Hong Kong Chinese Cooking at the School of Wok
Hong Kong is one my favourite cities in the world for a gourmets holiday. It is not only the best place for amazing Chinese restaurants, but they have some top Japanese, European and International restaurants with Michelin stars too. From my time living in Hong Kong as an expat years ago, I found that they take their food very seriously.
On my trips to Hong Kong, much like my other Asian trips, I tend to plan my itinerary according to where we can get reservations to dine. I always try to rope in my friends in Hong Kong to take me to their newest haunts and over the years we have discovered some amazing places. For example, this underground Shanghainese restaurant in Central that served amazing, authentic and reasonably priced food. This place was one of those word of mouth discoveries that was housed in the back of a nondescript office building with no signs at the door.
In Hong Kong, land is scarce, property is very expensive, consequently, flats and kitchens are mostly tiny so the locals tend to eat out a lot. It’s a lucky thing that there are so many fantastic restaurants and casual eating places within easy reach. There are thousands of restaurants on the tiny island of Hong Kong and the adjoining Kowloon across the Harbour including about 75 restaurants with Michelin stars.
Being at the Southern part of China, next to Guangdong Province, most of the population are Cantonese with a smattering of Hakka. The Chinese cuisine available in Hong Kong is predominantly Cantonese but there are some exceptional Shanghainese and other regional restaurants too.
Recently, the Hong Kong tourism board hosted a Chinese cooking lesson at the School of Wok. We learnt to cook 3 dishes, a Chinese dim sum dumpling, Hong Kong fried noodles and a chicken and mushroom claypot rice. Chef Jez taught us some essential wok cooking techniques, fiddly dumpling wrapping and lots more about basic Chinese seasonings and cooking.
We all had great fun at this cooking lesson and I was especially thrilled to learn to cook the Claypot Rice. It’s time to buy one of those claypots to recreate this dish at home.



If you are planning a trip to Hong Kong, get their handy travel app. You can get help with planning your itinerary on there or take advantage of the Hong Kong Tourism board’s initiative to pair you up with a local under their Hong Kong pal programme. I’ll list some of my favourite places to eat in Hong Kong on the blog later this year.
Meanwhile: my top things to do in Hong Kong (sorry, some are quite touristy)
have a drink at the top floor Felix Restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel and check out their impressive men’s loos (for the view)
don’t miss the dessert buffet at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (don’t eat beforehand)
book a table at Yung Kee for their famous roast goose
hob nob with the beautiful people at Happy Valley Race Course –
take a ride on Star Ferry across the Hong Kong harbour
take a ride on the ding ding tram
have brunch at the Repulse Bay Hotel
ride the peak tram to see how the other half live and for the view of the Hong Kong harbour
eat seafood on Lantau Island
hike from Stanley to Central
take the turbojet to Macau and have a go on the roulette tables
brave the crowds and go shopping in Kowloon
eat the roast quail in Shatin
shop for “A1” bags in Shenzen, now connected by a fast train
have a bowl of snake soup at the snake restaurant under the mid levels escalators in Central
grab a blind massage at the blind massage school at the Dragon Department Store in Central
get your fortune read at the Tian How temple in Kowloon
EatCookExplore was a guest of the Hong Kong Tourism board
It looks those should be very exciting Chinese cooking classes