The theatrical version of Lonely Gourmet had its premiere in Shanghai. The lead actor, Yutaka Matsushige, instantly set the whole venue on fire with his line "I'm hungry, stomach." This "Uncle 五郎" who has accompanied the audience for 13 years was completely captivated by Chinese cuisine during his three-day trip in Shanghai. From the rich and fresh taste of yellow croaker noodles to the bursting juice of soup dumplings, from the crispy texture of butterfly pastries to the homely flavor of tomato and egg soup, every bite made him exclaim "delicious" and "really great" in Shanghai dialect. This conquest of food across national borders reflects the unique charm of Chinese food culture and the deep logic of cross-cultural communication.

I. The Deconstruction of Taste Empowered by Technology
At the "Wu You Xian" soup dumpling restaurant on Maoming Road in Shanghai, Yutaka Matsushige had a cross-screen conversation with food influencers on Douyin. When the camera captured him gently lifting the soup dumpling with chopsticks, and the soup juice refracted an amber halo under natural light, the bullet comments were instantly flooded with messages like "My DNA is tingling." This ultimate presentation of food details is in the same vein as the "microscopic aesthetics" in the Japanese version of Lonely Gourmet —— the flowing gravy when the pork cutlet is sliced and the distinct texture of rice grains all radiate a sacred luster under the 4K lens. The difference is that the complexity of Chinese cuisine poses higher requirements for filming techniques: the boiling and tumbling of the spicy hot pot with red oil and the golden and crispy bottom of the pan-fried buns all require more precise control of light and shadow.

II. The Deep Resonance of Cultural Genes
When Yutaka Matsushige tasted the Qingtuan (a kind of green rice ball) presented by the audience, he specifically asked about the medicinal value of mugwort. This exploration of the cultural connotations of food exactly coincides with the traditional Chinese concept of "medicine and food sharing the same origin." When he learned the pronunciation of "really great" in Shanghai dialect from Xu Xiang, the ambassador for promoting Shanghai dialect, at the Grand Theatre, behind this simple dialect phrase lies the thousand-year accumulation of the food culture in the Jiangnan region. From the elegant food for literati in Shanjia Qinggong to the culinary philosophy in Suiyuan Shidan, all are condensed in this exclamation. This cultural resonance is also reflected in the movie version: when 五郎 was looking for "a bowl of soup" in Paris, he finally found the answer in the blend of Japanese ramen soup and Shanghai-style tomato and egg soup, which coincides with the gustatory philosophy of "Japanese food pursues freshness, and Chinese food pursues harmony."