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 Champuru
チャンプルー
PROJECT Champuru
This Kitchen Culture Cooking Club PROJECT is about making champuru (a stir-fry that is a signature dish of Okinawa) in YOUR kitchen… and sharing with fellow members what you have made.
Every household in Okinawa will have its own variation on the basic theme. A classic version made with bacon, tōfu, gōya, onions and eggs can be downloaded from the CHAMPURU Kitchen Culture blog post.
In my cookbook, KANSHA (page 104-106), I offer a vegan version of miso-glazed champuru made with kabocha squash and chunks of shimi-dōfu (frozen-then-defrosted, the tōfu takes on a meaty texture).
Photo above from KANSHA
© Leigh Beisch, styling by Karen Shinto. Vessel by Frederick Warren.
One of my goals with these Kitchen Culture Cooking Club projects is to introduce ingredients and techniques that members may not be familiar with — especially ones that can provide additional options for those members of KCCC who eat primarily (or exclusively) from the plant world. Okinawa’s champuru is a fine opportunity to discover kuruma-bu 車麩 (spiral-shaped sticks of dried wheat gluten), a plant-based source of protein.
Kuruma-bu is typically inexpensive and, because it is shelf stable, can be stored for months, even years, in a dark, dry, cool spot in your pantry ready in a pinch when you want to add volume to a dish. Its spongy texture provides a pleasant meaty chewiness. Chunks or wheels of kuruma-bu absorb flavors from the foods with which it is cooked.
Download this recipe for FU CHAMPURU that includes A Guide to Cooking with kuruma-bu.
My August 2022 newsletter is all about champuru.
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.
Aku Nuki and Kogomi
KOGOMI こごみ・屈み Fiddlehead of the ostrich fern; Matteuccia struthiopteris What the Japanese call kogomi is commonly known in North America as fiddlehead ferns; they can be found in many parts of Canada, New England, the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. In Japan,...
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...
ODEN Part TWO
おでん ODEN Various ingredients find their way into the belly-warming stew known as oden. Most versions include myriad sausage-like items made from surimi (fish and seafood ground to a paste). Some of these are deep-fried while others are boiled, roasted, grilled or...
ODEN Part ONE (Vegan & Vegetarian Options)
おでん Oden Various ingredients find their way into the belly-warming stew known as oden. Most versions include myriad sausage-like items made from surimi (fish and seafood ground to a paste). There are, however, lots of options for those who prefer plant-based items...
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