My company is working very hard to become an “Employer of Choice”, which, I suppose, means a place where people actually don’t want to kill themselves when they come in to work. So recently, they’ve been rolling out a number of activities and classes, such as Wine Appreciation, Yoga, Poker Night, and a bunch of cooking courses.

My friend on the inside who organises these activities made sure that my list for the dim sum class, since dim sum is a wonderful, delicious thing that I often put into my belly. It was the only class taught in English as well, so I was more than glad to go!

The teacher had been giving classes for ten years, and you could tell by watching her that over the decade she must have made millions upon millions of dumplings, wontons, har gao, and char siu bao. Her movements were so natural, as though she could do it with her eyes closed.

Some of the other attendants were not quite as skilled, but everyone watched her instructions closely, as we attempted to make siu mai — pork and shrimp stuffed dumpling.

We started by cleaning some very large prawns, and then diced some pork shoulder, mixed it with the minced pork, added the seasoning, and then worked it into a thicker texture.

The stuffing part was a little more difficult. You make an “O” with your thumb and forefingers, put the circular dumpling skin on top of the O, and then carefully press the meat into the skin, so that it stands up when it is stuffed. Then it was into a big bamboo steamer for ten minutes, and then ready for consumption.

They’re ready! Look at how happy I am.

I should have been some kind of 1950’s housewife or something. Martha Stewart, eat your heart out.