Cooking Class, Wednesday, October 8

Today was one of those great days that remind me of why I like living abroad. It was one of the few sunny days we've had, the company was great, and so was the food.

Zhang dropped me off at the Ibis Hotel, about a twenty-minute drive south from the apartment. Another woman about my age was already waiting in the lobby; she introduced herself as Vava from Croatia. She and her husband have been living in Chengdu for two years. She bicycles all over town. (This was encouraging to me; I would like to get a bicycle here, but I've been a little leary of the traffic.) Small world - her husband, a chemical engineer, is currently in Lafayette, Louisiana on a business trip! Vava herself is a retired water engineer - I have since heard from other sources that she is a wonderful cook. Then an attractive silver-haired man in another part of the lobby called over to us. Gary, from Nashville,is in Chengdu visiting. His daughter, her husband and three kids are living here, and his daughter is teaching at an international school. His wife had come over in August to help them move in, and within three days she was offered a job for the school-year teaching 3-year-olds. His daughter was the one who sent him to this class - and told him to take good notes.

Then our guide, Taylor arrived, a vivacious blonde also from Nashville. She had spent her twenties working for a soft-ware company in Paris, London and Basil, then worked as a journalist; she wrote a major piece for the New York Times on the cuisine of Vietnam. For the past year she has been working on setting up culinary tours for Chengdu and Beijing. She had put a request in for volunteers to test out two lessons she has set up with local entities. With her was Rose, an elegant Chinese woman who had only recently returned to Chengdu after many years in L.A.; her English is impeccable, and she is very knowledgeable and willing to share.

Our fourth "student" arrived - a young English woman named Jessie who has been teaching English in the Minorities University in Chengdu for the past year. She eats mostly local, low-end, vegetarian food, and had a passion for cooking.

We were joined by a pleasant man from SHIC - the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine (Culinary arts?). We all piled into a van for the ride to SHIC, which has a new campus on the west side of town. They have 7000 students: 3000 for cooking, others for hotel management and related fields. SHIC puts on a five-day cooking class for the CIA (which sounded more intriguing before I learned that this acronym also refers to the Culinary Institute of America).

We arrived at the school cafeteria, which was one vast room on the ground floor. There were several dormitories directly across the road (which was almost more of a plaza). We were taken to the second floor, where the faculty eat and where our lesson was to take place. A demonstration table was set up with a large wok, a tree stump cutting block, and trays with fresh produce and bowls of spices and cut-up onions and ginger. We took chairs from around the tables (purple tablecloths, gold-colored covers on the chairs) so we could sit and watch the demonstration.

Chichi, an energetic young man with moussed up hair and a big smile, was our teacher for this class. Taylor said that last January he had been the youngest instructor at the school, but he has since been joined by six of his former students. He had spent several years in France, and his English was also quite good.

The first dish was "musk melon spicy beef". I oogled the large piece of beef he put on the butcher block. After shopping at Carrefour, where most of the meat resembles soup bones or anatomy lessons, I was amazed to see so much meat without bone, skin or fat. Chichi used his cleaver to cut off several long strips, then he put the rest of the meat aside. He quickly cut the strips into 1/2-inch cubes - enough so we could each have at least three.

Chichi sliced some ginger root, then mashed it with the side of his cleaver. He cut some scallions and put them in a bowl with the ginger and salt, then squeezed them with his hand. he mixed in a little yellow wine. He cut a stalk of celery in 3/4" pieces at a slight slant. He also sliced about 1/3 of a red onion. He took thin slices from the melon (a honey-dew), using about 1/6 of the melon, skinned them and choped them into large bite-sized pieces.

Meanwhile, the large, dark metal wok was heating. Once it was hot, his assistant ladled in some oil, then swirled around the wok until the entired surface was seasoned. Then several inches of oil were added.

Chichi broke an egg into a bowl, and mixed in some corn starch by hand. He added a little water to form a somewhat runny mixture. He then added in the meat cubes and mixed then in with his fingers. Once the oil was hot, he added in the meat, using the ladle to break apart clumps. For twice-cooked meat, the meat is allowed to cook like this at a fairly low heat. Then the meat is removed with a strainer, and the oil is heated to a much higher temperature. The meat is returned for about a minute to turn the batter to a rich golden brown. The meat was then removed and set aside.

The excess oil was removed from the wok, then the wok was returned to the flame at a higer heat. About 1/2 " of oil was ladled back in. The heat was lowered to cook the peppers. Chichi tossed in a handful of chopped dried red chilies, then added a generous handful of Sichuan peppers; they aren't hot, but they have a distinctive smell and numb the mouth. He cooked the peppers for a minute, then used his hands to fan the smell over toward us. He added in the scallions, ginger, onion and celery. He added in about 1/2 teaspon of salt, a little sugar, and about 1/2 tsp of chicken powder (dried chicken essense without MSG). He added in the beef, then a ladle of chili oil. He added in the melon, stirred everything around for half a minute, and it was done.

Chichi put the dish onto a large platter and brought it over to an eating table for us to try. We were each given a small plate and a pair of chopsticks. It was delicious. Soon all that remained was a pile of chilies and peppers.

The second dish was more of a dessert. Tomato paste, water, and sugar were added to the heated wok to make a tomatoe sauce; it was then thickened with corn starch. This was poured into a bowl and set aside. Then Chichi cut up two tomatoes. He would cut most of the way through with one chop, then make another complete cut, so that each piece was a sort of pocket with two flaps. He had some American cheese that could be used as a filling, but we decided against using it. The tomato slices were then dipped into a batter - similar to that used for the beef - and deep fat fried in the wok. We were each given one piece of tomato with the tomato sauce on top. It was good, but an unusual taste - I'm not used to eating tomatoes so sweet (tomatoes here are sold and served with fruit instead of vegetables.)

Our last dish was zhi ma jiang - a noodle dish. Chichi set out a series of small bowls - one for each of us - and added to each a dollop of sesame paste, some salt, chicken powder, chili oil, soy sauce, a pinch of ground Sichuan pepper, and pinck of chopped scallions, and some toasted sesame seeds. Meanwhile, water was boiling in the wok. Chichi put a large handful for fresh, spagetti-shaped wheat noodles into the wok. He aded a little cold water, waited until the water started boiling again, then added cold water again. This technique keeps the noodels from getting sticky - add water and bring to a boil three times, and they are ready. A few pieces of lettuce were cut and parboiled on top of the noodles.

The noodles were added to each bowl with a garnish of lettuce. An already prepared mixtures of spicy minced pork was added to the top. We were told to mix everything with our chopsticks before eating. The seasoning was just right, and my noodles disappeared quickly. We remarked that many cultures have a pasta-based comfort food like this - it reminded us vaguely of spagetti bolonaise.

After this we had time to made another recipe of musk melon spicy beef. Gary volunteered to cook the beef, and later I got up to stir the peppers. The ladle was large and heavy, but I could handle it for the relatively short time necessary. Then Chichi handed me a hotpad and told me to pick up the wok in my left hand and toss the peppers. I managed to lift the wok, but there was no way I could toss its contents. It gave me a new appreciation for the strength needed to be a chef. I stayed to mix in the other ingredients, and we had another plate to try. It was as good as the first batch.

This session gave me some ideas to used at home, but I don't think I could ever get used to using oil, chilies, and peppers with the generous abandon needed for genuine Sichuan cooking.

All during our class, a man had been takin pictures of the demonstration and of us. When we exited the building, we posed for a final photograph behind a large banner which welcomed visitors in both Chinese and English.

Our next stop was lunch - not that any of us were feeling particularly hungry, but we were game for more experiences. On our way out of the campus, we passed a large asphalted area where hundreds of students were playing volleyball, pingpong, and other games - their lunchtime recreation.

I can't tell you the name of the restaurant that we went to, but I have the card, so eventually I'll be able to go back. It is located in the foothills, a fairly rural setting, and is know for its country cooking.

We were first ushered into a low building onto a verandah overlooking a small lake. We were each brought a glass of hot tea. The green tea is served with the tea at the bottom. The server keeps replenishing the hot water. Jessie noticed a bamboo boat on the other side of the lake. Half of it was a bamboo raft; the other half had a roof and chairs to sit on. She expressed a desire for a boat ride, so Taylor arranged it. Two men wearing camoflage jackets poled it over to our side of the lake, and we all got on. The men weren't able to make to go very fast or far, but we managed to make it over to the other side of the lake and back. By this time, I was a little more read to consider eating again.

The restaurant was located on a slope overlooking the lake. On our way to it we passed an outdoor over where chickens were being cooked. They opened the over to show us perhaps six brown bundled hanging from strings in the oven. Beggar's chicken is made by stuffing the chicken with 30 herbs, letting it marinate for 12 hours, then wrapping it first with lotus leaves, then with cotton cloth, and finally with a layer of mud. After the mud has dried, it cooks for 8 hours.

We were ushered into a small room overlooking the lake with a single round table. Our chicken was brought in for us to see, with the mud casing still on it, then it was brought back open and chopped, with the mud and cloth layers removed. We also had Kung Pao chicken, a stir-fry dish with slices of fatty pork - a local food somewhat like bacon, a large dish of tofu, half of a large squash baked to perfection, and a type of bread that is cooked on the side of the wok - a doughy roll with a crispy tail. We were told that the better class restaurants generally do not serve rice with the meal. It is considered tacky to want to dilute their perfect dishes with low-class food. If rice is brought out at all, it is brought out at the end.

It was a contented group that made its way back to town.

Book Club, Thursday, October 9, 2008

I had my second Chinese lesson this morning. Since May wasn't sure of where the Waterfront is, I met her at Mark's office building, and had Zhang take us back to the apartment complex. We worked mainly on pronunciation again. I had worked a fair amount with the tapes, and i thought that it went well. May said that she had also moved, into a dormitory at Sichuan University. Next time she comes, I plan to show her the view from out study, since we can see the entrance gate to the university.

Just a few side notes on traffic. The large streetcleaning vehicle plays a singsong melody to warn people that it is coming - sort of like our ice cream trucks, but it is a distinctively Chinese tune. In a couple of places I've noticed that the road has been built around an existing tree. On the river road a short ways south of us, the southbound traffic splits in two to go around a tree. On a road near Taylor's hotel, One lane of the road is completely blocked by a tree. I can both appreciate their sense of priorities and the resulting traffic problems.

This month's book club was hosted by Caryn, who lived in China Garden, one of the large complexes we had seen on our house-hunting trip. It is off of what is informally known as "European Street" because of the large number of businesses accommodating foreigners. It would have been a fun place to live, and I intend to explore the area more thoroughly sometime.

I had a few problems finding the place. First of all, I had no street address for the complex and did not know the Chinese name for it. There are multiple entrances to the compound, and I did not know the right one. I had called one of the women in the book club, who spoke to Zhang, but it did not really clarify things for him. He would stop at a gate and ask me if this is the one, and I could only answer "I don't know." After trying one wrong section, we got out and walked. I talked with Caryn, the hostess, and she came out to the gate to show me the way. This is one of the areas with the five-story buildings and tree-lined streets. It is very dark at night and there are a lot of parked cars.

There were seven other women there, most of them affiliated with QSA, one of the foreign schools here. I was the only new member. The others had each brought a snack (sliced apples, an eggplant dip, chips, sliced cheese - a luxury item here). I brought a small packet of cookies and a six-pack of Coke; I don't trust myself yet to cook for anyone else, other than Mark.

Our book was Death of a Red Heroine by Qio Xiaolong, a murder mystery taking place in Shanghai in 1990. It's not much of a mystery, but I had liked the descriptions of the housing and food; I had read it just before arriving in China. Of the four who had read it - all longtime China residents - three had disliked it and one downright hated it. Our discussion was consequently not terribly long or interesting. However, I enjoyed the conversation once we got onto other topics. I didn't get home until almost 11:00 - a late night for me.