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London Cooking Club ? ?Demystifying Japanese Cooking with Guest Chef Reiko Hashimoto?
A few weeks ago we had a very special evening at the London Cooking Club as we welcomed chef and food-writer Reiko Hashimoto. Readers of this blog will know of my unrelenting support of Reiko?s work ? over the years I have known her, Reiko has become a good friend and is also the person who?s taught me everything I know about Japanese food.  How It Works Every month, I choose a theme, cookery book or cuisine, and have a group of readers of The London Foodie come to my home to cook, eat a delicious meal, drink and talk. I distribute a suggested menu a week or so prior to the event, the participants choose their dishes and I e-mail out all recipes. Each person contributes a dish and accompanying bottle of wine. Why I thoroughly enjoy these evenings as they are proving to be a great meeting place for those who stumble upon this blog and who are passionate about cooking and good wine. As much as I like eating out and finding some of the London gems I write about, I also love cooking and this was primarily the reason why I started The London Foodie. All the recipes cooked on the evening were taken from Reiko?s new cookery book, soon to be published by Absolute Press in 2011. Canapés 1. ?Gyoza? ? cooked by Denise (The Wine Sleuth), these were shallow-fried and then steamed which made them deliciously crispy on the outside. The filling was an interesting mixture of minced squid and pork, coriander and other ingredients.   2.? Ban Ban Chicken in Lettuce Leaves? ? Dr G prepared these by cooking the chicken in a tinfoil parcel with ginger, spring onions, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and sake. The meat was then shredded, mixed with a spicy sesame seed based sauce and served in gem lettuce leaves.   Soup 3. ?Spicy Miso Soup with Prawn and Chicken Quenelle? ? I made this soup using a dashi stock base, white miso and a little chilli. Quenelles of minced chicken and prawns were cooked in this delicious broth and finished off with some spinach leaves for texture and colour. This was a delicately flavoured soup and ideal for any time of the day.   Starters 4. ?Salmon Chirashi Zushi with Avocado, Grapes and Wasabi Sauce? ? I really loved this dish prepared by Reiko herself. Chirashi Zushi is a type of sushi rice that is not shaped into bite sized pieces but served mixed with other ingredients. Reiko added sashimi salmon and Ikura (salmon caviar), avocado and grapes to the seasoned sushi rice. The spicy wasabi sauce was a delicious addition to this dish giving the other more delicate flavours a real lift.   5. ?Beef Tataki with Creamy Sesame Sauce? ? expertly prepared by one of my favourite food bloggers Kavey of Kavey Eats, this was one of the most delicious dishes of the evening. Kavey seared some top quality fillet steaks, sliced and placed them on a bed of thinly cut marinated onions. The fried meat juices were used to make a sesame seed based sauce which was poured over the meat and topped with deep fried garlic chips. Utterly scrumptious!   6. ?Nanban Mackerel? ? this is one of Reiko?s dishes I had never tried before and I was not surprised to find how delicious and simple it was to prepare. Rachel McCormack of Catalan Cooking was in charge of this dish ? she coated the mackerel fillets in seasoned flour, deep fried, and then cured them in a delicious, sweet and sour marinade made of rice vinegar, sugar, soya sauce and dashi. Spring onions and thin slices of julienned carrots were added to the marinade for extra flavour and texture.   Mains 7. ?Sea Bream Rice? ? Debbie of Vintage Macaroon prepared this lovely dish, one I have made many times at home. This is a very festive dish, as a whole fish is cooked over a bed of rice, kelp (seaweed) and dashi stock in an earthenware ?nabe? pot. To me, this is a dish that epitomises what Japanese cooking is ? simple, delicious flavours and with very little fuss. A real winner.   8. ?Buta Kakuni - Slow Cooked Pork Belly Stew? ? perfectly cooked by Tim, I simply love this dish ? definitely one of my top 3 Reiko recipes. Chunky pieces of pork belly are fried and then gently cooked in a dashi broth seasoned with plenty of fresh ginger for an hour. The broth is then discarded with the melted fat, and the pork belly is simmered again for an additional hour or until tender in a stock made of dashi, sake, soya sauce, brown sugar and more ginger. The meat should be melting, sweet and delicious and served with the thickened broth it was cooked in.   9. ?Ginger Flavoured Meat Balls with Sweet and Sour Sauce? ? Robert prepared these delicious, deep fried balls of minced beef and pork, spring onions and ginger, served with a teriyaki style sauce made slightly sour by the addition of rice vinegar. As with the slow cooked belly pork, these were perfectly accompanied by steamed Japanese white rice.   Accompaniments 10. ?Steamed Seafood & Tofu with Sesame Dressing? ? Jennifer Akin of Dashi Dashi cooked this lovely dish for us. This is similar in style to a chawanmushi (Japanese savoury egg custards) but has minced tofu and seafood added to it. The mixture is then steamed and topped with spring onions gently fried in sesame oil.   11. ?Prawn, Cucumber and Wakame Salad? ? a very simple but refreshing salad of cucumber, seaweed and prawns and a good accompaniment to the heavier meat dishes.   12. ?Cha-Soba Noodles & Calamari with Yakumi Sauce? - I really enjoyed the combination of flavours in this dish cooked by the lovely May of Slow Food Kitchen ? stir fried squid, peppers, spring onions and ginger among other ingredients were served with soba noodles (buckwheat noodles) in a lightly piquant sauce.   Dessert 13. ?Red Bean Ice Cream and Green Tea Crème Brulle? ? Tim was a busy guy this evening and kindly prepared our desserts (as well as the wonderful slow cooked pork belly stewed we had earlier). From a simple custard base, mashed adzuki beans were added, churned and frozen. The ice cream had a particularly delicious flavour from the red beans (slightly nutty), it was also light and refreshing. The green tea crème brule was also outstanding ? matcha powder was added to the crème brule base, which was then chilled and served with a crisp, caramelised layer of sugar on top.   I would like to thank all the guests for being so kind and for the effort they put into cooking all those delicious dishes and for sharing them with us.  Our next meeting will be in on 20th November 2010 and the theme will be ?French Provincial Cooking? inspired by one of Britain?s most iconic food writers Elizabeth David. Please visit the ?London Cooking Club? page in this blog for more details. For information and reviews of Hashi Cooking Classes, see The London Foodie write ups One and Two, Tamarind and Thyme, Greedy Diva, Kavey Eats One and Two, Gourmet Chick, Gastrogeek, Dashi Dashi One and Two, and The Wine Sleuth.   related searches : London
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