My wok used to hang untouched and unloved on the kitchen rail above the cooker. It wasn’t always that way, when I first bought it that wok came down whenever there was a hint of an Oriental dish to be created. I researched how to season and clean it – I quite frankly loved it. However, little did I know I had the cooking technique all wrong, so dishes weren’t living up to expectations and it wasn’t long before my flame for the wok burnt out.
But recently someone reignited that flame and the wok is now firmly back in use. That someone is Jeremy Pang. Pang is co-owner of a smart and cheerful cookery school in Covent Garden, aptly named, School of Wok, the key focus is on Oriental and Asian cuisine. I took part in one of his three hour classes: Oriental Seafood and Fish on the menu were; Crispy Prawn and Chive Wontons; Steamed Seabass with Crushed Soy and Coriander; Sweet and Sour Prawns and Squid; and lastly Egg Fried Rice.
Pang’s Ninja Skills
We were a small group of five in the class, but the venue holds quite a lot more and there’s extra workspace downstairs. The kitchen area is kitted out in fancy, shiny, top quality AEG equipment. After introductions we pretty much got to wok straight away (sorry, couldn’t help that one). Chinese cooking is about ninety percent preparation. Pang teaches us some nifty knife cleaver techniques, which we used to chop and prep the vegetables, and gut and clean the fish and squid. I can now deseed a pepper whilst keeping it in one chunk – ah ha, that’s some serious ninja skills right there!
The wontons were the fist thing we made, where most of the work went into chopping the ingredients. Shaping the wontons took practice, but with patience and guidance was relatively easy to do. Pang demonstrated what to look out for when deep frying and then cooked our efforts. Things moved pretty swiftly from there on and the kitchen was a steaming frenzy of activity, whilst we each knocked out the dishes in next to time – it was fast, fun and lively.
What we produced was restaurant standard, but cleaner, fresher and tasted even sweeter because we had made it ourselves. The course was well paced and Pang was encouraging, engaging and effervescent. Here’s my top three lessons learned:
- Get your wok flaming hot, food always needs to sizzle – control the temperature by taking the wok off the heat or by moving what you’re cooking to the sides of the wok
- Garlic, spring onion and ginger are the holy grail of Chinese cookery
- Look out for ‘dancing rice’ – rice will tell you it’s ready by popping (dancing) up
Reaping the Rewards
Of course, we learn a lot more during the class but I’ve purposely not gone into too much detail, otherwise what’s the point in you going? And you should!
The Oriental Seafood and Fish class costs £95, so it’s at the higher end of the scale, but I think what you make and learn is totally worth it. School of Wok do a variety of classes so have a rummage through the site and see what tickles your fancy.
Food I Fancy was a guest of School of Wok.
School of Wok
61 Chandos Place
London WC2N 4HG
Tel: 020 7240 8818
