Cooking Studio Kanazawa

Japan has always been renowned for it’s healthy yet tasty food and the longevity of its people due to a traditional Japanese diet being well balanced, featuring more fish then red meat, a lot of vegetables, pickles, fermented dishes and small portions of rice. Generally it has a lower sugar intake overall and doesn’t use heavily processed food.

A cornerstone foundation of many Japanese cooking is the use of the lesser known produce Koji. Kanazawa is famed for it’s production of Koji which is essentially a yeast made from the natural mould of rice crops when the ash of 100-300 year old oak, chestnut or camellia trees are thrown over the spores of the rice crops.

Koji is used in the production of sake, mirin (rice vinegar), soy sauce, amazake and miso. As Koji is fermented, it’s a great source of probiotics and in Japan is said to also promote beautiful skin & hair growth, relieve constipation and fatigue, aid weight loss and good sleep, increase concentration and much more.

Koji is used in the production of sake, mirin (rice vinegar), soy sauce, amazake and miso. As Koji is fermented, it’s a great source of probiotics and in Japan is said to also promote beautiful skin & hair growth, relieve constipation and fatigue, aid weight loss and good sleep, increase concentration and much more..

Start your time at Cooking Studio Kanazawa with some deliciously fresh red shiso juice!

**COOKING STUDIO KANAZAWA**

Set in a beautifully renovated historical Machiya with striking blue feature walls and the original wooden carvings, one experiences the cooking lessons at the front of the Machiya.
Afterwards, adjourn to the private dining area shown where there is an abundance of beer & sake to pair with the food you’ve cooked.

Kanazawa Salon is located in a quiet back street not far from the famed Omicho Market, where one can learn how to incorporate using Koji in making healthy, traditional Japanese food with Chikako-sensei and Moe-sensei.

Both speak English fluently, with Chikako having lived in New Zealand for nearly 20 years and Moe being a student of hers in New Zealand for a time.

Chikako returned to Japan after a time and started to help with the yearly rice harvest and the running of Kanazawa Salon.

Moe who had returned to Tokyo, was disenchanted by her high stressed lifestyle of being a lawyer in Tokyo, and decided one harvest to help out in the fields one season, she never returned to Tokyo and joined Chikako at Kanazawa Salon

There are several cooking courses available of which the meals can be made vegetarian or vegan and during two of my recent trips to Kanazawa I was able to participate in two absolutely fun, laughter, sake filled sessions, learning how to make delicious healthy Japanese food using Koji, including Kanazawa specialty dishes like JIBUNI (essentially a hearty duck stew) and enjoying the meals paired withe some of Chikako & Moe’s favourite local beers and sake.

For each session two dishes were made; a tuna mayo sushi roll with murasaki rice, and the Jibuni stew one morning. My second time participating, the two dishes made were fresh gyoza and then delicious noodles for the evening. The second dishes are often served with little appetisers pre-prepared by Chikako and Moe.

You will definitely have many laughs with Chikako’s dry wit and humour, whilst Moe looks on amused, especially if Chikako scolds you at first exactly like a mother would! My companion and I were scolded at the start hilariously so (we were a tad uncoordinated and didn’t do the steps in the right order making our tamago-yaki for our maki rolls haha!), but in the end Chikako-sensei was very proud of what we made and it indeed tasted utterly delicious!