Fancy cooking dinner tonight? I asked my 10 year old wannabe masterchef. 'Er.....no...?' came the expected reply. All aspiration, no ambition. She loves watching TV shows about cooking, but when it actually comes down to getting her hands dirty in the kitchen...well, that's my job apparently. I decided to take her with me to a Chinese cooking class to see if I could spark her interest, because after all, most kids will feign complete disinterest in cooking in your kitchen at home, but give them someone else's kitchen to make a mess in, and they turn out to be quite the little junior chefs. At least, that's what I was hoping.

Shanghai has a number of great cooking schools that will cater for families and children.

The Chinese Cooking Workshop is the best known school if your kids would like to try their hand at cooking Chinese food. For 150 yuan per person, you can take a two hour hands-on class in either wok cooking, or dumpling cooking, seven days a week. Although there are no classes specifically children-only, children are welcome to attend any of the sixteen or so listed classes each week. Children under 10 are free if they share your ingredients, and older children who can use a knife safely can work independently with their own ingredients. No previous cooking experience is required and all levels of skill are catered for. The small class sizes (maximum ten, frequently fewer) mean that kids can get as much assistance as they need. Private classes for families or a group of children can be arranged.

Chef Huang, the good-humoured English-speaking wok chef, can seemingly make a Chinese cook out of anyone, including my ten-year old daughter. His wok classes will guide you through the preparation and cooking of three Chinese dishes, tasting as you go. The wok cooking is done with child-safe induction hotplates, rather than gas, and he also helps with your knife safety skills by telling you to 'hold that onion just like tiger's paw!' What you don't finish tasting in class can be taken home with you for later.

Kindly Chef Guo, who works with an English translator, is the resident dumpling chef, and she can teach you how to make Shanghai specialties xiaolongbao and shengjianbao, as well as twenty other varieties of dumplings, including special occasion ones like moon cakes and egg custard tarts. Her expertise is extraordinary and as her hands guide yours you'll find you can pleat a dumpling together just like a pro! (OK, maybe not exactly like a pro, but better than you could have ever achieved on your own).

For our mother-daughter cooking class we opted for the wet market tour and cooking class combined, run every second Sunday morning. Chef Huang first took us on a wet market tour to buy all our ingredients, which Bella found quite eye-opening compared to the supermarkets back home. She was particularly taken (that is, simultaneously fascinated and appalled) by the eel lady, gutting small eels which Bella later cooked, and to my greater surprise, ate. Back at the kitchen with all our fresh ingredients, we then spent the next hour cooking and preparing three delicious dishes under Chef Haung's expert eye - the aforementioned eels, and a more child-friendly pork dish plus Shanghai fried noodles. It was great fun doing the class together and we both learned some simple Chinese cooking techniques we could use at home.

And Bella's verdict? 'Can I cook dinner tomorrow night mum?' Yes!

For More Information: The Chinese Cooking Workshop has their main kitchen in the former French Concession. Classes run seven days a week, with morning, afternoon, and evening sessions. Bookings can be made online or by phone. Classes are conducted in English, no Chinese skills required. Room 307, 696 Wei Hai Lu, near Mao Ming Lu 中国上海威海路696弄3楼307室
(靠近茂名北路) Contact Celian on 134 82771529

Read More: Shanghai also has a huge number of children's cooking classes catering for Western food. For a comprehensive list, see Shanghai Family's recent article on cooking classes

If all this has you running for your wok, take a look at these fantastic kitchen gadgets. Robot salt and pepper shakers anyone?