Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 1-2 | Page 444

New Journeys to the West
Shanghai Singapore International School (SSIS), Wong, Kyra -10
E
veryone has a dream. Maybe to be a doctor, artist, dentist or actor. But this 15 year old boy whose
name is called Xuanzang, dreams of traveling to America to take part in a cooking competition. Not
any cooking competition, but the greatest cooking competition of all time: ‘International Masterchef
Junior’. This year’s theme is titled ‘New Journeys to the West’. Why ‘New Journeys to the West?’ It is
because every competitor must make three dishes from three countries that he or she has been to. The three
dishes must include a beef dish, seafood dish and a dessert. Xuanzang plans to travel to Thailand, Australia
and Ireland to meet the greatest chefs in the world so they can teach him how to make the dishes.
Xuanzang’s first stop is to go to Thailand to meet Monkey King who makes the best banana crepes in
the world. His real name is actually not called Monkey King. That name is his nickname. People named him
that because his specialty is banana crepes and monkeys like bananas. Xuanzang took a flight from China to
Thailand to meet Monkey King. When Xuanzang reached Thailand, he immediately went to look for
Monkey King in his restaurant named “Delicious Crepes”. “May I see Monkey King please?” begged
Xuanzang for at least the 20 th time. He had been begging a waitress for a long time before Monkey King
himself came out of the kitchen. “Sir, this young boy wants to speak to you,” said the waitress. “Please
come into my kitchen,” said Monkey King. “Sir, my name is Xuanzang and I am from China. I would like
to learn how to make your banana crepes because I am planning to take part in the Masterchef cooking
competition and I need to make a delicious dessert to allow me to win the competition.”
“Well since you are so sincere in wanting to learn how to make my banana crepes, I will teach you.”
“Really? Thank you so much Monkey King,” thanked Xuanzang.
After Xuanzang mastered the banana crepes dish, a curious Monkey King decided to follow Xuanzang to
America.
Xuanzang’s second stop is to travel to Australia to learn how to make a special steak with mushroom
sauce and potato fries. Xuanzang and Monkey King booked a flight from Thailand to Australia to meet the
world’s famous chef, Talking Pig. Talking Pig makes delicious steaks in Australia. When the pair reached
Australia, they put their bags in the hotel room before going for dinner at ‘Steak and Grill’ restaurant, the
restaurant that Talking Pig owns. Talking Pig was initially hesitant to pass his recipe to Xuanzang. However,
once he saw his friend Monkey King, he decided to teach Xuanzang how to make his dish after listening to
the reason why Xuanzang wanted to learn the dish.
“Hey, may I tag along with you to the competition?” asked Talking Pig after he taught Xuanzang how to
make his steak dish. “Sure!” replied Xuanzang.
Xuanzang’s third and final stop is Ireland where he had to learn how to make a seafood dish.
Xuanzang, Monkey King and Talking Pig boarded a flight from Australia to Ireland and they talked non-
stop on the airplane like they were old friends. When they finally reached Ireland, the three friends hurriedly
rushed to Friar’s restaurant called “Friar’s King Crab” and pleaded with him to teach Xuanzang how to
make his best seafood dish: Seafood broth with clams, prawns, scallops and lobster. When Friar finally agreed
to teach Xuanzang, he was so happy that he punched the air with delight as he was finally able to take part
in the competition after so many years of hard work.
The day of the competition finally arrived. Monkey King, Talking Pig and Frair all accompanied
Xuanzang to the competition in New York, America. When Xuanzang’s name was called, Xuanzang
carefully brought up his dishes and all the judges took turns to taste his food. The judges described
Xuanzang’s dishes as delicious, mouth-watering, phenomenal, scrumptious and sophisticated. They all
decided that Xuanzang’s three dishes were the best dishes of the night. When Xuanzang heard the judges
announcing the winner and his name was called, he was so delighted and immediately thanked his friends
whom he had befriended for teaching him how to cook such wonderful dishes.