“Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.”― Dalai Lama XIV

I thoroughly enjoy teaching Japanese cookery classes, to share some great f the knowledge and skills I have acquired over the years. And also the social aspects of the teaching, the exchange of interest whilst meeting like minded people. I teach bespoke courses both priviately and for cooperate clients; below is a flavor of the most popular courses over the last 15 years

Make sushi like a Pro - taught for over a decade at Billingsgates Seafood School

Now running in its 15th years this popular sushi class is a in debt sushi course perfect for foodies, hobbits cooks, Japanese fashionistas and anyone keen to pursue a career in the sushi trade. The course covers a comprehensive guide to sushi making and the student will walk away with a sea of sushi skills including a core understanding of sushi making and culture. The class starts with Silla’s failsafe recipe for cooking sushi rice at home. Followed by maki making skills covering all the classic rolls from hoso maki, ura maki, futo maki and modern rolls like the dragon roll maki.

Maki teaching will be followed by fish cutting techniques with a demonstration on how to cut whole salmon using nose to tail philosophy including how to source the best responsible farmed salmon available in the UK. The students will then get an opportunity to cut their own fish; filleting down a mackerel, cure and light pickling to transform into an authentic mackerel sashimi famed for its buttery light flavor. Students will also learn how to cut salmon nigiri and have a demonstration on how to tackle a full loin of yellow fin tuna transforming it from a majestic 2 kilo piece into sashimi. Students will also be given the opportunity to cut their own saku block into nigiri slices. We will finish the course with free styling ura-Maki and students can add their own twist to sushi using the ingredients aviable on the course.

The course last approximately 5 hours and is taught in groups of up to 10 students to ensure detailed hands on teaching. All the sushi made on the course is yours to take home to share with friends and family. Next available dates:

New dates to be announced in July for autumn term 2023

Nourish the soul with an authentic bowl of pipping hot Ramem;

previously taught at Hahnemanns Køkken, CPH. For bespoke Ramen Pop Up Classes get in touch here

Ramen is a Japanese institution with small Ramen shops everywhere in Japan and now far beyond with ramen shops popping up across global cities. It would be fair to say there is as many variations as there are local dialects in Japan. Ramen is a movement; an obsession and any decent Japanese will have their favorite ramen spot. It is all about the stock, the slow cooked umami enhanced broth with simple noodles and delicious toppings. It is not haute cuisine and should not be elevated to that, it is a quick bowl of nourishing hot food best eaten solo on a wobbly stool in a backstreet ramen joint in Tokyo… in my humble opinion.

The DNA of a bowl of ramen: the soup typically made of chicken, pork bones, konbu and bonito flakes slow cooked for hours or even days in case of a pure pork ramen. The tare, the concentrated flavoring sauce added to stock just before serving, typically made from soy or miso.  Then there are the noodles, typically made with wheat noodles (originating from China) and then finally the toppings which includes pork, egg, nori, bamboo shoots and spring onions.  

Roughly speaking there is 3 kinds of ramen defined by region: Tokyo ramen, the soup is made from a broth of chicken and pork bones and the tare is soy sauce based. The Sapporo style made from a thicker, fattier chicken and pork bone stock and a tare sauce based on miso. With the higher fat content this soup stays hotter longer suitable for the damper colder weather of northern Japan, and is served with a thicker more alkaline noodle, the perfect winter food for this region. Finally, the ramen of southern Japan, a pure pork broth cooked over high heat for days until bones are rendered of all flavor and bone marrow. In below course we will focus on the Shoyu flavored ramen as that is the best starting point to master ramen.