Yukari’s Japanese Cooking – Savory your Kyoto experience

What is the must-do activity in Japan?

Many of the foreign tourists visiting Japan and one of the main purposes is to enjoy Japanese food. Everyone loves Sushi and Ramen, but there is more it! People are not just eating Japanese food but also want to make it. Hands-on culinary experience is a popular activity among the tourists now. If you visit Kyoto, why not join the tourist-friendly local cooking class?

Cooking with Yukari

Hi, I’m Yukari living in Kyoto, Japan. I’ve been offering Japanese cooking class in my private kitchen for international travelers. It is so much fun to meet and cook with different people from all over the world. Cooking is the great way to communicate each other across the world and I believe delicious food can make people happy!!

What is the must-do activity in Japan?

It’s a great opportunity to feel Japanese real life

Yukari always welcomes people around the world in her cooking class. All the guests are visiting to her private kitchen and enjoy cooking and eating. Through an authentic Japanese experience, you will know how to prepare the local food, learning traditional techniques, or expanding your knowledge of Japanese cuisine.

The guests can learn in a small group and intimate class, 5 people or fewer, enjoy the local atmosphere. What kind of tools are used? What kind of table setting are done? Cooking class at home allow you to see the real Japanese culture and everyday life. It is perfect activity not only for foodies or cooking lovers, but also family, couple, and group travelers.

Lessons are in English but even non-native English speaker feel free to participate our class because we use only basic English.

Japanese cuisine has a huge variety of dishes

Washoku, traditional Japanese cuisine was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritages in 2013. Sushi is the most iconic food of it, but Nigiri-sushi (a thin slice of row fish is laid over a compacted vinegared rice) is never made at home. There are many different types of sushi and various kinds of foodstuffs are used depending on the region or home in Japan. You can learn easy to recreate and popular homemade sushi in the class.

Ramen and Pan Fried Gyoza are becoming even more popular than sushi. They were developed in Japan, influenced by Chinese cuisine. The Japanese has adopted many foreign dishes putting their own spin on other cuisine and create new from it. Curry rice, Tonkatsu (pork cutlet), or Omurice called Yoshoku refers to a style of Western-influenced cooking are also popular, more like soul food.The food that Japanese people usually eat at home is set meals composed of a main dish, a couple of side dishes, miso-soup, in addition to rice and pickles. Main dishes come in a huge variety including fish and meat such as grilled fish, Sashimi or Tonkatsu, Tempura, Teriyaki chicken, Gyoza…. Okonomiyaki is also sometimes served as a main dish in Kansai area.

The more the western style of cooking gets in popular in modern times. However, for a very long time, the Japanese didn’t eat meat due to the influence of Buddhism, thus, traditional Japanese cuisine consists of ingredients, mainly vegetables, grains, and seafoods. On the other hand, plant-based, vegetarian meal developed in Zen Buddhist temple, known as Shojin-ryori. It could be suitable for vegans, for it often uses no animal products at all. Yukari apply Shojin-ryori philosophy and method to her cooking and create modern recipes, so you can get unique experience and dining in Vegan class.

Cooking with Yukari

My story

I started my career as a flight attendant after university and visited all over the world living in Hong Kong. It was a great opportunity to see different countries and taste world’s cuisine. After coming back Japan, I changed my career and I worked for advertising industry, then independent to be a freelance writer. Being a writer for magazine was another my dream and I came to cover mainly local restaurants and food culture. Kyoto is Japan’s former capital with a long history, and historic and cultural heart of Japan. There are also over 100 Michelin-starred restaurants. I interviewed many chefs and learned a lot of things from them. These experiences sparked me serious interest in Japanese authentic cuisine, I was passionate about cooking so started my cooking class in 2019.

Enjoy making easy Japanese dishes at home

My mission is to make more fans of Japanese home cooking. People in overseas love to eat Japanese food but usually go out to the restaurant to get it. If you really want to enjoy Japanese food, your best bet is to cook yourself. Cooking Japanese food has no complicated processes or difficult techniques. If you prepare well selected ingredients and proper condiments, you can make real Japanese dishes that is simply delicious. I’m happy to share my recipes with participants to bring home Japanese taste.

Creative cooking with Kyoto vegetables

I’m working in farmer’s cafe as a chef besides cooking class. The cafe named Saemon is in Kamigamo, located northern Kyoto city. Kamigamo is known as a place where many kinds of Kyoto vegetables are grown. I create weekly lunch plans and cook using a plenty of fresh vegetables from the farm. Traditional Kyoto vegetable called Kyo-yasai with a long history of cultivating authentic vegetables are highly valued and attract people, especially chefs. Saemon is the farm that has continued 300 years and has been grown excellent Kyo-yasai. They opened a cafe in 2018 to offer good food in cozy space.

We provide safety, nutritious, freshness, seasonality vegetables concept with farm-to table as much as we can. Seasonal vegetables full of flavor are the best ingredients for delicious cuisine. From home grown to homemade, there is nothing better than cooking with vegetables from the farm. I sometimes spend a ton of time in the kitchen to create new recipes drawing out its flavor from seasonal vegetables, but I truly enjoy my work. That’s because I just want to see peoples’ big smile on their face when they eat my cooking.

Classes

All the classes can be booked through Airbnb or airKitchen. Online cooking is also available (Ingredients used are easily found outside of Japan). Please contact us via inquiry form for detail, date, the number of participants, menu, your email address. You can make your payment with PayPal.

Popular Authentic Menu

For Vegan

All the classes can be booked through Airbnb or airKitchen. About private lesson or online cooking, please contact us via inquiry form below. You can make your payment with PayPal.

Tidbits

Cooking class is not only learning how to cook, but also the place for cross culture exchange. Here are some tips and tidbits about Japanese cookware and tableware.