"Dig the well before you are thirsty." -- Chinese proverb

Chef Rhoda is a small, energetic woman with short grey hair and a matter-of-fact air about her. One of our first lessons: you can use the cleaver for everything, despite what Chef Allen said. ("The cleaver is only for vegetables.") Chef Rhoda shows us how it can not only chop and cleave, but its wide blade is useful for transporting your ingredients from your board to your wok or bowl. You can use it to tenderize (beef) and smash (garlic and ginger), and the handle becomes a mortar (use a large ladle as your pestle.)

We'll have one week of Chinese cooking and individual days devoted to other areas of Asia (Japan, Vietnam, India, Burma, etc). We have a Chinatown field trip two weeks from today (with plenty of time for shopping, we are assured,) and three days at the end of the class for Iron Chef challenges, both team and individual.

Our class structure has shifted yet again. We've got two new women, another Sara and Samatha ("call me Sam"), and five of the usual suspects were missing today, one who we know is gone for good. We'll be working in teams for the duration, and my team includes Jim, Derrick, and Mario.

Chef lectured today on some basic ingredients ("We'll do some every day") and cooking techniques. We smelled and tasted 5-spice powder, Sichuan peppercorns, bean sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, not to be confused with rice wine (Shaoxing and Michu), three kinds of soy sauce (dark, light and Kikkoman), and shiitake and straw mushrooms. Chef picked up a straw mushroom and said, "Any minute, you'll see a leprechan sitting on top of it." We learned proper cutting techniques for meats and vegetables (in general: against the grain, at a diagonal). She also demonstrated a couple of essential cooking methods: oil blanching and stir frying. The oil blanching method is the one that gives you the tender velvety texture that makes Chinese meats so succulent. Stir frying in our school kitchen is a special treat: we have eight dedicated wok burners, four of which can output 180,000 BTUs of heat.

After lecture, we got team cooking assignments. Each of the three teams was assigned to make steamed rice using yet another method. ("For three weeks, I want you to do it this way.") You use the finger method to measure the water: place the dry rice in the cooking pot. Stick your finger through the rice to the bottom of the pot. Note how deep the rice is against your finger. Wash the rice, return it to the pot, and add water until it equals that same finger measurement above the rice. Bring the rice to a boil. Boil until the water is almost evaporated and little "chimney holes" appear on the surface of the rice. Immediately cover the rice and turn the heat to the lowest possible setting. After 10 minutes, remove the rice from the heat and allow to rest, undisturbed, for 10 more minutes. "Don't disturb the karma of the rice." Then uncover the rice and fluff it with a large fork. We had three big bowls of perfectly steamed rice. Chef was impressed.

Our team made steamed sea bass and beef with oyster sauce. We also had chicken with cashews, egg flower soup, and spicy shrimp. It was all ready in less than an hour. So far, so good!