Canapés from the East at Hashi Cooking

One of the best things about Christmas is party food (also known as canapés!).  I love drooling over the supermarket ads showcasing their festive offerings but have to admit that, if you can find the time, homemade canapés always taste better.


With my love of the bite-sized treat, the Canapes from the East class at Hashi Cooking sounded like the perfect pre-Christmas night out.


The class is just one evening, during which you learn how to make six different Asian canapés.  Reiko demonstrates first, then you get the chance to make them yourself.  Most importantly, you get to enjoy them all with a glass of fizz at the end!


My three favourites are below.  You also take away all the recipes, making it easy to recreate them at home.  Hope they give you some festive inspiration.

Watercress, calamari and prawn tempura

Little gem lettuce with chestnuts and sweetcorn

Prawn noodle salad with sesame dressing

A neglected blog and a Japanese cookery lesson

As most of you know, I recently decided to quit the rat race and go back to University to study Psychology.  I thought making the decision was the hard part but I definitely underestimated just how much work would be involved.  For the last few weeks, I've found myself with my nose in a book (yup, they still do use those!), or with my head so swimming with statistics that stringing a sentence together has been a challenge (let alone a blog post).

But I've decided it's time to rejoin the real, albeit online, world, give my blog a bit of TLC and tell you about my latest Japanese cookery adventures.

My sister and I are back at Hashi Cooking to do Reiko's gourmet course (check out the lovely new website).  As ever the food was fantastic and we met some great people.  Reiko is, of course, the star of the show though - she is a fantastic teacher and a very talented chef.

Some pictures below.  I'm planning on recreating some of the dishes at the weekend, so I'll post my efforts and recipes then.

Reiko's signature dish being prepared

Ready for the oven

Et voila: scallops with spicy sauce and
 sushi rice (the best scallop dish I've ever had)

Tofu steak with wild mushrooms

Mackerel with apple and ginger sauce 

The best Japanese restaurant in London?

Last week, Reiko of Hashi Cooking very kindly invited me to take a class from her Japanese Home Cooking course.  


I did the Beginners course with my sister a couple of months ago, so I knew I was in for an absolute treat and couldn't wait to go along.  Whilst I love learning how to make all the dishes, I have to admit that eating the dishes Reiko creates is my favourite part of her cookery classes.

The classes are taught in Reiko's kitchen in her gorgeous house in Wimbledon.  Never more than six students, you get plenty of attention and chance to ask any questions you might have.  Reiko pitches the classes just right - some of the prep work is done for you but you still get chance to get your hands dirty. Once the dishes are prepared you get to eat the fruits of your labour washed down with a nice chilled glass of white wine.

I make the recipes I learnt on the beginners course all the time (including tofu bags, miso aubergine and somen noodle soup).  I'll definitely be doing the same with the recipes I learnt last week: okonomiyaki, Japanese potato salad and tonkatsu skewers.


Reiko offers a range of four week courses, from beginners through to gourmet, as well as one day classes to learn to make gyozas, canapes and sushi.  At first glance, the classes might seem expensive but  all of the high quality ingredients are included and you get to eat in one of the best Japanese restaurants in London!

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki, garnished and ready to eat

Japanese potato salad

Japanese potato salad

Tonkatsu skewers

Sizzling away

Served

Hashi cookery school - Japanese cookery courses

Tonight was the third lesson of our beginners Japanese cookery course at Hashi Cooking, in Wimbledon.   


I'm absolutely loving the classes and can't believe how much we're learning.  Today we learnt to make all different types of vegetable tempura (pumpkin, onion, corn, peppers, mushrooms), miso salmon (the same technique as Nobu's famous black miso cod), somen noodle soup and tofu bags with eggs and beans.


I feel like it's a bit intrusive to take too many photos in such a small group but I've been a good little student and taken copious notes, so I'll be sharing everything I've learnt with you as I recreate it at home over the coming weeks.

Home ec for grown ups - Recipease review

I haven't had a cookery lesson since I was at school, when all I remember making was pineapple upside down cake and a mess.

As my interest in cooking has grown, I've been keen to try out some lessons, so was v pleased with a thoughtful present of vouchers for Recipease.

Jamie Oliver's Recipease shop opened in Clapham Junction just over two years ago.  At the front of the shop you can buy all the Jamie Oliver branded goods your heart desires, as well as choose from a decent selection of freshly prepared ready meals.

At the back of the shop is a small space created as a cookery school.  Most of the classes on offer aren't particularly technical, with the emphasis more on making recipes that you can easily replicate at home.

My sister and I signed up for the South Indian curry course (Two hours, £40 per person including a glass of vino).

I was surprised by how many people were on the course - around 20 people to two instructors.  This meant that you didn't get any one-to-one tuition, which I thought was a shame. 

And there was no sign of Jamie but the two instructors were excellent - very friendly and good fun.

You work in pairs to create your dishes, in this case vegetable bhajis, lemon pickle and curry paste from scratch, which we turned into prawn curry.  The instructors demonstrate the recipes in stages, you then return to your work station where the ingredients are laid out for you and make the dishes. 

The prep and cooking took about an hour and a half.  You then have the opportunity to buy another drink and sit down to enjoy the fruits of your labour.  Anything you don't eat, you can take home along with the recipes.

Compared to the cost of other cookery courses, I think this is really good value.  The classes do assume almost zero knowledge/skill though, so can't cook/won't cook types are likely to gain the most from them.

The cookery school

Rach enjoying her vino

Ingredients ready to go

Vegetable bhaji ingredients

Frying off mustard seeds

Spices for the curry paste

Bhaji prep underway - beautiful colours

Curry paste pre-tomato puree

Easy lemon pickle

Curry paste

Finished result (although we didn't make the bread, rice or coriander sauce)