Meal Planning and Cooking Skills

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1Summary 重點摘要

Meal planning starts from dish types and budget, organised by a time plan for washing, cutting and cooking. Basic knife skills and cooking techniques, guided by heat transfer and sensory testing, let you complete a three-dish family dinner systematically.

2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary

3Step by step Steps

1. Meal patterns and dish typesPlan a meal by its pattern: a Chinese breakfast might be congee, rice rolls and soy milk, a Western one porridge, toast and milk; lunch and dinner combine drinks, soup, a main dish, snacks, dessert and side dishes. A small family manages with one main plus sides, while gatherings call for the three-dish pattern of soup, main and dessert. Budget principles are practical: choose seasonal and local produce, list before buying, and compare wet market and supermarket prices. For example, a four-person dinner of steamed fish, garlic choy sum and seaweed egg-drop soup gives three dishes, each with its own role, at a comfortable cost.
2. Planning for different people and occasionsMeals suit their eaters: children need small, soft, low-salt, low-sugar portions; teenagers need ample protein and energy; older people prefer soft, mild dishes; those managing weight cut oil and refined starch. Festival and party menus stress appearance and symbolism, and creative recipes help — rice balls shaped like animals delight children, and a dessert platter can replace a large cake. For example, for the grandparents' birthday dinner choose steamed egg custard, steamed fish and a ribs and beans pot — soft, gentle dishes — and drop the fried and spicy items.
3. The time planWith the menu set, order the work by one rule: the longest jobs go first. Soup and stews start earliest; marinating and dough rising are handled at once; while they run, wash and cut other ingredients, run two burners together and use oven gaps to warm sides. Keep the habits of clearing as you go and returning tools to their places — hygienic and time-saving. For example, a 90-minute plan: minutes 0 to 10 start the rice and soup; then marinate and prepare; steam the fish at minute 60; stir-fry greens at 75; taste and plate in the last five minutes so everything lands together.
4. Basic cutting methodsKnife work decides even cooking and looks. Peel with a peeler or a blade kept against the board; slice across the fibres so meat stays tender; shred by stacking thin slices and cutting into strips; dice by slicing, striping then turning into cubes; mince suits garlic and ginger. Keep the knife sharp, hold the food with knuckles tucked in to guard the fingers, and cut with a steady posture. For example, shred potatoes, then soak the shreds to draw out some starch so they stay crisp and separate when stir-fried; dice radish for stewing so it cooks evenly and absorbs flavour.
5. Cooking skills: shaping to pastryS3 cooking goes a level up. Shaping and stuffing techniques turn plain ingredients elegant, like stuffed beancurd and peppers. Sponge making splits into the whisked method, which beats whole eggs or whites into foam, and the melted butter method, which folds melted fat into the batter. Doughs are made systematically; flour batters thicken sauces; biological raising agents such as yeast puff dough; pastry divides into common pastry for savoury pies and Chinese pastry for flaky dim sum. For example, steamed sponge cakes and char siu buns rely on yeast-raised dough, while egg tart shells follow the practice of common pastry.
6. Heat transfer and combining methodsHeat reaches food in different ways. Conduction passes heat directly from pan to food, giving fried and griddled items their golden crust; convection moves heat through liquid or air so soups and steamed dishes cook evenly; grilling and baking add radiation and hot air. Choose and combine methods by texture and time: steam fish to keep it tender, braise beef ribs to soften the fibres, stir-fry greens quickly for crunch. For example, one meal can combine braising, steaming and stir-frying — start the braise, then the steamer, and fry the vegetables last for three distinct textures.
7. Spoilage, contamination and preservationFood spoils through microbes, enzymes and oxidation; the basic defence controls temperature, moisture and time — keep hot food above 60°C, cold food below 4°C, separate raw and cooked, and eat promptly. Contamination can be biological, chemical or physical, and foodborne diseases include diarrhoea, typhoid, vomiting and ciguatera poisoning from toxic reef fish — the toxin is heat-stable and cooking cannot destroy it, so buy smaller reef fish from reliable sources and avoid the head, skin, organs and roe. Preservation methods such as dehydration and irradiation work by suppressing microbes and enzymes. For example, reheating leftovers until piping hot and using separate boards for raw and cooked are the easiest home defences.
8. Sensory testing, serving and settingJudge food with evidence, not guesswork: sensory evaluation scores appearance, smell, taste, texture and temperature, using score sheets and reference samples to stay objective. Serving skills include warming the plates and choosing vessels to suit each dish; garnish with edible items such as herbs, lemon and cherry tomatoes for colour contrast; table setting keeps cutlery tidy and good manners make the meal relaxed. Time-saving tools — induction hob, blender, mincer — need use by the manual and regular care. For example, score your cookies out of five for looks, crispness and taste, compare with classmates, and improve the next batch.

5Worked example Example

6Common mistakes Mistakes

7Quick check Quick check

8Recap Recap

• Meal planning starts from pattern and budget; seasonal local produce is cheap and fresh
• A time plan runs long jobs first and uses waits for prep and cleaning
• Peeling, slicing, shredding, dicing and mincing each have their cut; knife work shapes cooking and looks
• Conduction and convection cook food; choose and combine methods by texture
• Thorough reheating, raw-cooked separation and sensory testing are the kitchen's safety and quality line