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 Small Plates

MAMÉ-ZARA Fun
Collecting and Using Small Plates

Part of the fun of collecting dishes and other tabletop accessories, is to assemble wide-ranging variations within a category. With mamé-zara, one way to do this is focus on a color scheme such as red and then collect as many different shapes and designs as possible.

Another might be to choose a subject like Mt Fuji … or the auspicious kotobuki calligraphy 寿

No matter what color, shape or theme you choose for organizing your mamé-zara, small plates are a great way to serve tasty tidbits, whether they are freshly made for that meal, or leftovers from a previous one.

To get you started, here are a few recipes for small bites that pair well with beer or sake or tea.

SHISO MAKI しそ巻き hails from Japan’s Tohoku region known for its walnuts and full-bodied red miso. This dish showcases both in an addictively tasty filling for herbaceous shiso leaves.  Some Tohoku chefs will add a spicy spark to the sweet-and-salty miso mixture by adding a pinch of fiery shichimi tōgarashi to the filling.

and

HŌRAI-ZUMÉ 宝来詰め plump, juicy Treasure Filled (stuffed with chicken) Mushrooms, that are skillet-seared and soy-glazed.

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.

Eat to Beat the Heat

Eat to Beat the Heat

  The Japanese have long believed that foods beginning with the syllable “U" (written” う in hiragana), have special beat-the-heat properties. Most famous is UNAGI (eel, rich in vitamin B1) known as an antidote for summertime lethargy. The current custom of eating...

PROJECT Grandchildren are kind

PROJECT Grandchildren are kind

Grandchildren are Kind (mago wa yasashii 孫は優しい) is an acronym that helps Japanese remember the seven food groups that help support a healthy diet. The food groups are: beans (mame), sesame (goma and other seeds and nuts) sea vegetables (wakame), leafy greens and root...

Junsai, a summertime delicacy

Junsai, a summertime delicacy

JUNSAI (water shield; Brasenia schreberi) grows naturally in lakes, ponds and slow streams in many parts of the world but only Japan and China have a long history of cultivating the plant as a food. The Japanese especially love foods with a tsuru tsuru (slippery,...

PROJECT Enjoy Junsai

PROJECT Enjoy Junsai

潤菜料理 (junsai ryōri) JUNSAI (water shield; Brasenia schreberi) grows naturally in lakes, ponds and slow streams in many parts of the world but only Japan and China have a long history of cultivating the plant as a food. Young, unfurled sprouts covered in slippery,...

Follow Elizabeth Andoh's Taste of Culutre on Facebook or Instagram for the freshest content.