Cooking Classes From In My Kitchen

I attended one of the very delicious Tayybeh Syrian Catering pop-ups last year and luckily met Paula Mohammed, a women with a mission to bring eclectic cooking experiences from home cooks to Vancouver through “In My Kitchen”. I was thrilled to hear about the possibility of learning home cooking techniques from around the world and serendipitously introduced her to my friend Chef Karen Dar Woon, from Your Secret Chef, whom she brought on board to provide additional training to the instructors. Several months the cooking classes were ready to go and I was invited to try out the Japanese cooking class with Naomi, conveniently located at her place in Mount Pleasant.

When we arrived at Naomi’s home we found she was super organized and had everything ready to go and had even sourced some sake to pair with the creations. She had some crudites with a sake kasu and cream cheese dip (a lees left over from sake production) ready to go and we got to work shortly thereafter, rolling mochi balls (below) which we would later feast on for dessert.

Throughout the class what I really appreciated was the thought Naomi had put into not only the specific dishes we were cooking, but also the information about ingredients and Japanese culinary traditions and practice that she provided. The other students were equally keen to learn and we shared a lot of laughs during the afternoon. Naomi was born in Kyoto, Japan and went to University in Vancouver, returning again to our city in 2016 to establish an athletic performance business. She credits her elementary school for most of her Japanese cooking skills, but she’s obviously learned far more over the years.

We divided up the tasks and in no time had prepared some flavourful Sashimi and Marinated Avocado that were quickly devoured!

The Daikon Salad with Plum Dressing required a mandolin to slice this thinly, but the result of the texture of the paper thin radishes makes it worthwhile to get one of these kitchen tools should you not have one.

Naomi demonstrates how t make Dashi, a broth made with seaweed that we’d use later with the Yakionigiri Chazuke (rice triangles with broth.

Next up were some simply grilled shitake mushrooms grilled with brie and a dash of soy sauce, a superb combo with so much umami flavour.

The Chicken Yakitori had been marinated with some Shio-Koji, a mix of salt, water and rice koji, which tenderized the meat and added a depth of flavour that I’m certainly going to attempt to repeat.

Chicken Tsukume was next, a chicken patty hat made with chicken, tofu, ginger, sake, onion and soy sauce, perhaps my favourite dish. Naomi served this up with a ponzu-based condiment with mayo, green onion and grated daikon, taking it to the next level.

We all made our own little triangle-shaped rice patties that were served as the final savoury dish along with the dashi broth that Naomi made earlier.

Our little mochi balls made their way into the dessert, a little parfait with strawberries, the balls and ice cream.

This class provided some insight into what you might eat should you go to someone’s house in Japan for dinner, and I definitely learned some new techniques and a lot more about Japanese ingredients and cooking methods. I’m hoping that Naomi will do another class soon with some other dishes, but luckily the In My Kitchen series also has classes centered around Spanish, Middle Eastern, Swiss and Spanish Cooking. In August classes our 30% off, making them an even better deal. Grab a few friends or go solo and meet some new ones.

Naomi: Exploring Japanese flavours
Dates:  August 19 BOOK

Céline: Cooking with Celine: Swiss family favorites
Dates: August 26th BOOK

Melissa:  Cooking with Melissa, an Umbrian feast
Dates:  August 18th, 25th (practice classes) BOOK

Suha:  A traditional Middle Eastern family meal
Dates:  August 19 BOOK

RECIPES

Avocado Salad
1 large avocado
15g shio kombu
1 ½ Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp sesame
½ tsp soy sauce
1.  Cut avocado into 1 inch pieces or larger.
2.  Mix all ingredients together, gently with a spoon so as not to crush the avocado.

Sashimi Naomi Style
300g salmon sashimi
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Tbsp Wasabi
1.  Cut the sashimi fish into small pieces.
2.  Mix the olive oil, soy sauce and wasabi together.
3.  Add the soy sauce mix to the sashimi fish and mix gently.

Daikon Salad with Plum Dressing

UME DRESSING:
4 ume
4 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1.  Take the pit out of the plums and mince
2.  Mix all of the ingredients together.

SALAD
1 small package of katsuo bushi
1 small package of nori cut into thin strips (scissors are good for this)
1 Tbsp sesame 50g small fish (opt)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1.   Prepare the daikon into thin slices using a mandolin or a peeler and place in serving bowl.
2.   Heat sesame oil in pan, then fry the small fish until it looks crunchy. Put the fish in a separate bowl and put to the side to cool.
3.  Just before serving, add the small fish, katsuo bushi  to the daikon and toss with the dressing (amount depends on individual preference). Add the cut nori and sesame seeds at the end