Kitchen Culture Cooking Club
EXPLORE and PRACTICE Japanese cooking in your own kitchenAbout Kitchen Culture Cooking Club
Welcome to the Kitchen Culture Cooking Club, a community space providing encouragement to those who want to EXPLORE and PRACTICE Japan’s washoku wisdom in their own kitchens.
To facilitate this, themed projects will be posted to this page periodically. Project Assignments and links to relevant reference material stored on this site will be posted to this page. Anyone, anywhere in the world, with a sincere interest in Japanese food culture is welcome to browse the contents of this page and then replicate the themed project in their own kitchen.
For those who wish to display-and-discuss their projects with like-minded people, I invite you to join the KITCHEN CULTURE Cooking Club Facebook Group (formerly the TSUDOI Project), an interactive community space.
PROJECT Shaved Ice
PROJECT Shaved Ice is about making Japanese-style kaki-gōri confections.
Strawberry Sauce
Many people top shaved ice with fresh fruit or commercially prepared syrups. But for those who would like to make their own, here is a simple-to-make STRAWBERRY sauce.
Note the recipe includes a drop of light-colored soy sauce that adds depth of flavor while mellowing what might otherwise be a cloying sweet sauce.
Ice Shaving Machines (かき氷器 kaki-gōri ki)
Japanese home kitchen drawers, cupboards, and countertops are filled with gadgets. If you are a serious kaki-gōri maker no doubt you’ll want one (or more) of the many specialty tools available.
The basic mechanism consists of a blade (adjustable to some extent), a chamber to hold a chunk of ice, a dedicated space for placing a serving bowl, and a hand crank (a few are electric-powered).
Enjoy shaved ice in YOUR kitchen. And, stay cool…
More about kaki-gōri
Visit my KITCHEN CULTURE Blog to learn more about the history of eating ice in Japan and why Japanese ice is so fluffy.
Download a copy of my JUNE 2023 newsletter
Listen to my chat with Akiko Katayama of Japans Eats about ICE!
Recipes and Resources
Stock (Dashi)
Dashi stock is essential to making soups and simmered or stewed dishes. Dashi is also used when making many egg dishes and all sorts of sauces, dips and dressings. Using good dashi will make a noticeable difference in the outcome of so many dishes you prepare.
Click to download recipes for (vegan) Kelp Alone Stock or Standard Sea Stock + Smoky Sea Stock
How to Cook Rice
In Japanese, the word for cooked rice, ご飯 GOHAN, is the same as the word for a meal, ご飯 GOHAN. Indeed rice is central to the meal. Download the Rice with Mixed Grains recipe.
How to Prepare Sushi Rice
Sushi dishes are made with rice that has been seasoned (with sweetened vinegar) AFTER being cooked. Download the Classic Sushi Rice recipe.
Quick Pickles
The Japanese enjoy a wide variety of tsukémono pickles, many can be assembled quickly and are ready to eat within a short time.
Download a recipe for Quick-Fix Hakusai Cabbage.
Colorful CARROTS
Beautiful & Nutritious The pigments that make these carrots so beautiful are also the key to their nutritional power. Orange carrots are especially rich in beta-carotene and vitamin A, both of which help to fight inflammation. Red carrots, like red tomatoes, are...
Komatsuna
KOMATSUNA, a member of the brassica family of leafy greens, has been cultivated in Japan since the Edo period (1603-1868). The naming of the vegetable is attributed to the 8th shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune. It seems that during a visiting to a shrine near the Komatsu...
EDIBLE SAKURA Blossoms & Leaves
Salt-Cured Cherry Blossoms & Leaves The blossoms and leaves of certain varieties of sakura are made edible by preserving them in salt, in a process known as shio-zuké. Deeply colored yaezakura blossoms are especially prized. When it comes to salt-curing leaves,...
Setsubun
ONI wa SOTO FUKU wa UCHI Throw out the ogres! Bring in Good Fortune!節分 SETSUBUN means “break between seasons” and such breaks occur many times during the year. However, today Japan celebrates the setsubun break that comes early in February and...