Hong Kong★Cooking at Home is Fun! Cooking Classes Are a Huge Hit

"I want to cook at home for my child's health" (a Hong Kong man in his 30s). In Hong Kong, where eating out is commonplace and some people never cook or even lack kitchens, cooking classes are steadily gaining popularity. Home cooking is attracting attention not merely as a burdensome household chore, but from new perspectives: "health consciousness," "saving money," and "hobby." This was reported by NNA, which distributes economic information on Asia.

Hong Kong's dining-out culture has taken root against the backdrop of women's increased participation in the workforce. Full-time dual-income couples are common, and households with children or elderly members often hire foreign domestic helpers to handle household chores, including cooking. Some even say they "don't do any housework at all."

Additionally, cramped living conditions accelerate the shift toward eating out. As one of the world's most densely populated cities, securing spacious kitchens in residential areas is difficult. Ordering takeout or delivery and eating at home is a common sight.

A 2012 survey by the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme found that over 60% of respondents ate out 4 or more times per week (based on 14 total meals, including lunch and dinner), and a significant 30% or more ate out 7 or more times per week. Compared to the average Japanese person eating out 6.29 times per month (according to a survey by Japanese market research firm Cross Marketing as of last September), this reveals Hong Kong's overwhelmingly high rate of eating out.

Despite these circumstances, growing concerns about food safety and health consciousness in Hong Kong have brought home cooking into the spotlight, boosting the popularity of cooking classes. At a cooking class held inside a supermarket at Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay, student numbers have increased by about 30% annually since its opening in 2005. Currently, approximately 200 to 250 people attend classes each month. Most students are Hong Kong residents, learning multinational cuisines including Japanese cooking, regardless of skill level from beginner to advanced.

ABC Cooking Studio, which entered Hong Kong last November, opened its first Hong Kong studio at the K11 shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui. Over 1,600 people attend classes there, and on some days, reservations are impossible to get. About 70% of students are in their 20s and 30s, with men accounting for 4% of the total. A second location has already opened at the PMQ commercial complex in Central. According to Toshitaka Shibata, General Manager of the company's Hong Kong subsidiary, ABC Cooking Studio International (Ai Meishi), applications continue to increase, and they are searching for properties to establish further new classrooms. Classes focus on menus that are easy to make at home, such as omelet rice, curry, and rice bowls.