Community Corner

Your Chinese Grandmother's Cooking Gets A Makeover

Favorite Chinese dishes get a healthy update thanks to a new generation of Chinese-Americans.

While Chinese cooking to many revolves around a wok, the exhaust fan that collects oil and smoke is never far behind.

Enter a new generation of Chinese in Silicon Valley, who are shedding old notions about their grandmothers' kitchens, and simplifying cooking, eating healthier and teaching others.

Cooking demos take place every Sunday night inside a Milpitas condo, and on Thursday’s in Cupertino. Last week’s gathering in Milpitas attracted a dozen Chinese–including from Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Find out what's happening in Cupertinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Milpitas residents Rachel Huang and Loan Ly cooked 11 dishes in 45 minutes (not including prep time) of old favorites and new creations.

Four propane-powered portable hot plates were arranged on a folding table in the living room. High-end cookware with even heat distribution hardly required stirring. So the Taiwanese-style bean thread noodles, mifun (台式米粉), just sat over a small flame with a tight lid. That was the case for the majority of the dishes.

Find out what's happening in Cupertinowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A newlywed, Huang, who grew up in Taiwan, but now calls the U.S. home, not only wanted to simplify cooking and make healthy Chinese meals at home for her husband and visiting mother-in-law, but also cut out as much oil and fat as possible. 

Huang and Ly teach and attend lifestyle classes, including weight loss, at the Superior Life Classroom (生活教室). There are two locations at 43190 Christy Street in Fremont and 21040 Homestead Road in Cupertino. The classes are not advertised, but spread by word-of-mouth. And they do not have a website.

It's community-building around a greener, simpler lifestyle while maintaining traditions, like cuisine. As Milpitas has weekly cooking demos in which participants eat the dishes, so do Cupertino and Fremont.

Huang said it is mostly about sharing ideas, not necessarily teaching. And although classes are taught in Mandarin Chinese, translation can be provided to accommodate participants.

All the prices are kept low. Classes typically range from $5-17. In Cupertino (at 19131 Loree Ave.) on Thursday, Aug. 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. there will be 10 different meals such as chicken, pork, noodle, sticky rice and two vegetables for $3, according to Ly.

For more information, email Loan Ly.


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