jin loves to eat: Dimsum Master Class at The Peninsula Manila

I love how elegantly The Peninsula dressed up its lobby for Chinese New Year.
It really is my favorite hotel lobby in Manila!

Even the flowers match the red and gold lanterns

And if you look closely, you'll see there are Chinese lucky charms
hanging on the arrangement

Because it is Chinese New Year, I decided to learn a new Chinese skill - Dimsum-Making!
I joined The Peninsula's Dimsum Master Class with Dimsum Ambassador Chef Yip Wing Wah.

Before they let us in the kitchen, they made sure we washed our hands
properly. Here's Pat washing her hands without water! Lol! :P

Each student was given an apron, a 2-layer dimsum basket, a tool for scooping up dimsum filling
(I have no idea what it's called, sorry!), and paper and pencil for taking down notes.

The easiest part of the class was Step # 1: Put the dimsum paper into the bamboo basket. Lol.

Then Chef Yip showed us how to make the wrapper for har gau
(or hakaw or shrimp dumpling)

Basically, it is mixing flour, cornstarch and boiling water in the right
proportions and kneading it a bit to make a smooth dough

Keep the dough wrapped until ready to use to prevent it from drying up.
Remember, hakaw wrappers are very sensitive things.

Chef Yip spoke in Cantonese, and Mr. Teddy Leung, Peninsula Hotels Chinese Food and
Beverage Operations Manager, translated everything into perfect English

The Master made it seem like a breeze. Maybe after 30 years
of practice, I will be as good and fast as he.

Each student was given the chance to show off his skills

That's me showing everyone I had none. Hahaha! :D

And then he showed us how to put in the filling

And seal the bundle

And then it was our turn

Of course I managed to put the wrong filling. This was the filling for chive dumpling. Lol!

Ta-Da!!!

My very first hakaw. Not too shabby for a beginner, methinks! :)

Chef Yip's

Mine.
Obviously, I have a serious problem following instructions.

Next, we learned to do Chive Dumplings

First, the wrapper. It was a totally different procedure from the shrimp version.
Fresh chives were used to create the pretty green color.

It involved pouring boiling water onto the mixture and then straining...

And mixing and kneading again with flour and cornstarch

Until you get this

Fresh chive dumpling wrapper

It was a totally different way of wrapping, too

This time I got the correct filling :P

Chef Yip's

Mine

And then our baskets were ready for steaming

While waiting, we had some snacks and refreshments at the next room

After 10 minutes...

Our baskets were ready!

My shrimp dumplings (including one with incorrect filling, lol)

My chive dumplings

We got to enjoy our own creations. Modesty aside, they were very delicious! :P
With classmates Migs Yambao, Cheryl Tiu, and Grace Lim, The Photobomber! :P