Cooking Classes in Hong Kong

It’s one thing to enjoy a good meal—quite another to make one. Unleash your inner Michelin-winner by signing up for one of these cooking classes.

Go Team!

At Corner Kitchen, everything’s a group effort. Owner Vivian Herijanto offers a myriad of team cooking sessions for private parties and corporate events, ranging from types of dishes like tapas and brunch basics to regional fare like French Provençal or Balinese flavors. The Balinese menu, for example, includes ikan betongkol (tuna salad with lemongrass and shallot dressing), babi guling (roast suckling pig) and pisang goreng (fried banana fritters with ice cream). Fusion dishes like Balinese fish tacos are also on the menu. Herijanto also hosts pizza-making sessions, as well as technique-oriented seafood basics classes. Take note: the current kitchen in Po Hing Fong closes at the end of September and will relocate to New Street in Sheung Wan by early October. $1,000 per head with a minimum charge of $4,000-6,000, depending on the day.

20 Po Hing Fong, Sheung Wan, 2803-2822. New address will be 21-23 New St.,
Sheung Wan, www.corner-kitchen.com.

Dim Sum Rap

Learn how to make your own har gow and siu mai with some veteran chefs at Easy 123 Dining & Cooking Studio. It’s owned by the Super Star Group, which runs a bunch of seafood and Chinese restos across town. Chef Law Kwai-ming, who’s one of the class’s instructors and a 30-year veteran of the dim sum industry, reassures us that the dishes aren’t too tricky to make. He and his team regularly brainstorm up new and fancy dim sum dishes—like penguin- and fish-shaped dumplings—to keep the classes fresh and exciting. But purists can also learn to fold the perfect classic har gow under chef Law’s meticulous instructions. A lot of the preparation actually involves molding, pressing and folding things into the right shape—one of the most important aspects of dim-sum-making. Participants get to sample their own creations as well as enjoy an eight-course dim sum meal at the end of their lesson. $400 per person, one-hour sessions.

Shop 221, 2/F, K11, 18 Hanoi Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2628-0616. See schedule at www.easy123.com.hk.

Fish, Macarons and Food Porn
The restaurants run by K.O. Dining Concepts in Hung Hom host regular cooking sessions that teach customers how to make everything from dainty macarons to classic Cantonese dishes. At Yu Lei, chef Miki Imagawa has two handy dishes to teach his disciples: a traditional steamed fish, as well as minced shrimp toast. Then there’s pastry chef Andres Lara from Messina, who conducts macaron-making sessions every month. Students will get to experiment with different flavors like lemon and chocolate, and learn tips on how to keep the treats from getting too soggy too soon. Foodies who want to go a step further might consider signing up for a food photography session hosted by RAW Studio owner Joyce Yung. These sessions are independent of the cooking classes, but do come with nibbles at the end. Bring your own camera and snap away under Yung’s guidance, then enjoy an afternoon tea with the whole class (and snap away some more.) $420-880 for cooking classes, schedule changes monthly. The food photography course is $660.

5/F, Harbourfront Landmark, 11 Wan Hoi St., Hung Hom, 3641-1775, www.kodining.com.