My First Year of Study at New Oriental

I came to New Oriental Cooking School on August 15, 2021 to register, and I signed up for the 3-year course in Chinese Cuisine. We have almost completed our first year of study. Now, we are about to enter our second year of study. During my first year of study at New Oriental, I learned a lot about Chinese cuisine, and a lot about life. I would like to write a summary article as a record to share with you my experiences and progress during the year.  

Wok training

In the early days, we practiced the iron pot at outdoor practice stations, lifting the iron pot every day, adding sand to the pot, and constantly increasing the weight in the wok during practice. We did this for many weeks before moving inside to the actual kitchen. This was to train us to have more strength in the face of the heavier iron pot on the stove top in order to handle it masterfully.

During the initial exercises, my palms were rubbed into blisters many times, and my wrist used to hurt all week. I knew that I had to master the weight of the iron wok, and if I didn’t make an effort, I might have been disqualified in the first phase of the course. My teacher told me that I am only the sixth woman to take this course. The physical demands of cooking, handling such a large, heavy wok filled with food over very hot stoves, are difficult even for men.

Hard work always bears fruit, and now I have confidence in facing the iron pot tests. I can lift the iron wok and the sand perpendicular to the ground and hold it aloft for a while. When cooking in the school kitchen, I can also easily master the heavier woks. Although you may not be successful after hard work, you can always make progress. I told myself, “Don’t give up, improve a little bit every day, and one day, I will see a better version of myself.”

Knife skills 

Before coming to New Oriental to study, I would use a family kitchen knife to cut some ingredients. I could cut them, but I couldn’t guarantee that their thickness was consistent, and I didn’t even have the correct posture to hold the knife. As a result, once I accidentally cut my finger while cutting onions, and I shed a lot of blood.

I was glad I came to this school and the teacher taught us the correct knife-holding posture. He taught us how to cut evenly-sized ingredients, both thick and thin. For practicing our knife skills we mainly use radishes (Chinese white radish or “Daikon”), and in the early days when I practiced cutting the radish, my knife would suddenly tilt and then the knife would cut my nails. This was due to the instability of my hand holding the knife. I would be filled with fear of the knife, and if my knife tilted at a greater angle and my strength was greater, then what would be cut off would be the top of my finger. But there were no insurmountable difficulties, and after experiencing such fears, I allowed myself to be more careful and focused on each practice. Then I never had another accident like that. 

Jam painting

This year, we began to learn jam painting. You may wonder, I signed up for a Chinese cooking major, why is there a painting course?

Let me tell you the answer, why is New Oriental Cooking School the best Chinese cuisine school in China? Because this school is committed to making every student learn more. My teacher said that if you go to a restaurant as an apprentice, those old chefs may have very good cooking skills, but they may know how to make jam paintings. In New Oriental, we will help you learn this skill, which means that in the future work, you may have one more skill than others, which will make the bosses choose you first, so that your salary will be higher. The role of jam painting in Chinese cuisine is to serve as a decoration for plating, and a good dish combined with a good plate decoration will be more perfect. It will also make the dish more advanced and expensive. 

Below are examples of some of my jam paintings. In Chinese plates, most of them use flowers and birds. 

Food carving

Food carving is a skill that I’m very interested in. I know that some good teachers can use a set of engraving tools to carve out all kinds of exquisite works, and I fantasize about when I can be so good. In the middle of this year, we started practicing carving, we started by practicing carving a flower, which is the most basic carving.

As a novice, when I first used a carving knife, my palm was injured due to excessive force. Oh, and to be honest I was scared again. I was afraid of getting hurt, but I was very interested in carving, so I overcame the fear again. I’m always happy when I feel my progress. I’m just a newbie and I don’t fantasize about succeeding right away. I just hope that every practice will make me improve a little bit. If I want to climb a tall building, I have to go through each staircase. After finishing the lesson in carving flowers, we will learn to carve a bird. I’m really looking forward to it. 

Chinese cooking methods

During the year, my cooking skills have improved a lot, I have learned a lot of recipes, I have learned a lot of related techniques. From simple dishes to complex dishes, we are constantly improving, looking for reasons in failure, so that we can cook better dishes next time! We are learning how to become a qualified professional chef! 

Summary and thanks

After my first year of study at New Oriental, there are people I wish to thank for their support.

First, I would like to thank my teacher, Mr. Zhu. He is patient, inclusive, and willing to help students. Mr. Zhu helped me a lot in some difficulties, both in learning and in life. He knows my family situation, he knows my difficulties, so he hopes that I can learn better and create a good future for myself.

Then I want to thank myself. The training, especially at first, hurt a lot, but I didn’t give up. I used to lie in bed and cry at night and still get up early for the next day at school. Through persevering, I have found new confidence in myself, and I hope that I can finally get a good result.

Finally, I want to thank the person who gave me all this, my partner, my friend – Glenn. He provided funds to give me the opportunity to come to New Oriental to study. Because of his care and help, I have the courage to make a choice every time I am faced with a difficult choice. I love listening to his advice, there are a lot of difficulties in life that I haven’t experienced, and I would ask Glenn for advice. He has a lot of work and life experience and with his help, I learned how to deal with stress and how to relieve bad emotions. His appearance was like the sunshine in the clouds, passing through the clouds and shining on me, warm and hopeful. Glenn is also full of hope for me, I will continue to move forward with his hopes and we will eventually go to a place full of sunshine.  

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