Midori will welcome you with smoked tea, a classic Japanese tea and wagashi, traditional confections typically eaten with tea. She will then introduce you to traditional Japanese ingredients used to prepare a homemade Japanese meal - soy sauce, mirin, sake, and miso. Feel free to ask her about any ingredient and learn about the recipes that bring those ingredients to life! Later you will sit down and share a traditional home-style Japanese meal, which may include dishes such as miso soup, okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) or takoyaki (octopus ball) or gyoza (dumpling) or teriyaki chicken, served with onigiri (rice ball).
Join Midori in her cozy cooking studio for an authentic Japanese cooking class in Kyoto. Choose from one of her thoughtfully curated set menus, featuring simple, delicious recipes you can easily recreate at home. Midori will guide you through a mix of hands-on cooking and live demonstration, using seasonal and traditional ingredients to prepare traditional Japanese dishes. The cooking portion lasts about 1.5 hours, after which you’ll sit down together to enjoy the meal you've helped prepare. Midori can happily accommodate vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and lactose-free dietary needs so please let her know when making your booking if you have any dietary restrictions.
Over your meal, you'll chat with Midori about Kyoto’s best restaurants and get her personal recommendations for food and souvenir shopping. It’s a relaxed and intimate experience, like cooking with a friend - perfect for couples, families, and anyone curious about Japanese culinary culture.
1. A cat resides in the home but remains upstairs during the class and does not enter the kitchen or dining area.
2. Midori can accommodate halal, kosher, vegetarian and vegan diets, on request. Please inform her of your allergies and dietary restrictions in advance while booking your Kyoto cooking class online. She also offers set menus, so don't forget to mention your preference when making your online booking.
3. This experience is also great for families with children!
4. Midori offers seasonal menus that include Gyuu Don (beef bowl), Sauce Katsudon (pork/chicken cutlets) and Rei Men (cold noodles) amongst others so if there is a Japanese dish you'd like to learn to make, please inform her when booking.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Please select ONE from the menus below when making a booking. All menus are served with welcome Japanese sweets, seasonal vegetables and tea. All menus can be made gluten-free or vegan.Menu 2: Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake, onigiri (rice ball), miso soup)Menu 1: Teriyaki Chicken (Teriyaki chicken or fried tofu steak, onigiri (rice ball), miso soup)Menu 9: Karaage (Japanese fried chicken, potato salad, onigiri (rice ball) and miso soup)Menu 8: Egg Sandwich (Japanese Fried chicken and cream soda)Menu 7 : Shoyu Ramen (Soy sauce ramen, Japanese fried chicken and onigiri (rice ball)Menu 6: Ramen (Vegan ramen, Vegan gyoza and onigiri (rice ball)Menu 5 Pork Tonkatsu (Pork or chicken cutlet), onigiri (rice ball), miso soup)Menu 4: Gyoza (Pan-fried dumplings, onigiri (rice ball), miso soup)Menu 3: Takoyaki (Octopus ball, onigiri (rice ball), miso soup)Midori has been cooking and researching Japanese and South East Asian cuisine for over three decades and is a wealth of knowledge on Japanese cuisine. She grew up in Akashi city where she learned traditional Japanese cooking from her grandmother. In 1995, Midori decided she wanted to share her cooking skills with others and started cooking classes in Kyoto. She then ran cooking classes in Singapore before returning back to her beloved Kyoto. She opened a lovely cooking studio close to the magical Gion district. Here she teaches Japanese locals about South East Asian food, and international travelers about homemade Japanese food. Midori believes sharing her passion for food is a wonderful way to connect with people and their culture!
"This was the most wonderful experience we had in Kyoto! Midori-San communicated with us after we booked and shared several options for what we could choose to cook. On the day of, from the moment we arrived at her charming studio we felt like we were family visiting a close relative. Midori was so welcoming and kind, and we ended up staying and chatting with her for a long while. She had fabulous recommendations for restaurants, shops, and experiences to make our trip perfect. She even spent a good deal of effort helping me track down my Japanese host family from high school. Not to mention the delicious cooking!!! We loved our evening with our new “Kyoto Mama” and would highly recommend as a must-do experience for anyone visiting Kyoto. ❤️"
"The experience with Midori was very good, as she is very experienced running her own cooking school not only in Kyoto but other parts of South East Asia. She is very professional, and very serious about the way she is running her kitchen and class. Please feel free to ask more about ingredients you don’t know, as she will be delighted to explain in detail about all ingredients used in Japanese cooking. I asked her about Japanese silky tofu and she showed me a very quick and simple recipe to accommodate it as a snack! My favourite dish was chicken teriyaki - it was very very good! "
"We had an amazing cooking experience with Midori! She was incredibly kind, welcoming, and helpful throughout the entire class. Her instructions were easy to follow, and the dishes we made turned out delicious! What made the experience even more special was Midori’s thoughtfulness—she went above and beyond by offering us tips and ideas for other things to see and do while in Kyoto. Her local insights were so helpful and really enriched our trip. This was truly one of the highlights of our time in Japan. Highly recommend!"
"My husband and I are on our honeymoon and we both love to cook. We both enjoyed Mindori’s class. She answered all of our questions and even made recommendations on things to do in Kyoto and other cities. She also helped us with making dinner reservations. Her location is also easily accessible by train and she let us record the lessons for future use."
