Chicken Karaage class for a family

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The main dish for this class was chicken Karaage (Japanese style fried chicken), accompanied by aubergine with Miso sauce,  spinach in sesame sauce, Miso soup of Enoki mushroom & fried Tofu (O-a-ge) and a bowl of rice.

My guest was a family from Western Australia.  Their two young boys were learning the Japanese language at school and they also were big fans of our food, wow!  Even my youngest guest adventured to use our smoked Bonito grater.

The boys were looking for a Bento box to take home from Tokyo.  Chicken Karaage is one of the best food to put in lunch boxes and children in our country, including my own.  It is a kind of menu Japanese Mum and Dad make when we want to cheer up kids, or for a special occasion Bento such as school excursions, etc. Simply because everybody loves it!

Like the most family menu, each house has a slightly different Chicken Karaage recipe. I use potato starch for batter and garlic & ginger for flavor.  My young guests liked them very much but what they also loved was a bowl of rice with a sprinkle of Furikake (flakes of salty smoked Bonito, herbs, sesame, etc.), so truly Japanese homey style!

Many thanks for coming!

Akiko

 

 

Pork Ramen & Gyoza class

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Another Pork Ramen & Gyoza class with a couple from San Francisco, USA.  My guest couples visited me after travelling various places & cities in Japan and they told me they have been trying many different Ramens around the country.

As you may be well aware, Ramen could be chicken, pork or seafood broth, and flavored with Miso, soy sauce or simply salt.　Topping choices are also very wide & always new types of Ramen are coming up. That is part of the reason this comfort food in a simple bowl keep alluring so many people. On the other hand,  I am always a little worried if what we are making at my small kitchen  is what my guests were looking for.

My guest couple did a wonderful presentation of topping for their 1st home-made Ramen & mastered how to fold and make neat frills on Gyoza dumplings. I am sure they are making some more at their home kitchen after their trip to Tokyo.

Many thanks for coming!

Akiko

 

Tonkotsu Ramen & Gyoza Class

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My guest couple here (back in 2019) was from California, USA, and their main dish was one of our most requested menus, Ramen with pork broth & Miso, plus Gyoza dumplings. But I also received one unusual request as we start,   if we can play some music while preparing our lunch!

And that is exactly what I do when I am cooking by myself.  Why not, no problem at all, let’s play some music! But I only knew some very old tunes from the 80s (my age) and my Alexa understood only the Japanese language. I manage to make Alexa play a few reggae tunes for my guest but I am afraid it was not so exciting a choice …That was my only regret from this class.

Still, the preparation of Ramen & Gyoza all went very smoothly and my guests completed some delicious Japanese dishes as shown in the photo.  These sizzling menus were a bit hot for early September daytime, so I prepared a little glass of sweets to cool down before my guests were off to Tokyo streets.

I was very happy my guests liked my after-Ramen sweets very much they wanted to know the exact name of this dessert.  As I replied there is actually no name & appreciate it if they could name it, my guests pondered for some seconds and said ‘Summer Cream’.  Indeed, it has a bright orange color of mango like the sun in the summer!

Many thanks for coming & nice naming!

 

Akiko