You are learning cooking methods: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (cooking method vocabulary + menu reading), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
Reading a Chinese menu is a matter of recognizing cooking method characters. Knowing 红烧、清蒸、爆炒、炖 unlocks every dish description in every Chinese restaurant on earth.
The server has ordered for them: four dishes, arriving in waves. First: a cold plate of drunken chicken (醉鸡 zuì jī) — poached then soaked in Shaoxing wine, served at room temperature, the flesh trembling pale gold.
「这是怎么做的？」 The stranger points at the chicken. The server explains: 绍兴酒 (Shaoxing wine), overnight soaking, a little ginger. 「太鲜嫩了！」
Next: the red-braised pork (红烧肉). He already knows this character. 「红烧！我认识这两个字。」 I know these two characters. The server laughs. The fat is translucent, the skin lacquered, the sauce reduced to a dark glaze.
「火候掌握得太好了。」 Perfect heat control. He has said something a Chinese chef would say. The server looks startled, then genuinely pleased. This is the vocabulary of belonging.