Chinese Kitchen: The Basics

The last class I was able to fit in during my Chinese New Year holiday was The Basics. Different than other classes, instead of cooking three dishes, we spent the time learning about different ingredients. We received a 7 page packet of information detailing uses, origins and pairings. I was heart broken when I arrived home and found that my neighbor and I accidentally swapped packets, leaving me with nearly blank margins. I hope he is enjoying all my notes.  

Chinese Kitchen: Shanghai

During my Chinese New Year Break I decided to take advantage of my time off to use my Christmas gift card for cooking classes. One such was Shanghai cuisine, a rival cuisine to my current hometown of Beijing. Shanghai cooking tends to be sweeter due to their heavier handed sugar use. A recipe that calls for 1/2 tsp of sugar in Beijing will call for 2 tsp in Shanghai. Shanghai food also tends to have milder flavors. They use less garlic and leeks, and opt for the fresher spring onion, and their sauce tends to be rice-, rather than wheat-based.  Click below to read more about my class. 

Chinese Kitchen: Vegetarian

My first day of Chinese New Year vacation I decided to take a day for myself -- my perfect day in Beijing. After enjoying getting Magnolia and Kaleia off to school, I spent an enjoyable hour connecting with my parents on skype. Then I headed to Starbucks for my favorite drink, a Black Tea Latte (the closest I can get to a Chai) and honey raisin muffin. I followed that up with a blissful 2 hour massage at a classy spa near us that gives teachers two hours for the price of one on Mondays -- one perk of my Tsinghua teacher id. 

Fully relaxed, I headed to what I thought was going to be my much anticipated Winter Comfort Foods cooking class at the Hutong. But I had done it again. My class wasn't until tomorrow. I realized this while waiting for the subway when I received a call saying it would be cancelled, again. I was the only one signed up. But I was welcome to come to today's call instead: Vegetarian. Since I was almost there, and I can hardly stomach the smell of the meat section and the sight of full carcasses hanging, I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did. It has been my favorite class so far. Click below to see why. 

The Hutong

On the long flight to Beijing, Brian learned from our first China friend, Park, about a cool Beijing community education center and cooking school, called The Hutong. Knowing that it is one of my goals to learn to cook Chinese cuisine, Brian surprised me with my first class shortly after we moved into our apartment. 

It was a Market Tour, and while not a cooking class, it was the perfect introduction. Our teacher guided us through a local Chinese market, explaining the different sections, quizzing us on various familiar and unfamiliar produce, and suggesting common uses for foods and spices. Then she helped each of us make purchases -- a bag full of fresh produce for only a few dollars. 

Afterward, Brian and I ended up talking to one of the Hutong chefs after our tour and he invited us to a charity event later that evening. We had good food, great margaritas, and got to know some new friends. I'm looking forward to more Hutong learning, starting tomorrow with The Chinese Kitchen: The Essentials!  

The Hutong sitting room

The Hutong kitchen preparing for the charity event

Entrance to the art room and stairs to the balcony

Courtyard from above

Hutong rooftops

The Hutong upstairs patio

Fresh produce!

Familiar and unfamiliar

Peppercorns and chilies - so many great spices