Little Chefs On Tour

30 children aged 9 to 12 spent a week in Taiwan last month. They are all contestants in the Little Chef Competition organized by Active TV. ‘We’ve visited many local farms. We hope to let children know where our fruit and vegetables come from,’ said Eric Lee, one of the judges of the competition.

‘I’m over the moon! Taiwan is such a nice place and the farms are wonderful! I’ve learnt a lot about farming and how hard the farmers work. We really shouldn’t waste any food,’ said Nicole Chan, a 10-year-old contestant.

Eric lived in a village house in Fanling. Two days before Christmas, he saw a man walking into his neighbour Mr Lau’s small house. The man looked strange. He was tall, in a red coat and red trousers. He dropped his red hat. Eric picked it up and ran after him.

The door of Mr Lau’s house was open. Eric heard a sound from the house. ‘Ding-dong! Come in!’ It was James, Mr Lau’s pet. He could make sounds like a doorbell ringing, an alarm clock ringing and a microwave going ‘Ding’. Eric touched his soft feathers. Then he entered the house. It was crowded with people all wearing red clothes. Eric pushed his way into the house.

Eric saw the back of a tall man in a red coat and red trousers.

‘Is this hat yours?’ Eric asked.

‘No, it’s not mine,’ said the man with a long face. He pointed to a short man with a round face. ‘It’s his.’

‘No, it can’t be his,’ said Eric. ‘The man who owns this hat is tall.’

Suddenly the short man got onto a pair of stilts. He became very tall!

‘Oh! Excuse me, is this yours?’ Eric asks, showing the man the hat.

‘Yes, it’s mine,’ said the man. ‘Thank you very much. We are going to perform a show in an old people’s home at five. Would you like to watch it?’

‘Great! I’d love to,’ said Eric excitedly.

Host: Welcome to this week’s ‘Smart Weekly’. Today, we have Danny Fong,the winner of the children cooking competition ‘Super Little Chef’.He’s 12 years old. Welcome to our show, Danny.

Danny: Thank you for having me.

Host: Danny, when did you begin to cook?

Danny: I began to cook four years ago. My dad is a chef. My mum teaches children to make dessert at a cooking centre.

Host: Wow! So you’re from a cooking family!

Danny: Yes. When I was small, my parents let me help with some easy tasks in the kitchen such as mixing ingredients. Of course, they taught and supervised me in the kitchen. They didn’t only want to make sure that I did things in the right way, but they also wanted to ensure my safety.

Host: I see. Who do you think was the strongest competitor in the competition?

Danny: It must be Anna Lee. I really like the apple pie she made in the competition. It both looked and tasted good. Her dishes are always decorated nicely.

Host: How did you win against such a strong competitor?

Danny: I think I was lucky. The final round in the competition was making a Chinese dish, which I’m really good at.

Host: The dish you made in the final was great. For me, it is difficult to cook seafood.

Danny: Actually, I invented the dish ‘spicy lemon shrimps’ from my parents’ ideas. One time, we tried to create dishes with fruit. My mum knows fruit very well and my dad knows which seafood goes best with fruit. Surprisingly, lemon matches shrimps very well. That’s how I invented the dish.

Host: Thanks, Danny. In the next session, Danny will cook an easy dish for us. Please stay tuned!