Turning Japanese - Hashi cookery school

For some reason the thought of cooking Japanese food at home has always intimidated me.  I love the food and thought it was fine time I started making it at home... via some Japanese cookery lessons with the lovely Reiko at Hashi cooking

Luckily my sister is a sushi fiend too, so was keen to do the lessons with me!  We signed up to the beginners course .  The classes are held in Reiko's house, with only around six people at most, so are definitely intimate.

The first lesson concentrated on the basics, such as suppliers and ingredients.

It was good to learn that most Japanese cooking can be done with a few basic ingredients not that intimidating after all:
Soy sauce (should always be Japanese, e.g. Kikkoman)
Rice wine (Mirin and Sake)
Rice vinegar
Miso
Seaweed (wakame)
Wasabi
Bonito flakes and Konbu (kelp) for making dashi (stock). Alternatively, you can just buy dashi powder.

Now I just need to get stocked up!

Next week we're making gyoza dumplings.  Can't wait.