“We started this program 50 years ago because the local Chinese community [had] a problem of hiring; there were not enough chefs around,” he says. “We have already trained more than a thousand students, and because of that, we contribute a lot to the local industry.”

Ho is advocating for a red seal certification that recognizes Asian culinary arts – which he hopes will draw more young people into the industry.

A restaurant classroom

Ho’s foray into a commercial kitchen is typical. As a student, he needed a part-time job and started working as a bus boy. Working his way up to a kitchen helper, he remained focused on his studies in electronic engineer technology.

“I really regret that at the time, I didn’t write down lots of the recipes,” he reflects. “When I worked with those old chefs, they didn’t have anything documented down; they just tell you, ‘hey, do this, do that.’”

Ho still remembers a chef from Macau who was highly skilled at making curry powder. In the early 2000s, the program head began formal culinary training by enrolling in VCC’s Asian Culinary Arts program after seeing an ad for it in a Chinese newspaper. Ho completed this program as well as VCC’s Culinary Arts program.

He says the details of food preparation – the “secret” ways of mixing and marinating – create the perfect dish. He returned to VCC as an auxiliary instructor over 10 years ago. As the program head, Ho now teaches students this preparation work in VCC’s downtown campus kitchen, tailored for Asian cuisine.

“When we first started this program, the school didn’t have a kitchen for Asian cuisine,” Ho recalls. “At the time, we rented a Chinese restaurant, and students would actually go to the restaurant.”

Aside from VCC’s kitchen, Ho remembers how the definition of “Asian” food has expanded. Originally, the certificate program focused on Chinese cooking, particularly wok cooking common in Cantonese cuisine. It now offers training in Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai, Singaporean and Vietnamese cuisines. The current industry calls for knowledge of Asian and western cooking, particularly as local Asian communities develop their own North American tastes.

“The North American Asian community [has] already developed their own culture, their own taste, their own history, their own smell, their own memory,” Ho explains, pointing to dishes like lemon chicken or ginger beef.

These dishes are not traditionally Chinese, but what he calls “North American Chinese dishes.” Another example is the California Roll, a Japanese-inspired dish with roots in California.

Supporting students

Despite these changes, the program’s foundational goal has stayed the same: make students employable. Student ages range from 18 to those over the age of 60, and the program is inclusive to all.

Ho’s students have also included those going through a career transition, including a group of laid-off garment workers. A student’s typical day involves a short lecture, followed by preparation work, then time spent cooking.

“You are repeating the same movement day after day, just to get your muscle memory,” Ho says. “In the first month, many of them cannot lift up a wok.”

Their creations are served in the cafeteria that simulates a real restaurant, providing an opportunity to learn more than cooking. Students usually rotate kitchen positions every day in preparation for working life in the food industry.

The focus on real-world skills has taken VCC’s students to international acclaim. Two graduates earned bronze in the 2019 World Master Chefs Competition for Cantonese Cuisine’s dim sum category. In 2023, two other graduates earned gold at the same competition’s entrée category. In 2024, a team consisting of VCC graduates and chef instructor Jie Wen placed second in the School Team category at the Taipei World Championships of Cooking.

“You see the growth of the student; his life is improving, so that’s something very encouraging,” Ho says of a student who represented VCC in competition.

For more information, see www.vcc.ca/programs/asian-culinary-arts