It was a lucky chance that I stumbled upon being a cooking instructor. I never dreamt of being able to teach people what I am passionate about. As someone who loves to cook and experiment in the kitchen, I always get requests from family and friends to cook them dinner or teach them how to make a dish or two for special occasions. I love sharing my creations, my cooking tips and knowledge with them. Having people eat my food is extremely satisfying if my food could put a smile on their faces and make them feel loved and cared for.

When I tell my friends how to make certain dishes, I don’t think of it as teaching them, I think of it as offering a solution to their problem, sharing what I know to make their lives easier in the kitchen. Because for someone who seldom cooks, making dinner can be a daunting task. And I think this is my approach in being a cooking instructor as well, sharing what I know and making cooking fun and easy in the eyes of the students.

I am grateful that I get to host a few cooking classes a month at DDC Concept Studio. You can always get a general idea of what a person is like by the way he/she cooks. Do they follow instructions exactly or are they more carefree? Are they organized or messy? Are they extremely focused or do they talk and share what they know with other students? These are all the things I get to observe during my classes and I love every single minute of it. I am very happy to have the chance to get to know these lovely students this way – in a fun and informal setting, over delicious food!

My style of cooking is quite unstructured but I still have a basic framework in mind and I use this framework as the basis for all my classes. I think in terms of a 3 course meal, just like how Chinese families would go for “3 dishes 1 soup” style. Many of my classes will consist of a main course and paired with either an appetizer or a dessert. If the dishes are easy to make, I would demonstrate all 3 dishes. I also think about what ingredients are in season and include them into my recipes so that the students will be able to get the freshest of the produce. By structuring my classes this way, my students will have a collection of appetizers, main courses and desserts that they can mix and match when they cook at home. I think this is where creativity comes in for the students - it is seeing how each dish is unique yet being able to pair them with each other to make each cooking and dining experience different and special.

If you want to see what a cooking class is like at the Concept Studio, come join us on one of the weekends! https://goo.gl/qDYw3D

Hope to see you soon!

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