Cooking Master Boy is an anime, or Japanese animation, series that was based off of a popular manga, or Japanese comic, called Chuka Ichiban. The show takes place in China during the Qing Dynasty.
It follows the story of the main character, a thirteen year old boy named Mao. Mao's mother is a respected chef who owns a restaurant. Mao has grown up in the kitchen of his mother's restaurant and, even though he does not often cook, he has also become an excellent chef. When Mao's mother dies, Mao decides that he wants to take over as chef of her restaurant. However, in this time, cooking is considered to be a revered art, and only master chefs are allowed to prepare food.
Mao realizes that he must learn even more about cooking before he takes over his mother's place. He quickly decides that he wants to become the number one chef in all of China.