The menu was;
Seafood Ramen with shrimp, clam & Japanese Dashi soup stock
Seafood Gyoza with shrimp & vegetables
No chicken, pork but lots of seafood! My guest couple from Ohio, USA, really surprised me that they are enjoying various fish including Bonito & Hamachi (young yellow tail tuna) as Sashimi back home, thanks to a local seafood market with a good selection of seafood.
But it was their first time to handle the Katsuo bushi, Smoked Bonito in a whole piece. Here they are shredding a piece of dry Bonito at my place. It looks like a wooden kitchen utensil but it is a half body of Bonito, who could have weighed more than 2kg when he was in the ocean.
My guest couple also tried another very Japanese ingredient called Niboshi/ dried sardins. For soup stock, I rip off the head and soaked them in water, then simmer. But we also enjoy eating them as it is, a very good snack for your bones if you care. My guests crunched a piece of Niboshi and actually liked them OK, which pleased me a lot of course!
It was a gloomy rainy day but just perfect for a cookig class event, inside home and lots of good smells!
I hope my guest liked their experience at my kitchen.
Many thanks for coming!
Akiko