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Cooking Classes In Penang By Penang Chiak

Penang, Malaysia

From $93.00

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

4 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Discover the flavors of Penang and learn how to recreate them yourself at home when you participate in this cooking class. Immerse yourself in the vibrant culture and year-round festivities of this historical island, known as Malaysia's culinary paradise. Join the morning market tour and experience the lively atmosphere as merchants interact with customers. Learn the secrets behind the ingredients and cooking techniques, allowing you to dive deeper into the art of spice handling and gain exclusive culinary knowledge.

Experience Penang's flavorful lifestyle via an immersive cooking class
Prepare Kueh Pie Tee, Char Kway Teow, Choon Piah, Masala Chicken, and more
Tour the market, from stall to stall, shopping for authentic ingredients
Discover the secret techniques for handling spices when cooking

Sample Menu

Starter

Nyonya Kuih Pai Tee

Join our class and master Kueh Pie Tee, a popular Peranakan dish. A crispy tart filled with veggies and prawns, perfect for tea parties!

Main

Char Koay Teow

Experience the joy of cooking Char Kway Teow, a stir-fried rice noodle dish, in our class. Dive into the flavors of Hokkien and Teochew cuisine.

Main

Choon Piah

Master the art of making Choon Pheah, a Hainanese crab meat spring roll, in our cooking class. Embark on a culinary journey into Asian cuisine.

Main

Roti Canai

Discover the art of making Roti Canai, a beloved Southeast Asian flatbread, in our cooking class. Embark on a culinary exploration of Asian cuisine.

Main

Banana Leaves Indian Set

Learn to prepare Indian curries and vegetarian condiments on banana leaves in our class. Experience the fusion of India and Malaysia in your palate!

Main

Masala Chicken

Master the art of Chicken Masala, an Indian dish combining chicken, spices, herbs, onions, and tomatoes. Experience the flavors of India in Malaysia!

Main

Dosai set

Experience the art of making Dosa, a thin South Indian pancake made from fermented black lentils and rice batter, in our engaging cooking class.

Main

Penang Hokkien Mee

Dive into the art of making Penang Hokkien Mee, a popular prawn noodle soup from Penang, Malaysia. A taste of Malaysia awaits you!

Main

Fish Head Curry

Discover the art of preparing a red snapper fish head stewed in curry with assorted vegetables like okra and eggplants in our cooking class.

Main

Chicken Rice

Uncover the secrets of making Hainanese Chicken Rice, a dish of poached chicken and seasoned rice, served with chili sauce and cucumber garnishes.

What's Included

Morning Market Tour: for morning classes at 8:00AM only
Breakfast
All ingredients and kitchen utensils are provided for you. You simply need to bring a spirit of learning and an open heart.

Souvenir (Subject to Availability)

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

Chowrasta Market
Lot 124, Jln Penang, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Your adventure begins at Lot 2-M2, in the food court of Chow Rasta Market. Located on the 1st floor, 2, Jln Penang, in the heart of George Town. Morning classes include a lively market tour within Chow Rasta Market, starting promptly at 8.10 am. For any inquiries contact Tour Guide Simoienz.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Olivia_K

I booked the Nyonya cooking class as a solo traveller, but was pleased to see another guest had booked for the same time. Amy was an incredible host- so knowledgeable. We learnt lots about traditional cooking techniques. We made a starter, side dish, main meal and dessert plus fresh tea. The whole team were so welcoming, friendly and enthusiastic. It was a great way to spend an afternoon in Penang.

Reviews

5.0

50 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 50 reviews

A terrific way to spend half a day in Penang

Matthew_B, Apr 2024

Attended with my daughters aged 12 and 11. Simon's tour of the market to pick up ingredients was terrific. He's very knowledgeable and helpful and wants you to eat like a local. Amy's class was a highlight of our Malaysia trip. Fun and easy to follow (good communication) with constant attention. Also answered all our questions about other foods/drinks we had. She suggests alternatives for those ingredients you can't buy at home. Would suggest the only improvement would be to get a few recipe pages or a booklet to take home (as I've experienced elsewhere). Can't recommend this highly enough!! Enjoy.

Learning to Cook Local Dishes

Richard_B, Apr 2024

It was amazing to finally learn how to cook my favourite dish, Char Keow Teow from buying the ingredients to eating (delicious). Amy was a great tutor and host. Thanks so much!

Nyonya Cooking Class

Olivia_K, Mar 2024

Wonderful Experience

Mary_C, Mar 2024

I had an incredible time with Amy cooking and eating delicious food. Amy really understands the processes and importance of good ingredients, and was able to explain everything clearly to the group. Would recommend!

Sum fun for a solo traveler

Willene_T, Feb 2024

I liked the food a lot. I was a little lazy and hot that day, but it didn’t matter because the Chef took care of most of the cooking. The food was delicious, one dish was a little salty for me. I would recommend it to my friends; the only thing that I would have like is a little recipe book to take with to recreate these recipes. The chef send it on WhatsApp but only ingredients not directions. Some ingredients Im unclear on, so it’s a little hard to make heads or tails out of it. Rebecca was an immense help and she is really friendly and hardworking. The best assistant. Thank you.

Response from Host, Feb 2024

Well Noted, Thank you for the wonderful feedback. As for recipes, we will take note on these and improve to a better version. Much appreciated. Thank you!

Take this experience home with you.

Jan_M, Jan 2024

Mok and Amy are great people and Amy’s teaching style is great that makes me confident in cooking the four delicious meals that we made. By far my favourite was Char Keuy Teow but I also loved the lor bak. Area was clean and the equipment and ingredients new and fresh. Amy also shared a lot of the Nyona history and also the background of the ingredients. I would recommend this class to everyone.

Response from Host, Feb 2024

Thank you for the great review. We are glad that you enjoyed the cooking class and love the food made.

A great day on a cooking course.

Stephen_B, Jan 2024

Amy and Mok were wonderful cooking instructors with a through knowledge and a personal style. Everything was well organised and very clean. A great experience. A very good insight into Nyonya and Baba cooking.

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Glad you learnt a lot through Amy and Mok. Happy to share to Baba Nyonya cooking with you.

100% recommended and can experience something special

Hotobu_Y, Jan 2024

Guide and his family is very kind and welcomed me. Obviously food was so delicious and I feel buying ingredients from market is something we normally can not explain. 100% it will be great experience

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Arigato Gozaimasu.

Great experience. Highly recommend

Kathy_B, Dec 2023

Going through the market and getting some great tips on how to cook roti. The instructor was great but more cooking stations are needed so it could all move more quickly

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Thank you , we hope the new tips did help you to improve cooking skills :)

Must Do Experience

Kimberly_C, Oct 2023

If you want to learn how to cook local cuisine, take this class. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about taking the class since I would be by myself, but I’m so glad I did. I took the Nyonya cooking class and you start the day off by going to the market to buy ingredients and get breakfast. With those ingredients you learn to make 5 delicious dishes. Simon and his parents, Ms. Amy and Mr. Mok, made me feel so welcome, and the 5 hours quickly went by as we chatted about everything under the sun, or in my case, under the rain. I also ended up having a personal photographer even though I was by myself - thank you, Mr. Mok! This class is a great value and I would do it all over again. This was certainly a highlight of my Malaysia trip!

Response from Host, Nov 2023

It's our pleasure to have served you. We're glad that you had a very good time with us. Hope to serve you again someday!

The Highlight of our Trip

Joe_P, Oct 2023

Easily the highlight of our time in Penang, Mok and Amy were phenomenal teachers. We arrived to a well-prepared lesson and were guided through each step in creating authentic local dishes. Whilst we cooked, Amy and Mok gave us further insight in Malaysian cuisine and culture. The food we made was delicious and something we plan to replicate back in Australia using the recipes we were given. We could not recommend this course more highly!

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Thank you for the wonderful commenT! Hope to see you in our Indian class. Please do take, good care of yourself!

Truly enjoyable, a little spectrum of Penang home life

Carol_W, Oct 2023

We enjoyed the visit to the market and cooking with the family. We appreciated the sharing of recipes handed down by their elders

Response from Host, Oct 2023

We are glad to host you!

Nonya Cooking Class

Peter_B, Sep 2023

We met Simon at the local market and were then taken for a light breakfast at a local coffee shop. we had specified the Nonya cooking class which is effectively a chinese/malay style of cooking.SImon's Mum, Amy is the chef and she guided us through the process and the ingredients used for our 4 course meal of starter Pai Tee (filled crispy cups) Inchi Kabin (fragrant fried chicken) Char Koay Teow (fried noodle) and Sago pudding. Simon was an engaging host and passionate about his heritage. Amy was a delight and was careful to ensure we got our quantities right. The food was delicious. Highly recommend.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Thank you, hope you will bring back PENANG Experience to your friends.

Fantastic experience

Kelly_O, Aug 2023

Such a great afternoon. I learned so much about Nyonya culture alongside some recipes that I can’t wait to recreate at home. Thank you Madam Amy and Simoienz.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you Kelly, we deeply appreciate your active participation and we hope you can bring Penang Food culture to your family and friends.

Highlight of Penang!

Bhragan_P, Aug 2023

I absolutely loved our cooking class. Simon and Jenny were great to learn from and incredibly helpful. We started the day in the market where we learned about the history of Penang and were able to taste the variety of food. We then had a local breakfast before beginning to cook. Simon's love and delight for food and Penang really shown through the entire experience and he was incredibly knowledgable. This was the highlight of my time in Penang and I recommend everyone to do it!

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you Bhraga and Mikey! Really had a great time spent with you both. Jenny appreciates for the much support to her, she hopes you will be able to cook the curry for your guest in the future!

A Real Taste of Malay Food

Chiara_M, Aug 2023

It was a wonderful and pleasurable experience. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn the local cusine. Simon and Amy are a delight to learn from and very engaging from start to finish. We started at the market, where Simon taught us about the local history and answered all our questions. Next we then ventured to a local hangout for a traditional breakfast. Then on to the base kitchen to cook up a traditional Malay feast. My sister and I both enjoyed our time thoroughly and plan to make these recipes many times for all our family to enjoy!

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you for joining our Malaysia Nyonya Cooking class. We really appreciate your active participation in cooking the 5 recipes. PLease Share these knowledge by cooking for your friends and tell them your adventures in MALAYSIA! BEST OF HEALTH to you Chiara!