A one-day hands-on workshop in Chongqing, a direct-administered municipality since 1997, for anyone who wants to take the city's most famous dish home. You shop the spice market, make a hotpot base from scratch in a teaching kitchen, then cook hotpot and two other Sichuan dishes with it. Classes run in English, suit complete beginners, and recipe cards are printed in English.
What exactly do you cook?
A hotpot base from scratch, then hotpot, maoxuewang and a dried-chilli chicken dish. The base is the real work: chilli paste and beef tallow, built slowly over heat with Sichuan peppercorn. Everything after that uses the base you made, so you go home knowing the foundation rather than a list.
Do I need any cooking experience?
None. The class is written for complete beginners and runs in English, with the instructor handling the parts that need judgement about heat. Knife work is supervised rather than assumed, and the pace is set by the slowest person at the station.
How is the spice market visit structured?
As a buying lesson rather than a walk-through. You learn how to judge chillies by colour and aroma, how to tell good Sichuan peppercorn from old, and how much of each a Chongqing base calls for. You buy what you cook with, which makes the quantities memorable.
Can the food be made mild?
Yes, and the class teaches the range rather than one setting. You learn what makes a Chongqing base hot and what makes it fragrant, which lets you dial either direction at home. A mild broth can be run alongside if anyone at the station wants one.
Is there a vegetarian version?
Yes, with notice. The technique is identical; the base is made with vegetable oil rather than beef tallow and the dishes are swapped for mushroom and aubergine preparations. Tell us when you book so the shopping list can be adjusted.
How long does the workshop take?
Roughly four to five hours including the market. It runs as a morning with lunch on what you have cooked, or as an afternoon with an early dinner. Market time is about an hour, kitchen time about three.
Can I take the base home?
Yes, as a vacuum-sealed jar, which is the option most people take. It travels well and is legal to carry in checked luggage when sealed; fresh chillies and loose pastes are not. Recipe cards are printed in English and included either way.
Is this suitable for a corporate or team group?
Yes, and it is one of the easiest group activities to run in Chongqing. Stations take four to six people and the class scales to about twenty with two instructors. Tell us the group size and we will quote the kitchen and staffing accordingly.
