8. (6 points) Xiao Qing is making a dish: "Fragrant Chives Scrambled Eggs", which requires 7 steps, with the following times:
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline Washing and chopping scallions & Beating eggs & Mixing egg liquid and chives & Washing the pan & Heating the pan & Heating the oil & Cooking the dish \\
\hline 1 minute & half a minute & 1 minute & half a minute & half a minute & half a minute & 2 minutes \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

To complete this dish, it will take at least $\qquad$ minutes.
【Answer】Solution: According to the analysis of the question, the overall process can be as follows:
Wash the pan (half a minute) $\rightarrow$ Chop the vegetables (1 minute) $\rightarrow$ Beat the eggs (half a minute) $\rightarrow$ Heat the pan and oil (while stirring the egg and vegetable mixture)
(1 minute) $\rightarrow$ Cook the dish (2 minutes),
Answer: It takes at least five minutes to prepare this dish.
Therefore, the answer is: 5.