many tables. Pots, stoves and steamers come with him; tables, benches, bowls and plates are hired separately, and the host sees to that.
When you see it
Weddings, funerals, birthdays, house-warmings, thanks to the gods. A feast runs from a few dozen tables to over a hundred; the number is given to the cook and the buying follows it. Under-count and places are added on the day; over-count and the host absorbs it.
A job begins with looking at the site: arrive the day before, fix the stove, give the list; light the fire before dawn, and cutting, braising, steaming and stewing each have someone in charge.
In the towns a restaurant is usually engaged now; the village cook’s craft remains, but the work has moved out to the villages and the edge of the city.
Words easily confused
The village cook is on the cooking side, the banquet on the eating side. What separates him from a restaurant chef is not skill but the way it is done: one lights a fire at your house, the other has you come to his.
Read next: Banquet custom: seating, the order of dishes and how many.
See also: Shi zhuo and banquets: five occasions kept apart, Rites of life: the five thresholds side by side.
Same group: the cooking end, the banquet.
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Last revised: 4 November 2026