Highlights
- Cook 1–2 dishes yourself at a real family stove, not a workshop station
- Cook with seasonal veg from Yiting's own plot, served on her ceramics
- Join a small group of max 4 guests in a real home in Gubei, Shanghai
- Ask for a surprise like her braised-pork birthday cake
- Take the recipes home so you can cook them again
Description
This is a real home cooking class, not a cooking school. There are no rows of workstations and no aprons with logos. You cook in a family kitchen, taking turns at the same stove your host uses every day, and then you sit down together and eat everything you made.
Meet Yiting: Yiting is a ceramic artist who lives in Gubei, Shanghai. She learned ceramics in Jingdezhen and made the tableware you'll eat from herself. She also rents a vegetable plot in the Shanghai suburbs, so in season you'll cook with vegetables picked from her own garden. Her style is Sichuan-Shanghai fusion: the bold, layered flavors of Sichuan, balanced with the lighter, slightly sweet touch of Shanghainese home cooking.
How the class works:
1. Ingredient walkthrough
You start around the kitchen counter. Yiting introduces the ingredients and seasonings you'll be using, what they are, where to find them, and how Chinese home cooks prep them. Washing, chopping, marinating and mixing sauces are all part of it.
2. Cook at the family stove
Each guest cooks one or two dishes, taking turns at the wok with Yiting guiding you. With a maximum of 4 guests, everyone gets real time at the stove and plenty of help. No experience needed.
3. Eat together, home-dining style
All the dishes go in the middle of the table at once and are shared, the way a Chinese family eats at home. This is when the conversation happens: food, family, daily life in Shanghai, and anything else you're curious about.
4. Take the recipes home
After the class, you'll receive the recipes for what you cooked, so you can make them again in your own kitchen.
Made for celebrations: Yiting loves turning a meal into an occasion. For one guest's birthday she built a 'birthday cake' out of braised pork and sticky rice, candle and all. Celebrating a birthday, anniversary or honeymoon? Tell us when you book and she'll plan a special touch for the table.
The class runs about 3 to 4 hours. Choose the lunch class (starting at 11:00) or the dinner class (starting at 16:30).
Before your visit, we'll confirm your dietary preferences and send step-by-step directions to the home, including a phone number and WeChat so you won't get lost. Two days before, you'll receive our Home Dining Cheat Sheets, a cultural primer that answers the questions most foreign guests have before their first home meal in China.
Dietary restrictions? Let us know when booking and we'll plan the dishes around them.
All +1 Chopsticks hosts are vetted and English speaking.
Includes
Hands-on home cooking class with your host — ingredient prep walkthrough and 1–2 dishes cooked by each guest
All ingredients and cooking equipment
Lunch or dinner of the dishes you cooked, shared family style
Recipes of the dishes you cooked, sent after the class
Pre-visit dietary check-in — dietary restrictions and preferences confirmed upon booking
Directions & contact details — step-by-step instructions to the host's home, plus phone number and WeChat
Home Dining Cheat Sheets — cultural primer on Chinese dining, sent 2 days before your visit
Excludes
Transportation is not included
Important Information
- Don't worry if you are not familiar with Chinese food - we will discuss your dietary preferences and requirements with you
Easy cancellation
Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
