A new cooking school in Northeast will offer in-person classes and online videos teaching Asian cooking, tools, techniques, and ingredients. Owner Ming-Jinn Tong has a passion for Asian cooking and launched Hot Wok Academy at Elim Church’s commercial kitchen space at 685 13th Ave NE Aug. 1.
Tong previously served as outreach pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church since 2009. Amid growing tensions surrounding events in the community and church in the past two years, Tong, along with several other pastors, publicly resigned in 2021.
After his resignation, he floundered. He had to prioritize what he wanted to do with his life. He came up with five essential things that were needed: Christ, family,
communication, culture and cooking. He became an instructor at the Cooks of Crocus Hill and realized his newfound passion was in teaching, sharing food and the Asian culture. Hot Wok Academy came from these experiences.
Ming-Jinn Tong learned his cooking skills from his family and friends. All four of his grandparents fled mainland China to Taiwan in 1949, when the Communist Party established the People’s Republic of China. His parents were born in Taiwan and immigrated in the 1970s to the United States.
As a child, when visiting Taiwan, he would follow his grandfather around Taiwanese markets buying local produce and learned how to use each ingredient in dishes. He helped his mother in the kitchen and although no recipes were used, she “imparted the wisdom and knowledge from one generation of cooks to the next.” Tong has no formal training as a chef but learned commercial skills from his longtime friend Yia Vang (Union Hmong Kitchen) with whom he worked and collaborated on community kitchens serving pop-up dinners.
Hot Wok Academy’s goal is to “teach you the Asian way to think about creating our foods and bring honor to your home cooking.”
If you want to deep-dive into Asian cooking, a six-week Wednesday night Pin Program course is $499. The class will focus on “Wok Cooking” (Sept. 7-Oct. 26) followed by “Everything Noodles” (Nov. 2-Dec.28). Completion of the six-week program will earn you a Hot Wok pin and a graduation ceremonial meal created together with the class.
The second option starts Aug. 25. The weekly class ($89) will focus on a particular meal with various guest chefs. The first class is “Street Food from Meat Asia of NYC with Tran Truong.” Future guest chefs include Yia Vang and Ted Sayaraj. Tong will also offer to take a small group to an Asian market to explain how to use the different foods there.
The Hot Wok Academy website, www.hotwokacademy.com, provides more information and a sign-up form for a unique Asian experience.
Below: Ming-Jinn Tong in the kitchen at Elim Church. (Photo by Patti Hoffmann)
