# The Missing Master Chef
**The Missing Master Chef** (消失的厨神) is a 65-episode Chinese vertical short drama produced by Chongqing Malt Culture (重庆麦芽传媒有限公司) in 2024, about a three-time world cooking champion who vanishes at the height of his fame and rebuilds his life as an anonymous kitchen helper.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink) Its English-dubbed edition, distributed on the NetShort app, became one of the most heavily advertised dubbed micro-dramas in international markets and topped overseas short-drama charts.[2](https://www.real-reel.com/the-missing-master-chef-review/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 消失的厨神, produced by Chongqing Malt Culture, mainland China, 2024[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Format | 65 vertical episodes; the full story runs roughly 1 hour 38 minutes[3](https://verticalshortdramas.com/series/the-missing-master-chef/) |
| Premise | World cooking champion Fang Chenxing disappears at his peak, is rescued by restaurateur Zhang Yuelu, and defends her restaurant in a life-or-death cooking duel[4](https://netshort.com/full-episodes/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E-1894648813714894850) |
| English version | Dubbed as *The Missing Master Chef* on NetShort, with the leads renamed Skylar and Alicia[5](https://netshort.com/hotseries/the-missing-master-chef-1846827303440711682) |
| Reach | Distributed through NetShort in more than 40 countries and regions in nearly 10 language versions[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Chart peak | No. 1 on the DataEye overseas English short drama hot list (week of March 24–30, 2025) with a heat value near 7 million[6](https://www.jiemian.com/article/12585245.html) |
| Advertising | Top dubbed micro-drama of 2025 by ad creatives, 99K deduplicated creatives (SocialPeta)[7](https://sp2cdn-idea-global.zingfront.com/report-preview/2026/SocialPeta-x-Amo-Pictures-%7C-Insight-into-Global-Micro-Drama-App-Marketing-for-2026.pdf) |
| Awards | Global Pioneering Achievement Award at the second Asian Short Drama Awards, held alongside the Busan international film and content market[8](https://www.cqworld.cn/news_show.aspx?id=24624) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The protagonist Fang Chenxing wins three consecutive championships at the world cooking competition, then loses his sense of purpose at the peak of his fame and abandons wealth and status to wander in search of what cooking, and life, mean.[4](https://netshort.com/full-episodes/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E-1894648813714894850) Nearly starving on the street, he is taken in by Zhang Yuelu, owner of the Zhuyuan Restaurant (竹园酒楼), and works there as an unremarkable kitchen helper.[4](https://netshort.com/full-episodes/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E-1894648813714894850)
The crisis arrives when Zhang Yuelu's father and his apprentices, through a misunderstanding, offend the president of the gourmet association during a banquet for an honored guest; the scheme is actually the work of Zhang Yuelu's uncle, who wants to seize control of the restaurant.[4](https://netshort.com/full-episodes/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E-1894648813714894850) To repay her kindness, Fang steps forward and enters a staged cooking duel (生死擂) to save the business. Early rounds test knife work, in which Fang slices a fish so thinly that it continues to swim, and stock simmering against a self-styled "King of Soup"; later rounds bring a challenger claiming to be the master chef's own disciple, a claim Fang knows to be false because he has never taken one.[4](https://netshort.com/full-episodes/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E-1894648813714894850) The story resolves the duel, exposes the uncle's plot, and reunites Fang and Zhang Yuelu.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
In the English dub the same story is told with localized names: the hero is Skylar, a humble prep cook who reveals his identity as the missing master chef during a grassroots cooking competition, and the restaurateur is Alicia.[5](https://netshort.com/hotseries/the-missing-master-chef-1846827303440711682) The English synopsis adds that the hero is betrayed and injured, loses the use of his hands, and must reclaim his title with a single homemade dish.[5](https://netshort.com/hotseries/the-missing-master-chef-1846827303440711682)
## Production and release
The series was registered in October 2024 by Chongqing Malt Culture for release on the Mai Meng short drama platform and Douyin, and it premiered the same month.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink) In October 2024 it topped the DataEye domestic short drama daily heat list four times (October 18, 19, 21, and 22), placed second on the monthly top-100 list, and exceeded a heat value of 5 million; Douyin plays later surpassed 140 million.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [8](https://www.cqworld.cn/news_show.aspx?id=24624)
**Dubbing and export.** Malt Culture's overseas app NetShort, launched in July 2024, distributes translated dramas, and *The Missing Master Chef* became one of its flagship titles alongside *The Beggar King's Bride*.[9](https://www.quvideo.com/en/news/quvideo-fireflyfusion-shortdramaproductionsolutions) The English version ranked 6th on Guangda Da's "Overseas Short Drama 2025 Year List, US TOP100".[10](https://www.baijing.cn/article/55580) The series circulated in more than 40 countries and regions in nearly 10 language versions, and its dishes, such as twice-cooked pork, were described as carriers of [Chongqing](https://www.edgepedia.org/chongqing) food culture going abroad.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
Episode counts differ across platforms: NetShort's original Chinese page and most catalogs list 65 episodes, while some NetShort listings and aggregators present a 96-episode cut.[4](https://netshort.com/full-episodes/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E-1894648813714894850) • [11](https://netshort.com/hotseries/the-missing-master-chef-2032058000897736706) • [12](https://izlebunu.com/en/short-dramas/the-missing-master-chef/)
## International performance
The dubbed version sustained an unusually long chart run for a translated import. In the DataEye overseas English hot list for March 24–30, 2025, it ranked first with a heat value approaching 7 million, leading a list where the top four titles all exceeded 3 million.[6](https://www.jiemian.com/article/12585245.html) The following week it held second place.[13](https://www.baijing.cn/article/id-52285) In July 2025 it was the third-ranked title on the English list with a heat value of 13.691 million, the only male-oriented translated drama in the top three.[14](https://www.jiemian.com/article/13191381.html) As late as a recent DataEye weekly list it remained the highest-ranked translated drama, 15th overall with a popularity value of 1.568 million.[15](https://min.news/en/entertainment/6d3f0c4a8cc49e0395931c53caf1c422.html)
Advertising data show the same pattern. SocialPeta's H1 2025 report ranked it first among dubbed dramas with 87.4K deduplicated creatives, and its full-year 2025 table placed it first among dubbed micro-dramas with 99K creatives.[16](https://sp2cdn-idea-global.zingfront.com/report-preview/2025/Insight-into-Global-Micro-Drama-App-Marketing-for-H1-2025.pdf) • [7](https://sp2cdn-idea-global.zingfront.com/report-preview/2026/SocialPeta-x-Amo-Pictures-%7C-Insight-into-Global-Micro-Drama-App-Marketing-for-2026.pdf) Its ad buys skewed European: France accounted for 47.65% of its creatives in H1 2025, followed by Canada, Germany, South Korea, and Mexico, and the campaign map clustered in Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, and Greece.[16](https://sp2cdn-idea-global.zingfront.com/report-preview/2025/Insight-into-Global-Micro-Drama-App-Marketing-for-H1-2025.pdf) • [2](https://www.real-reel.com/the-missing-master-chef-review/)
## Reception and analysis
Critics credited the series with making cooking technique carry the drama. Real Reel's review described each ninety-second episode as a heist-shaped beat, promising the finished plate, threatening it with a reversal, and resolving it through a single piece of know-how such as sugar work, lamination, or deboning, a rhythm of "tease, technique and tiny cliff"; the same review noted that exaggerated heat ripples and a visible rendering of "wok hei" ('breath of the wok': smoky seared flavor from stir-frying) function as subtitles for physics, legible even with the sound off, while the English dub's lip-sync and ADR were its weakest seam.[2](https://www.real-reel.com/the-missing-master-chef-review/) An academic survey of micro-drama cited the series as an example of genre diversification, arguing that food preparation gives short-form serials a visually legible structure of close-ups, timed reveals, and procedural suspense, extending vertical drama beyond romance, horror, and fantasy.[17](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/25741136.2026.2705748)
**Awards and recognition.** At the second Asian Short Drama Awards, organized with the Busan international film and content market, the series received the Global Pioneering Achievement Award, given for overseas distribution, multi-region release, and cross-cultural adaptation.[8](https://www.cqworld.cn/news_show.aspx?id=24624) In December 2025 it was presented as a case study in overseas micro-drama dissemination at the Hainan Island International Film Festival, and it received a third prize in the network literature and art category of a Chongqing municipal award.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [18](https://gbdsj.cq.gov.cn/zwxx/tzgg/202506/P020250616420585583176.pdf) NetShort's own promotional essays framed the story as a celebration of Chinese culinary tradition, in which a humble plate of twice-cooked pork prevails over high-end Western cuisine, and as an example of how "nobodies" can carry large narratives.[19](https://www.netshort.com/ko/blog/the-missing-master-chef-demystifying-the-hero-showing-how-nobodies-can-tell-1834672364732674673)
## References
1. [消失的厨神, Baidu Baike entry](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E/65014954?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
2. [Vertical Drama Review: The Missing Master Chef, Real Reel (October 29, 2025)](https://www.real-reel.com/the-missing-master-chef-review/)
3. [The Missing Master Chef, VerticalShortDramas series page](https://verticalshortdramas.com/series/the-missing-master-chef/)
4. [消失的厨神 Full Movie, NetShort](https://netshort.com/full-episodes/%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%A8%E7%A5%9E-1894648813714894850)
5. [The Missing Master Chef, NetShort hot series page (65 episodes)](https://netshort.com/hotseries/the-missing-master-chef-1846827303440711682)
6. [DataEye海外短剧热榜："厨神"爆火海外，麦芽APP蝉联榜首, Jiemian JMedia](https://www.jiemian.com/article/12585245.html)
7. [Insight into Global Micro Drama App Marketing for 2026, SocialPeta x Amo Pictures](https://sp2cdn-idea-global.zingfront.com/report-preview/2026/SocialPeta-x-Amo-Pictures-%7C-Insight-into-Global-Micro-Drama-App-Marketing-for-2026.pdf)
8. [重庆两江新区企业麦芽传媒斩获"亚洲短剧大奖", 重庆与世界 (June 15, 2026)](https://www.cqworld.cn/news_show.aspx?id=24624)
9. [FireflyFusion's Short Drama Production Solutions Drive 200% Revenue Surge for Malt Culture's "NetShort", QuVideo (February 24, 2025)](https://www.quvideo.com/en/news/quvideo-fireflyfusion-shortdramaproductionsolutions)
10. [晚了两年上场，NetShort却靠AI短剧杀出重围, 白鲸出海](https://www.baijing.cn/article/55580)
11. [The Missing Master Chef, NetShort hot series page (96 episodes)](https://netshort.com/hotseries/the-missing-master-chef-2032058000897736706)
12. [The Missing Master Chef, izlebunu catalog page](https://izlebunu.com/en/short-dramas/the-missing-master-chef/)
13. [DataEye海外短剧热榜："合租恋综"本土剧霸榜日韩, 白鲸出海](https://www.baijing.cn/article/id-52285)
14. [7月海外短剧揽金近$2亿，70款新APP涌现, Jiemian JMedia](https://www.jiemian.com/article/13191381.html)
15. [DataEye's Overseas Short Drama Hot List, iMedia / min.news](https://min.news/en/entertainment/6d3f0c4a8cc49e0395931c53caf1c422.html)
16. [Insight into Global Micro-Drama App Marketing for H1 2025, SocialPeta](https://sp2cdn-idea-global.zingfront.com/report-preview/2025/Insight-into-Global-Micro-Drama-App-Marketing-for-H1-2025.pdf)
17. [New directions in vertical storytelling: creative shifts in micro-drama for mobile audiences, Taylor & Francis](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/25741136.2026.2705748)
18. [重庆市网络文艺类奖项评选结果公示, 重庆市广播电视局](https://gbdsj.cq.gov.cn/zwxx/tzgg/202506/P020250616420585583176.pdf)
19. [The Missing Master Chef: Demystifying the Hero, NetShort blog (November 1, 2024)](https://www.netshort.com/ko/blog/the-missing-master-chef-demystifying-the-hero-showing-how-nobodies-can-tell-1834672364732674673)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Comedy, drama, and general-genre web series › Premiered 2022 to 2026*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license