A perk of living in an international capital like Beijing is that you can get almost anything delivered directly to your door, be it McDonalds or a motherboard. With the arrival of Christian Söldner, a 41-year-old from Bavaria, Germany, the city's food delivery options now include this rent-a-German-cook. Lifestyle arranged a cooking session to find out more.

Söldner punctually arrived at my kitchen dressed in his chef jacket and towing his mobile kitchen: a massive black suitcase that contained a electric German oven (unavailable in China, he said), dish washing soap, cleaning cloths, forks and knives and all his necessary ingredients. We got our most important questions off our chest first. "So, what does German food have to offer besides sausages? And how many Chinese people really know and appreciate German food?" Söldner smiled. "I just started, and I am not sure if I will succeed in the end. But cooking is my biggest hobby. I have been cooked for family and friends for around twenty years. My mom was my teacher. I just feel passionate about introducing authentic German food to China."

Very early days

"You guys are my first customers, actually," Söldner admitted. "I am cooking you one of my special dishes, baked pork knuckle with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes."

Söldner seemed confident that "there are lots of German companies in Beijing and many expats are here to provide custom." Others who've studied or worked in Germany might also get nostalgic for the country's traditional foods, which he can whip up in their own homes.

Söldner didn't start out as a chef. Previously he worked for the German company SAP (Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing), but changed because he loved cooking enough to make it his profession. He first came to China in 2002, and fell in love with the place, returning to visit once a year. "I like everything about China, the country, the people, the food," Söldner explained. In 2007, he met his wife in the Forbidden City; the couple now live in Beijing.

The meat and potatoes of cookery

The pork knuckle on offer this evening weighed in at 1.3 kilograms, and was purchased fresh from Schindler's Food Center, which has a reputation for the best meat in Beijing. Söldner seasoned it with salt, black pepper, red pepper and cumin, which is good for digestion, Söldner explained. He brought all the seasonings from Germany. If you aren't hungry when Söldner arrives, you likely will be by the time the knuckle is done, after two hours of cooking at 230 C. In the interim, Söldner prepared mashed potatoes, to which he added his secret ingredient, ground nutmeg.

While we enjoyed the fruits of his labor, Söldner was busily finishing up by cleaning the kitchen. By the time we finished, so had he, and with full bellies we bid him and his mobile kitchen farewell.

To order, you can visit Söldner's website and look through the variety of dishes available in German, Chinese or English. German beers and spirits are also available.

A minimum consumption of 500 yuan is required, and Söldner can cook for no more than eight diners at a time. His round-trip taxi-fare is not included in the given prices – given the man has a kitchen to carry, you can't ask him to go by bus.

Söldner has a few tactics to make his work more authentic and flow more smoothly. The sauerkraut, for example, was already made, and just needed rejuvenating via a quick fry up with apple juice, ham, vinegar and a pinch of sugar. For seasoning, Söldner explained, "Chinese salt is different from German salt. Sea salt is popular in China, but it is less salty than mountain salt, the kind we eat in Germany. So I normally add more."

As the knuckle broiled away, the smell filled made our stomachs grumble. Vegetarians have an advantage here, as do sausage lovers, as it only takes 30 to 40 minutes to cook those dishes. I'm not re-ally a big fan of meat, but this pig knuckle was distinctively flavored with cumin, and had a bit of crunch to it. The homemade sauerkraut was delightfully sour and sweet, with a hint of apple.