Discover the Best Asian Cooking Classes in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is home to many people who immigrated from Asia or are descended from Asian immigrants. LA offers Asian restaurants serving many kinds of dishes from the region, and grocery stores and markets carry a wide variety of Asian ingredients. This makes LA a great place to learn Asian cooking. CourseHorse offers in-person or virtual Asian cooking classes in Los Angeles, as well as group events for friends or family.
Why You Should Learn Asian Cooking in Los Angeles
Many people sign up for Asian cooking classes because they enjoy the dishes at Asian restaurants in Los Angeles, and want to learn to make them at home. Taking cooking classes is fun and a good way to meet new people who enjoy the same things you do.
Another reason some people choose to learn Asian cooking is because they want to connect with their heritage or learn about the cultures in the region. Perhaps you want to recreate the dishes your relatives made when you were young. Or perhaps you tried unfamiliar foods while traveling through Asia and you want to make these dishes at home.
Another reason to learn Asian cooking is that its reliance on fresh ingredients makes it easy to adapt dishes to special diets. Indian and Chinese cuisine offers many traditional vegetarian dishes that are easily adapted to vegan or gluten-free versions. Most Asian dishes use less meat, fewer dairy products, and more fresh vegetables than traditional Western cooking, which is generally healthier.
Perhaps you want to take Asian cooking classes so you can go to work in an Asian restaurant or a food truck. Maybe you want to start a side hustle making dumplings or mochi. Signing up for Asian cooking classes in Los Angeles could start you on the path to a new career.
In-Person Asian Cooking Classes in Los Angeles
It’s fun to get together with other people who like to cook and learn to make new dishes. When you sign up for in-person Asian cooking classes in Los Angeles, you can explore how to make familiar dishes or learn new ones. You will get recipes for the dishes you make in class so that you can recreate them in your home kitchen.
Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom offers hands-on cooking classes in Los Angeles. Chef Eric Jacques Crowley is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with extensive experience in 5-star hotel and restaurant kitchens in Europe and the United States. Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom was founded in 2003 to help students to improve their cooking skills.
Chef Eric offers many different cooking classes in Los Angeles, including in-person Asian cooking classes like Indian Cuisine. This beginner-level class introduces the techniques and spices commonly used in Indian cooking. The menu includes chicken murgh tikka, yogurt-marinated grilled chicken satay; deep-fried samosas filled with curried chicken, lamb, or beef; aloo gobi masala, cauliflower and potatoes with garlic ginger paste; traditional basmati rice; and two homemade sauces: coriander mint sauce and cilantro chili chutney.
Chef Eric also teaches a class on Thai Cuisine in person in LA. The dishes of Thailand rely on fresh herbs, chilies, and fermented sauces like fish sauce. The menu for this class includes vegetable rice paper spring rolls with homemade garlic lime dipping sauce; stir-fried chicken and vegetables with spicy green curry coconut sauce; chicken pad Thai, traditional and spicy; Thai eggplant and green beans; and traditional long grain white rice.
CocuSocial Cooking Classes host private gatherings like bridal and baby showers, birthday parties, and team-building events as well as cooking classes in hotel and restaurant kitchens in New York and Los Angeles. Their class, Better Than Takeout Pad Thai, dives into the best-known dish outside of Thailand. This dish has a diverse flavor profile that hits sweet, salty, sour, and spicy notes. Students will strengthen their knife skills, learn to prepare the rice noodles, and then choose between chicken and tofu for their pad Thai. The class will also cover traditional garnishes and accompaniments before sitting down to eat their creation.
Virtual Asian Cooking Classes
In-person classes are fun, but sometimes you can’t find the class you want in person or you don’t want to deal with traffic and parking. You can take online Asian cooking classes from your own kitchen or dining room. You simply log on to a video conferencing app like Zoom on a laptop or tablet, and you can cook along with the instructor and other students. You can ask questions and interact with the class, just like an in-person session. After you sign up, you will receive a list of ingredients you will need for the class, and some schools send out kits containing specialty items or utensils. At the end of class, you can sit down and enjoy what you cooked with the rest of the class.
The Chopping Block Lincoln Square presents live online cooking classes for students of all levels. In Virtual Kung Pao Shrimp, students will learn to prepare this popular Chinese restaurant dish so they can recreate it again and again. The class will cover common Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques. Participants can cook along or sit back and watch the instructor demonstrate how to make spicy kung pao shrimp.
League of Kitchens is dedicated to creating community through cooking. The organization connects people who want to learn about a type of cuisine from an immigrant cook from that region. In Japanese Online Class #2 with Aiko, participants will learn about temakizushi, also known as hand-rolled sushi. Guests will stuff their rolls with strips of seaweed, fish, sliced fresh vegetables, and sushi rice, and dip them in a homemade sesame dipping sauce. The class will also make miso soup, and then sit down for a virtual group dinner at the end of class.
Indian Cooking Online with Yamini is also presented by the League of Kitchens. This class focuses on popular Indian spices. Students will make aloo paratha, hand-rolled flatbread stuffed with potatoes and onions, along with two dipping sauces. Students will get a list of ingredients and equipment needed for class when they sign up.
Private Group Asian Cooking Classes in Los Angeles
You can book private group Asian cooking classes in Los Angeles through CourseHorse. Private in-person Asian cooking classes for groups of six or more are a great way to celebrate a special event like a birthday or bridal shower, or as a team-building exercise. Use CourseHorse’s convenient contact form to schedule your private group event, and if you need to add additional people at any point before your booked event, you can do that without paying any extra booking fees. CourseHorse will get back to you quickly, usually within 24 hours after any changes. If you can’t find what you are looking for in the list of group classes, you can arrange to set up most classes as a private group event.
CocuSocial Cooking Classes Handmade Dumpling Party is a fun group class in Los Angeles. Learn to make different types of Asian dumplings with friends or co-workers. The group will learn to create two different fillings, one with pork and a vegetarian option, and then use them to stuff store-bought dumpling wrappers. Participants will get a chance to practice different wrapping and folding techniques before cooking and eating their creations.