People in Hong Kong don't have much time. That's why the service industry is thriving and good helpers are always in demand. Unfortunately time is often so scarce that helpers don't get a proper intro phase and employers are in a hurry to explain their needs and preferences for example in a healthy diet.
Well if you are paleo and you never had the time to explain your helper why you're not eating bread and avoiding canola oil, you're in luck as Khush Life is rolling out paleo cooking classes for helpers. Khush Life is a company which has set out "to redefine clean and healthy eating without marginalising aesthetics and taste".
With a quota of max 12 participants, the classes will be small and intimate. Poh Tan, founder of Khush Life, will be conducting the classes herself. Partcipants will receive handout materials, taught how to shop smartly for paleo foods, learn how to read food labels, and spot the often conceiled bad stuff in food. The practical part consist of a cooking demo to teach paleo recipes which are easy to prepare.
I got in touch with Poh to find out more about her paleo background, her paleo cooking course and her company.
 Khush Life's Poh Tan | What is Khush Life all about? "Khush which means happiness in Hindi. The mission of Khush is to enrich people's lives with food prepared with care and an intention to please. Eating is a way of celebrating life." How did you get into paleo yourself? "I chose to eat a paleo diet out of choice not out of necessity, unlike many people who I know or read about who have to go paleo out of necessity. |
I stumbled across paleo by accident. People who train with me started about paleo and I remember one day, in the midst of training, I pulled a granola bar to replenish energy and my trainer shouted at me: 'what are you doing?'. I remember that incident very distinctly because the next day it was my first attempt to have steak for breakfast. From then on, I never looked back and the paleo diet works very well for me."
How exactly did the switch to paleo work for you?
"I am in my late forties and all my adult life, I have been very enthusiastic about strength training and, of the last three years, boxing. I found that after switching to a paleo diet, my overall health improved and so did training dramatically. And when you can train well, my physical started to change and lean out correspondingly. I also managed to convince my boyfriend to subscribe to the diet and he too got amazing results."
How did you get the idea to offer a cooking class for helpers?
"I believe that people in Hong Kong generally would like to eat healthy but they may not be aware how to and where to. Some people I have come across have misguided ideas of what it entails. A general misconception is that healthy food is bland and tasteless, colourless - like eating cardboard I believe that is the common expression about healthy food."
And you want to remedy that by teaching helpers how to cook paleo?
"Yes! I strongly believe that one can eat clean and healthy without compromising taste and colour. My mission is demonstrate to people that healthy food can taste and look like just normal food! I am hoping that once people realise that they will be more open to embrace healthy eating (not necessarily paleo) as a lifestyle choice rather than regard as a fashionable trend. Since many families in Hong Kong rely heavily on their domestic helpers to prepare their meals. I thought one of the more effective ways to achieve my mission is to go straight to the people who have an important role in preparing family meals- i.e. the helpers - and start from there. "
How exactly did the switch to paleo work for you?
"I am in my late forties and all my adult life, I have been very enthusiastic about strength training and, of the last three years, boxing. I found that after switching to a paleo diet, my overall health improved and so did training dramatically. And when you can train well, my physical started to change and lean out correspondingly. I also managed to convince my boyfriend to subscribe to the diet and he too got amazing results."
How did you get the idea to offer a cooking class for helpers?
"I believe that people in Hong Kong generally would like to eat healthy but they may not be aware how to and where to. Some people I have come across have misguided ideas of what it entails. A general misconception is that healthy food is bland and tasteless, colourless - like eating cardboard I believe that is the common expression about healthy food."
And you want to remedy that by teaching helpers how to cook paleo?
"Yes! I strongly believe that one can eat clean and healthy without compromising taste and colour. My mission is demonstrate to people that healthy food can taste and look like just normal food! I am hoping that once people realise that they will be more open to embrace healthy eating (not necessarily paleo) as a lifestyle choice rather than regard as a fashionable trend. Since many families in Hong Kong rely heavily on their domestic helpers to prepare their meals. I thought one of the more effective ways to achieve my mission is to go straight to the people who have an important role in preparing family meals- i.e. the helpers - and start from there. "
| Who should send their helpers to your class? "I believe this would greatly benefit busy singles and families. It'll take a load off people's minds about constant struggle of what to eat and where to eat clean and healthy. Once family helpers have the basic training in healthy food preparation like when they go grocery shopping, they are able to identify what to avoid. They got the basics for how to prepare a wholesome meal. Soon it will come natural to them." |  |
Any kind of cuisine you are focusing on?
"No particular focus on any specific cuisine. I think the key in getting people to embrace this as a lifestyle choice is to make food preparation and cooking easy. People in Hong Kong are really busy people! No one will be interested in undertaking to prepare a meal that requires many ingredients!"
What would be the easiest cuisine to make paleo-friendly?
"There is something in every cuisine that could be made paleo-friendly. In this regard, I think if one looks closely, many Asian cuisines can be turned paleo friendly, e.g the traditional fried rice. I could use cauliflower rice to replace the rice and voila, I have my traditional Chinese fried rice."
How do you judge the current paleo situation in Hong Kong?
"I believe the paleo diet is growing in popularity. Definitely more people are realising the benefits of paleo diet."
"No particular focus on any specific cuisine. I think the key in getting people to embrace this as a lifestyle choice is to make food preparation and cooking easy. People in Hong Kong are really busy people! No one will be interested in undertaking to prepare a meal that requires many ingredients!"
What would be the easiest cuisine to make paleo-friendly?
"There is something in every cuisine that could be made paleo-friendly. In this regard, I think if one looks closely, many Asian cuisines can be turned paleo friendly, e.g the traditional fried rice. I could use cauliflower rice to replace the rice and voila, I have my traditional Chinese fried rice."
How do you judge the current paleo situation in Hong Kong?
"I believe the paleo diet is growing in popularity. Definitely more people are realising the benefits of paleo diet."
 Event Flyer | If you want to know more about how your helper can learn how to cook gluten-free, dairy-free paleo recipes click the flyer image. Three classes are currently scheduled. Classes 10:30 am to 12pm 17. October 14. November 05. December Class fee: HKD 400 Quota: 10-12 participants on firs come first served basis |
