Zhao is learning with Wang and helping him to find the lost flavors, dish by delicious dish.

Deep-fried meatballs are one of the Beijing dishes that Zhao has learned from Wang. Each meatball is made with 30 percent fatty meat and 70 percent lean meat, and the key to cooking them correctly is to control the heat.

"The dish almost vanished in recent years, just because chefs didn't know the right way to make it. Wang, however, saved the dish by finding the authentic method, and now it's on the menus of many Beijing-cuisine restaurants," says Zhao.

Chinese writer Liang Shiqiu (1902-87) once wrote of the dish: "The meat was finely chopped before being fried until its tender inside was coated with a crispy crust. When you take a bite, it will melt in your mouth. There's nobody who won't love it with a bit of pepper and salt."