We have just launched our new certificate course this month. The Baked and Steamed Sweets Course is a WPA certified program designed to share the authentic techniques of Japanese wagashi (traditional sweets) with the world. While visually stunning wagashi like nerikiri have gained attention thanks to the rise of social media, Japan boasts a rich variety of other wagashi that are equally remarkable. Traditionally, these sweets have been crafted by skilled wagashi artisans. However, this course provides recipes that can be easily made at home. The recipes are adapted for home cooking, with adjustments to proportions and ingredients, making them accessible and delicious for anyone to prepare. This course was created by Miho Takahashi sensei, a wagashi artisan and a rising star with a 14 year experience in wagashi making including the 7 years working at Toraya, one of the most prestigious wagashi shops in Japan. She has opened her own school last year and already becoming a popular overseas holding workshops in Asia. Takahashi Sensei has won a number of Gold Awards in the National Wagashi making contest. In this 12 hour course, you will not only learn 8 kinds of popular Japanese sweets, but also learn about the ingredients that are used in Japanese sweets making as well as the background and history behind each sweet.. In wagashi making there are various kinds of flour, sugar and leaving agents, some quite unique and not heard of to most people outside Japan. 40 page textbook will tell you the difference between each ingredients and whether they can be substituted by other ingredients. This course also comes with a tool kit which includes all of the tools that are used in the course and hard to find overseas. You will need a steamer and hot plate (or shallow frying pan) . for the course. To learn more about this course including course fees, please visit, Wagashi Promotion Association's Website.. If you apply for the certificate, you will be entitled to use this recipe for commercial use including holding your own courses in your country. An annual fee of 3960 yen and a certificate fee of 22,000 is required.
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Happy New Year to all of you wagashi lovers!
This year, I made a resolution to start my blog again. Since the end of the Pandemic, I have been very busy with in person classes with tourists coming into Japan. Since I couldn't handle the sudden surge of booking coming in, I decided to train those who are interested in teaching Japanese sweets to foreigners so I can pass on some of my work to them. Since they are doing a great job running classes, I no longer teach classes unless we are short of staff and this has given me some time to think about expanding our business. So, I hope to update this blog more often so that you know what's going on. The past two weekends I attended a course on learning how to make Hasamigiku (はさみ菊)a nerikiri chrysanthemum made with scissors. Although I have taken couple of classes to learn this art. I never quite got the hang of it, and I never had the time to practice. So I finally decided to take it more seriously and took an online course from Wagashi Kobo Mochiko in Fukuoka which I found on Instagram. The instructor who is a wagashi artisan looked very young in contrast to her works of a master. Because she never showed her face until the end of the class I thought she may be older than me, actually she looked as if she was in her twenties. Nonetheless, she was amazing! I think her class was the best class for cooking class that I have taken so far. I would strongly recommend those who are eager to learn this art, if you speak Japanese, can hire an interpreter. The class focused more on practice rather than demonstration, but a video was provided that we can see her in action later on. She would check one by one and tell us where we are doing wrong, and why it's wrong, and give advice on how to improve. The class started with making the nerikiri dough which is suitable for making the hasamigiku (another eye opener). and how to shape the dough that will be the base for the kiku. Then we would sit and listen to her lecture on the theory behind making the perfect hasamigiku. The last part of the first day would be to make one kiku while the instructor gives us advice. The second session started out with review of the theory and made more hasamigiku, one big and one medium size while she gave out more advices. After 8 hours of learning about Hasamigiku, I think I have learned a great deal and with more practice, I will be confident enough to hold my own classes and teach in her style. The front row is from the second class and the rear row is from the first class. My first hasamigiku in this class started from the far left so there is a huge difference if you watch closely.
Today, I am happy to announce that Simply Oishii Japanese Cooking Class has officially changed it's name to Simply Oishii Wagashi School. My cooking class will be focusing on Japanese Sweets and I have renewed my website accordingly.
Ever since the pandemic, I have been getting many requests for online classes for Japanese sweets, and this has taken up most of my time which made it difficult for me to do savory classes. So, I have finally decided to concentrate on wagashi (Japanese Sweets) and to enhance my skills for that to enable me to pass on what I have learned to other people. My School Logo has changed and my new logo has dango under the sakura tree which is called "Ohanami Dango" a three color dango that I make in my online mochi class. This dango represents how Japanese sweets are strongly connected with the Japanese seasons. I hope to not only teach the skills for making wagashi but also the spirit of making wagashi and the traditions and history behind it. So, it is a new challenge for me after almost 7 years of running my cooking class. I am looking forward to learning more and teaching more! Last week my online Mochi making class went live on Amazon Explore. Amazon Explore is a new service which allows customers to book live virtual experiences led by local experts. So you can tour around a foreign city with a tour guide from your home.
The difference between an YouTube travel channel or any other online experience is that this is a one on one and you can ask the tour guide to go to a souvenir shop and buy something and have it delivered to your home. My cooking class does not have a shopping function at the moment, but in the future I hope to have a class where you can shop for wagashi tools. This service is still on Beta and available in the US by invitation. I am looking forward to how this is going to develop in the future. Amazon Explore Beta >>> Learn More This month, I took JSA's latest Instructor Course - Higashi & Han-namagashi Certified Instructor Course(干菓子&半生菓子認定講師講座). Higashi is dry confections and Han-namagashi is half dried confections often served during the tea ceremony.
The confections are made with sugar, rice flour and water. The water content is minimal to last longer. It is shaped and colored into a seasonal motif. Compared with Jo-namagashi (High grade fresh confections), it may not stand out, but the simple beauty and the subtle sweetness is just as appealing. In this 8 hour course you will learn how to make six kinds of confections, 17 designs and learn 40 kinds of techniques. Since you need special tools and unique ingredients, it may be difficult to hold one day online classes for this art, but once JSA comes out with an English textbook, I will be holding this diploma course in person and online. Tools and ingredients will be included in the kit. Please see JSA's website for the detail of this course. If you are interested to take this course, please follow my Facebook or Instagram. To make use of my free time during the soft lockdown. I've taken up a course on Water Confectionery Art. Water confection (水菓子 or Mizugashi) originally was the term for fruits that were served during summer. Nowadays, it expresses cold summer confections made with Jelly. To mold the confections, various jellying agents are used including Kanten (Seaweed) Agar, and Kudzu (Arrowroot).
In this course, you will learn how to express the four seasons with this traditional art as well as learn the techniques on how to use the ingredients that are unique to traditional Japanese sweets. To learn more about this course, please see JSA's official website. If you are interested in taking this course in English, please contact me through the contact form. This course is also available to take online using zoom. (For Japanese residents only). I will also be doing a one-day course for this confection in summer. Hope everyone reading this post is at home safe and sound. The cherry blossoms along the river in front of our Apartment was in full bloom this week. Despite all the sadness that is going on in the world, the beauty still moves my heart.
Due to the COVID-19 situation, it seems that it will be a while until I can start classes. So I'm planning to conduct classes online through zoom. Details on which courses can be held on line as well as the class fee will be announced shortly. Basically it will be the same recipe, but you will have to source the ingredients yourselves and we will cook together! (How exciting!) If you are interested, please follow my Facebook page or drop me a note on messenger or contact form. Stay home safe and have a nice day! It's hard to believe that another year has gone by so quickly. The renovation works at our apartment is almost finished and we will be going back this week. I will have to close my cooking class for relocation this week. I will be doing classes at my home in Meguro between 23 and 25 Dec. and then break for winter holiday from the 26th. I will resume classes on the 9th of January.
We are all looking forward to going back home and I can't wait to do classed in my new kitchen. For those of you who have come to my class, thank you so much for your support. For those of you who are interested to come, I hope I can meet you soon! I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! Just a glimpse of my new kitchen that just arrived last week: Due to the renovation work being done in our apartment, we will be relocating to a temporary housing as of Oct. 28th. Classes will resume on Nov. 5th. There will be some courses that will not be available during relocation.
The new venue will be 1 minute by foot from Nishioi Station on the JR Yokosuka or Shonan Shinjuku line. Both lines are only one stop away from the Yamanote Line. We will be returning to our home in Meguro in Mid December, and resume classes after the New Years Holiday. |
AuthorI'm Miyuki and I teach Japanese Home cooking at my home in Tokyo. Archives
January 2025
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