My guest in this private class was a chef lady from Lille, France. So lucky me I got to hear a  lot of interesting foodie stories and even ask some questions while we were chopping and slicing and frying.

She has chosen 2 main dishes; Tonkatsu or pork cutlet, and Gyoza.  We also prepared a few side dishes and Miso soup with Dashi broth.  My guest lady was also very interested in our Miso and soy sauce,  so I showed her a few kinds of them and compare the color and flavor.

Basically, the differences come from the percentage of salt, soybeans, and length of fermentation, but the most mysterious element is the type of Koji fungus. Miso is our oldest seasoning while soy sauce came up rather new around 16-17c. They are like siblings born from the same ingredients, in a way.

Many thanks for coming!

Akiko

The menu for the class chosen by a power couple from NY, USA was:

Sushi roll with seafood, aubergine with sweet Miso sauce, spinach with sesame sauce, and Miso soup with dashi stock.

So except for salmon and Maguro for Sushi, all our ingredients were vegetarian! I cannot say gluten-free because our soy sauce uses some wheat. But no worries I can grab a Tamari-style soy sauce if my guests like no gluten in his/her meal, which uses soybeans only and no wheat.

My guest couple completed a beautiful Sushi lunch and we had a fun talk over our healthy homemade food.  Many thanks for coming!

Akiko

 

Tonkotsu Ramen and Gyoza class for an Aussie couple from Brisbane today!

The couple has been skiing in Niseko, Hokkaido, where you get to enjoy the super fine powder snow in winter!!  Saying that I have never had a chance to ski up there myself. I am hopeless in any kind of sports but I am happy to show my guests how to cook Ramen & Gyoza in the home kitchen.

I put a lot of things on top of our Ramen so it is quite heavy, but my guest gentleman cleared everything including his soup, WOW! Of course that made my day, mate!

Many thanks for coming!

Akiko

 

 

This was one of the biggest groups in my cooking class. I usually accept max. 6 people due to the size of my little kitchen and dining table, but we welcomed 10 people from 3 generations of a family traveling from the US.

The father is in the hospitality business,  literally traveling all over the world and eating the greatest food everywhere he visits, including Japanese cuisine, so I decided the menu should be something different for him and the family; a typical and simple home-cooked food, including chicken karaage, gyoza, miso soup, etc.

The main cooks turned out to be their teenage children and they were so hardworking! After a few hours of chopping and simmering and making Dashi soup, they managed to prepare a big Japanese lunch table for 10! Of course, their grandparents, Mum & Dad were so proud! AND all tasted so delicious!

I hope this would be one of their precious memories together in Tokyo.

Many thanks for coming!

Akiko

 

Another big lunch class with 2 main dishes; Ramen & Sushi roll!

Well, of course, we do not normally eat Ramen and Sushi at once but travelers’ time is always limited. This is our norm in cooking class to prepare two different types of main dishes.

There were a lot of preparations during the class but we managed to complete our mission!  My guests emptied their Ramen bowls but couldn’t finish all the Sushi rolls,  so I packed a few rolls for them to take away.

The class happened to be on December 23rd.  Maybe nice warming up before  Xmas gathering??

I hope my guest family liked our food as much as foie gras and roast duck.

Many thanks for coming!

Akiko