Jiang Jiankang

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Jiang Jiankang (江建康) 1
Alias(es)	Comrade Jiang Jiankang; Uncle Jiang 1 22
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Jiang family; Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant 13 16
Occupation/Role	Chef and restaurant proprietor 1 35
Status	Alive 44
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Background / History

Jiang Jiankang is the third of Jiang Weiguo's five sons and the only brother to inherit his father's culinary profession. Jiang Weiguo had worked as a chef at a state-run restaurant; Jiang Jiankang began there as his assistant in childhood and succeeded him as head chef at fourteen. He married Wang Xiulian at nineteen. 1 35

When the state-run restaurant went bankrupt, Jiang Jiankang was laid off at twenty with 600 yuan in compensation. Six months later, Wang Xiulian was also laid off. The couple borrowed from relatives and friends to open Jiankang Stir-fry, enduring poor business and severe financial hardship during its early years. 35

He later operated a small restaurant, initially known as Healthy Snacks, and decided to expand near Jiang Feng's university despite being under debt pressure. He and Wang Xiulian began serving breakfast to increase income, then relocated with Jiang Feng to A City and opened the larger Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. 1 2 13

Jiang Jiankang initially regretted that Jiang Feng appeared too thin and insufficiently interested in cooking to inherit the family trade. Jiang Feng's improved congee changed his view: he immediately tried to begin teaching him and became increasingly invested in his son's potential as a successor. 2 9

Appearance

Jiang Jiankang is a stout, heavily built man with a shiny bald head. His size and appetite are recurring traits within the Jiang family. 1 9

• Weighs approximately 240 pounds. 1
• Has broad shoulders, a fleshy face, and a notably stocky build. 9
• Often emerges from the kitchen sweaty after long service; his oversized shirt can be soaked through. 1 12

Personality

Jiang Jiankang is family-oriented and highly proud of Jiang Feng, particularly his son's tall, thin physique. He imagines the restaurant being passed down through future generations, even when Wang Xiulian calls his plans unrealistic given their debts. 1

He is blunt in the kitchen and does not soften criticism of Jiang Feng's early cooking, but his harshness is paired with genuine enthusiasm for teaching. He is deeply attached to the Jiang family's culinary legacy and sees Jiang Feng's progress as a chance to preserve it. 6 9

Although he can be lazy or distracted—especially by food and pigs—he is meticulous when cooking dishes he values. He is also strongly territorial, refusing to rent a home because he dislikes living on someone else's property. 13 17 35

Abilities & Skills

Professional Cooking

Jiang Jiankang is an accomplished chef specializing in Lu Cuisine and Jiang family cooking. Within Jiang Feng's assessment of the family culinary hierarchy, Jiang Weiguo ranks first and Jiang Jiankang ranks directly below him, above Jiang Jiankang's four brothers and Jiang Feng. 9 12

• Kung Pao Chicken — his signature dish; it is prepared in a sweet rather than spicy style. 1 15
• Dongpo Pork Hock — a personal adaptation developed through years of studying other state-run restaurant chefs; he braises it for at least four hours. 15
• Stomach-Soothing Congee — prepares a rich family recipe using ingredients such as ham, chicken, shrimp, and beef. 5 25
• Three-Piece Duck and Huaiyang Cuisine — directs the heat control for Three-Piece Duck and prepares dishes including Wensi Tofu and Lion's Head Meatballs, though he admits his Huaiyang Cuisine is not fully authentic. 22 23
• Buddha Jumps Over the Wall — can process its numerous expensive ingredients and prepare the dish, but his rushed version has flaws in cooking time, ingredient proportions, and preparation. 24 25
• Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices — knows the dish's theory but cannot make it; Jiang Weiguo is the family member capable of preparing it. 14 20

Ingredient Selection and Kitchen Craft

Jiang Jiankang is exacting about ingredients, tools, and flavor-building techniques.

• Keeps more than a dozen specialized knives, separating knives for meat, vegetables, and ingredients with conflicting flavors. 16
• Maintains a pot of broth in the kitchen and habitually adds broth to dishes to strengthen their umami and aroma. 17
• Carefully selects pork hocks, soaking them in ice water for twelve hours to remove bloodiness before cooking. 17
• Personally evaluates pigs for meat quality and allocates desirable cuts before slaughter. 35

Mentorship

Jiang Jiankang recognizes Jiang Feng's culinary progress and actively tries to guide him, from offering remote advice on shrimp congee to working with him on complex restaurant dishes. 8 9 22

• Encourages Jiang Feng to learn cooking as soon as his congee demonstrates sound ingredient proportions. 9
• Works alongside Jiang Feng during restaurant preparation, dividing tasks between vegetable and meat preparation. 16
• Advises Jiang Feng against reckless “innovative dishes” after the disastrous pure-meat wontons and failed soup experiments. 38
• Calls Jiang Weiguo for help when Jiang Feng becomes consumed by mushroom-soup experimentation. 42

Equipment / Items

• Specialized kitchen knives — owns more than a dozen knives for distinct cutting tasks; attempted to bring his treasured knives on the high-speed train during the move. 13 16
• Shaoxing/Huadiao wine — keeps prized wine for dishes such as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and Dongpo Pork Hock. 17 24
• Jinhua ham — a treasured ingredient saved for special cooking. 24
• Kitchen broth pot — continually simmered stock used to enrich dishes. 17

Relationships

• Wang Xiulian — wife and business partner. They endured layoffs, debt, and the founding of their first restaurant together; she comforts him when food evokes memories of their hardship. 1 35
• Jiang Feng — only son. Jiang Jiankang wants him to become stronger, inherit the restaurant, and carry on Jiang family cooking; he becomes excited when Jiang Feng begins improving. 1 2 9
• Jiang Weiguo — father and culinary superior. Jiang Jiankang inherited his profession from him but remains beneath him in the family cooking hierarchy. 1 9
• Jiang Jianguo, Jiang Jiandang, Jiang Jianye, and Jiang Jianshe — brothers. Jiang Jiankang is the only one who followed their father into professional cooking. 1
• Ji Yue — employee of Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. He warmly reassures her that she can stay and eat at the restaurant while she needs work. 22
• Wang Hao — Jiang Feng's friend and an enthusiastic admirer of Jiang Jiankang's cooking, especially his Kung Pao Chicken and Dongpo Pork Hock. 15
• Chen Xiuxiu — Jiang Feng's childhood neighbor. Jiang Jiankang fondly remembers her former sturdy build and prepares dishes specifically to persuade her to eat. 2

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Restaurant expansion — purchases a shop near A University, begins breakfast service under financial pressure, and moves the family business to A City. 1 2 13
• Jiang Feng's return to cooking — initially controls the family kitchen closely, then recognizes Jiang Feng's improved congee and attempts to take on a teaching role. 3 9
• Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant opening — serves as the restaurant's principal chef, preparing opening dishes and gaining Wang Hao's enthusiastic word-of-mouth promotion. 15 16
• High-end culinary requests — supports Jiang Feng's efforts to fulfill Professor Li's request, including making Buddha Jumps Over the Wall from rare ingredients despite the dish's shortcomings. 20 24 25
• Bitter memory — Jiang Feng's pure-meat wontons trigger Jiang Jiankang's memories of layoffs, debt, and the sacrifices Wang Xiulian made while they established their restaurant. 35
• Mushroom-soup obsession — becomes concerned by Jiang Feng's unbalanced fixation on improving Clear Soup with Bird's Nest Slices and contacts Jiang Weiguo for assistance. 42

Notable Quotes

“If I'm going to live somewhere, it has to be my own place.” 13

Trivia

• Jiang Jiankang loves pork hocks enough that he originally planned to eat two entire braised hocks himself in one day. 17
• He keeps hundreds of bottles of Huadiao wine but prefers to save the best bottles for himself. 17
• He considers Jiang Feng too thin to look like a proper member of the Jiang family. 1 42