There are many ways of rendering Chinese text into English. The method used today is called Hànyu Pinyin; it has been the international standard since the 1980s. However, throughout the 19th Century which is the setting of the anime, the Wade-Giles system is widely used. Because many Chinese food today is spelled using Wade-Giles when place is referred to (e.g. Peking Duck and Cantonese food), we have decided to adopt Wade-Giles for major place names. Hence Peking instead of Beijing, Szechuan for Sichuan, Canton Province for Guangdong Province, and Canton for Guangzhou. We did use Pinyin when rendering Mao's full name: Liu Mao Xing, instead of Liu Mao Hsing under Wade-Giles.
We did not translate from Japanese. Although we did substantial research on the dishes and culinary techniques featured in the anime, AXN's English subtitles (translated from Japanese) still form the the basic foundation of all CMBT English text. Where AXN's meaning is unclear, CMBT supplemented AXN sources by referring to the manga, doing a little bit of research on the Japanese words, and by referencing Anime-Keep's Chinese-translated release as a last resort.
The translations for all six opening and ending songs are neither literal nor localized. Our overriding philosophy is to allow the viewer to sing along to the melody. Because of our desire to fit the lyrics to the music, some viewers may find our "translations" to be overly verbose. It seems that the Japanese language can take a lot of syllables to express a simple thought in English!
Our releases are encoded from Japanese R2 DVDs with x264 (8-bit encoding only). There are three audio tracks (Japanese, Mandarin, and Cantonese) and three subtitle tracks (English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese). Japanese audio, in AC3 format is taken directly from the R3 DVD. Cantonese audio (MP3) come from Hong Kong VCD sources. Mandarin audio (AAC), as well as the Chinese subtitles, are taken from the NORM-HalfCD release.
All files are in Matroska format, and make extensive use of ordered chapters and file linking. Because of this, you should put all files in the same directory for best results.
We recommend using the following to view our files:
As of January 2012, software support for Matroska ordered chapters is not yet widespread for Mac OS. Mac users can install a custom build of MPlayer (warning - beta software!) that supports this feature.
By special request, here are the official CRC figures for all episodes:
| No. | Title | Size (bytes) | CRC32 |
| OP1 | Opening 1: Sora | 29,172,932 | 4DDD0DC6 |
| 01 | Genius Cooking Boy, Mao | 281,463,980 | 8F123626 |
| 02 | A Mystery Mapo Tofu | 274,301,613 | 1A0A976B |
| 03 | Go for It! Super Chef! | 265,280,334 | 84087352 |
| 04 | The Cruel Rule of Yosen Shuka | 237,850,673 | B0D540A5 |
| 05 | Break the Tradition! Defeat Yosen Shuka! | 282,574,540 | E014D666 |
| 06 | Flame Chefs, the Dumpling Brothers | 302,031,518 | 5AA47BAF |
| 07 | Dirty Trap! Cornered Mao! | 304,589,883 | 473110F8 |
| 08 | Dragon Dumpling Duel | 297,673,981 | 68BEE19B |
| 09 | Challenge the Dream! Super Chef Examination | 248,791,242 | 46509D73 |
| 10 | Ultimate Skill! Incomparable Noodles | 309,530,554 | ACB31460 |
| 11 | Final Battle! Legendary Cooking Arena | 293,226,285 | 8FC53DDA |
| 12 | A Great Rival Appears. Talented Young Chef Fei | 285,831,843 | D483FA87 |
| 13 | The Catfish Noodle Completed! Fated Decision | 248,506,837 | 5690E93A |
| 14 | Proof of Champions. The Emblem of Glory | 263,766,167 | F5E4359E |
| 15 | Genius Boy Chef!? Shilou? | 310,550,087 | 4AA66CA2 |
| 16 | Super Boobs! Sweet Trap - Beware of the Beauty | 276,947,629 | 6ADE5572 |
| 17 | Return! Dreamy Singe Cuisine | 280,807,765 | FF47135F |
| 18 | Scary Red Congee. Secret of the Haunted Mansion | 224,162,146 | CEB7CB7B |
| OP2 | Opening 2: Iki mo Dekinai | 26,652,450 | 9EDCB142 |
| 19 | The Bridge of Love. Galaxy Noodles | 290,208,626 | 83F062B7 |
| 20 | The Ominous Black Chicken | 280,023,123 | 81976813 |
| 21 | The Continent's No. 1 Challenges Yosen Shuka | 236,862,827 | C7D3F6E6 |
| 22 | The Challenger! Mao Chooses to Fight! | 251,832,718 | 6A3BE66F |
| 23 | Shine! Big Bang Siumai | 244,865,431 | 14E91306 |
| 24 | Mysterious Invitation. Ambush by a Masked Chef | 217,464,551 | CAE083F6 |
| 25 | Inherited Spirit. Bloody Battle at the Mansion! | 259,638,425 | 8AEB2108 |
| 26 | The Greatest Trump Card! Joker's Laugh | 258,510,149 | 4DF65A01 |
| 27 | Heroism! Grand Finale of Vengeance! | 234,694,143 | EDEE9BDE |
| 28 | The Outdoor Cuisine of Friendship | 277,404,028 | A6E81F7D |
| 29 | Underworld Guest, Cold-hearted Genius Leon | 255,223,368 | C9DC597E |
| 30 | Sharpness of Evil! Demonic Seven-Star Knives! | 263,572,144 | D2C8D448 |
| 31 | Four Chinese Regions Locked! Red Sea Bream Continental Seal | 291,762,451 | 8FE49045 |
| 32 | Clash of Ice and Flame! A Chef's Soul | 323,192,910 | 58D7DD87 |
| 33 | Legendary Cookware! The Secret of the Forever-Spirit Knife! | 284,065,126 | 6A733181 |
| 34 | Evil City Shanghai! The Underworld Declares War!! | 276,162,237 | 8B98CDAB |
| 35 | Huge Floating Cooking Arena! Magical Iron Arm Soup | 237,492,738 | 8FDBFB0F |
| 36 | Sanche Special! Cold Jelly Soup | 255,052,379 | D709BB40 |
| OP3 | Opening 3: Kimi Sae Ireba | 32,233,354 | 69DAC56D |
| 37 | Lakon, the King of Dim Sum. 1,600 Year-Old Spirit-Calming Bun | 265,944,565 | 100D2056 |
| 38 | Super Dim Sum Battle! The Ultimate Decision!! | 304,942,290 | 30F21886 |
| 39 | Another Set of Seven-Star Knives! Enigmatic Beauty Shan | 245,367,693 | 4B7ED29B |
| 40 | Wake Up Leon! Destiny of a Chef | 242,648,657 | 17829A8A |
| 41 | Smash the Evil Blade! Soul of the Seven-Star Knives!! | 229,753,638 | 67D268DB |
| 42 | Demon of Vengeance, Shou An! Conclusion of Destiny | 266,246,593 | 5A5C9D0B |
| 43 | Mao's Real Ability! Magical Panda Tofu | 273,052,161 | 767BB7A4 |
| 44 | Shocking Verdict! In the Palm of the Fairy | 220,111,517 | 8649C5EA |
| 45 | The Yangtze River Burns! Shou An's Final Fate | 268,325,413 | 7E93DB01 |
| 46 | Save Shell! A Torrent of Noodles!! | 255,856,524 | 0C90081E |
| 47 | The Deity Descends!? Miraculous Spiritual Deity Copperware | 283,256,014 | 4BB44B49 |
| 48 | Shooting Star of Heaven! Special Comet Fried Rice | 271,015,394 | 2B72B10E |
| 49 | Labyrinth of Darkness! Soul-Connecting Serving of Porridge | 226,217,178 | E029D14C |
| 50 | Imperial Capital Peking! The Underworld Bares its Fangs | 278,512,294 | 021FB65E |
| 51 | Secret Plan of Fei the Genius! Neo Manchu-Han Imperial Feast | 325,567,319 | 410EAE50 |
| 52 | Huge Reversal! Heroic Chefs of Glory | 283,917,517 | C1EBEEAE |
| C1 | Opening 1: Sora (creditless) | 18,451,995 | E1679393 |
| C2 | Opening 2: Iki mo Dekinai (creditless) | 21,483,571 | CA1A99E3 |
| C3 | Opening 3: Kimi Sae Ireba (creditless) | 23,962,295 | 21D25684 |
| C4 | Ending 1: Aoi Sora no Deaeta (creditless) | 9,583,548 | C8FD6CE8 |
| C5 | Ending 2: Mineral (creditless) | 12,608,040 | 11E1C5A0 |
| C6 | Ending 3: Kaze no You ni Jiyuu ~ Free as the Wind (creditless) | 17,077,810 | 3FCFAB42 |
| SP1 | Episode Previews, part 1 (episodes 02-26) | 103,299,534 | AC5972AE |
| SP2 | Episode Previews, part 2 (episodes 27-52) | 107,777,857 | 1FC4DA8E |
| SP3 | Ending 1: Aoi Sora no Deaeta (full song karaoke) | 76,205,273 | 444A48F2 |
| SP4 | Ending 2: Mineral (full song karaoke) | 68,829,756 | F93D0B96 |
| SP5 | 5-second DVD Menu Teaser | 1,304,083 | 680E7846 |
| SP6 | CMBT Epilogue Credits | 35,633,942 | DCA68234 |