{"id":879,"date":"2010-10-17T23:25:40","date_gmt":"2010-10-17T16:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/?p=879"},"modified":"2010-10-17T23:25:40","modified_gmt":"2010-10-17T16:25:40","slug":"hutong-cuisine-cooking-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/2010\/10\/17\/hutong-cuisine-cooking-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Hutong Cuisine Cooking Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beijing<\/a><\/p>\n

Like we did in other countries, we signed up for a cooking class in Beijing – Hutong Cuisine (hutongcuisine.com) with Chun-Yi Zhou. \u00a0She offered her classes in \u00a0an authentic hutong (old Beijing-style) home.\u00a0\u00a0 We were particularly excited about the class since we have tried our hand at Chinese cooking already, based on what my (Tony) Mom had taught me.<\/p>\n

Here’s our prep\/dining table. \u00a0 We used the Chinese chef’s knife, better known to westerners as a meat cleaver.\u00a0\u00a0 I like using it for Chinese cooking because it makes smashing, mincing, and scooping really easy. \u00a0We even learned a great tip: \u00a0hold the knife higher up on the spine so that your index finger and thumb actually hold the blade to stabilize it.\u00a0 Otherwise, you’re using your wrist, which will tire out very quickly considering how heavy the knife is.<\/p>\n

\"Beijing<\/a><\/p>\n

What else did we learn?\u00a0\u00a0Light soy sauce is for flavoring.\u00a0 Dark soy sauce is for color.\u00a0 Also, the teacher used cooking oil from the market that is a blend of peanut oil, safflower oil and something else.<\/p>\n

Outside of that, we didn’t learn much.\u00a0\u00a0\ud83d\ude41 \u00a0 \u00a0We realized that we would be better off to watch my Mom cook since she could teach us far more.\u00a0\u00a0 BUT, the whole experience was rather amusing and unusual.\u00a0 Here’s why…\u00a0 see\u00a0our teacher in the photo below?\u00a0 Looks like a pleasant person, no?<\/p>\n

\"Beijing<\/p>\n

Well, she’s no angel.\u00a0 Think soup nazi, but you’re behind the counter\u00a0WITH him.\u00a0 She barked orders at us and other students,\u00a0shouting things like “what did you do that for?\u00a0 you’re doing it all wrong!” \u00a0 Her assistant caught most of the tongue-lashing, but you didn’t need to understand Mandarin to know that she was not happy.<\/p>\n

She also didn’t know her own recipe! \u00a0As she taught us, she would constantly refer back to the recipe, even taking my copy to see what to do next!\u00a0\u00a0… Credibility = zero!\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn’t help but smile.\u00a0 Why hasn’t anyone opened up a competing “school”? \u00a0\u00a0And the kicker was when Lisa and I were cooking, she wasn’t even in the kitchen.\u00a0 She had rushed into the other room to eat because her rice was getting cold… wow!<\/p>\n

Not all was bad though – most of the recipes turned out really good.\u00a0 Here’s our yu hsiang rou shi, or fish-flavored shredded pork, a common dish found in Chinese restaurants (and our personal favorite of the class).<\/p>\n

\"Beijing<\/a><\/p>\n

So… beware if you’re taking a cooking class in Beijing.\u00a0 This class is sold through her website separately, as well as through Hias Tours, a popular culinary tour agency.<\/p>\n

Up next, we check out the Forbidden City, with fewer Chinese tourists this time around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like we did in other countries, we signed up for a cooking class in Beijing – Hutong Cuisine (hutongcuisine.com) with Chun-Yi Zhou. \u00a0She offered her classes in \u00a0an authentic hutong (old Beijing-style) home.\u00a0\u00a0 We were particularly excited about the class since we have tried our hand at Chinese cooking already, based on what my (Tony) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}