HOH WOK CLUB

About HOH WOK CLUB:
HOH WOK CLUB is a celebration of Asian culture and cuisine and a way for cooking students and I (Eleanor Hoh aka Wok Star) to socialize outside of my cooking classes and marketing my indispensable Wok Star Kit for fast, fun and flavorful dinners at home.

Dim Sum at Mr. Chu's, South Beach

After a few years hiatus, I have resurrected my HOH WOK CLUB gatherings. I'm thrilled to introduce numerous new restaurants focusing on modern Asian eats. I like supporting small restaurants that serve good food and have a nice ambience. For me, eating out has to be a complete experience and in Miami, unfortunately, not many Asian eateries have both. As a foodie friend, Joan says, 'it's like you're giving your 'seal of approval.'

These gatherings are also open to anyone who enjoys meeting people and exploring new flavors. Of course, students and subscribers to my newsletter get first dibs. Many who've attended have gone back to these restaurants to try other dishes and told friends about them, so win win for everyone.

Karma Restaurant, Coral Gables

My aim is to create a tasting sampler at a great value. It's an excellent way to be introduced to what the restaurant has to offer and gives the chef an opportunity to talk about his/her style of cooking (unless they're shy of course, then I have to help them.) Starting off with a meet and mingle, drinks and snacks, then get down to the eats. There'll also be giveaways for lucky raffle winners.

I hope to have these gatherings on a regular basis, well, depending of course with how many restaurants there are. It seems they close and open so quickly, so we have to be vigilant and act quickly.

If you want to be notified of future HOH WOK CLUB gatherings and other Asian related news, the best way is to subscribe to my newsletter from my website (not the same as this blog).

I'll be posting some past HOH WOK CLUB gatherings soon.

Please note: If you have food related allergies, strict dietary requirements, religious restrictions; are salt sensitive, vegetarian, pescatarian, or vegan; don't like your meat cooked medium rare, or are pregnant: these gatherings are probably not for you.

NEXT HOH WOK CLUB, click here for details:
Indomania, Monday August 16

Indomania Rijsttafel at Miami River Wall (Updated)

Beef Rendang

Achar pickles.

Indomania Chef Ineke''s Rijsttafel at Miami River Wall

You can tell everyone enjoyed with empty plates!!

LATEST UPDATE :
Join us for an intimate, sit down 12-dish Indonesian Feast in north end of Miami Beach...
Monday, July 12:7pm. Call NOW, only 32 seats for lucky ones.
Mandatory RSVP & prepayment, click for complete details.

What a lovely way to spend a cool evening, meeting new people and enjoying Indomania Chef Ineke's exotic Indonesian Rijsttafel at Miami River Wall! The evening was being filmed for Fox Style File news anchor, Belkys Nerey. Don't blink or you'll miss me, my husband got more airtime than I did, sniff, sniff. You can hear me though, I have a slight British accent. I also got a chance to video Chef Ineke when she sat down to finally eat her own dinner. If you want to celebrate a special catered event at Miami River Wall, contact them to arrange. It's a beautiful setting inside with the two exquisite hydroponic vertical plant and herb walls and a back garden right on the river. You can see more where I posted about my Wok Star cooking classes held there.

Very few Miami restaurants serving Asian food give me the "experience" of wanting to be there. It doesn't have to be fancy, in fact, often that's a turn off cause you know you're paying for the decor. On the other hand, many Asian restaurants (in my humble opinion) do not showcase the beauty of Asia in their decor or in their food. Indomania has succeeded in giving me both. When you walk in, you feel transported. The little touches with the batik tablecloth and the beautiful photos (Pieter is a photographer) all make it very personal.

Chef Ineke and her husband Pieter designed their restaurant as if it's their own dining room. It's small, cozy and intimate. They come over to chat with you, I know it's not realistic when it's busy but I felt truly special to be able to connect with the chef who just made my dinner. Unfortunately, I ate at their restaurant way before I started food blogging so not much photos to show the space so you'll just have to go and 'experience' yourself. Everyone I've sent there agree they 'love' it too and keep going back.

When Ralph and I went, we shared a small Rijsttafel (see LOTS more photos) which gave us a tasting platter. But during the Miami River Wall feast, we got to taste a lot more and everything was spot on especially her Beef Rendang and Achar pickles. As you may or may not know, my mother was born in Singapore, so I grew up eating many of these foods. Eating at Indomania Restaurant always brings back wonderful memories for me. That's what food is supposed to do - give you memories and associations. It's what I tell people when I present my Wok Star cooking classes, it's not just about the cooking, it's about creating experiences and memories with people you enjoy!

I hope to organize a Hoh Wok Club gathering at Indomania soon and introduce you to Chef Ineke's fabulous Indonesian food. But if you can't wait, go, enjoy and tell Chef Ineke and Pieter you heard it from me.

P.S. Sorry about all the photos bunched together, but still learning new Blogger "editor" and after uploading photos, couldn't get them to separate to put the text in, so frustrating! I think it's obvious what the dishes are.

Here are more reviews of Indomania!
All Purpose Dark
Food for Thought
New Times Dining Review

Wok Curry Beef

Wok Curry Beef - combining my 2 heritages

My mom is from S'pore and 

dad is Hakka but born in Malacca

Join me to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage month and cook up a simple Wok Curry Beef!

Thanks to New Asian Cuisine, a beautiful site that promotes the best in Asian culture and cuisine, who invited me to do a guest post. Do subscribe to their weekly newsletter, their site has good resources as well as delightful dishes from all over Asia.  For my full "recipe", visit New Asian Cuisine - Wok Curry Beef

My step-by-step photos and TIPS to make a quick, weeknight dish taste Asian after the jump:

Tiger Beer Wok Star Tour

I just completed the first leg of my "Tiger Beer Wok Star" tour visiting eight Sweetbay Supermarkets in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area. My kickoff appearances coincided with the Asian Lunar New Year... an auspicious beginning since the year of the "Golden Pig" only occurs every six hundred years.

I use the term "Wok Star" to distinguish myself from "celebrity chefs" and analogy to music, drawing a distinction between the "rock star" and the classically trained musician. I learned to cook from my mother so I've taken the traditional flavors I grew up on and adapted them to the western kitchen. Lacking a formal culinary education, my style and approach to cooking has many of the elements of rock and roll... improvisation, creating from the heart, and following the maxim, "If it tastes good, do it." I'm adamant that, "ANYONE can be a Wok Star" and proved my point by inviting people to join me for an impromptu stir-fry.

The tour gave me an opportunity to meet so many people interested in Asian cooking. "Everybody's searching for meals that are fast, fun, and flavorful and that's what wok cooking offers." The most frequent question I encountered on the tour was, "What kind of wok should I get?" For those who already owned a wok, the most common problem they encountered was "soupy" stir-frys. I provide the solutions and the answers in my "Wok Star Cooking Kit" which bundles everything you need to get started in one box: a light weight cast-iron wok, DVD's with my "Easy Style" lessons, and a caddy basket with dispensers to organize your Asian ingredients.

Tiger Beer sponsored the tour and created a sweepstakes to give away thirty of my Wok Star Cooking Kits. Tiger Beer was the perfect sponsor because, "In Asia, cold beer is the favorite drink to serve with spicy Asian food." My plans are to continue the tour until, "Everyone in the world knows how to stir-fry". So, I've created www.worldwidewok.com to expand my approach to cooking. I'll simplify exotic and delicious dishes without sacrificing its authenticity or taste, all cooked in a wok! I'll announce its launch soon.

In the meantime, you can see photos from the Tiger Beer Wok Star tour on my website at www.eleanorhoh.com or for your east-west horoscope, go to www.tigerbeer.us.