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Kids fry, steam and boil their way to the top
September 26, 2012, Wednesday
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A group of children have cooked up a frenzy by showing off their prowess in the kitchen on the TV show "China's Little Chef." Tan Weiyun talks to the winner Yu Jiayang about his passion for cooking and his grandmother's chicken soup.
The documentary film "A Bite of China" has set off a nationwide culinary craze. Gourmand books, recipes, TV programs and movies have become hot items overnight.
Even children have gotten into the act, rolling up their sleeves to concoct some tasty creations as they learn to be "master chefs."
Yu Jiayang, 10, has become something of a celebrity among his schoolmates after winning "China's Little Chef," a children's cooking contest that was broadcast by the Shanghai Media Group. The fourth grader has since appeared as a special guest on "Top Chef," a popular TV cooking show for adults.
Now his schoolmates call him "Little Kitchen King" since Yu can kill a lobster within five minutes, quickly scale a fish and create his own secret dipping sauce. He is proud of his specialty dish gulao xiaqiu (sweet-and-sour fried shrimp balls), which he cooks for guests and family members during holidays.
"I love cooking for people," Yu says.
He is quiet and polite with a chubby face, but when the subjects of food and cooking arise, Yu becomes extremely chatty.
"My favorite dish is the chicken soup my grandmother cooks," he says.
Yu began helping his grandmother prepare meals from the age of six, making wontons, fried eggs and sushi among other things. Unlike other boys, Yu prefers to stay home, specifically in the kitchen.
The first dish assigned to Yu in the cooking contest was fish-flavored long cowpea.
"Boil the cowpea with water first and quick fry them in the wok," he says.
The tricky part was to tie the treated long cowpea into tiny knots, he adds.
"He was doing this for 20 minutes as the time ticked down," his mother Doris Ge recalls, with a big laugh. "We were so worried about him, but he seemed quite calm, though he was sweating heavily in the studio."
The elimination contest ran about one month. The youngsters drew lots to be assigned to different teams and to decide what dishes they were required to cook each time before the TV show.
The show's producer Yang Yi said the children had two days to prepare the dish they were assigned.
"It would be too hard on them if we demand they cook the dish impromptu in front of the camera," Yang says. "Even adults cannot do that."
In order to practice the roasted cheese lobster, Ge bought two lobsters, which cost her more than 600 yuan (US$94.4) from the wet market for her son.
During the contest, no one was allowed to give any guidance or help to the young cooks.
"They had to finish the task alone," Yang says, which he stressed was the biggest motive for launching the contest.
"Most children are the only child in the family. They are often treated like a prince or princess and are over protected by their parents and grandparents," the producer says.
He says it is not that children don't want to do things, but that parents often don't allow them to do it.
"After this contest, many children surprised their parents with their strong hands-on ability and creative imagination," Yang says.
They made puddings, roasted cheese lobsters, cooked fish soup, invented different "secret sauces" and cut food into evenly thin slices and meticulous tiny cubes.
All the participants were aged from six to 12. Before the contest, they received a training course on the safe use of ovens, woks, knives and cooking utensils. The ovens, knives and scissors used in the show were all made-for-children.
One contestant brought a whole set of measurers, ranging from an electronic scale, a stopwatch to measuring cups and spoons. Another boy wrote a rap song to introduce his dishes to the judges. Some named their newly created dishes with cute poems.
"I was so shocked to see the great potential these kids have," Yang says.
Some girls were scared to kill a slippery fish. Others panicked while deep frying vegetables as the boiling oil splashed around.
Cai Yiwen, 11, winner of last year's cooking contest for kids, is a clever and thoughtful girl. She got her start in the kitchen when her parents asked her to wash bowls and clean the dining table from the age of five.
"We taught her how to make omelets and cook noodles," says her father Cai Xianggang.
"She is good at shelling prawns. Maybe she has some talent at cooking because the first time she did it she somehow knew to remove the intestines on the back. We never told her that."
Her specialty dishes are steamed fish rolls and fried eggs. However Cai's future dream is to become a TV host instead of a chef.
"If I could host a gourmand TV show, that would be the best," Cai says, smiling.
The documentary film "A Bite of China" has set off a nationwide culinary craze. Gourmand books, recipes, TV programs and movies have become hot items overnight.
Even children have gotten into the act, rolling up their sleeves to concoct some tasty creations as they learn to be "master chefs."
Yu Jiayang, 10, has become something of a celebrity among his schoolmates after winning "China's Little Chef," a children's cooking contest that was broadcast by the Shanghai Media Group. The fourth grader has since appeared as a special guest on "Top Chef," a popular TV cooking show for adults.
Now his schoolmates call him "Little Kitchen King" since Yu can kill a lobster within five minutes, quickly scale a fish and create his own secret dipping sauce. He is proud of his specialty dish gulao xiaqiu (sweet-and-sour fried shrimp balls), which he cooks for guests and family members during holidays.
"I love cooking for people," Yu says.
He is quiet and polite with a chubby face, but when the subjects of food and cooking arise, Yu becomes extremely chatty.
"My favorite dish is the chicken soup my grandmother cooks," he says.
Yu began helping his grandmother prepare meals from the age of six, making wontons, fried eggs and sushi among other things. Unlike other boys, Yu prefers to stay home, specifically in the kitchen.
The first dish assigned to Yu in the cooking contest was fish-flavored long cowpea.
"Boil the cowpea with water first and quick fry them in the wok," he says.
The tricky part was to tie the treated long cowpea into tiny knots, he adds.
"He was doing this for 20 minutes as the time ticked down," his mother Doris Ge recalls, with a big laugh. "We were so worried about him, but he seemed quite calm, though he was sweating heavily in the studio."
The elimination contest ran about one month. The youngsters drew lots to be assigned to different teams and to decide what dishes they were required to cook each time before the TV show.
The show's producer Yang Yi said the children had two days to prepare the dish they were assigned.
"It would be too hard on them if we demand they cook the dish impromptu in front of the camera," Yang says. "Even adults cannot do that."
In order to practice the roasted cheese lobster, Ge bought two lobsters, which cost her more than 600 yuan (US$94.4) from the wet market for her son.
During the contest, no one was allowed to give any guidance or help to the young cooks.
"They had to finish the task alone," Yang says, which he stressed was the biggest motive for launching the contest.
"Most children are the only child in the family. They are often treated like a prince or princess and are over protected by their parents and grandparents," the producer says.
He says it is not that children don't want to do things, but that parents often don't allow them to do it.
"After this contest, many children surprised their parents with their strong hands-on ability and creative imagination," Yang says.
They made puddings, roasted cheese lobsters, cooked fish soup, invented different "secret sauces" and cut food into evenly thin slices and meticulous tiny cubes.
All the participants were aged from six to 12. Before the contest, they received a training course on the safe use of ovens, woks, knives and cooking utensils. The ovens, knives and scissors used in the show were all made-for-children.
One contestant brought a whole set of measurers, ranging from an electronic scale, a stopwatch to measuring cups and spoons. Another boy wrote a rap song to introduce his dishes to the judges. Some named their newly created dishes with cute poems.
"I was so shocked to see the great potential these kids have," Yang says.
Some girls were scared to kill a slippery fish. Others panicked while deep frying vegetables as the boiling oil splashed around.
Cai Yiwen, 11, winner of last year's cooking contest for kids, is a clever and thoughtful girl. She got her start in the kitchen when her parents asked her to wash bowls and clean the dining table from the age of five.
"We taught her how to make omelets and cook noodles," says her father Cai Xianggang.
"She is good at shelling prawns. Maybe she has some talent at cooking because the first time she did it she somehow knew to remove the intestines on the back. We never told her that."
Her specialty dishes are steamed fish rolls and fried eggs. However Cai's future dream is to become a TV host instead of a chef.
"If I could host a gourmand TV show, that would be the best," Cai says, smiling.
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