Tag Archive for:  clas

Pork Ramen & Gyoza class

My guest couple was from Germany and Holland, beautiful performing artists and another people attracted by our comfort food, Ramen & Gyoza.

Both of them were very knowledgeable about Japanese cuisine, enjoying seeing a whole piece of smoked Bonito and dried Kombu seaweed etc. They are very important ingredients for our cooking.

Hot sizzling Gyoza was also something they loved while travelling in Japan. It is so simple and easy to prepare, once you hear a few tips! I hope they are now making Gyoza dumplings at times back in Europe.

Many thanks for coming!
Akiko

Gyoza time with doctors from east and west

Gyoza class with two pairs of couples, from the US and UK. While making Gyoza filling and wrapping them, we were chatting about all sorts of things about food and not about food, then surprisingly, 3/4 of my guests were in the medical field!  It was interesting to find out about differences in the education system to be a doctor in each country.

Making a piece of Gyoza into nice shape! Much easier than it may look.

The amount of filling should be one spoonful as shown here. It might be tastier if you have more inside, but be careful not to push in too much and ended up breaking!
I hope my guests enjoyed their time at the Tokyo apartment kitchen.
Many thanks for coming!
Akiko

Chicken karaage class for a foodie couple

Our all-time favorite, Chicken Karaage is a main dish today!
Served with “black” rice, Miso soup with potato, Mitsba herb, etc. & vegetable side dishes with sweet and savory sauces.

My guest was a couple from the US. Both of them are great cooks & the husband turned out to be a specialist in pickled vegetables. Of course, I ask him a favor to send me a recipe, which I did receive and am enjoying now, THANK YOU!!!   One of my daughters is a big vegetable eater and she LOVEs pickled food.

Here is the table of our lunch with Karaage, aubergine, etc. Good food, good fun talk with good company.  Always been my favorite moment.
I hope my guests also liked their experience at the Tokyo apartment kitchen.
Many thanks for coming!
Akiko

Pork ramen & Gyoza class for honeymoon

Today’s guest couple was from Paris, France, a very talented florist &  a doctor on their honeymoon.  The cooking class was a gift from their brothers and sisters, such an honor and privilege for us to be chosen for such a special occasion!

They were very familiar with our Japanese culture, including our history, pop culture, gastronomy & of course, Manga!   From  “Amaterasu Omikami” to “GTO”,” Monster” etc.,  many topics popped up in our conversation while chopping veggies and wrapping Gyoza.

Everything is ready and finally, it’s time to taste our great outcomes, yummmm!  No hurry but make sure you taste the noodles while hot.
Many thanks for coming!
Akiko

Seafood Sushi class for US MBAs

Fresh seafood & vegetables +  short grain rice +rice vinegar, salt & sugar
= SUSHI!
I make them for my kid’s gatherings. Today it was a request from my guest MBA students from Pennsylvania USA.

Pounding sesame seeds here for one of our popular dishes, spinach with sesame sauce. Tossed sesame smells really great, with its rich aroma filling the whole kitchen and made us all so hungry!

Voila! The sushi roll plate is completed!
I hope this will be one of the happy moments in Tokyo for young students to remember…
Many thanks for coming!
Akiko

Agedashi Tofu, Okonomiyaki pancake & more

This was a private class with 2 main dishes & more; Agedashi Tofu (deep-fried Tofu dipped in Dashi sauce), Tempura of prawns and mushrooms, and savory Okonomiyaki pancake with pork, cabbage, etc.
My guests are from Chicago, USA. A lovely couple of an architect and a doctor wishing to try some Japanese homemade dishes.  For some reason, I felt very close to the lady from the beginning, then we found out that we are both mothers of twin kids! meaning you have gone thru a lot and survived those sleepless days…

There was a lot of chopping and slicing and frying to do, but we made it beautifully!  Plenty of food and fun chatting over the lunch table.
Many thanks for coming!
Akiko

Pork Gyoza & Ramen class for Aussie couple

Gyoza making with an Aussie couple today!
Wrapping a spoonful of filling with Gyoza skin. Dumplings may look a little complicated to make, but Japanese style Gyoza is simple as ABC.

My guest couple has made them very neatly!  Thank you for a great job!!

And of course, Pork Ramen is coming with Gyoza. Now, some people think Ramen is a simple bowl of soup & noodles but it is NOT. That is also why there are layers of flavors.  Come and find out yourself when in Tokyo!
Many thanks for coming!
Akiko

Gyoza and Tempura/ 2 main dishes

Today’s guests are a happy group from San Diego and it was so much fun!

The menu is 2 main dishes: Gyoza and Tempura
and 2 side dishes: Japanese sesame spinach salad/cucumber salad
tofu and Okura miso-soup
always so much fun to make Gyoza with family and friends! Let’s do Gyoza Party!!

And also preparation of Shrimp for Tempura.

Itadakimasu!
so much fun class was.
Thank you!

Gyoza & healthy veggie sides for American girls

Today’s main dish was Gyoza dumplings with pork, Chinese cabbage, garlic, green leek & more! Side dishes were eggplant with sweet & savory Miso sauce, fresh cabbage salad with pickled Kombu, etc.

Welcome to my Tokyo kitchen!  It was such a fun class with beautiful American young ladies.  Good friends from high school days, good teamwork naturally!

Can you believe we have made all these Gyoza with hands, the filling was made from scratch?  It is very simple and easy. Gyoza is fun to make with friends, and eat with friends.
Many thanks for coming!!
Akiko

Sushi-making & Sake-tasting for Nike

In early December we welcomed a group of 20+ people from Nike!

This was the 2nd time organized a gathering for this global company in Tokyo. We were very happy to hear that participants liked their team-building lunch back in August, so they decided to contact us again for an evening function.

We planned a Sushi roll & Temari Sushi cooking class. All ingredients for fillings and toppings were prepared in advance, but the guests had to make their Sushi seasoning and mix it with steamed rice, then start rolling & shaping their Sushi for dinner.

Although this cooking class was held after a long day at their global meeting, everybody did great work and everything went so smoothly that all results were beautiful and delicious!

After enjoying our tasty Sushi and other food including chicken Karrage, spinach with sesame sauce, fresh colorful veggies with Miso-Mayo dip, pork slices, sweet egg rolls, etc., it was time for the Sake tasting quiz! There are lots of types and brands of Sake in Japan. It was hard for us to choose just a few kinds, but we hope it turned out a good opportunity for our guests to try something different.

We would be very happy if we could be of a little help to discover some new charms of Japanese gastronomy!

Yuki & Akiko