Kitchen Culture Cooking Club

EXPLORE and PRACTICE Japanese cooking in your own kitchen

About 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: Celebrating Tanabata

The Tale of  TANABATA 七夕伝説

The Tale of Tanabata, which originated in China, has been told in Japan for at least 1200 years. The Japanese version tells the story of a cowherd (Kengyū in some versions, Hikoboshi in others, as the star Altair), and the Weaving Princess (Orihimé, as the star Vega). They were so enamored with each other, the legend goes, that their work suffered. As a result, the two lovers were banished to opposite ends of the firmament. After frequently beseeching the gods to reunite them, their wish was granted: a brief meeting would be permitted, albeit, once a year.

This meeting occurs on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month — the day Tanabata is celebrated in Japan. Today in most parts of Japan the festival is celebrated on July 7th. But some parts of Japan, like Sendai, use the old koyomi almanac which puts the festival in August.

Making wishes, and writing them on tanzaku (narrow strips of colored paper) that get hung on branches of young bamboo, has become part of the Tanabata (Star Festival) as it is practiced today. Above, school children admire the decoration of their wishes that their teachers tied to sasa no ha branches of young bamboo. The custom of writing wishes on tanzaku is well established. Here, a scene from the Edo period.

 

SŌMEN, Festive Noodles

Sōmen noodles are associated with  Tanabata in several ways: When set to dry on racks, sōmen noodles look like threads on a loom (the warp and woof of Orihime’s woven cloth) and flowing on the plate the thin noodles resemble the Milky Way (Ama no Gawa 天の川).

Although white sōmen noodles are sold year-round, many summertime packages will include noodles dyed vivid pink (ume, or plum-flavored), bright yellow (egg-enriched, color enhanced by kuchi nashi no mi dried gardenia pods), or deep olive (matcha tea-flavored). The colored noodles enhance the special connection to TANABATA MATSURI, the Star Festival.

Looking for instructions in making sōmen in your kitchen? Visit earlier posts about sōmen and cold noodle salads.

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.

PROJECT Noodle-Slurping

PROJECT Noodle-Slurping

NOODLE-SLURPING Anyone who has ever spent time in Japan, or regularly eats at Japanese restaurants, knows  (all too well)  the sound of slurping. Noodles, for sure, but soup, tea and other liquids, too. Although noodles, soup and beverages are part of every food...

PROJECT Kayaku Gohan

PROJECT Kayaku Gohan

Vegetables cooked into RiceKayaku (Takikomi) Gohan加薬 (炊き込み) ご飯 In different parts of Japan, rice that is cooked in a flavored liquid with a variety of ingredients (that went to flavoring that liquid) goes by various names. The most generic is takikomi because it...

Thanksgiving Rituals in Japan

Thanksgiving Rituals in Japan

In Japan, rice is more than just sustenance. It holds symbolic and sacred significance. Rice yield was also a measurement of wealth during the Edo Period (1603-1868). Early records of rituals celebrating the harvest and entreating future prosperity, called nii namé...

PROJECT Serving Chawan Mushi

PROJECT Serving Chawan Mushi

This PROJECT is about serving chawan mushi, a dish that requires heatproof cups to cook the egg custards in and to bring them piping hot to table. Because Japan's food culture places importance on the presentation of food, often specialized tableware is chosen....

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