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  4. Big Meal Scene 1

Big Meal Scene 1

Stephen and Ashlie visit Chinatown to look for some cooking tips.

Do the Preparation task first. Then watch the video. Next go to Task and do the activity. If you need help, you can read the Transcript at any time.

Preparation

Before you watch

Think about the following questions:

  • What do you do to celebrate your birthday?
  • Do you enjoy eating unusual foods?
  • Do you like to cook?

Now, watch Stephen and Ashlie as they enjoy the taste of Chinatown.

Transcript

Transcript

Stephen: Hi there. This is China Town, right in the centre of London. This is one of London’s most exciting areas. The streets are full of Chinese shops, Chinese restaurants and markets.

Ashlie: It’s my birthday today and we have got some friends coming over to ours tonight for a special meal and Stephen has kindly agreed to cook us all some Chinese food.

Stephen: And hopefully today, I’ll be picking up some great cooking tips and some fresh ingredients.

......

Ashlie: Wow! This place is amazing. Look at this, Stephen. I don’t even know what half of this stuff is.

Stephen: Yeah - what do you think this is?

Ashlie: I don’t know, but I hope you’re getting some ideas for the meal tonight.

Stephen: Yeah, absolutely. I’m getting great ideas for tonight. Come on, I know a great restaurant that does really good Dim Sum.

Ashlie: Dim Sum. What’s Dim Sum?

......

Ashlie: This looks incredible. Is this what you’re planning to cook tonight, Stephen?

Stephen: Let’s go inside and try a few things.

Ashlie: Hmmm. I can’t wait to try some of these amazing dishes.

Stephen: Come on. Let’s see if it tastes as good as it looks.

.....

Stephen: Wow. I’d love to know how they cook this stuff. Do you think they’d let me visit the kitchen? I’d love to meet the chef.

Ashlie: Let’s ask the waiter. Excuse me?

Waitress: Yes. Welcome to the Golden Harvest. Can I help you?

Ashlie: Everything is fabulous, in fact the food is excellent.

Waiter: Thank you.

Stephen: I wonder if you could do me a favour. I need some help.

Waiter: Yes, sure.

Stephen: I have to cook a special Chinese meal tonight and I was wondering if I could go to the kitchen and meet the chef. 

Waiter: Do you want to meet the chef?

Stephen: I wanted to ask the chef a few questions. You know - get a few tips on how to cook Chinese food.

Waiter: Ah, yes, sure. He’s very busy but let me see if he’s got the time to talk to you.

Stephen: Thank you very much indeed.

......

Stephen: Hello, thank you for seeing me.

Chef: How you do, Sir, thank you.

Stephen: I was wondering if you could give me a few quick tips on how to cook Chinese food.

Chef: Yeah, to cook Chinese food, one, you must have a very good chef.

Stephen: The chef is very important.

Chef: Very important.

Stephen: And number two?

Chef: And number two, the food must be fresh.

Stephen: Fresh ingredients.

Chef: Yes, fresh ingredients.

Stephen: And what are we going to cook today?

Chef: Today we’ll cook Kung fu lobster.     

Stephen: Kung fu lobster.

......

Stephen thinks: "A take away menu... this might come in handy later."

......

Stephen: That was great. Really interesting and a bit scary! I learned a lot and you know what? I’ve got a list of all the ingredients that I need for tonight’s meal.

Ashlie: Well, you have no excuses now. I’m expecting the perfect meal tonight. Come on, let’s finish the shopping. So you can get home and do the cooking.

......

Ashlie: So is that everything, then?

Stephen: Let me see, garlic, noodles, lobster, mushrooms - yep. That’s everything.

Ashlie: Except one thing.

Stephen: What’s that?

Ashlie: A chicken foot. 

Stephen: Ugh!

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

Discussion

  1. Which do you prefer: eating out in a restaurant or eating at home?
  2. Chinese food is popular in the UK. What foreign foods are popular in your country?
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Submitted by Akito on Thu, 16/04/2020 - 09:10

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I personally prefer eating at home. It takes more effort, yes, but I don´t like eating in public. I always feel like people look at the way you eat or what you eat and that makes me uncomfortable. When eating at home you can take all the time in the world to eat, but at a restaurant the waiter comes to check on you all the time and that makes me feel like I need to rush so the next people can eat in at my table Here in austria italian and chinese is very popular. Turkish food is also very well known. Japanese is certainly popular, but not to the extent of the others listed here

Submitted by klcze on Wed, 15/04/2020 - 17:57

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I prefer eating at home. Because homemade foods are healthier and taste better. In my family it's actually my mother who cooks delicious food for us. But I have to mention that I sometimes try cooking new meals by following the steps of a recipe I found on the internet. My family and I eat out in a restaurant only once a month. Chinese food or generally Asian food is very popular in my country. Such as sushi, ramen, and many more. People also like Italian food like pizza and pasta. In some cities, the majority eats kebab which is well-known Turkish food.

Submitted by Nourhene.boussema on Fri, 06/03/2020 - 16:42

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I prefer always eating in restaurants but in reality I cook at home most time and some time we go to the restaurant and eat delicious pizza or sandwich. In Tunisia the popular food is couscous it comes from wheat and it comes with fish, meat, chicken or vegetables it is my favorite dish.

Submitted by parisaach on Mon, 23/09/2019 - 06:00

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I usually like to eat at home because home foods are healthier and more delicous. In fact my mother always cook, so we are not interested in going out for eating, but sometimes it is good to go out and try new foods. I usually go out to eat with my friends when we want to meet together. I like Italian food , I don't like Chinese food, I tried sushi and don't like the taste, but some people in my country really enjoy of eating Chinese food. Chinese eating everything raw I don't like the tast I rather everything cooked well and don't like meats the way they eat . They eat everything. When I was at China I really couldn't eat their food. When they bring their food you could imagine the animal in your plate. I eat fish or shrimp when they well cooked not in Chinese way.

Submitted by conghung3011 on Sat, 14/09/2019 - 03:58

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I usually eat at home. Sometimes my family and I go to restaurant at weekend. In my country, there are many foreign food from Japan, China, Korea, Italy,....

Submitted by ADELE on Fri, 22/03/2019 - 14:08

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Hi, I like both ways to eat. When i am at work i usually eat at restaurant because not time to return at home. At weekend i eat at home. We have various kinds of food from many countries like: Chinese Japanese italian Europe. The foreign foods which are popular in my country is Japanese food

Submitted by memorex on Thu, 07/03/2019 - 02:51

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In my country, the most popular food is Chinese-Peruvian food (also known as chifa). Another food which is popular is Italian food, especially pizza. I like it a lot.
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Submitted by krig on Fri, 22/02/2019 - 05:08

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In my country people mostly prefer traditional meal. From other cuisines are popular asian (shawarma), italian (pizza) and japanese (suchi, rolls) ones.