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 Eat to Beat the Heat
This PROJECT is about making foods that are refreshing and restorative when the weather is oppressively hot and humid.
Mouth-puckering UMÉBOSHI have long been touted as a way of ensuring food safety on hot days because of their anti-bacterial properties.
Members of the URI family (Cucurbitaceae or cucurbits) such as cucumbers (kyuuri) quench thirst and restore mineral balance (especially potassium and magnesium) depleted by sweating.
Thick, chewy UDON noodles provide the energy you need to function (your body turns noodle carbs into ready-for-action glucose).
To jump-start your kitchen project, here are some recipes for UMÉBOSHI, UDON and URI (cucumbers). Enjoy these dishes that help you beat-the-heat.
Uméboshi
梅干し Uméboshi
Here is a GUIDE to making your own mouth-puckering pickled plums… and follow these instructions to make your own plum-filled omusubi.
UDON noodles
Serve your noodles DIPPING-STYLE (tsuké-jiru) with condiments. Make a classic dipping sauce with umami essence (a vegan version is available, too) and adjust intensity of flavor with stock (either Standard Sea Stock or Kelp-Alone Stock).
Cucumbers
胡瓜 （きゅうり）kyuuri
Cucumbers quench thirst and help restore mineral balance (especially potassium and magnesium) depleted by sweating.
Enjoy this Smashed Cucumber dish… or make a cucumber and wakamé salad dressed with a tart miso mustard sauce… or drizzed with plum dressing.
To learn more about eating to beat-the-heat
visit my Kitchen Culture blog and read my August, 2024 newsletter.
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 Obon
Project OBON is about eggplant and cucumber cookery. Why eggplants and cucumbers? These vegetables reach their peak of flavor during the summer when Obon is celebrated. And, the vegetables are fashioned into transportation for departed spirits. Eager to begin their...
OBON: Summer Holidays
Rooted in Buddhist tradition and practice, Obon is the time when spirits of the departed are believed to return to this world for a short, annual visit. It is not a morbid occasion but rather a pleasant and respectful way for younger generations to stay connected to...
PROJECT Tomato Salad
TOMATOES combine well with both land and sea vegetables, and with cold noodles too, to make a variety of SALADS. This PROJECT Tomato Salad is about creating your own "house" salad featuring tomatoes. To start you off, here is a recipe for enjoying tomatoes...
Tomatoes in Japan
Originating in Mesoamerica about 7,000 years ago, tomatoes arrived in Japan early in the Edo period (1603-1868) having traveled the globe and being domesticated along the way. The first tomato plants in Japan were considered an ornamental -- they were not cultivated...