t h e

s u s h i
Way o f
l i f e
While exploring the epicurean
delights of Kyoto, Priyanka
Pradhan samples the flavours
of home-styled cooKing

or someone not too fond of

Japanese food (or cooking, for
that matter), the idea of a day at a
culinary workshop in Kyoto
seemed daunting. In fact, the idea
of surviving a week in Japan
with only sushi, sashimi and
sukiyaki for company was overwhelming. I mightve even made a
few furtive trips to McDonalds in
dire times. However, after three hours in a Japanese culinary workshop, I found myself declaring, Ill never say
never again.
My classmates were a diverse lot an American who
previously studied in Japan and came with highly skilled
chopsticks manoeuvres; an American couple in their
60s, who were backpacking through Japan on bicycles;
and a Chinese couple on their honeymoon. Once our
motley crew was briefed on the days menu, which was
mainly dashimaki tamago (breakfast egg roll), sushi and
tempura, a few kimono-styled aprons called samue were
handed out to us.
At best, we felt like a part of an undercover samurai
convention, posing as excited MasterChef contestants.
The most important ingredient in Japanese cooking
is the dashi or stock, which forms the base for almost
every dish in our cuisine, the instructor, a soft-spoken
Japanese woman explained. This first step will deter-

khaleejtimes.com/wknd

8 may 2015

39

Travel

JAPAN

SoAKinG in the
CoLoUr:
(clockwise from
top right) A park
in Kyoto; a woman
buys ingredients
from a fresh food
market; inside a
Buddhist temple
in Kyoto; locals
wearing the
traditional
kimono pose for a
picture; the
fushimi inari
shrine in Kyoto; a
glimpse of a
Japanese bridge

mine how your meal will shape up, so lets be as precise in

our portions and sharp in our judgment as possible.
Dashi can be prepared from scratch by using katsuobushi
shavings of a type of dried fish called bonito (which looks
and feels like a hard chunk of wood) kombu, which is dried
seaweed (or kelp) and shiitake mushrooms. Once the concoction is boiled with water and strained, the first clear stock
(the superior Ichiban dashi) is ready to use. The same batch
of ingredients can be used to strain the stock again for an
inferior, but equally useful second stock (niban dashi). It may
be difficult to source bonito outside Japan, but one can look
for instant dashi pellets or generic sea stock in supermarkets
to prepare the dashi.
First up in the days menu was the dashimaki tamago,
which looked very simple, but turned out to be an expertly
prepared egg roll. In
fact, in Japan, it is said
that one judges the
quality of a restaurant
by sampling the dashimaki tamago made
there.
Cooking Sun Japanese
After whisking the egg
Cooking School
and pouring it into a
Funayo-cho 679,
pan, the fried egg is neatShimogyo-ku,
ly rolled up on one side
Kyoto, JAPAN
of the pan, while another layer of the egg mixBookings via Beans Travel
ture is poured into the
Japan
same pan. To stack the
two rolls together over a
email: info@beans-kyoto.jp
live stove, using giant
cooking chopsticks is
Website: www.beansnothing less than a feat
kyoto.jp
but after a few misadventures, we just about
Phone: +81-75-253-1001
managed to pull it off.
Lets just say if we really
Stay in Kyoto:
were TV show contesMitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto
tants, we wouldve been
Shijo
yelled at a lot.
www.gardenhotels.co.jp/
By the time we got to
eng/kyoto-shijo
the all-important sushi
roll, excitement was rife,

Where
to find it:

40

8 may 2015

khaleejtimes.com/wknd

And finally it was time for

emotions were running high
the tempura, which was
and time was running out.
much simpler than sushi.
Everyone wanted to get this
Shrimp, chopped pumpkin
one right, to impress friends
and maitake mushrooms
and family back home.
weresimplycoveredinflour
As it turned out, sushi is
emirates flies daily and
batter and dipped into heatquite complicated to make.
direct from Dubai-Osaka.
ed (180C) deep-frying oil.
Starting off with mixing the
Ah, like regular Ameriprecise amount of dashi into
Business class return fare
can
chicken nuggets! said
the rice while simultaneously
starts AED 14,765
one of my classmates.
letting the mixture cool, it
Oh, like the Indian bhamade for quite a procession.
economy class return fare
jias! I chimed in.
Our chopsticks ninja classstarts AED 4,725
After very many Instamate stirred the rice while the
www.emirates.com
gram posts, we had finally
honeymooners hovered over
prepared our own bento
him frantically, using giant
Kyoto is 1.5 hours from
boxes! Fruits of labour are
fans to cool the mixture. Then
Kansai International
always sweet, and I found
the chopping began mushAirport, Osaka, by
ours to be savoury yet derooms, cucumber, rolled egg
limousine bus or 45
lectable all the same, even
and crab sticks made for a
minutes by train
for someone who was nevcolourful ensemble for our
(Hankyu Railway).
er a fan of Japanese food.
grand sushi rolls.
On my flight back to
A sheet of seaweed was
Dubai, even as the in-flight
then placed on a maiku or
menu offered a variety of
bamboo rolling mat and the
dishes to choose from, I opted for my tradidashi-soaked rice was thinly spread on top. The
tional Japanese Kaiseki tray. Clearly, my
chopped ingredients were horizontally placed
McDonalds days were far behind me. After
on exactly one-third of the sheet and the bamall, the one thing I took away from this experiboo mat was used to grip and roll the sushi into
ence is to, never say never when it comes
a tight cylinder. The maiku was then carefully
to food!
removed and a wet knife was used to cut the
roll neatly. Well, almost neatly.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com

how to
get there:

taste of
Kyoto:
three new
Japanese
dishes
to try
oKonomiyaKi:

The name of the dish is derived

from the Japanese word
meaning whatever you want
and yaki, which means grilled.
The dish comes under the
teppenyaki style of cooking
and is served sizzling, on a
hotplate. Okonomiyaki is often
referred to as Japanese pizza
or as Osaka soul food.

the KaiseKi meal:

A traditional Japanese
multicourse meal, which draws
from ancient Japanese cuisine
dating as far back as the 9th
century. The kaiseki meal
includes only fresh and seasonal
ingredients and may comprise
of up to five courses and 15
dishes, served in small portions.
A typical kaiseki meal is
expensive and can start from
10,000 Yen per person
(Dh300) to upwards of 40,000
Yen per person (Dh1,200).

wagashi with
matcha tea:

Japanese eats:
(clockwise from
left) tempura,
one of the easiest
Japanese dishes
to cook at home;
perfectly
served sushi;
the completed
bento box
khaleejtimes.com/wknd

Wagashi is a collective name

for traditional Japanese confectionery, typically made from
plant ingredients such as anko,
which is azuki bean paste and
mochi (rice cake). Different
types of wagashi are usually
served with tea, especially matcha, which originated in China
and was planted in Kyoto by a
Zen monk.

8 may 2015

41