Lisa Tse, CEO of Sweet Mandarin was invited to speak to Becky Want on her show Retail Therapy, BBC Radio Manchester. Lisa talked about Chinese New Year and brought an array of delicious dim sum and Dragon cocktails to celebrate.  They also discussed the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School and the fact that Sweet Mandarin has beaten 10,000 restaurants to win the Best Local Chinese Restaurant on Gordon Ramsay’s F Word Show. To listen to the fun interview click here .

To book a table at Sweet Mandarin click here

This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week to a month. The following recipes are just a sample of our offerings and are unique to Sweet Mandarin (www.sweetmandarin.com). If you would like a one-to-one consultation, contact me, Lisa Tse on lisa@sweetmandarin.com.

Lisa

Bean sprouts and Chinese Chives

This dish calls for Chinese chives, which have a lighter, more “oniony” flavour. Beansprouts are delicious, healthy and ideal for yang (warm bodied people) as these are yin foods. (Dear Reader – Please refer to my earlier post on Yin and Yang balancing of foods.)

Serves 2 – 3

INGREDIENTS:

1 sprig of flowering garlic chives or scallions.

3 cups (about 5 1/2 ounces) mung bean sprouts

3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon sugar

PREPARATION:

1. Wash and drain the mung bean sprouts.
2. Wash and drain the chives, and cut into strips about the same length as the bean sprouts.
3. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a preheated wok.
4. When the oil is hot, add the minced ginger and stir briefly until aromatic (about 15 seconds). Add the mung bean sprouts and stir-fry until they change colour (about 1 minute), then add the chives, soy sauce and sugar.
5. Stir-fry for about another 1 – 2 minutes, until the chives have just turned limp, taking care not to overcook the bean sprouts.
   

This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week to a month. The following recipes are just a sample of our offerings and are unique to Sweet Mandarin (www.sweetmandarin.com). If you would like a one-to-one consultation, contact me, Lisa Tse on lisa@sweetmandarin.com .

Best wishes and Sweet Dishes to You and Your Family

Lisa

“Cutting stalks at noon time

Perspiration drips to the earth

Know you that your bowl of rice

Each grain from hardship comes?”

(Cheng Chan-Pao, Chinese philosopher)

Rice is the staple diet of the Chinese around the world – a symbol of life itself. The Chinese greet each other by asking “Have you had your rice today?” rather than “How are you?”. If you haven’t eaten all your rice, it is considered an insult to the host.

According to local folktales, five celestial deities rode into the Guangzhou area of China on five rams, each with an ear of rice in its mouth. The immortals gave the rice ears to the farmers and promised them that there would never be famine in Guangzhou. This is the region where my family originated from and like other farming families, we grew rice as well as soy beans.

Rice is used to make porridge or ‘congee’ and also a type of noodle. It is an ideal alternative for those with a wheat allergy who cannot eat bread or wheat pasta.

A harvested rice kernel contains a bran layer, and is enclosed by a hull. White rice has had both the bran and hull removed during the milling process. By contrast, brown rice has had only the hull removed. The result is a much more nutritious dish, containing protein and several minerals. However, parboiled white rice has been processed before milling and thus retains most of its nutrients.

Rice Types

The Chinese normally use long grain rice, which produces a fluffier rice. If you are following a recipe that calls for long grain rice, and need to use medium or short grain rice instead, remember that rice grains have different absorption rates and adjust the amount of water accordingly. (In this case you would reduce the amount of water by 1/4 to 1/2 cup per cup of rice).

In China, glutinous or “sticky” rice is used mainly for snacks and sweets. However, in other parts of Asia it is used in place of regular rice. For example, a reader recently shared with me his experience living in Laos and northern Thailand, where glutinous rice is a staple food. The rice is soaked for at least two hours, and then steamed. People take the steamed rice and knead it in a ball. It is then dipped in one of the courses and you use a finger to collect some of the course. (Glutinous rice is available at most Asian grocery markets).

Two less well-known types of rice are black rice and red rice. Grown throughout Asia, red rice is a member of the glutinous rice family. It is not considered to be very edible, but there is a great deal of interest in the potential health benefits of red rice extract. You’ll often find it in health food stores, as it is believed to help lower cholesterol levels and improve blood circulation.

Grown in China and Thailand, black rice is also a type of sticky rice. A layer of bran covers the rice grains, giving them a brown or blackish colour. Black rice is used mainly in Chinese, Thai and Pilipino desserts. Like red rice, black rice is considered to have numerous health benefits, particularly the purplish-black variety.

MAKING PERFECT BOILED RICE

Here are classic rice recipes that you’ll want to learn how to make.

Like hard boiling eggs, cooking rice is one of those tasks that appear to be easy, but can go wrong very quickly if you don’t follow the right steps. Here are simple instructions that will help you make rice that turns out light and fluffy every time.

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups of long grain rice

41/2 cups of cold water

PREPARATION

1. Rinse the rice – rinsing rice helps get rid of any starch and impurities. Rinse until the water is clear and not cloudy.
2. Combine the long grain rice and water – For every cup of long grain rice, add 1 1/2 cups water.
3. Boil the rice – Bring the rice to a boil, uncovered, at medium heat.
4. Turn down heat put rice at an angle – When the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to medium low. Place the lid on the pot, tilting it to allow steam to escape.
5. After the rice has been cooking for a few minutes, check for holes or “craters.”
6. When you can see the holes or craters, put the lid on tight. Turn the heat down to low.
7. Simmer the covered rice for another 15 minutes. Fluff it up with a fork and serve hot.

This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week to a month. The following recipes are just a sample of our offerings and are unique to Sweet Mandarin (www.sweetmandarin.com). If you would like a one-to-one consultation, contact me, Lisa Tse on lisa@sweetmandarin.com .

Best wishes and Sweet Dishes to You and Your Family

Lisa

Ginger Tea

Treat yourself to a cup of piping hot ginger tea, a healthy drink that’s great for digestion.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 thin slices raw ginger

• water

PREPARATION:

Boil enough water to fill your cup, remove from heat, and add the slices of ginger. Allow to steep to desired strength (3-5 minutes), strain and enjoy!

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

Ginger – Besides being appreciated for its distinct flavor and ability to diffuse other strong odors, ginger has long been used as a digestive aid. Thought to get rid of air in the body, it is used to treat both stomach acidity and motion sickness. In China, women customarily drink a mixture of ginger cooked in wine and sesame oil shortly after giving birth.

This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week to a month. The following recipes are just a sample of our offerings and are unique to Sweet Mandarin (www.sweetmandarin.com). If you would like a one-to-one consultation, contact me, Lisa Tse on lisa@sweetmandarin.com .

Best wishes and Sweet Dishes to You and Your Family

Lisa

EGG DROP SOUP

The basic recipe for Egg Drop Soup (also called Egg Flower Soup) is very simple; I’ve included a few variations below. Serves 3 to 4.

Traditionally, the broth for Egg Drop Soup is rather bland, allowing the egg flavor to stand out.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups chicken broth or stock

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 -2 spring onions finely sliced

• Salt to taste

• A few drops of sesame oil (optional)

PREPARATION:

In a wok or saucepan, bring the 4 cups of chicken broth to a boil. Add the salt, and the sesame oil if using. Cook for about another minute.

Very slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream.

To make shreds, stir the egg rapidly in a clockwise direction for one minute. To make thin streams or ribbons, gently stir the eggs in a clockwise direction until they form.

Garnish with spring onion and serve.

Nutritional Breakdown – 4 servings

Each serving contains: Calories 81, 2 g Carbohydrates, 8 g Protein, 4 g Total Fat, 1 g Saturated Fat, 106 mg Cholesterol, trace Fibre, 866 mg Sodium

Egg Drop Soup Variations

These would be added after the seasonings. After adding, let the soup cook for a few more minutes and then add the beaten egg.

**1/2 cup frozen peas (defrosted).

**1/2 cup sweetcorn and finely diced chicken breast meat (cooked) – this makes Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup.

**If you are preparing the soup for someone who is ill, try adding a slice of fresh, grated ginger. Among its many benefits, ginger is believed to be helpful in treating colds and flue.

Egg Drop Soup is frequently thickened with cornstarch in restaurants. To add a cornstarch thickener, mix 2 – 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/2 cup water. Just before adding the beaten egg, stir in the cornstarch/water mixture, remove the soup from the heat, and then add the beaten egg.

This series of blogs is addressed to Oprah and all those out there battling the bulge and excess weight. I am often asked by my clients to prepare for them a special detox meal over a period of a week to a month. The following recipes are just a sample of our offerings and are unique to Sweet Mandarin (www.sweetmandarin.com). If you would like a one-to-one consultation, contact me, Lisa Tse on lisa@sweetmandarin.com .

Best wishes and Sweet Dishes to You and Your Family

Lisa

STEAMED FISH WITH GARLIC BUTTER

Serves 3 – 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 fish fillets, about 4 – 6 ounces each

• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 2 tablespoons butter

PREPARATION:

Prepare the wok for steaming. Rinse the fish fillets and pat dry with paper towels. Cover and steam the fish over high heat until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork (10 – 15 minutes).

Separately, in a small pan, melt the butter, adding the chopped garlic and salt –mix until garlic goes golden brown. Take off the heat.

Place the fish fillets on a deep, heat-proof plate that will fit inside the steamer basket. Pour the garlic butter mixture over the fish.

Serve hot with steamed leafy greens.

Nutritional Breakdown for Steamed Fish (based on 4 servings of 6 ounces fish each) Each serving contains: Calories 157, 3 g Carbohydrates, 31 g Protein, 2 g Total Fat, 73 mg Cholesterol, trace dietary Fibre, 232 mg Sodium, 774 mg Potassium.

Garlic is claimed to help prevent heart disease including atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cancer. Garlic is also useful to treat a common cold, and help regulate blood levels

Butter in moderation is allowed.

We met Sion (@RevHoly) and Jo (@basketcasejo) on Twitter (@sweetmandarin). Sion and Jo are celebrating Sion’s birthday with a masterclass at Sweet Mandarin Cookery School. On the Intermediate course, they learnt Sweet and Sour Chicken bonus dish Salt and Pepper chicken balls (Sion’s favourite), beef green peppers and blackbean, Singapore Vermicelli, Steamed fish with ginger and spring onions, Sichuan spicy prawns and the perfect egg fried rice. Bon Appetite and enjoy your video. Love Lisa and Helen
www.sweetmandarin.com Tweet us (@sweetmandarin). Like our facebook page www.facebook.com/sweetmandarins

Song  is Photosynthesis by Frank Turner (Sion’s favourite song)

This is what our previous guests have said about their Sweet Mandarin Cookery experience…

‘I have just returned from our one day cooking course with Lisa Tse and wanted to say thanks for such a fantastic day!! We were very much made to feel involved in everything and can’t wait to try out the recipes at home!  My daughter had booked this course for me as I have always wanted to learn how to cook Chinese food and this will be one that I’ll always remember.

The amount of information imparted was immense and I am now studying the recipes to practice so that I can impress my wife and produce something similar, although unlikely to be quite so good! It was also of course great fun, and I have not laughed so much for about ten years.

Please pass on my best wishes and thanks to all the team and especially to Lisa -  the world would not be the same without your amazing Cookery School at Sweet Mandarin!!!

Dr Sharma

I had such a blast with Paulette – we both run food businesses. My business is a restaurant and cookery school. Paulette caters for dinner parties in Cheshire, south Manchester.  So you can see, put us in the kitchen and we had a lot to talk about.

My philosophy is that you can never learn enough, especially about different styles of cuisine. So, what did Paulette, a foodie expert think of the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School?  This is her lovely quote that she sent to www.onionring.co.uk (the go-to website for Restaurants,  Take aways, Events, Caterers and Hotels in the North of England).

“My Mum and I attended the beginner’s cookery course last Saturday and we thought it was amazing! Lisa’s a great teacher and she taught our intimate class at a perfect speed! We learnt the basics of traditional and modern Chinese cooking and we even got to eat the food that we had made which was so tasty! I will definitely be recommending the Sweet Mandarin – Thanks a million Lisa!”

Paulette Kirsch

I love Food Walks. Its a tour all about the Chinese ingredients that we use at Sweet Mandarin and in Chinese cooking. We go through how to find the perfect wok, looking at the wierd and wonderful ingredients, purchasing them and bringing them back to Sweet Mandarin to cook. Its the perfect event for team building events – whether you are a corporate, a school, or a group of family and friends. To enquire further, email me lisa@sweetmandarin.com

Thank you to Wing Yip for being so generous and allowing us to visit your store.
Thank you to Cedarmount Year 11 and Mrs Orr-McCook for being great guest chefs.

Happy Birthday Berwyn. This video is dedicated to you and your lovely friends, Norma, Julia and Jacqui.

This first video demonstrates the work I do day in day out with my corporate clients, VIP clients and Cookery School clients. Sometimes, its easier to just show you what I get up to. As they say a photo tells a thousand words. So I guess this first video will tell you a million and one sweet things about us. Enjoy! Chef Lisa

This second video was a lot of fun to make. I’ve been honoured to cook for thousands of people, teach hundreds of clients and meet a few celebrities along the way. This pictorial journey is a little something I’d like to share with you. The music is by Train and the up beat sweet song is ‘Hey Soul Sister’. I hope you will be inspired to cook. Much love Lisa.

Love Lisa

As you know, Sweet Mandarin has a cookery school that is growing by the week, literally. Classes are held every Saturday morning and places are filling up fast.  My twin sister, Lisa and I teach you the secrets of the wok, how to cook the perfect fried rice, wrap the most delightful dim sum and tell the fascinating stories behind the 5,000 years of history of Chinese food.

So its no surprise that when I met Martha Stewart, who has a cookbook out called Cooking School – that we had a lot to chat about. Wok verses oven baked recipes….. Who inspired us to cook? – Martha was inspired by her third grade teacher Miss Weyer, we learnt from our mum and grandma how to cook in the family food takeaway (Lisa was cooking banquets by the age of 11!).

There are many things in this world that try to divide us, but one thing that unites us is food. To all you budding chefs out there, cook cook cook. If you get stuck, call Lisa and join the class. You’ll impress your friends and family forever!

(To book your place at the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School or to purchase a gift voucher for a budding chef call Tel 0161 832 8848, email: lisa@sweetmandarin.com – see more details (click here). Classes are held at Sweet Mandarin 19 Copperas Street, Manchester, M4 1HS on Saturday mornings 11am – 2pm) and are priced £100 per person per lesson.

Sweet Mandarin Cookery School teaches a Dim Sum Masterclass. Its been so busy that we’re full till October 2010 and I’ve had to add an extra date for the people who really really really want to learn. So here’s a date for your diary: 8th August. Its first come, first served. For more information, go to www.sweetmandarin.com To book your place on the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School click here or email lisa@sweetmandarin.com

As a British Born Chinese, I have lived a very British way of life being educated in Manchester and Australia. However, throughout my life, I grew up with the backdrop of serving and cooking in the family restaurant and continue my involvement in the catering empire as a co-owner of Sweet Mandarin Restaurant (www.sweetmandarin.com).

(Illustration by Lisa Tse “To The Ruler, the People are Heaven, to the People Food is Heaven”)

Chinese food has had an overwhelming presence in my life and been the catalyst for my hunger for understanding China and the significance of food in its culture. This series explores the cities where I stayed, the lives that crossed my path and the amazing food with a story to tell. China is a captivating and vivacious collection of diverse cities, provinces and regions. In the south, Guangdong, the Cantonese speaking region is renowned for its steaming, boiling and stir frying and dim sum feasts which we have become accustomed to and love in the western world. Beijing in the coldest area of China boasts the Emperor’s banquet, the world famous Peking Duck and hot pot. In the east, Shanghai offers its famous Shanghai Dumplings, whilst the Sichuan provinces easily provide the hottest and spiciest cuisine.

I finally arrived at Guangzhou which is famous for its “dim sum”. Literally translated, “dim sum” means “to touch your heart”. Guangzhou is north of the Pearl River Delta, adjacent to Hong Kong and holds a special place in my heart as the place where my family originates from. The nickname for this province is “Flower City” because flowers keep blossoming all year round.

(Five Ram Statute in Guangzhou)

It also holds the myth that there were five celestials riding five rams with rice in their mouth. The celestials gave the rice to the residents of Guangzhou and blessed the province with good harvests and an abundance of food. Today, the celestials have flown away but the five rams have been turned into stone sculptures in the Yuexiu Park area. The blessings have seemingly been fulfilled and the city is brimming with masses of people, bicycles and restaurants.

To date, there are over 10,000 restaurants in the city, with seats for over 500,000. The people of Guangzhou are natural born gourmets. Food in Guangzhou is famous worldwide. Indeed in 1927, Chiang Kai-Shek, the leader of the nationalist party responsible for unifying China, set up his headquarters in Guangzhou and enjoyed dining at the many restaurants serving dim sum.

(Dim Sum Mania on Sunday Mornings)

Dim sum is often referred to as “yum cha” (??) which means “drinking tea”. This interchangeable expression originated from the teahouses which set up along the Silk Road. The Silk Road linked China to Syria and was travelled by merchants and farmers trading their silk, gold, ivory, spices, exotic animals and plants. Travellers and rural farmers, exhausted after working hard, would also go to teahouses for a relaxing afternoon of tea. At first, it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food, because people believed it would lead to excessive weight gain. However, people later discovered that tea can aid in digestion. Therefore, teahouse owners began adding more variety of snacks, so the tradition of dim sum evolved.

(Dim Sum Restaurant – Old Hong Kong)

Dim sum mania spread to Hong Kong as the Guangzhou population immigrated to Hong Kong in the 1920s. Chinese restaurants grew exponentially in Hong Kong and soon dim sum was available from 6am through to late afternoon. Restaurants in Hong Kong and Guangzhou became filled mainly with the elderly population who often gathered to eat after the morning session of tai chi exercises, often enjoying the morning newspapers.

In the west, dim sum came about as a natural result of Chinese immigrants moving to the western world. When Europe started trading with the Orient, the seaport of Guangzhou became the gateway to the West. The Chinese readily absorbed these cosmopolitan influences, and being great travellers themselves, emigrated to the United States of America and the United Kingdom. They were the first to make Chinese cooking known to the Western world and as a result dim sum has become the firm favourite of the Western world.

(A Packed Dim Sum Session)

Go to a Chinese restaurant on a Sunday afternoon and you will be greeted by a sea of Chinese families spanning three generations. Dim sum is the Chinese equivalent of French hors d’oeuvres or Spanish tapas. It’s a colourful and loud dining experience starting with the rush for vacant seats and the hustle and bustle of the gesticulating waiters selling their dim sum specials from their trolleys. Bamboo containers filled with steamed dim sum are stacked high and quickly snapped up. Waiting on staff ask what kind of tea we want to drink offering a vast array of jasmine tea, oolong tea, pu-er tea and green tea which helps to wash down the dim sum. The noise of the chatter of the diners is deafening. It’s a busy, frantic affair and there is an air of organized panic in the restaurants, which adds to the excitement and entertainment. Dim sum is an overwhelming introduction to the Chinese nation’s love of food, gregariousness and cheerful chatter.

I love dim sum. There are over 200 dishes to choose from. One Cantonese saying goes that anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies is edible. Another says that the only four-legged things that Cantonese people won’t eat are tables and chairs.

The range of cooking skills required to make dim sum is vast. There is usually a dim sum master overseeing his section of the kitchen and there is a real art involved in making the dishes. Some dishes are steamed, others are fried. Some are baked. The variety of tastes is also mind boggling – sweet, sour, savoury and chilli.

(Left: Har Gow, Right: Siu Mi)

There are firm favourites such as “har gow” (prawn dumplings wrapped in translucent rice paper), “siu mi” (pork dumplings) and “char siu bow” (pork buns in a white fluffy dough). If you are feeling more adventurous, an eye opening experience with a stronger flavour is “fung jow” (chickens feet in yellow bean sauce and chillis). One caveat – this particular dish is not for the faint hearted. The sweet dishes for dessert range from the egg custard tarts which are extremely delicious to sago pudding or mango pudding which are refreshing and a great ending to the dim sum experience.

(Me (Left) learning how to make dim sum with my sister (centre) and mother, Mabel (Right))

A meal in a restaurant opens the taste buds, but cooking dim sum for my friends and family widens all the senses. I learnt the authentic recipes from Guangzhou and used them at Sweet Mandarin. Together with my sisters, Helen and Janet we made every dim sum from fresh. Stuffing and shaping wontons was the real family enterprise. We made the stuffing from a light prawn mince and wrapped the teaspoon of filling with a fine egg based pastry. We all left our individual stamp on the won tons in the way we crimped the edges. I added a flamboyant tail on these wontons, which can then be dipped in the sweet and sour dip. My everyday rituals of properly selecting produce, cooking and presenting a meal, which I have inherited from my family, have given me an insight to see the meaning of my own cooking as a metaphor for life.

I would love to share with you our recipe on making this exquisite dim sum.

Ingredients
For the Prawn Filling
250g pack shrimps
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp potato starch
1 egg white
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Hot vegetable oil to lightly fry the wontons
Ingredients for the Wonton Wrappers
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1 tsp potato starch
1/4 cup of water
2 cups of plain flour
Dressing for the wontons
Serve with Sweet Mandarin’s The General Tse’s Sweet and Sour Sauce
Method to make the wonton pastry
1. Kneed the ingredients together into a ball. The consistency is dough like.
2. Leave in the fridge for half an hour.
3. Roll out into a very thin sheet (as thick as a piece of paper) with a rolling pin ensuring there is plenty of flour to avoid sticking.
4. Cut into squares 3inches squared.
Method to make delicious and easy wontons
1. Put all the prawn mixture into a food processor and mix thoroughly.
2. Shape into balls the size of walnuts.
3. Place the filling balls into the centre of the wonton wrappers. To make the tail, gather the four edges and twist together.
4. Heat oil
5. Place wontons in hot oil for 5-6 minutes or until cooked through.
6. Drain from oil.
7. Serve the wontons with the Sweet Mandarin’s General Tse’s Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Sweet Mandarin Cookery School teaches a Dim Sum Masterclass. Its been so busy that we’re full till October 2010 and I’ve had to add an extra date for the people who really really really want to learn. So here’s a date for your diary: 8th August. Its first come, first served. For more information, go to www.sweetmandarin.com To book your place on the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School click here or email lisa@sweetmandarin.com

I’ve just ordered a snake blood cocktail to celebrate the fact that I’ve made not one but two new menus at Sweet Mandarin.

Its taken a while because I’ve been a bit busy teaching the world to cook (face to face and on twitter), serving hot delicious Chinese food in the wokmobile and running the restaurant. Finally, I sat down and started to scribble recipes, ran to the kitchen to test them, tweeted for feedback and finally, I’m proud to share with you the most amazing, delicious menu written with love for you.

I’ve also been mega busy working with corporates for their lunchboxes, team building events and catering. Oh yes, our dim sum and sushi platters can be delivered for your award events, gatherings and lunch meetings (forget soggy sandwiches for a change – purlease).

Here is the new ala carte menu – take a look and here’s my warning – don’t drool too much ok a-la-carte-menu.pdf

Best wishes and sweet dishes

Lisa

Mr Drake is on the right with his bowl of Chicken and Sweetcorn soup which he made himself at Sweet Mandarin

Mr Drake mastering the woks at Sweet Mandarin Chinese Cookery School

Mr Drake is an excellent chef and we had a lot of fun exchanging cooking tips!  He told me he loves Chinese and Thai cuisine, but after the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School, Mr Drake “Loves Chinese food even more now!”  Mr Drake learnt how to cook 6 suppers on a fixed budget, spicing up the dishes for dinner. What did you think Mr Drake? The response, ”Excellent! Maybe I can open my own restaurant ?” replied Mr Drake chuckling as he tasted his Chicken and Sweetcorn soup “Not bad if I say so myself. Tastes like the real thing!” I’m looking forward to that dinner invite Mr Drake! 

Best Wishes and Sweet Dishes to You and Your Family

Lisa

Book your place on our Chinese Cookery School – Email: sweetmandarin@gmail.com or call Lisa Tse 0161 832 8848

For more information see www.sweetmandarin.com

Availability: January is full. We have availability from February 2009 – every Saturday morning at Sweet Mandarin

Address:  Sweet Mandarin 19 Copperas Street, Design House, Northern Quarter, Manchester M4 1HS

“As family meals seems to have become pushed aside by a barrage of ubiquitous fast food and drive-thru restaurants, Lisa Tse of Sweet Mandarin emerges with a welcoming food philosophy of cooking healthy delicious meals and gathering the family back to the table. Operating from her modern wok fired restaurant, Sweet Mandarin in the Northern Quarter, Manchester, Lisa Tse continues a popular series of cooking classes that seek inspiration from a bevy of local world-class producers. The masterclass may well begin with a session with a literal and culinary trip to the Silk Road learning how dim sum was created before actually learning the secrets of making dim sum. There was also some delightful party tricks to take back to the home kitchen. From the hands-on task of preparing the produce, learning knife skills, calculating the food budget and wok technique, a number of succulent stir fries and Chinese dishes were miraculously russled up during the masterclass.”

To Book Your Place at the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School, contact head chef, Lisa Tse on www.sweetmandarin.com Email: sweetmandarin@gmail.com or call Tel: 0161 832 8848

John was one of my first students. I think this photo says it all. He was a brilliant student and if you ever want a part time job as my sous chef…..

This is what John emailed me after the class.

“It was great fun learning to cook in a proper wok in my favourite chinese restaurant in manchester”

Thanks so much John. You’ve mastered the beginners …now its time for the Stir Crazy – Super Suppers classes starting in Feb 09 (January is full).

If you want to book a place on our Sweet Mandarin Cookery School contact Lisa at sweetmandarin@gmail.com . For more information go to: www.sweetmandarin.com

Francine loves to entertain her friends and family. Prior to joining Sweet Mandarin’s Cookery School, Francine found a Chinese menu somewhat bewildering – too much choice and uncertainty as to what all the flavours would taste like. Sweet Mandarin’s Cookery School gave Francine an introduction to a new  type of cuisine and an understanding that at the end of the day, good food is delicious especially Chinese food.  It was a pleasure to welcome you to our home, Sweet Mandarin. May you and your family have many Sweet dishes for 2009!  Here is a summary of Francine’s thoughts after the class.

Sweet Mandarin is a Chinese restaurant in the Northern Quarter, Manchester. It was my first time visiting Sweet Mandarin and its a place with people with big hearts who welcome you to their kitchen to cook and enjoy their stories as you dine on your own cooking.

Lisa is as eager to teach as you are to learn. Each lesson filled with fresh local ingredients and lots of laughs!

If it’s about the food and the culture of China, this is the ticket. I felt well informed and always at ease – oh and the spring rolls were absolutely delicious – what more could you ask for?”

Francine

Do you want to try Chinese cuisine and learn to cook Chinese cuisine? If so, contact Lisa Tse on sweetmandarin@gmail.com  For more information go to www.sweetmandarin.com