Raising the heat for Chinese New Year

There were too many cooks in the narrow kitchen aisle in Chinatown’s Grand Star Jazz Club on Saturday, but they cheerily squeezed past one another to peer into the braising pot where chunks of pork shoulder simmered in a piquant sauce of red wine, rice wine, garlic, scallions and ginger.

In front of an industrial-size wok, Jet Tila, a restaurant consultant and radio and television chef, demonstrated how to steam whole striped bass. Next he coached an apprentice saucier as she added oyster sauce and a cornstarch slurry to the chicken stock that would dress the long life noodles.

With Thursday ushering in the Year of the Rat, Tila orchestrated a four-course Chinese New Year feast for 14 eager students, including one who took a train from San Diego.

“Wok cooking is the culinary equivalent of a roller-coaster ride,” Tila told the group. “Everything has to be prepped and ready to go. Once the wok is at 400 degrees, there’s no crying and screaming, ‘I want to get off this ride.’ ”

The budding sous-chefs, who paid $65 each to participate in the annual Chinese New Year cooking class, seemed more than willing to go along for the ride. They paid close attention as Tila, 33, showed how to slice fresh ginger, smash garlic with a cleaver and julienne scallions. They jotted notes as the celebrity chef explained the merits of light versus black versus sweet soy sauce. That would be Chinese soy sauce, he said. “No more Kikkoman in your kitchen if you’re cooking Chinese food,” he admonished.

Holly Barnhill, a consultant for the Chinatown Business Improvement District, which sponsored the event, began the class with a primer on Chinese New Year traditions. In addition to thoroughly cleaning the house, paying off debts and decorating with New Year’s symbols and couplets, she said, “you also want to cook.”

With that, Tila and the group headed for the kitchen, which has sat mostly idle since Tony Quon, the Grand Star’s owner, converted the establishment to a nightclub from a restaurant 10 years ago. As the adults crowded around a preparation counter, Tila talked about the “trinity” of Chinese cooking -- ginger, garlic and scallions -- that is the foundation of many a tasty sauce.

“Who wants to get his hands dirty?” Tila asked.

Valeda Scribner, 27, an aerospace engineer from the South Bay, raised her hand and soon found herself searing pieces of pork in a wok. Meanwhile, Stephan Fopeano, 44, whom his wife, Shannon, described as the family cook, began slicing a farm-raised striped bass to make space for shards of fresh ginger.

Harriett Landon, 70, who had caught a 7:05 a.m. train from San Diego, watched as her friend Norma Wallace, 72, of Simi Valley became saucier for a day. “How much oyster sauce do I add?” she asked Tila. “Go big on the oyster sauce,” he replied.

Tila, who is Thai-Chinese, said he began cooking as a 12-year-old in his family’s restaurant, having learned tricks of the trade from his Cantonese grandmother. Michael Hu, 13, who enjoys making dumplings and desserts at home, could relate as he briskly stirred chicken, bok choy and fresh egg noodles in a wok. “At first I was a little nervous, but then I got better,” said Michael, who learned about the class at Chinese school and persuaded his Taiwan-born father, Paul, to drive to Chinatown from Agoura Hills. “There was heat in my face all that time.”

After the dishes, including eight-treasure rice pudding for dessert, were steamed and braised, the students loaded them onto platters and carried them to a buffet counter in the main room. One platter was filled with dozens of steamed dumplings, which several children of the participants had assembled under Barnhill’s supervision.

The students piled high their plates, sat down at tables and used chopsticks to attack the red-cooked pork, steamed striped bass with ginger and scallions, chicken lo mein and pudding. They congratulated Tila and one another on a feast well done.

Barnhill said another class was tentatively planned for June, when Los Angeles’ Chinatown will celebrate its 70th anniversary.

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martha.groves@latimes.com