Someone learns to cook Kung Pao chicken at home after watching an online video, and discovers that a new dish is not as hard to make as it seems.
学做宫保鸡丁
上个星期,我在家里没有事情做,所以我打开手机,看了一个做饭的视频。视频里,一个人正在做宫保鸡丁。我觉得那个菜看起来很好吃,颜色也很漂亮,有红色的辣椒,绿色的葱,还有白色的花生。我从来没做过这个菜,可是我很想试试。
我去超市买了鸡肉、花生、辣椒和葱。回家以后,我先把鸡肉切成小块,然后把葱也切好。这个时候,我觉得做饭没有我想的那么难,可能是因为我看了很多次视频,已经知道应该怎么做了。
我打开炉子,锅热了以后,我先放油,然后把鸡肉放进锅里炒。鸡肉的颜色慢慢变了,从粉色变成了白色。我又加了一点辣椒和葱,锅里的味道特别香,整个厨房都是宫保鸡丁的味道。我一边炒一边想,如果朋友们在这里,他们一定也会喜欢这个味道。
最后,我把花生加进去,再炒了几分钟就做好了。我把菜放在盘子里,看起来跟视频里的一样好看。我请我的家人一起吃饭。他们吃了以后都说很好吃,问我是不是跟餐厅的师傅学的。我笑着说,我是自己看视频学会的,其实做法不难,只要先切好菜,然后一步一步做就可以了。
从那天以后,我常常在家做宫保鸡丁。每次做的时候,我都会想起第一次做菜的那个下午。我发现,学做一个新菜其实没有那么难,只要愿意试一试,多做几次,就一定能做得越来越好。现在,做饭已经变成我每个星期都喜欢做的事情了。
Xué Zuò Gōngbǎo Jīdīng
Shàng ge xīngqī, wǒ zài jiā li méiyǒu shìqing zuò, suǒyǐ wǒ dǎkāi shǒujī, kàn le yí ge zuò fàn de shìpín. Shìpín li, yí ge rén zhèngzài zuò gōngbǎo jīdīng. Wǒ juéde nàge cài kàn qǐlái hěn hǎochī, yánsè yě hěn piàoliang, yǒu hóngsè de làjiāo, lǜsè de cōng, hái yǒu báisè de huāshēng. Wǒ cónglái méi zuò guo zhège cài, kěshì wǒ hěn xiǎng shìshi.
Wǒ qù chāoshì mǎi le jīròu, huāshēng, làjiāo hé cōng. Huí jiā yǐhòu, wǒ xiān bǎ jīròu qiē chéng xiǎo kuài, ránhòu bǎ cōng yě qiē hǎo. Zhège shíhou, wǒ juéde zuò fàn méiyǒu wǒ xiǎng de nàme nán, kěnéng shì yīnwèi wǒ kàn le hěn duō cì shìpín, yǐjīng zhīdào yīnggāi zěnme zuò le.
Wǒ dǎkāi lúzi, guō rè le yǐhòu, wǒ xiān fàng yóu, ránhòu bǎ jīròu fàng jìn guō li chǎo. Jīròu de yánsè mànmàn biàn le, cóng fěnsè biàn chéng le báisè. Wǒ yòu jiā le yìdiǎn làjiāo hé cōng, guō li de wèidào tèbié xiāng, zhěnggè chúfáng dōu shì gōngbǎo jīdīng de wèidào. Wǒ yìbiān chǎo yìbiān xiǎng, rúguǒ péngyǒumen zài zhèlǐ, tāmen yídìng yě huì xǐhuan zhège wèidào.
Zuìhòu, wǒ bǎ huāshēng jiā jìnqù, zài chǎo le jǐ fēnzhōng jiù zuò hǎo le. Wǒ bǎ cài fàng zài pánzi li, kàn qǐlái gēn shìpín li de yíyàng hǎokàn. Wǒ qǐng wǒ de jiārén yìqǐ chī fàn. Tāmen chī le yǐhòu dōu shuō hěn hǎochī, wèn wǒ shì bú shì gēn cāntīng de shīfu xué de. Wǒ xiào zhe shuō, wǒ shì zìjǐ kàn shìpín xuéhuì de, qíshí zuòfǎ bù nán, zhǐyào xiān qiē hǎo cài, ránhòu yí bù yí bù zuò jiù kěyǐ le.
Cóng nà tiān yǐhòu, wǒ chángcháng zài jiā zuò gōngbǎo jīdīng. Měi cì zuò de shíhou, wǒ dōu huì xiǎngqǐ dì yī cì zuò cài de nàge xiàwǔ. Wǒ fāxiàn, xué zuò yí ge xīn cài qíshí méiyǒu nàme nán, zhǐyào yuànyì shì yi shì, duō zuò jǐ cì, jiù yídìng néng zuò de yuè lái yuè hǎo. Xiànzài, zuò fàn yǐjīng biàn chéng wǒ měi ge xīngqī dōu xǐhuan zuò de shìqing le.
Learning to Make Kung Pao Chicken
Last week, I had nothing to do at home, so I opened my phone and watched a cooking video. In the video, someone was making Kung Pao chicken. I thought the dish looked delicious, and the colors were beautiful too — red chili peppers, green scallions, and white peanuts. I had never made this dish before, but I really wanted to try it.
I went to the supermarket and bought chicken, peanuts, chili peppers, and scallions. After coming home, I first cut the chicken into small pieces, then chopped the scallions too. At that moment, I felt that cooking wasn’t as hard as I had thought, maybe because I had watched the video many times and already knew how to do it.
I turned on the stove, and once the pan was hot, I added oil first, then put the chicken in the pan to stir-fry. The color of the chicken slowly changed, from pink to white. I added a little more chili pepper and scallion, and the smell in the pan was especially fragrant — the whole kitchen was filled with the smell of Kung Pao chicken. As I stir-fried, I thought that if my friends were here, they would surely love this smell too.
Finally, I added the peanuts and stir-fried for a few more minutes, and it was done. I put the dish on a plate, and it looked just as good as in the video. I invited my family to eat together. After they ate it, they all said it was delicious and asked if I had learned it from a restaurant chef. I laughed and said I had learned it myself by watching videos — actually the method isn’t hard, you just need to cut the ingredients first, and then do it step by step.
Since that day, I often make Kung Pao chicken at home. Every time I make it, I remember that afternoon when I cooked for the first time. I’ve realized that learning to make a new dish isn’t actually that hard — as long as you’re willing to try, and make it a few more times, you’ll definitely get better and better at it. Now, cooking has become something I enjoy doing every week.
音频
Audio recording for this story will be available here.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 刚 | gāng | just (recently) |
| 学会 | xué huì | to have learned how to do something |
| 会 | huì | can / to know how to |
| 做 | zuò | to make / to do |
| 宫保鸡丁 | gōng bǎo jī dīng | Kung Pao chicken |
| 先 | xiān | first |
| 然后 | rán hòu | then |
| 最后 | zuì hòu | finally |
| 切 | qiē | to chop / to cut |
| 炒 | chǎo | to stir-fry |
| 加 | jiā | to add |
| 听起来 | tīng qǐ lái | to sound (like) |
| 简单 | jiǎn dān | simple |
| 试 | shì | to try |
先…然后…最后… (First… then… finally…)
This pattern sequences steps of an action using 先 (first), 然后 (then), and 最后 (finally).
先把鸡肉切成小块,然后把葱也切好。
把 (bǎ) disposal construction
把 moves the object before the verb to emphasize what happens to it as a result of the action.
我把花生加进去。
只要…就… (As long as… then…)
This pattern expresses a condition and its result: as long as the condition is met, the result follows.
只要愿意试一试,就一定能做得越来越好。
No idiomatic expressions in this story.
Kung Pao Chicken (宫保鸡丁)
宫保鸡丁 (gōngbǎo jīdīng) is a classic Sichuan dish made with diced chicken, peanuts, and dried chili peppers, known for its balance of spicy, sweet, and savory flavors. It is one of the most popular Chinese dishes both in China and abroad, and is often one of the first stir-fry dishes home cooks learn to make.

