Mobi and Kelvin enjoy their "fruits of love". Photos by Wang Yuke / For China Daily

ABC Cooking Studio runs a culinary classroom to teach participants how to make scrumptious and sophisticated food.

Grab your apron for a culinary class that will keep the home fires burning while teaching top techniques of the kitchen. Wang Yuke reports.

Do you regret rarely cooking a meal for your family or even sharing dinners with them on the same table?

Or do you owe your other half a surprise because he or she often complains your gifts are too predictable?

Welcome to the ABC Cooking Studio, a culinary classroom bound to rejuvenate love and tantalize the taste buds, while teaching even absolute beginners how to cook scrumptious and sophisticated food.

A Japanese innovation that has been making a buzz in the land of the rising sun, ABC Cooking Studio broke into Hong Kong last November.

Aptly located in K11 Art Mall, which is well known for original designs and products, the cooking studio is designed to arouse people's interest in the culinary arts, provide a medium for socializing and quality time, and basically lend a recreational outlet for stress.

A trial lesson is available before enrollment, which means potential students can have a foretaste of the course to see if it is to their liking.

Instructor Wang Shuting says 99 percent of first-timers take to it and finally settle their tuition payments, proceeding to the long-term basic course ranging from eight months to two years.

Students can choose one of three options - the bakery course, Japanese family course and world course. The world course touches on Italian, Spanish, Korean, Turkish and Thai gastronomy.

One of the biggest appeals, as well as an incentive, is that students of the bakery course, who progress to the master level and pass a test, may be granted a license.

If those qualified students are successfully admitted as mentors in other bakery schools with the widely acknowledged license, then the exclusive ABC bakery recipe can be directly borrowed as the textbook at their disposal without any copyright issues.

There is no minimal requirement for prospective students. Anyone above 12 years old is welcome to learn from scratch.

The cooking know-how is imparted in a straightforward manner and the utensils needed are easily obtained, so students can repeat what they learn at home, which is a major selling point of the ABC Cooking Studio.

As an instructor, Wang guarantees that teachers demonstrate craftsmanship in person and thoroughly explain all procedures and skills, readily helping students out with such things as cutting techniques in sashimi making, the secret of the well-known Japanese poached egg, the ratio of pork to chicken in the Japanese meatball set, and the making of batter used in tempura.

Apart from essential cooking skills and authentic culinary culture, such as Japanese fare's mild taste and wholesome food, kitchen culture is another theme running through the course.

For example, Wang says, instructors will help tidy up the counter from time to time, keeping it uncluttered and tools efficiently laid out, ensuring students are taught a healthy kitchen etiquette.

Mobi and Kelvin, a couple who won't reveal their surnames, are gingerly packaging their "fruits of love"- strawberry tarts they made in the run-up to the past Christmas. Basked in the romantic delight of their kitchen capers, the pair says they spent their most moving and memorable Christmas cooking in the studio.

Mobi shyly admitted another reason she and her partner came to the cooking studio.

"Actually, we came here to celebrate Kelvin's birthday," she gushes.

A knowing nod and beaming smiles is acknowledgement the experience has deepened and enriched their relationship.

This course caters for all walks of life. If you are an office lady, throw off your smart suit, don a pair of slacks and apron, and walk into the ABC Cooking Studio where you will find an escape from work.

If you are a housewife bored with relentless chores, then join other amateur cooks and whip up a batch of fun. Or bring your dear partner or family along and bond under the affectionate cooperation of cutting, frying, molding, scraping, piping, sprinkling and presenting.

Contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 01/12/2014 page9)