Japanese Vegetarian Shojin Masterclass, with Sachiko Saeki – Friday 25th August, 10am – 3pm

Plant based eating continues to evolve with peoples interest. Shojin Ryori is a Japanese vegetarian cuisine and is a special way of preparing, cooking and eating for monks at Zen temples. Shojin is considered an integral part of their training and the fundamental thinking behind this practice is the wholehearted appreciation of food, eating what is seasonal and locally grown, gentle seasoning and most importantly, not eating too much. Because cooking is an important part of their training, alongside meditation, the food is simple yet sophisticated.

This course will introduce traditional seasoning such as miso, shoyu and rice vinegar. Learn how to make vegetarian stocks and cooking sushi rice. You will also learn how to handle other ingredients such as tofu, seaweed, dried shiitake mushroom and kelp.

We will cook

• Soba noodle with tempura
• Vegetarian sushi
• Miso soup including stock
• Quick method pickles
• Tofu balls
• Sesame dressed vegetables

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.