Kitchen wizards establish on-demand careers

A wok sizzles as garlic cloves and Chinese kale hit the hot oil while pork rib and lotus root soup bubbles on a stove. A whole fish, steamed and doused in soy sauce, sits on the kitchen counter next to a pile of spicy crawfish coated in chili oil.

Ding Yuqing, 23, juggles these dishes while navigating an unfamiliar kitchen. A college student in Wuhan, Hubei province, she is busy making a feast for a family who hired her to cook in their home.

Ding is part of a rising wave of Chinese youth embracing a new gig — "on-demand chef". Students, office workers and freelancers offer homemade meals to time-starved urbanites seeking healthier meals, comfort, and a taste of home.