Cooking School at Hou Hai

I had the pleasure of attending a dinner at the Black Sesame Kitchen in Hou Hai, a suburb of Beijing, with a couple of our friends. Unfortunately Lightnin was ill and was not able to go with us on this adventure!

The Black Sesame Kitchen is not just a place to eat dinner, but they also teach cooking classes on Chinese cuisine. It's a tiny place located in the hutongs (back ally's) of Hou Hai and you sit sort of family style with friends and strangers depending upon how many people you have in your group.

This is a picture of Michelle and Sissy, in the forground, the managers of the restaurant and school. Although it's not exactly a flattering picture of Sissy

The menu for that night

Me posing with the head chef

The head chef showing the proper technique for cooking Jiao Zi (pot stickers) to Sissy and one of the assistant chefs

Pan full of Jiao Zi

Beer braised duck and sitr fried shitaki mushrooms and vegetables

The conversation was so lively at our table that nobody else even noticed this picture being taken

Possibly one of the strangest textured foods: Black Sesame sticky rice balls










The food was fantastic, as well as the atmosphere, but the most fun part was being able to watch and interact with the chef and staff while they were preparing the meal!

I should also mention that I have in my possession an autographed copy of the book "Serve The People" whose author, Jen Lin-Liu, is the founder of the restaurant. The book not only gives you recipes and instructions for cooking Chinese, but stories that provide an insight/understanding about life in China.