We decided to settle on a bento box cooking class at the\u00a0Cooking Sun Machiya Studio. For those of you who don’t know, a bento box is like the ultimate lunch experience, allowing you to taste a little bit of everything. Although we did this particular one, check out the other classes that they offer from sake tasting, market tours, to ramen cooking classes, there is definitely something for everyone here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are looking for alternative cooking classes to join, you can also check out <\/strong><\/a>over<\/a><\/strong> 80 authentic cooking classes in Kyoto<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by airKitchen and find the best cooking class for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned, we were going to be making a variety of things and putting them together in a bento box. Our menu for our Kyoto cooking class consists of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We were taught how to make everything from scratch, including the sesame dressing which was absolutely delicious!<\/p>\n\n\n We started off by making the base of the miso soup. Our cooking instructor walked us through how to create the broth (dashi) using the ingredients at hand. There were four of us in the class which was great as we really got personalized instructions on what to do. After creating the broth, we then let it sit and simmer and set it aside for later use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After we made the stock, we then proceeded to create the egg omelet which would be the filling of our sushi rolls. I loved this process and will definitely re-create this at home. If you’ve never eaten a Japanese omelet, imagine it to be a light, airy, fluffy layered cake that’s both sweet and savory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The whole thing was super fun- plus, I’ve never really cooked with chopsticks before and I have to say, I am now a convert! The secret to getting that sweet and savory flavor is adding a dash of mirin and soy sauce. After we created the omelet, we set them aside, ready to be used as our sushi roll filling.<\/p>\n\n\n I’m a big fan of sesame dressing. In fact, in our refrigerator back home, we have a whole bottle. Can you imagine my excitement when our teacher taught us how to make it from scratch? It was honestly so surprised at how simple and easy to do it was.<\/p>\n\n\n By grinding the sesame seeds and adding a few key ingredients, we were left with a smooth and creamy dressing which we used with our blanched greens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, we started creating our sushi rolls which were fairly simple. Because bento boxes were traditionally used as a take-out or home-packed meal (also often bought in train stations), most of them don’t contain raw fish which is why our sushi was primarily vegetables and crabstick.<\/p>\n\n\n We layered our ingredients on top of the nori and proceeded to roll our sushi rolls. Our instructor also taught us how to properly make sushi rice which is super important in the Japanese culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the things I love about Japanese cuisine is how simple it is. From my experience, whenever you buy pre-made teriyaki sauce, there is often a ton of sugar and other ingredients that I can’t even pronounce. When we made it from our bento box, it was simple, not too sweet, and relatively healthy!<\/p>\n\n\n We also used chicken thighs which is naturally oily in itself so we didn’t even have to add any cooking oil to our dish. The end result was delicious!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kyoto is known for its tempura which is why when we were looking for cooking classes in the area, we made sure that this dish was included. Our instructor taught us how to properly create the batter, and gave us a few tips and tricks on how to get the ebi (shrimp) tempura straight and long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back home, I’m a sucker for shrimp tempura and always just saw the vegetables as side dishes. In Japan though, we went through a number of tempura kaiseki meals and each one, it was the tempura vegetables that came out as a star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was no different here as the simplicity and flavors of the pumpkin and green bean tempura was so good! It was probably one of my favorite parts about the bento box.<\/p>\n\n\nOur Experience: Kyoto Cooking Class Menu for the Day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Cooking Our Bento Box:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Miso Soup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Egg Roll<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"tamago](\"https:\/\/www.adventureinyou.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tamago.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nSesame Salad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"blanched](\"https:\/\/www.adventureinyou.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/veggies.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nSushi Rolls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"sushi](\"https:\/\/www.adventureinyou.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/sushi.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nChicken Teriyaki<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"teriyaki\"](\"https:\/\/www.adventureinyou.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/teriyaki.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nTempura<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"homemade](\"https:\/\/www.adventureinyou.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tempura.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"bento](\"https:\/\/www.adventureinyou.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/bento-box.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n