Ayuko-san runs a great little cooking class in a stylish private classroom in an easy to find part of central tokyo. I came for a bit of fun in the middle of
a 2 week stay in tokyo but was so impressed I returned for a second class and came away with real, useable recipes to teach my cafe and restaurant staff in bali where I live (search cafe
zucchini and green ginger noodle house on here if you are interested).
my first lesson was in udon noodles. ayuko's father is an expert noodle maker and the handmade (feet, actually!) ones she taught us were superior to any
store or restaurant bought ones I had ever eaten.
this week is was sushi. again, the perfectly cooked and vinegared rice combined with well selected quality ingredients made for the most delicious
sushi.
as well as ayuko's clear instruction and successful recipes she gives lots of interesting cultural background (we made origami chopstick rests and learned
about her experiences learning kaiseki cooking, how longs it takes to become a sushi chef, her favourite sake, restaurants etc) and gives generously in every way.
I am a vegetarian and ayuko supplied separate materials for both classes while the others in the group used meat and fish (enough variety so I could make 10
different pieces of sushi too).
highly recommended!
(The owner of The Elephant(Ubud, Bali), Jonathan R)