おうちごはん！(Ouchigohan) - Japanese Teatime

Join us for a special edition of the family-friendly online Japanese cooking class series おうちごはん！Ouchigohan! – Japanese Home Cooking. We will start by learning how to make a type of wagashi, which a traditional Japanese confection that pairs well with tea. Cook along with our instructor, Deb Samuels, to make daifuku, a mochi ball with anko or sweet red bean paste filling.

After preparing our treat, we will be joined by Tomoko Honda of Ippodo Tea to learn all about the teas that they make, and how Japanese people enjoy them in their daily lives. Honda will teach us the differences between three kinds of classic Japanese teas; sencha, matcha, and hojicha, and how to best prepare them.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about everyday Japanese Teatime as it is enjoyed by families and friends in a relaxed setting. 

If you'd like to brew along using the same teas and tools as our instructor, please feel free to check out the following products from Ippodo that can be shipped directly to you! However, purchasing is not required to participate in the program. Please allow for at least two weeks for shipping. 

Teas:  Sencha | Matcha | Hojicha

Tools:  Matcha whisk (chasen) | Tea ladle (chashaku) | Tea strainer (chakoshi) | Tea bowl | Teapot (kyusu) | Glass teapot

The recipe card with ingredient list and Zoom link will be provided a few days before the event. 

About Ippodo:

Ippodo is a Japanese tea purveyor founded in Kyoto in 1717, over 300 years ago. At the time, the store went by another name and carried ceramics and other things besides tea, though over the years it became known especially for its teas. Then, in the mid-1800s, it received recognition from Prince Yamashina, who bestowed it the name Ippodo, meaning, “Uphold one thing: tea.” Under its new name, Ippodo has been a dedicated tea specialist ever since, while adapting to meet the demands of subsequent eras.

Today, in addition to flagship locations in Kyoto, Tokyo, and New York (temporarily closed), Ippodo has opened an online shop dedicated to customers in the USA and Canada, shipping directly from warehouses in the USA.

Our speaker for this event is Tomoko Honda, from Ippodo’s New York office. She began working at Ippodo 10 years ago and is a certified Nihoncha Instructor. From 2014 – 2016 she worked in Kyoto, and from 2016 – 2022 she came to New York to work at the New York Store, to help introduce the pleasures of tea to customers in America.

About the Instructor: 

 Debra Samuels leads the program content and curriculum development of TABLE FOR TWO USA’s Japanese inspired food education program, “Wa- Shokuiku: Learn. Cook. Eat Japanese!”.

She was a food writer and contributor to the Food Section of The Boston Globe and has authored two cookbooks: “My Japanese Table,” and “The Korean Table.” She curated the exhibit, “Obento and Built Space: Japanese Boxed Lunch and Architecture,” at the Boston Architectural College (2015) and co-curated “Objects of Use and Beauty: Design and Craft in Japanese Culinary Tools,” at the Fuller Craft Museum (2018). Debra also worked as a program coordinator and an exhibition developer at the Japanese department of the Boston Children's Museum (1992-2000).

Debra has lived in Japan, all together, for 12 years and specializes in Japanese cuisine. She travels around the country and abroad teaching hands on workshops on obento, the Japanese lunchbox. During Covid 19 she is teaching live online cooking programs to youth and adults.

The Japan Society of Boston is pleased to work with our friends at The Japan-America Society of Houston, The Japan-America Society of Georgia, The Japan-America Society of Washington DC, The Japan-America Society of Greater Philadelphia, The Japan America Society of Colorado, Japan-American Society of Indiana, and The Japan Society (New York) in this special installment of the family-friendly cooking series おうちごはん！Ouchigohan! - Japanese Home Cooking with TABLE FOR TWO USA, part of the innovative food education program, Wa-Shokuiku: Learn. Cook. Eat Japanese!, where participants make simple, healthy, homestyle Japanese food to enjoy with friends and family. This Ouchigohan event is part of #EdamameChamp, TABLE FOR TWO USA’s annual campaign to promote healthy eating through Japanese cuisine focusing on SOY.

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