Part of the theme of our tour was food and cooking, so off to cooking school we went. I am NOT trying to be a food snob, but I have to say that this wasn't what I would call high end cooking, but quite entertaining and fun. we learned how to make Kung Pao chicken, beef and peppers and pot-stickers -- all pretty basic stuff. Most everyone in our group was accomplished cooks - so the challenge was more just to understand our teacher, follow instructions and trying not to do things out of order. The teacher was a lovely young woman who took us step by step, from marinating the meat with egg whites, corn starch and a little wine to how to chop every vegetable - we prepped all the food and then cooked each one in our own wok. We then got to wrap a few won-tons and quick fry them and steam them a bit in the pan. then we brought all the food downstairs for the kids to share with us. They did not let the kids under 12 cook so none of them did - even the older ones opted to play cards downstairs while the parents cooked - almost all the grown ups did - except a few who decided to just be the picture takers - Herb really enjoyed it as I did - since I seem to dominate in the kitchen it was fun for him to have his own cooking area and actually get to cook some dishes. Everything was good. Not really delicious or fantastic, but basic and good. I believe they taught us dishes that they think Americans like to eat and don't believe we would be interested in the really exotic or more difficult dishes - but it was great fun and we had a great time taking pictures of each other as you can see! By the way - the picture that is of the big jugs is in the restaurant area - that is home made wine - that is what they keep the wine in - we did not sample the wine....cold beer was the drink of choice as it has been at each lunch and dinner - it really quenches your thirst and for particularly the spicy dishes it is absolutely perfect.
Part of the theme of our tour was food and cooking, so off to cooking school we went. I am NOT trying to be a food snob, but I have to say that this wasn't what I would call high end cooking, but quite entertaining and fun. we learned how to make Kung Pao chicken, beef and peppers and pot-stickers -- all pretty basic stuff. Most everyone in our group was accomplished cooks - so the challenge was more just to understand our teacher, follow instructions and trying not to do things out of order. The teacher was a lovely young woman who took us step by step, from marinating the meat with egg whites, corn starch and a little wine to how to chop every vegetable - we prepped all the food and then cooked each one in our own wok. We then got to wrap a few won-tons and quick fry them and steam them a bit in the pan. then we brought all the food downstairs for the kids to share with us. They did not let the kids under 12 cook so none of them did - even the older ones opted to play cards downstairs while the parents cooked - almost all the grown ups did - except a few who decided to just be the picture takers - Herb really enjoyed it as I did - since I seem to dominate in the kitchen it was fun for him to have his own cooking area and actually get to cook some dishes. Everything was good. Not really delicious or fantastic, but basic and good. I believe they taught us dishes that they think Americans like to eat and don't believe we would be interested in the really exotic or more difficult dishes - but it was great fun and we had a great time taking pictures of each other as you can see! By the way - the picture that is of the big jugs is in the restaurant area - that is home made wine - that is what they keep the wine in - we did not sample the wine....cold beer was the drink of choice as it has been at each lunch and dinner - it really quenches your thirst and for particularly the spicy dishes it is absolutely perfect. 
No comments:
Post a Comment