Confession: I can’t cook to save my life. I can barely make instant noodles. When I attempt to cook half-boiled eggs, they come out hard-boiled. And after burning toast to a perfect crisp black (you wouldn’t be able to tell it apart from a block of charcoal), I decided that my best friends were food delivery services. That is, until recently when I attended a Peranakan cooking class and managed to whip up an entire meal…with some help, of course.

RIP, wholemeal bread.

So it was with some hesitation that I decided to take up this invite to a cooking class by Let’s Go Cook Singapore. It’s helmed by local tour company Let’s Go Tours, the same folks who organise e-scooter and bicycle tours around Singapore, which explains why I found myself cooking next to row of bikes and PMDs in the room.

Only Peranakan cooking classes are available, and you choose from the basic $99 class (per pax) where you learn to whip up one main dish and a dessert or side dish in two hours; or shell out $129 (per pax) for a three to four-hour class that includes a shopping jaunt at a wet market before you prepare two main dishes and one dessert. No prizes for guessing which one I opted for.

It’s a no-frills, casual cooking class that’s definitely not for Masterchef wannabes. Perfectly fine by me. I arrive for class with my companion, where there are five cooking stations, each with a portable induction cooker, in a room that’s about as big as a three-room flat. It’s a full house today — classes are kept to a maximum of 20 participants — and each station is meant to be shared with a group of four. We’re grouped with a mother-daughter pair. I initially thought it’d be awkward whipping up a meal with strangers (should I warn them about my cooking capabilities beforehand?) but it turned out to be a breeze (perhaps having a tween in the group helped).

Our instructor today is Michelle, who’s all dressed up for the occasion in a sarong kebaya. She tells us she’s not a chef by training (though she’s worked at a Spanish restaurant before), but instead, picked up the ropes from her mother. In fact, these are Mum’s recipes that we’ll be following today. What’s on the menu: chicken rendang with butterfly blue pea flower rice and kueh dadar for dessert.

Here’s the good news: there is no prep work nor cleaning up involved for students. Most ingredients have been painstakingly prepared and measured out beforehand (it took Michelle three hours to prep for the whole class). And when the bench gets too messy with utensils and cookware, Michelle and her little elves clear them so swiftly, we don’t even realise it. Herein lies the difference between attending a cooking class and learning for free from a friend (or, gasp, your mother): will they do all the prep work for you, and then do the dishes after? We think not.

There's still a ton to do and our group splits the work evenly. There’s turmeric/lemongrass/shallots to chop up to blend for the chicken rendang. There’s the kueh dadar batter to mix, and then the silky thin crepe you have to actually cook. There’s also the chicken rendang you try not to under- or over-cook, and other nitty gritty things that people do to ensure the food is edible.

For each dish, Michelle starts with a group demonstration. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but fret not, she comes by to each bench to monitor/help/ensure you don’t burn down the premises. The two hours pass by quicker than we can say “burnt toast”.

As I’m sitting down savouring the fruits of our labour, it strikes me that I’ve just cooked an entire Peranakan meal (or any meal, for that matter). Sure, it was with some (okay, a lot of) help, but I’m starting to think cooking isn’t that daunting. You get to take home the recipe you used for the day’s class, and while I’ve yet to try it at home, I’m happy to report that I have, er, cooked rice since. And it didn’t end up as porridge.

The 99-dollar question: To go or not to go? This easy-to-follow basic cooking class is perfect for you if you’re: cooking newbies, parents who want to bond with their kids, or couples looking for alternative date ideas.

Let’s Go Cook is at Blk 462 Crawford Lane, #01-57, S 190462. More info at www.letsgocooksingapore.com.