Ramen Masterclass
Time & Location
About the Event
Gyoza has become one of the most popular Japanese dishes in the UK. Gyoza and another favourite, Shu-mai were originally from China and through time have now firmly established themselves into Japan’s street and fast food scene. A variety of fresh pastry wraps for dumplings are commonly available in Japan which allow these simple foods to be made at home.
In this class we will make by hand the gyoza and shu-mai wrappers as well as the delicious fillings. This is a great opportunity to learn how to make Japanese dumplings from scratch.
What you will make and cook
- Two different types of pastry wrappers for gyoza and shu-mai
- Pan-fried chicken gyoza
- Steamed pork shu-mai
- La-yu chilli oil
- Create each dipping sauce
Key ingredients
- Flour and wrappers
- Chicken and pork mince
- Prawns
- Nira (garlic chive)
- Water chestnuts
- Chilli and spice mix
- Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
- Dried shiitake mushroom
Sachiko Saeki’s Profile
It is part of family banter that Sachiko’s first encounter with the world was the scent of vinegar drifting from her mother’s hands, a result of years of sushi making for their restaurant in Japan. Helping in her parent’s business formed a focal part of Sachiko’s upbringing.
Since moving to the UK, Sachiko’s food experiences continue to be varied. There was a desire to know more about vegetables. For a couple of years she cooked at the popular Warehouse Café in Birmingham where she learnt about Western methods of cooking vegetables as well as learning about vegetarianism. In 2011 a trip to Koya-San, a Buddhist Temple Complex in Japan led to research on Shojin Ryori – vegetarian Buddhist monk food. These experiences with vegetables were sought by the team behind Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall where she featured in Channel 4’s River Cottage Veg.
Several years were spent in some of London’s Japanese kitchens most notably as an assistant to the Head Chef at Umu, a Michelin star Japanese restaurant in Mayfair, moving on to learn the art of sashimi fish at Atari-Ya, a Japanese fishmongers. At the same time she ran Kinome Japonica a Japanese pop up restaurant serving Kaiseki in various eateries across Birmingham whilst also catering for public and private events. Also, she is an experienced teacher since 2010 at Leiths in London, Demuths Vegetarian Cookery School in Bath, Harborne Food School in Birmingham, many other schools and privately.
Sachiko has just returned from Japan after spending an extended period of time conducting further research on Shojin Ryori by visiting numerous nationally renowned food producers and chefs. Whilst here she also received a Tofu Meister qualification, became a qualified International Sake Sommelier and attended training workshops in soba noodle making.
Sachiko continues to share her passion for Japanese food whilst contributing knowledge and experiences to the growing food culture in the UK.
We make a conscious effort to reduce waste and packaging. Students are welcome to bring their own containers and cool bag to transport their food home.
Refreshments will be available. All ingredients, equipment and recipes will be provided.
Photo credit: Pak Keung Wan