Meet Miki at the JR Shinanomachi train station and walk together 10 minutes to her apartment building. Miki will invite you into her modern apartment where you can relax in her living room with a refreshing drink. Join Miki at the dining table for an authentic Japanese meal that showcases fresh, seasonal produce and ingredients crafted using traditional cooking methods. Your meal may include dishes such as temari-sushi (colorful, ball shaped sushi) or chirashi-sushi (sushi bowl) as a main, handmade tofu, miso soup, tsukemono (Japanese pickles), ohitashi (cooked and marinated vegetables) or nimono (slow cooked veg/meat) as sides.
Miki offers 2 different market tours below - please remember to include your preference in the notes field when making your booking.
KAPPABASHI MARKET TOUR: Miki gives you a walking tour of Kappabashi Street, also known as Kitchen Town. During your immersive 1.5 hour tour of this unique kitchen tools market, Miki introduces you to the variety of kitchen utensils used in Japanese cooking. This is a great tour if you've been looking to purchase a Japanese knife! This street market is where Miki purchases everything she needs for her kitchen and dining room, from knives and cookware to teapots and chopsticks. Your experience ends at Kappabashi street. If you chose the optional transport add-on, Miki will drop you off at your hotel. NOTE: If you choose the morning experience, Miki will drive you to Kappabashi market after your cooking class as the shops open later in the morning. If you choose the evening market tour and cooking class experience, Miki will take you to the market first and then drive you back to her home for your cooking class.
YOTSUYO NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET: If you want to get a first-hand glimpse into how locals shop, this is the market tour for you! Meet Miki at Yotsuya station and walk to the supermarket where local Japanese shop for ingredients, whether produce, seafood, ramen or seaweed. In addition to the supermarket shopping expedition, Miki takes you to a Japanese Castella or sponge cake shop which was started in 1897. You will also drop by Kinsho-bai to try Tsukudani, a Japanese traditional food made of vegetables and seafood eaten with rice. After picking up these local Japanese foods, walk 25-minutes to Miki's home (while visiting fun places along the way) and begin your cooking class.
Join Miki in her kitchen and prepare either authentic sushi, a bento box or handmade gyoza from scratch in your Tokyo cooking class. In addition, you will learn to make dashi (the foundation for miso soup and other Japanese dishes) as well as sushi rice shaped and presented on beautiful Japanese plates. You can expect the cooking portion of your experience to last about 1.5 hours. Please let Miki know which of the three options - Sushi, Bento or Gyoza, you are interested in cooking, when booking your experience. If you choose the Bento main option, you will learn to make one main dish such as Japanese wagyu steak or miso marinated fish. Each menu option comes with two sides such as shiraae, gomae or sunomono, in addition to rice and miso soup. Enjoy the meal you helped prepare with Miki as you hear stories of her culinary adventures in Japan and South Korea. Your meal concludes with wagashi, a traditional Japanese confection served with green tea or hojicha. If you don't include a preference when making your booking, Miki will choose whichever menu she feels would work best for the day.
If you choose the optional transport add-on, Miki will pick you up from your hotel and drop you off after your experience. Pick-up is only available from the Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi, Aoyama and Akasaka districts in Tokyo.
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.
Handmade tofuTraditional Japanese confections and green teaMain of A) Temari or Chirashi sushi or B) Shokado Bento or C) GyozaMiso soupVegetable side dishes such as shiraae and gomaeMiki’s cooking inspiration is her mother’s traditional Japanese cooking methods. Miki was born and brought up in Tokyo by her mother who was a terrific home cook and frequently hosted home parties for her friends. As a child Miki would always help her mother cook in the kitchen to serve their guests - this is how Miki learned and perfected the art of Japanese home cooking. Now, as an adult, cooking and sharing good food with people continues to bring her joy. Miki married a Korean man, moved to South Korea and learned authentic Korean cooking through cooking courses - she has even earned several certificates in cooking. After 14 years of life in South Korea, Miki returned to Japan to start a new adventure with her family. On occasion, she teaches Korean microbiotic cooking and Japanese cooking at schools. She is excited to open up her home to travelers to feast on authentic Japanese cuisine created from natural, fresh ingredients and cooked using traditional cooking methods.
"What a wonderful experience! Miki met us at the station and took us on a walk thru her neighborhood. We stopped at a furikake shop, a mochi shop, a tofu shop and a tsukudani shop. All established shops in existence for decades. We had samples at each and Miki got all my questions answered as she is fluent in both English and Japanese. Such history within the shops. Of course I bought some items to take home.
Our next stop was the grocery store. Though the stop is to primarily get what’s needed for the upcoming meal, I got input from Miki on what she thought was the best miso, kelp, salt, and dried kiriboshi and hijiki. I cook a lot of Japanese food at home and always try to pick up stuff in Japan, but it’s always iffy. Having a local give input was so helpful.
The lesson itself was invaluable. She teaches you the proper way to make dashi. It’s easier than I expected and I will be making my own dashi from now on. I’ve been using the packets, and tried a recipe she taught me as soon as I got home, but the taste was completely different. Of course I had used a packet and it completely overpowered the taste of the dish. I will make my own dashi from now on. She also taught me the sa-shi-su-se-so method of layering my ingredients and it has completely changed the way I approach Japanese cooking.
When we were done, Miki told us she would drive us back to our hotel, but we declined as we wanted to go to a matcha tea shop. We explained we were having a hard time finding matcha. She immediately asked us the name of the shop and called them. She told us they were nearby and had 4 matchas in stock. She drove us there, and we were able to procure our tea. Our hotel was close by so although she offered to drive us, we declined but was so thankful for her offer.
Our time with Miki flew by. We will for sure book another cooking lesson when we’re in Japan. She even told us we could cook what we wanted if we let her know in advance. We left her looking forward to another lesson and feel we’ve also made a great friend."
"We had a very interesting and impressive visit at a local supermarket with detailed
information about Japanese food. After that we prepared a delicious meal with a very kind
host, Miki. All best wishes to her and thank you for the wonderful guidance."
"What a wonderful experience! Miki met us at the station and took us on a walk thru her neighborhood. We stopped at a furikake shop, a mochi shop, a tofu shop and a tsukudani shop. All established shops in existence for decades. We had samples at each and Miki got all my questions answered as she is fluent in both English and Japanese. Such history within the shops. Of course I bought some items to take home.
Our next stop was the grocery store. Though the stop is to primarily get what’s needed for the upcoming meal, I got input from Miki on what she thought was the best miso, kelp, salt, and dried kiriboshi and hijiki. I cook a lot of Japanese food at home and always try to pick up stuff in Japan, but it’s always iffy. Having a local give input was so helpful.
The lesson itself was invaluable. She teaches you the proper way to make dashi. It’s easier than I expected and I will be making my own dashi from now on. I’ve been using the packets, and tried a recipe she taught me as soon as I got home, but the taste was completely different. Of course I had used a packet and it completely overpowered the taste of the dish. I will make my own dashi from now on. She also taught me the sa-shi-su-se-so method of layering my ingredients and it has completely changed the way I approach Japanese cooking.
When we were done, Miki told us she would drive us back to our hotel, but we declined as we wanted to go to a matcha tea shop. We explained we were having a hard time finding matcha. She immediately asked us the name of the shop and called them. She told us they were nearby and had 4 matchas in stock. She drove us there, and we were able to procure our tea. Our hotel was close by so although she offered to drive us, we declined but was so thankful for her offer.
Our time with Miki flew by. We will for sure book another cooking lesson when we’re in Japan. She even told us we could cook what we wanted if we let her know in advance. We left her looking forward to another lesson and feel we’ve also made a great friend."
"The moment Miki picked us up at our hotel we felt that we had made a new friend. She made us feel at home in her beautiful house and we felt at ease cooking in her kitchen. While she expertly demonstrated various techniques we were encouraged to be hands on almost immediately. In the end we were able to produce a delicious Japanese meal. We were then taken to the extensive Kappabashi Market where Miki helped us select just the right items. This was truly a wonderful experience and we wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested in Japanese cuisine and culture. Thank you so much Miki.The moment Miki picked us up at our hotel we felt that we had made a new friend. She made us feel at home in her beautiful house and we felt at ease cooking in her kitchen. While she expertly demonstrated various techniques we were encouraged to be hands on almost immediately. In the end we were able to produce a delicious Japanese meal. We were then taken to the extensive Kappabashi Market where Miki helped us select just the right items. This was truly a wonderful experience and we wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone interested in Japanese cuisine and culture. Thank you so much Miki."
