ENR3122 - The Lotus Eaters

Course Description

If you had a chance to enjoy one of Aaron’s classes last spring, you know that what he teaches is the *really* real Chinese deal. Every recipe he teaches is using techniques he’s learned from his family’s chefs and from doing the detective work to uncover secrets of his favorite dishes. Although he’s only got time for one class this fall, it’s a special one. Aaron will teach you how to make two dishes using a classic Chinese technique of cooking with lotus leaves. First, is a mixed seafood and tofu dish wrapped in lotus leaf and steamed to enhance all the natural flavors and fragrance. And the other dish, a special fried rice with Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, eggs, and chicken, which is again wrapped in lotus leaves and cooked to give it that special something you can’t get anywhere else.

Learner Outcomes

Students will learn to interpret recipes and use standard kitchen tools and cooking techniques to produce home style healthy dishes. 

Notes

Aaron Chau was born and raised in that great food city, Hong Kong, and the love of cooking was forged in his early years, where he spent hours cooking alongside his mother and chefs at the family-owned restaurants. His experience also taught him about restaurant operations and the art of making customers happy.

Aaron moved to Hawaii to earn his degree in economics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. During this time, Aaron worked at famous restaurants such as Chez Michel at Eaton Square, the Maile Room at the Kahala Hilton, and Ship’s Tavern at the Moana Surfrider. Although he was in charge of the front of the house operations, he shared his Chinese cooking knowledge and exchanged cooking skills/ secrets with the chefs with whom he worked.