Japanese Cooking Class

Rie Miyaura (mia@nodai.ac.jp)

(1) Principle
1. 食本主義　Shoku hon shugi: “Food is base, body is end, and mind is the further end” Sickness of the body and mind originate from food.
2. 医食同源　Ishoku dogen：“Medicine and food are the same”.
3. 身土不二　Shindo fuji: “Body and soil never isolate” Eat foods which are produced in the place you live, then you have harmonized your body and mind into the environment.
4. 陰陽調和　Inyo chowa: “Make balance in the yin and yan of food” the Balance of food makes you healthy.
5. 一物全体　Ichibutsu zentai : “Eat foods as whole” Life is balancing as a whole systems and whole is not the sum of the parts. So eat everything.
(2) Basic component of a Japanese Menu
一汁一菜 ichiju isai: rice, one soup, one veggie dish and pickles
一汁三菜 ichiju san sai: rice, one soup, three veggie dishes, which include one main (fish) and two sub veggie dishes, and pickles


(3) Traditional food stuff
+ Vegetables (Japanese radish, burdock root, lotus root, Japanese taro, Japanese yam, etc)
+ Fish (little fish, mackerel, Japanese horse mackerel, Brevoort, etc.)
+ Sea Weed (konbu, wakame, arame, nori, etc)
+ Soy bean products (tofu, fried tofu, soy sauce, miso, natto, etc)
+ Sake (Japanese rice wine, sweet cooking rice wine )
+ Vinegar (rice vinegar)

Sushi Rice

Ingredients:
• 6 cups Japanese rice
• 7 cups water
• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 5 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt

Supplies
• Pot
• Rice Cooker
• Saucepan
• Measuring cups
• Wooden Spoon
• Large Bowl
• Fan
• Wood Cutting Board

Recipe:
• Wash and soak Japanese rice for 30 mintues
• Cook in rice cooker
• Prepare sushi vinegar (sushi-zu) by mixing rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
• Put the pan on low heat and heat until the sugar dissolves.
• Cool the vinegar mixture.
• Spread the hot cooked rice into a large plate or a large bowl. (Please use a non-metallic bowl to prevent any interaction with rice vinegar, It's best to use a wooden bowl called sushi-oke)
• Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice and fold the rice
• Be careful not to smash the rice.
• To cool and remove the moisture of the rice, use a fan as you mix the sushi rice. This will give sushi rice a shiny look.
• It's best to use sushi rice right away.

California Roll (sushi) x4

California rolls are one of the most popular sushi rolls in the world. Since typical sushi rolls are rolled in dried seaweed, many people who aren't used to eat dried seaweed tend to have hard time biting into them. This is one reason that the California rolls are made inside-out.
Ingredients:
• 4 cups sushi rice
• 4 sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
• Toppings
- 1 avocado
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise (Vegan mayo)
- 4 tsp white sesame
- 1 cucumber
- 1/2 smoked tofu
- 2 shiitake mushroom
- 1 carrot
- 1/2 burdok
- 1/2 cup sprout (alfalfa, broccoli…, anything tiny)
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• Mirin (Japanese Sweet Rice Wine)

Supplies:
• Knives
• Bowls
• Spoons
• Bamboo mats
• Plastic wrap
• Cutting Board
• Small towel

Recipe:
• Peel an avocado and cut it into strips.
• Also cut tofu, carrots/burdok and cucumber into long strips
• Cook mushrooms and carrots/burdok in a saucepan with soy sauce, sesame oil, and mirin
• Cover a bamboo mat with plastic wrap.
• Put a sheet of dried seaweed on top of the mat.
• Spread sushi rice on top of the seaweed and press firmly.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds over the sushi rice.
• Turn the sushi layer over so that the seaweed is on top.
• Place the toppings of your choice lengthwise on the seaweed.
• Roll the bamboo mat forward, pressing the ingredients inside the cylinder-shaped sushi.
• Press firmly the bamboo mat with hands, and then remove the rolled sushi.
• Cut the sushi roll into bite-size pieces.


Miso Soup (soup)

Ingredients:
• 12 cups dashi soup stock (3 inch konbu [dried kelp] sea weed soaked in water)
• 2 block tofu
• 16 tbsps miso paste
• 1 cup chopped green onion
• 1 onion
• 1/3 Japanese kabocha pumpkin

Supplies:
• Pot
• Spoon
• Knives
• Cutting Board
• Pan

Recipe:
• Make dashi soup stock by placing Konbu chunk in a pot of water, and let sit for at least 30misutes
• Then add enough heat until it reaches a temperature right before boiling,
• Cut onions and pumpkins
• Add them and water to a new pot, and steam
• Once those veggies are cooked add them to the prepared dashi soup stock
• Cut tofu and green onions and add the tofu, green onions, and miso to the soup

Dango (sweets)

Ingredients;
• 5 1/2 cup joshinko (rice flour)
• 3 cup warm water
• For Sauce:
- 2 1/2 cup water
- 2 cup sugar
- 10 tbsps soy sauce
- 6 tbsp katakuriko (dogtooth violet starch) /cornstarch
- 6 tbsp water
Supplies:
• Bowls
• Steamer
• Pan
• Spoon
• Cup

Recipe:

• Put rice flour in a bowl and add warm water.
• Knead the dough well.
• Make small round dumplings or have fun and make your own original shape (snakes, hearts, etc)
• Place the dumplings in a steamer and steam them on high heat for 10 min.
• Cool the dumplings
• Mix water, sugar, and soysauce in a pan and put it on medium heat.
• Mix the water and katakuriko starch in a cup and set aside.
• When the sauce boils, add the starch mixture and mix quickly.
• Spoon the sauce over the dumplings