Wei Jie

claudiamente@hotmail.com

THE kitchen of Somerset Wanxia serviced apartments bustled with energy as around 40 expat residents gathered to embark on a Chinese culinary journey organized by the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats (Shekou MSCE) in Nanshan District on Tuesday night.

The cooking class was part of the Shekou Expats’ Night School program, which was launched last month to help expat residents better integrate into local life and gain a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.

Long before the class started, a dozen expats gathered in the kitchen and watched Nicole Tao, vice director of the Shekou MSCE, as she demonstrated how to prepare ingredients for the Chinese dishes.

Tao, alongside executive chef Ma Jialiang of the serviced apartments, acted as the chief instructor for the evening. “We usually tear the cabbage into small pieces by hand to make [stir fried cabbage],” she explained. Several expats jumped in to help with ingredient preparation by chopping tofu, tomatoes, and chicken legs, rinsing cucumbers, and whipping eggs while others observed.

Tao prepared five dishes, all recognized as quintessential Chinese cuisine, for the cooking class. She invited two expats to get hands-on experience for each dish.

Damien Pousse, a video game designer from France, was excited about the opportunity to make mapo tofu — a traditional Sichuan dish.

Pousse, who has lived in Shenzhen for two and a half years, is a cooking enthusiast. He said he learns local recipes whenever relocating to a new place. “We don’t have anything like tofu in France, so I’m eager to learn how to work with it.”

Under Tao’s guidance, Pousse and Emma Wakeham took turns stir-frying minced pork and tofu before combining them with spicy bean paste and other seasonings to create a visually appealing plate of mapo tofu. The other expats gave them thumbs-up after sampling the dish.

Jola Vaugjeli, from Italy, remarked that the dish had a uniquely pleasant flavor. “This is very different from the food I’m used to, but it’s good. Diversity makes the world more interesting. I can’t wait to taste the other four dishes tonight.”

Lis Tatiana, from Belarus, brought along a big bowl of mashed potatoes she had prepared at home before coming to the class.

“I think this will pair well with the kung pao chicken [a dish originates from Sichuan Province] I plan to cook tonight,” she said.

Tatiana said the moment she saw the picture of kung pao chicken during a trip to the Shekou wet market, also organized by Shekou MSCE to gather ingredients for the cooking class that morning, she knew it was what she wanted to learn.

“I love peanuts, cucumbers, and chicken, and these are all in this one dish,” she said.