Japanese Cooking with Aiko: Immersion Workshop

Aiko embraces omotenashi--a deeply caring and attentive sense of hospitality--that you will immediately experience through the peaceful beauty of her home, warm personality, and enticing cooking. Aiko will welcome you with refreshing cold-brewed green and barley teas, as well as an assortment of Japanese snacks, which could include onigiri (sticky rice triangles with assorted fillings) and seaweed salads.

Aiko will share with you the simplicity and balance that underlies Japanese cooking and teach you the respect for ingredients and attention to detail that she learned from her mother and grandmother as a young girl. Throughout the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to help prepare and taste the unique ingredients and seasonings that form the foundation of Japanese cuisine and learn from Aiko where to buy them and how to select the highest-quality items.

You will go home with recipes for the dishes you learned and a shopping guide to Aiko’s favorite Japanese markets, leaving you well-prepared to recreate a satisfying, authentic, and home cooked Japanese meal.

Menu

• Maki Zushi (Rolled Sushi)
• Fresh and light restaurant-style sushi with asparagus, carrots, baby corn, okra, and herbs wrapped with sweet-and-tangy sushi rice and nori sheets
• Sesame Dipping Sauce
• A thick, sweet-and-savory dipping sauce made with toasted and ground sesame seeds mixed with sugar, soy sauce, tahini, dashi, and more
• Okonomyaki
• Savory Japanese pancakes stuffed with a mix of shredded cabbage, shrimp, or squid topped with a rich, umami-flavored okonomiyaki sauce, aonori (sea cabbage), bonito flakes, kewpie mayonnaise, and pickled ginger
• Namasu
• A refreshing salad made of thinly sliced carrots and radishes lightly pickled in rice vinegar
• Yamitsuki
• Japanese "addiction" cabbage, featuring fresh cabbage seasoned with sesame oil, garlic, sesame seeds, and black pepper