Food: Taking the twins to kindergarten to be chefs

"Dear children, please be quiet for a moment, otherwise Uncle Chef Huang will not be able to continue teaching you how to make pan-fried dumplings~"

Huang Jun smiled gently, clapped his hands, and looked at the children's tender faces one by one.

When this gaze inadvertently fell on Qingqing and Weiwei...

That moment...

It seemed as if the whole world had become quiet, and even the noise around me could no longer be heard.

The loving kindness of an old father in his eyes was almost overflowing...

Qingqing and Weiwei raised their heads in tacit understanding and met their father's gaze. A sweet smile blossomed on their little faces. The dimples on their cheeks were faintly visible, making them look particularly cute and charming.

Huang Jun winked at them, giving them silent care, then turned his gaze to the other children with a smile, and the playground gradually became quiet.

The teachers and school leaders standing by watched and admired them.

Huang Jun is worthy of being recognized as the "most popular person" in the whole kindergarten. With just a few simple words, he can easily make this group of originally lively and active children become orderly. It really makes people have to admire him!
It also made them full of confidence in today's teaching. They believed that under the leadership of Huang Jun, the children would be able to gain a lot and enjoy an unforgettable cooking learning journey.

Huang Jun, who didn't know what they were thinking, looked at the children with an approving smile on his face: "Well, the children are very obedient and have performed very well. Now, let's start today's cooking journey and learn how to make delicious pan-fried dumplings together, okay?"

"it is good!"

The children answered in unison, their voices full of energy, anticipation and excitement.

Huang Jun continued: "Everyone has noticed the various tools neatly arranged on the mini workbench, right?"

The children's eyes were instantly attracted and they answered in unison: "I see!"

"very good!"

Huang Jun's face was full of approval.

Then, he picked up a conspicuous measuring cup on the podium and showed it to the children: "Now, please follow my instructions and first find the big measuring cup on your table."

Jiang Shuihan and Lu Pengfei pointed the camera at Huang Jun, gave a close-up, and then turned the camera to the children.

At this time, the children have responded quickly, picked up their measuring cups accurately, and their faces are filled with joy as if they have found a "treasure". They smiled and responded: "Found it, this is it! This is it..."

Huang Jun smiled and nodded, giving them more encouragement: "You really have sharp eyes and found it so quickly. Next, we have to use this measuring cup to fill it with flour from the class teacher, and then safely pour it back into the large basin on your workbench. Can everyone do it quickly and in an orderly manner?"

"can!"

The children answered loudly and confidently.

"Very good!" Huang Jun finally reminded: "Remember, during the operation, we must keep the team in order and not push or shove. Now, just follow what I said and start our first step!"

As Huang Jun finished his words, the children excitedly picked up the large cups in their hands and immediately rushed towards their respective class teachers.

but…

Just a few steps...

They suddenly recalled Huang Jun's instructions and slowed down their pace at the same time.

Upon seeing this, the head teachers of each class stepped forward and gently maintained order: "Children, don't be anxious. The flour we prepared is enough for every child. Please line up and take your time, one by one, to ensure that every child can get his or her own portion..."

moment.

Each little guy returned to his mini workbench with a full cup of flour.

Then, they followed Huang Jun's instructions and carefully poured the flour into the basin beside them.

Seeing the children complete this first step so seriously, Huang Jun’s confidence in today’s teaching increased.

"Great, kids! I just took a look around and everyone's performance was outstanding!"

He praised sincerely, and then changed the subject, leading everyone to the next step: "Next, what we have to do is - look, isn't there a slightly smaller cup on your mini workbench? Please each child pick up this cup and go to the class teacher again, but this time we are going to get water, remember not to exceed the '5' mark..."

As he spoke, he picked up a demonstration cup on the table that was about half the size of the previous measuring cup and clearly showed the water level standard to the children.

Upon hearing this, the children immediately found the corresponding measuring cups on their mini workbenches, and then walked to the class teacher in an orderly manner again. Following Huang Jun's instructions, they filled the measuring cups with water, looked carefully, and saw that the water surface was steadily at the "5" mark. Then they turned around contentedly, returned to their respective mini workbenches with a sense of accomplishment, and carefully placed the measuring cups on the side of the basin.

Huang Jun nodded with satisfaction when he saw the children had completed the task successfully. He then guided them, "Very good, children. Next, we will use the electronic scale on the table to weigh the ingredients. We need 5 grams of baking powder, 7 grams of yeast powder, and 3 grams of sugar. Remember to operate carefully. A slight error is okay. The important thing is that we have learned the process."

At the end, he picked up these materials and showed them to the children one by one to help them deepen their memory.

The children memorized them one by one with great seriousness, then carefully operated the electronic scale and turned on the "weighing" mode.

After a while, a child shouted excitedly: "Uncle Chef Huang, we're done!"

"very good!"

Huang Jun nodded in approval. After all the children had finished this process, he continued, "Now, add all the sugar and yeast powder into the clean water prepared earlier, and stir it with a small spoon until they are completely dissolved and no more sugar and yeast powder particles can be seen. In this way, our yeast water is ready."

After listening to Huang Jun's instructions, the children all obediently followed the instructions, and their little figures were busy in front of the mini workbench.

Don't tell me yet.

Well done!
Huang Jun looked around carefully and saw the results of the children's stirring.

Most of them were very good, but a few children in the lower grades did not meet the standards. After he gave them some pointers, they all completed the work very well.

He nodded and said, "Good, kids, you all did a great job. Next, we will move on to the most critical step - kneading the dough! First, pour the baking powder into the flour and stir it gently with your little hands. Then, slowly pour the yeast water you prepared into the basin in several batches, and keep kneading the flour with both hands."

The instructions came clearly to the children, who were able to understand each individual step, but some seemed confused when the steps were strung together.

So...

A child raised his hand with confusion and asked: "Uncle Chef Huang, what is kneading?"

"Yes, Uncle Chef Huang, how do you knead the flour? I don’t know how to do it..." "..."

Huang Jun smiled, thought for a moment, and then used an example familiar to children to explain: "Well, imagine that kneading dough is like the mud games you usually play. If the dough feels too dry, just like mud lacks water, then we add some yeast water to it to make it moist and soft. Now, do you understand how to 'knead' flour?"

"Wow, kneading flour is just like playing with mud... I understand..."

When the children heard this, their eyes lit up immediately, as if they had found a new world. They suddenly understood the concept of “kneading flour” and their interest doubled.

Almost instantly...

The children could not contain their excitement. They carefully picked up the yeast water and poured it gently and slowly into the basin, fearing that they might accidentally pour too much.

Then, they couldn't wait to roll up their sleeves and knead and press the flour with their little hands...

This kind of concentration and seriousness is more than anything else he does.

Seeing this scene, other teachers and school leaders couldn't help but cast approving glances at him, and they were full of respect and admiration for Huang Jun's teaching methods and abilities.

Originally, they were more or less worried that these young children would not be able to do the job due to lack of experience, but what they saw and heard at this moment undoubtedly made these worries disappear, and were replaced by a knowing smile of "worrying too much".

Jiang Shuihan and Lu Pengfei also took video equipment and followed Huang Jun, moving between the classes.

Huang Jun carefully observed the children's operations and gave them some guidance and encouragement when appropriate.

After the children's unremitting efforts, the dough kneading process came to a successful conclusion.

In pastry making, people have always pursued the "three lights" state - smooth dough, clean hands, and no excess dough in the basins and utensils.

If measured by this strict standard, most children will find it difficult to meet the standard.

But...

If it was done by a group of little kids who are only a few years old, each of them should be praised as "excellent".

He smiled and said to the children, "Every child did a great job in kneading the dough! Now use the plastic wrap on the side to cover the basin and let the dough take a good nap inside."

After seeing the children obeying, he continued, "Next, we will start washing the ingredients. When washing the ingredients, we must treat them gently, just like treating your favorite toys. Remember, every leaf of green onion, ginger, and meat must be washed thoroughly, understand?"

"understood!"

The children nodded seriously, picked up the onions and other ingredients from the small baskets, rinsed them under clean water, and were careful not to splash any water.

Huang Jun patiently guided them and taught them in detail how to remove dirt from the gaps in ginger, how to remove mud and sand from green onion leaves, and how to select and remove old leaves that are no longer fresh.

The children followed his demonstration and learned how to operate step by step.

As the ingredients became clean as new, the children smiled with pride. They held up the ingredients they had cleaned and showed them to Huang Jun, their eyes sparkling with a desire to be recognized, as if to say: Uncle Chef Huang, I did such a great job, please praise me!

Huang Jun nodded gently: "Well, the kids did a great job! Next, we will start cutting the ingredients. Cut the ginger into thin strips, chop the green onions into chopped green onions, and cut the meat into small cubes. Remember, the size of the green onion and diced meat, as well as the width of the ginger strips, should be controlled within 0.5 cm. This way, the pan-fried dumplings will taste better."

After hearing this, the children looked puzzled and asked curiously: "Uncle Huang, how long is 0.5 centimeters?"

Huang Jun smiled and pointed to the ruler on the table, saying, "Don't worry, kids. We have a little helper - a ruler. You can use the ruler to measure and look at the number on it to know how long 0.5 centimeters is."

The children in the junior class were still confused, and they all started talking at once:
"Uncle Huang, we really don't know how to read those numbers on the ruler!"

"Yes, yes, we haven't learned this in school. We can only use a ruler to draw straight lines, but when it comes to checking length, we have no idea what to do..."

"Me too, the teacher hasn't taught us this yet... It's so difficult..."

"..."

Facing the innocent expressions of the children, Huang Jun said: "..."

In order to make the pan-fried dumplings made by the children for the first time both edible and tasty, he really took great pains and came up with such a "non-traditional but practical" method - to standardize the operations as much as possible.

Use a measuring cup to measure flour, a water cup to measure water, and a ruler to determine the size of the ingredients, striving for perfection at every step.

But behind the careful planning lies a challenge he had not anticipated.

He ignored the fact that these children in the small class had not yet learned measurement knowledge and did not know what a unit like centimeter was. Directly introducing it would undoubtedly increase the difficulty of learning for the children...

Faced with this sudden problem, he felt a little helpless, but he also understood the truth that "once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back", so he could only "continue to teach in the teaching method he chose, even if it means crying"...

He smiled and said, "It's okay. Uncle will teach you how to read a ruler. Let's learn together slowly."

"it is good!"

The children nodded obediently and looked at Huang Jun seriously.

Huang Jun instantly turned into a "temporary math teacher" and patiently taught the children how to identify the scale on the ruler: "Look here, each small grid on the ruler is our good friend, they represent different lengths. Let's first find the good friend called 1 cm, and then imagine that if we cut it in half, that would be 0.5 cm! Isn't it interesting? You can also try it, use your fingers to measure and feel the length, then you will know how long 0.5 cm is."

Teachers and school leaders from various classes watched Huang Jun’s explanations so vividly and interestingly, and suddenly felt that he was a “good math teacher whose cooking skills delayed him”…

Fortunately, Huang Jun did not engage in this profession, otherwise the teacher’s job would be taken away...

Under Huang Jun's patient guidance, the children gradually mastered the skills of identifying ruler scales, and their faces were filled with joy of successful exploration.

Afterwards, this passion for exploration seamlessly connected to the practical part of "food cutting techniques".

The children held the knives in their hands, like little chefs, cutting each ingredient very carefully and meticulously. They also measured with a ruler from time to time, wanting each ingredient to meet Huang Jun's requirements.

As for the final pan-fried buns, their taste should be good!

After all, in order to bring an unforgettable surprise to the parents, Huang Jun invested heavily, selected the ingredients, and strived for perfection...

I paid a lot of money for the kids... (End of this chapter)