Week 4: Cooking
Unless you’ve got a big family, in Shanghai most of the time it’s probably cheaper and certainly easier to eat at an inexpensive restaurant than cook at home. That said, cooking offers you the chance to keep more control over the quality of food you’re putting into your body, plus, if Chinese food isn’t the cuisine you grew up eating every day, learning a few cooking skills helps you understand the food in a way that picking off a menu never will.
The Kitchen At Cooking Studio is a cooking school set up by a group of Chinese chefs and they offer Chinese and Western classes in a beautiful, former warehouse on Xiangyang Nan Lu. The school was founded by Norris Chen, who started cooking in the Italian kitchen at the Westin and rose to become the executive sous chef at the Novotel. He takes the Western classes. The Chinese classes are taught by Allan Wang (pictured below), who was head of Cantonese cuisine at the Regal International East Asia Hotel before coming to work at the school. There’s also a pastry chef, a Sichuan expert and a fulltime translator.
What you need
Nothing. You don’t need any prior cooking skills and, for the Chinese food at least, you don’t need a lot of fancy kit at home to replicate the recipes you’re going to learn. Back home, I just have a burner, a wok and a fridge full of condiments, and that’s pretty much what you’re using at the school.
Who goes
Classes run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (see below for a full schedule). I went to the Tuesday class and there were two American tourists plus a Shanghainese woman there. The Western class had a group of young friends, mixed ABCs and Shanghainese, plus a lady from Hong Kong. In short, a total mix, and it seemed split between those who’d come to learn and those who’d just come for a fun way to kill the day.
What happens
Everyone works at their own station and makes their own food while the chef comes around and tastes and gives advice. We were cooking a Shanghainese beef and potato stew. It’s like the hearty stuff you might find on an Irish menu, but – surprise – sweeter, more fatty and oilier. To go with that, we made a Cantonese broth with watercress and pidan. It was a version of shang tang - top soup - which is one of those blue ribbon broths that’s stewed for 900 hours and found in high-end Cantonese dining rooms. This was a much simpler version of that.
Everyone gets a bilingual printout of ingredients and instructions, so you can repeat the recipe at home. We’re not going to give you a blow-by-blow here, suffice to say that the ingredients weren’t extravagant and the techniques were simple – chopping, frying, boiling. Chef Wang came round and tasted as we went, giving advice on how to improve the flavour – usually “add more sugar.”
At the end, we sat around a big table and ate what we’d made and tasted each other’s. Everyone had made enough for about two or three people and we took home our leftovers.
How much of your life will this take up
Maximum two mornings a week, but a lot of people will just want to take the odd class. Chef Wang’s Chinese cooking classes are every Tuesday and Saturday, 10:30am-noon. Chef Norris’s Western classes happen on the same days, 12:30pm-2pm. There’s a Chinese dumpling class every Thursday morning and Saturday afternoon and private lessons or corporate cooking parties for up to 40 people can be arranged. They also offer kids’ classes and baking workshops every Sunday. I think kids would really like this.
It depends on your level of skill going in, but assuming there’s a lot of room for improvement, hitting one class a week is going to significantly change both your understanding and appreciation of Chinese food.
How much does it cost
It’s 300rmb per class, plus the cost of ingredients, which is about 80rmb. If you want to take four lessons within a month, they’ll do you a bundle for 800rmb, plus ingredients. If you want to drink beer or wine with your lunch, that’s extra, but it’s pretty cheap – 10rmb for beer and about 225rmb and up for bottles of wine.
Plus points
Considering the amount of time we spend eating, learning to do more yourself is only going to bring richer dining experiences and more joy to the table. You’re also learning a transferable skill, something that will travel with you if and when you leave China.
Taking a class here, specifically at this school, has a lot going for it, even if you don’t yearn to be a chef. The space is so attractive that it would make an ideal spot for a birthday or just a Saturday afternoon with friends. Gather five or six people, turn up and cook, get a bit competitive and then have a boozy lunch and you’re going to have a really good day out.
Minus points
It’s not cheap, and the timing of the classes isn’t going to work for everyone. There are cheaper cooking classes available in Shanghai, such as this one; even Maison Pourcel’s class, which includes a little breakfast, only costs 388rmb. However, here you’ll take home enough left-overs to feed two or three people, so it’s not a bad deal when you factor that in.
This isn’t going to get you fit, but if it encourages you to cook more, buy decent ingredients and eat less fast food and slurry oil, your body will love you for it.
For full class details, check this. Full address and map for the school is here. For upcoming Chinese menus go here.
To book a slot, contact: The Kitchen at Cooking Studio, Office: 021-6433 2700 (Tue-Sat 9am to 6pm), Email thekitchenat@gmail.com, 上海市襄阳南路383弄20号3楼/ Lane 383 South Xiang Yang Road, # 20, 3rd Floor, Shanghai, www.thekitchenat.com