wrote that the event seems to have caused Jia-Jen to turn away from the world. Later in film it is revealed that Jia-Jen fabricated the story, in order to "create a barrier against intimacy—even with her family" according to Dariotis and Fung. Sylvia Chang as Liang Jin-Rong (), a single mother and neighbour of Chu’s, going through a messy divorce. Gua Ah-leh as Madame Liang (), Jin-Rong’s mother who’s recently moved back to Taiwan from the United States. Chen Chao-jung as Guo Lun (), Rachel’s ex-boyfriend and eventually Jia-Ning’s love interest. Lu Chin-cheng as Ming-Dao, the high school volleyball coach whom Jia-Jen falls in love with. Lester Chit-Man Chan as Raymond (), Jia-Chien’s ex-boyfriend. Yu Chen () as Rachel (), Jia-Ning’s friend and co-worker. Tang Yu-Chien () as Shan-Shan (), Jin-Rong’s six-year old daughter. Wang Jui as Old Wen (), Chu’s longtime friend and fellow chef. Hsu Gin-Ming as Coach Chai Lin Huel-Yi as Sister Chang Themes Wei Ming Dariotis and Eileen Fung, authors of "Breaking the Soy Sauce Jar: Diaspora and Displacement in the Films of Ang Lee", wrote that Jia-Jen's story is that of a "spinster turned sensual woman". They wrote that her Christianity was there "perhaps to match her role as a mother-figure". She suspects Jia-Chien of disapproving of her moral system. Dariotis and Fung wrote that after Jia-Chien states that she needs not a mother but sister, Jia-Jen "is able to become who she really is with all the complexity that entails" rather than being someone she believed her family needed, with "who she really is" being "a modern, conservative, Christian, sexually aggressive Taiwanese woman". Desson Howe of The Washington Post wrote that of the actresses, Yang was the "most memorable". Dariotis and Fung wrote that Jia-Ning's story is of "naïveté and immature love" and that the love triangle involving her, Guo Lun, and Rachel "is in many ways a parody of comic book romance." Dariotis and Fung argue that Jia-Ning's story, along with Jia-Jen's, is "not only flat but also dangerously uncomplicated." They further state that "[t]he lack of inquiry is endemic of this storyline" and that its "superficial treatment" is "quite disturbing." “Due to love and traditional matters, they have to obey, they have to care well. They’re not really level with each other. I think that’s the biggest problem in that family, so the food and that banquet in the movie has become