Weeknight Wokking at Hot Stove Society
Hsiao-Ching Chou
Author's Note: For the month of November, I am participating in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Post Month) and pledge to post once a day. I'm also taking this opportunity to articulate some thoughts about my Chinese Soul Food cookbook, which I'm planning to self publish.
What I love about teaching cooking class is being able to connect with students directly. I'm lucky to get to teach at Hot Stove Society, which I started to do in April this year. Having to teach cooking forces me to think about how best to explain the techniques in a way that minimizes the barriers.
I've been teaching a "Weeknight Wokking" series focused on simple and flexible stir fry recipes. (The photo above is from tonight's class.) The menu featured ma po tofu, garlic eggplant, and kung pao chicken. We always have fun in class, but tonight's class was extra rewarding because I got to talk to a couple of regular students – a mother and daughter – who shared the reasons why they've taken every one of my classes: they love the accessibility and the feeling of empowerment and confidence that they get because they actually can make the recipes. That's my goal. I want people to cook. I want to get them into the kitchen first, build up their confidence and then talk about recipe refinements. Teaching also has offered me a way to understand how to shape the content of my cookbook. It's market research!
(The photos below were taken by my friend Hien Duong during a previous class in May. They show the great atmosphere at Hot Stove Society.)
