Face the Stove...

We had a busy weekend! On Saturday, we tried our hand at shodou (Japanese calligraphy). Verdict: Insanely difficult, but fun. On Sunday, we attended an international cooking class. There were about 30 people, including a few folks we've met on other outings. The menu featured five courses spotlighting the cuisine of Kumamoto prefecture (on Kyushu, the southwestern island of Japan). The menu:

1. Sansai Rice
2. Dango Jiru (Dumpling Soup)
3. Higo Dengaku (Tofu with Miso)
4. Na-ya-ki (Fried Vegetables)
5. Ikinari Dango (Sweet Dumplings)

(The entire meal was vegetarian, except that the soup stock in the Dango Jiru was fish-based.)

We split into groups of six to eight, and each group made one dish. Renee and I were assigned to different dishes. I made the sansai ("three year") rice, and assisted on the Higo Dengaku. Renee made the Dango Jiru, which looked really complicated to me...

The rice was extremely simple: Rice is washed and placed in a rice cooker with an appropriate amount of water. Then soy sauce, sake, and salt are added and mixed. Finally, a wild vegetable mix of mountain mushrooms, ferns, and bamboo shoots is placed on top, but not mixed. Then you let the rice cooker do all the work. You mix the vegetables into the rice afterwards.

The Higo Dengaku was certainly more interesting. The tofu is essentially boiled in soup stock, and then served with a Miso and sesame sauce. To make the sauce, white miso, sugar, sake, and ground sesame are simmered in a saucepan while you constantly knead and stir the mixture (which has the consistency of peanut butter). The most delicate part of the procedure is retrieving the tofu from the pot without breaking it -- the experts had an amazing technique using a slotted spoon and a pair of chopsticks.

Once the food was prepared, we all dined! All of the food was delicious, but my favorite was probably the dumpling soup. There was only one other native-English speaker at my table, so it was a good opportunity to practice my Japanese, too. (Breaking News Update: my Japanese is horrible!). It was a really fun three hours, and quite the bargain, too. (only $3 per person, and you get a feast for your hard work!).