The Master Chef Learn English through story
i kicked a stone into the road as i
walked home
my confidence was low and i was feeling
pretty sorry for myself i felt like a
failure at
17 years of age
i was no good at anything okay i could
cook
but nobody at school thought cooking was
cool
not unless you were on tv that wasn’t
going to happen not to me
oh well i told myself
so alex chen is never going to be one of
life’s stars
i was nearly home i was thinking about
food
my home is the golden dragon one of the
best
chinese restaurants in liverpool so i
think of food a lot
i cooked here at weekends for my dad
dad always said i was a really good cook
he even said i was good enough to enter
the young cook of the year competition
on tv
but i wasn’t sure i mean i liked cooking
but did i want to be a cook well
yes i did but i wanted to be the best
i wasn’t sure i could be that
so far i’d never been the best at
anything
the school football team had turned me
down i had failed my driving test
if only i could be the best at something
the trouble with young people today
said grandmother as she helped herself
yet again
to the chicken and rice i had cooked
is that they don’t care about the old
ways and traditions
nobody cares about old people anymore
by young people she meant me
and my dad and by old people
she meant herself grandmother
was the oldest person in the chen family
and she came from hong kong every
february to see
dad mom and me for chinese new year
a son should visit his mother not the
other way round
isn’t that the way in england too delia
dear
i’m from liverpool said mum
don’t ask me about the rest of england
i’ve been married to george for 18 years
now
and i still don’t understand how they do
things in hong kong
dad smiled it was the same every year
grandmother and mom always pretended to
act as if they didn’t understand each
other
well we all knew they did really
and you know how busy the restaurant is
at this time
said dad nearly every chinese family in
liverpool
eats out at chinese new year
that’s when we make most money and it
pays for you to come here doesn’t it
mother
maybe so said grandmother
but young alex always stays here for
christmas
with the english side of his family that
would be me
said mom but he never has chinese new
year
in hong kong he’s 15
now 17 i reminded her
i always have to remind her how old i am
as i said grandmother continued
he needs to get in touch with his own
traditions
yeah i know i said but i can do both
can’t i i mean i was born here
not in hong kong but i still see hong
kong nearly every summer and dad
you make sure i know everything about
the place
everything said grandmother
you still can’t speak chinese very well
neither can dad i said
i just got out of practice that’s all
dad answered
all right everybody said mum
relax grandmother
we make sure alex knows about both sides
of his family
really grandmother asked how much does
he know
about my little brother his uncle tong
paul
mother dad said quietly
even i don’t know much about uncle tong
paul
i’ve only seen him in a few old
photographs
why do you mention him now because
said grandmother with a big smile he’s
coming to see us
he’ll be here tomorrow morning
i’d never heard of great uncle tong po
neither had mum excuse me
mum said why hasn’t anybody ever told me
about great uncle tong po
grandmother was loving every minute of
this little drama
she chewed a piece of chicken
thoughtfully
and then she began
my little brother tom paul
ran away from home when he was 14
she said he wanted to join one of the
temples in china
to be a priest and study martial arts
you know kung fu
i didn’t believe him but he did run away
and we never saw or heard from him for
years
mother and father pretended to forget
him
but i don’t think they ever did in those
days
people didn’t ask many questions about
young men
who ran away from home it happened all
the time
none of us heard from him mother and
father
both died just a few years later
i thought this was fantastic a relative
who was a chinese priest who studied
martial arts
cool so grandmother
i asked was he a priest
well he sent me a letter about 10 years
ago
he said he would see me one day
the letter was from the shaolin temple
in china
that’s where they studied chinese
martial arts
so i suppose that’s what he did
i wrote to him telling him all about my
family
including you alex he never wrote back
then this morning i got another letter
from him
he said he was coming to see us
a letter from the shaolin temple i said
wow no alex
grandmother said it was from london
he’s in london and he’s going to come to
liverpool by
train he’s going to get a taxi here
when he gets to liverpool station
he’ll be here by 10 o’clock tomorrow
morning
he wants to stay for a month maybe more
there was no time to write back but i
knew you wouldn’t mind of course
of course said mum with a small smile
does he speak english mother dad asked
he spoke english as a boy said
grandmother
though we mostly spoke in chinese
you can practice your chinese can’t you
don’t expect me to said mom
don’t worry grandmother laughed
we’ll tell you what he’s saying right
dad and i looked at each other we were
going to spend
a month or more with a shaolin priest
in the center of liverpool during
chinese new year
i could hardly wait to tell my friends
at school
on saturday mornings i usually get up
early
and help out in the restaurant i
cook for the lunchtime customers
we get a lot of chinese customers at
this time of year
it was no surprise when a chinese man of
about 60
sat down for breakfast he was small
and fat with very short black hair
and he looked smart in a dark suit
i watched with interest as he ate the
dumplings i had made
i was really good at making dumplings
he saw me looking did you make these
he asked in english with a chinese
accent
yes sir i answered i hope they’re okay
too much salt he said quietly
they are good but use less salt
sorry sir i said thinking he didn’t know
what he was talking about
here he said picking a dumpling up with
his chinese chopsticks
you try and then tell me if i’m wrong
what tastes stronger the dumpling
or the salt
i took the dumpling and put it into my
mouth
i thought about it as i chewed
he was right i’d made them quickly
i never questioned how good they were
they were
just a little too salty
you see he said
only a good cook would know the
difference
and i can tell you’re a good cook alex
chen
i heard gentle laughter behind me
it was mum and dad and grandmother
listen to your great uncle tong poor
alex
said dad he especially wanted to taste
your dumplings
uncle tong po i was expecting somebody
who looked like bruce lee but he looked
like
well like grandmother but fatter
dad closed the restaurant while we all
joined uncle tong
po round the table i felt shy in front
of him
even though i’ve never done martial arts
myself
i’ve always liked watching the kung fu
films
and this man knew all about xiao ling
kung fu
and he was sitting right next to me
i didn’t know what to say i used to make
these dumplings
all the time at the shaolin temple uncle
tong po
said i see you know something about
cooking too alex thank you uncle
i said but you must know all about
different kinds of kung fu from the
temple
i asked what were you best at i
was best at kung fu cooking he laughed
i could cook a complete meal in under
three minutes
he was joking right
you were at the shaolin temple for many
years weren’t you uncle
dad asked i think alex is interested
in your kung fu fighting after all
the shaolin temple is famous for
teaching kung fu
you know teaching you to fight with your
hands and feet
uncle smiled yes
but all kung fu means is a thing
done well and what i did well
was cook cooking i asked
but you’re a shaolin kung fu teacher
aren’t you
yes said uncle i teach kung fu
cooking maybe i wouldn’t tell my school
friends about my great uncle
the xiao lin kung fu teacher after all
not if he was only a cook
little brother tom paul said grandmother
it’s so good to see you but now you’re
here
what are your plans i’m going to spend
time with my family and i’m going to
teach
alex some chinese cooking
alex is already pretty good you know
uncle
said dad uncle stood up
and said show me the kitchen and give me
a few minutes i showed him the kitchen
then we waited after just a few minutes
uncle came out with a bowl of dumplings
eat he told us so we each
took a dumpling and put it into our
mouths
i was used to good dumplings but these
were
absolutely delicious they were the best
dumplings i had ever tasted in the whole
of my life
i could tell by everyone’s faces that
they all
felt the same so what do you think of
your own dumplings now alex
uncle asked compared to these beautiful
dumplings
mine were awful they had none of the
magical taste of
uncle’s wonderful dumplings
i don’t know how you did it uncle i said
i could never cook something that good
never in a million years
all good cooks say that when they first
taste
real cooking uncle said
i know i did
i looked down i didn’t know what to say
we start tomorrow uncle said
but first i’d like to have some rice
wine
with my big sister
sundays used to be relaxing not
anymore now i got up early
and uncle taught me his cooking
the first day uncle made me cook
something by myself
while he watched i cooked one of my
favorite meat recipes
when i had finished i put the food in
front of him
then i watched as he tasted it
i looked on nervously it was the best i
could do
i hoped he liked it too much spice
he said spices are added to give more
flavor
not take it away and the meat isn’t
cooked enough
okay i thought to myself you do better
uncle just said wait here for a few
minutes
i did a few minutes later
he brought me exactly the same thing
i say exactly but of course it wasn’t
uncle’s meat with spice was the best i’d
ever tasted the meat was soft
and there was just the right amount of
spice
it was a meal made with a true love of
cooking
i thought i could never cook like that
i felt like giving up uncle put his arm
around me
now he said the lessons begin
the first week was awful i tried to do
things in the same way as uncle
i wanted to look good but i was nervous
i got things wrong
my food tasted just the same as it
always did
start trying to love the food he said
enjoy yourself feel happy about
your cooking but i didn’t feel happy
i felt terrible it’s no good uncle
i told him i’ll never be able to cook
like you
i don’t know how you do it it’s like
magic i just don’t know your secret
uncle nodded and smiled
ah he said you
finally worked it out i knew you would
you’re a smart boy
worked it out smart boy
i didn’t know what he was talking about
was i smart
i said nothing you don’t think i was a
shaolin priest for nothing do you
i mean we have secrets we know things
we know all about spices secret spices
magical spices magical spices
i didn’t know if uncle was being serious
or not
but then he was shaolin
once i have prepared my food in the
right way
it’s ready for my secret kung fu spice
he said with a smile come
you watch me as i prepare some spicy
chicken with rice
you must do everything exactly as i do
everything if you do it right
i will add some of my kung fu spice
and then your food will be as good as
mine
great uncle had some special
shaolin spice that made his cooking
so good i wanted it too
i watched everything he did
i measured everything in exactly the
same way
i cooked for the same amount of time at
the same temperature
i did everything the same in fact
i really enjoyed cooking the meal
i felt certain that my food was
perfectly cooked this time
then i saw uncle do something very
strange
he took a small leather bag from his
put in his thumb and finger and took out
a little bit of some powder he sprinkled
it over his finished food
and then sprinkled some over mine
i only saw a tiny amount fall from his
fingers
i couldn’t see it when it was on the
food
taste mind first uncle told me
i tasted a mouthful it was so delicious
that i could hardly imagine anybody else
producing
anything as good now taste your own
uncle said mine looked the same
but i didn’t believe that it could taste
the same
when i put the fluid into my mouth my
eyes
opened wide with wonder it
tasted just as good as uncle’s food
i was so happy that uncle laughed
he’ll see said uncle if you prepare the
food with
love that’s when you can add a little
bit of kung fu spice
nothing will taste finer then
but it’s our secret yes you mustn’t tell
anybody about the secrets of the shaolin
temple
right yes uncle i won’t tell anybody
now come we have much to study
if you were to learn the secret ways of
a shaolin cook
the next few weeks were the busiest i
had ever had in my life
i was doing my school work i was cooking
for dad in the restaurant
and i was learning everything i could
from uncle
i thought i already knew a lot but soon
i realized
i knew very little i learned how to
measure food i learned what to add to it
to give it extra flavor including spices
i learned about every meat fish
and vegetable i learned how to make
simple food tasty every time i cooked
some food
uncle added a little bit of kung fu
spice from his bag
after a while uncle said i was doing
very well indeed
but i still wanted to know about uncle
and his time at the shaolin temple
i asked him again if he had ever learned
about real kung fu
i told you before he said kung fu
just means something done well
it doesn’t matter what is studied
but alex i have a present for you
a present i asked
uncle put a small leather bag on the
kitchen table
it was just like the one he used
take it he said it’s kung fu
spice it’s yours
be careful how you use it not too much
just a tiny bit with every meal
if you cook with love the spice will
work
it won’t if you don’t
wow thanks uncle
can i look at it if you want to
but take care it’s too valuable to
waste i opened the bag
and looked inside it was a small bag
and inside was some white powder
it certainly didn’t look special it
didn’t smell of anything much either
but that didn’t matter to me i knew it
was the secret
shaolin magic of a real shaolin priest
this will last you a long time if you
use it carefully
he told me but you must cook the way i
taught you
you must cook with love or it won’t work
will it work on any food or is it just
chinese food i asked
i wondered about this because my mum
made brilliant
english and french food i enjoyed
cooking that
too if you cook any food with love
it will work uncle said
your kung fu spice will make it the best
it can be
i put my bag of spice away in my room
i had never forgotten about dad’s idea
about the young cook of the year
competition on tv
i asked dad about it and he thought it
was a great idea
we emailed my entry form the next day
i was feeling confident now after all
with my kung fu spice how could i lose
alex it’s a letter mom called
it was morning and i was still in bed
it looks like it’s from the tv people
i ran downstairs took the letter from
the table
and tore it open everybody was watching
me
well asked dad yes
i shouted they’ve said i’m going to be
in the young cook of the year
competition
the first part is next week
mum hugged me dad shook my hand
grandmother kissed me on the nose and
uncle smiled hey
i said it’s not going to be easy
if i’m going to win this i have to beat
the best young
cooks in the country i looked at uncle
and knew that with the help of his kung
fu spice
nobody could beat me time
flew by i worked hard
the first part of the competition was
held in liverpool for the north west of
england
my part of the country all the other
young cooks
were having their competitions around
the rest of england
i won my part easily with my chinese
cooking
it was fun but i made sure that with
every meal
i added a tiny bit of kung fu spice
i didn’t tell anybody about that of
course
it just looked like i was putting on the
last bit of salt or something
but it worked they all loved my cooking
and so did i the next part of the
competition
was in london if i got through that
i would be in the final on tv
mum dad grandmother and uncle
had come to the first part of the
competition
i wanted them to be there for me in
london too
with my kung fu spice i couldn’t fail
the best young cooks in the country were
all in the competition
i had to beat them all i felt nervous
it was a big day my family had to wait
at our hotel
which was nearby if i got through this
part of the competition
they would see me on tv in the finals
i was with five other young cooks from
all around the country
we all had to cook in a top london
restaurant
and we were going to be judged by one of
the top
cooks in london i wasn’t going to cook
chinese food i didn’t mind i could cook
most things now
with my tofu spice i could cook anything
we were taken to the kitchen of the
restaurant
the head cook gave us our instructions
he told us that we each had to cook one
course of a meal
i had to cook steak with potatoes and
green beans
steak wasn’t food i cooked often but i
knew how it was done
we had less than one hour to get the
meal ready
no problem i knew exactly what to do for
a course like this
i knew how steak should be cooked not
too much
not too little i knew how to cook
potatoes and vegetables
so that they were just right i did
everything right but the main thing was
this
i felt good cooking the food
i enjoyed myself soon
the food was ready all i needed next
was my kung fu spice to make everything
perfect
just a tiny bit was all i needed
i reached for the little bag in my
it wasn’t there i searched all of my
pockets
but i just couldn’t find it what could i
do
i felt afraid the skin on my back
went cold and my tongue went dry
i wanted to run out and find my uncle he
must have some more
kung fu spice i had to have it
i had to but it was too late
the judge was already on his way to
taste my food
oh no without my shaolin magic
i was just an ordinary cook what chance
do they have of winning now
the competition judge was french
he looked like he knew everything about
cooking
he looked at my steak and cut off a
piece
he put some potato on the same fork and
some green beans as well
then he put it all into his mouth and
chewed
dad mum and grandmother were waiting for
me as i walked into the hotel lounge
where was uncle alex
mum cried did you get through of course
he got through
didn’t you alex say grandmother
i don’t know how i said
but i did it i got through
and why are you so surprised you know
enough about cooking to win
son dad said we all know that
even if you don’t mum hugged me
and dad looked very pleased i was pretty
pleased myself
i had got through to the finals without
the help of my kung fu spice
i could hardly believe it hey
where’s uncle i asked i couldn’t see him
anywhere
i’m sorry alex said grandmother
but my brother told us he had to go back
to the temple
it’s just like him to disappear suddenly
he never changes but he left this letter
for you
grandmother gave me an envelope i opened
it
and inside was a letter and
the bag of kung fu spice
the letter said dear addicts i have to
go back to the shaolin temple
i have been asked to help a young man
with his
that’s the real chinese name for martial
arts
which i also teach like you
he’s good but he needs a little push
i knew you didn’t need my help anymore
i took the spice out of your pocket
while you weren’t looking
it wasn’t magic spice at all it was just
rice powder i’m sorry about my little
lie
all you needed was confidence not
magic i was right wasn’t i
i will visit again next year i want to
taste more of your delicious cooking
pong po so he could fight like bruce lee
after all i knew it said mum
as she read the letter but what’s all
this about
spice just something i borrowed from
uncle
i said it’s not important
not anymore i noticed dad was smiling
but he had tears in his eyes mum had her
arm around him
after all dad said you have a
competition to win
right son i knew dad was right
i knew i was good i could win young cook
of the
year now thanks to uncle tong paul
i was a real kung fu cook
with or without kung fu spice
you