Secret Ingredient

Last night a friend and I managed to finagle our way into an event. We got tickets a couple hours after it was announced on Sassy Hong Kong, and it filled up a couple hours later. A cinco de mayo themed cooking class and beer tasting. A dream evening.

We found the place, Secret Ingredient, in a corner of Soho in a network of alleys. Trendy restaurants scattered around. I got there and they handed me a full glass of wine. Then they handed me a glass of beer. We were off to a great start.

We met the founder of Americraft; she decided to start importing craft beers to HK after moving here and finding the “same six beers on tap in every bar.” It was a great idea. She imports the most amazing beers from all over the states, attending conferences and finding new ones all the time. She supplies beers to bars all over HK, including the Globe where I like to go for a pint. I suppose if it weren’t for her, I would have a much more miserable beer selection.

When I lived in Turkey the fanciest beers you could get at a bar were Hoegaarden and Guinness-if you were lucky they had Bud Light. After that I was concerned that HK might be similar. When I got here, it was heaven. Sure, the HK breweries don’t exactly function anymore, but there is a great import selection and a huge beer drinking culture. I think it may be thanks to Americraft. So thank you. (go here: http://americraftimports.com/ to get it delivered to your home)

The cooking class was also excellent. We learned how to do fish tacos from Secret Ingredient’s chef (an Australian), and then we made ourselves guacamole. I like to think of myself as a quac aficionado, so I was quite pleased. My friend and I discovered we have the exact same tastes: salty, no cilantro, include tomatos, and many variants. The food was great, and then we were given more beer, and more food, and some cider, and then pie.

Essentially, every time we finished something, there was something else to eat, someone fun to talk to, and something new to drink. My ideal evening. I have already signed up for the Beer Club at Americraft and I shall start doing some of these Secret Ingredient dinners (you order the ingredients online and they deliver it to your door website here).

Let me say, I am loving life right now.