BBQ Pork Buns Class

Jeff and I attended a cooking class at The Pantry at Delancey two Mondays ago to learn how to make Asian pork buns.  Since Jeff is the cook in our relationship, I was really nervous about going.  I don't have a lot of kitchen skills and was afraid I'd need to perform some task that I wasn't capable of performing.  Lucky for me, it wasn't like that at all.

The class is set in a big kitchen, but not the kind from your home economics class.  It's got a huge pantry, a few sinks, one really large stove, and the biggest, prettiest wooden table I've ever seen.  Upon arrival, you're invited to sit at the big table, read over the night's recipes, and mingle with other guests while they serve you a beverage.  Our class began with a little background on the instructor and how the food we were preparing was a part of her life.  Next, everyone washed up and we got down to business.  The class helpers already had the pork simmering in a pot since it needed to cook 2+ hours, so we started on the pickled vegetables.  The instructor had peeled the veggies as she gave her introduction, so she handed them out to some of us to cut while others measured out other ingredients.  After we had assembled the pickled vegetables in airtight jars, we started on the most difficult task of the night:  making the dough for the steamed buns.  The only hard thing about this was the kneading.  The dough wanted to fall apart at first and it took a lot of coaxing and tough work to come together.  Eventually we portioned it, rolled it out, and formed it into circles folded in half for steaming.  The kitchen helpers started steaming up our buns and before we knew it eating time had arrived.

In all, we had our steamed pork buns with pickled veggies and crushed up nuts and tea eggs and it was all delicious(and unfortunately "naughty" because we had to break keto for it)!  We really enjoyed the class and that it was a group effort to prepare a big meal.  It was not at all as I had expected, which was probably something closer to home economics where you cook on your own or in a small group at individual stations.  We're planning to go back again as soon as new classes open up.  If you're looking for something different and fun to do in Seattle and you like food, we'd definitely recommend a class here!