We participated in the Comminity Market at Hyphen Asian Food and Culture in Belltown last Saturday. It was in the middle of the long holiday weekend, and what a great turn-out! We sold out within the first couple of hours!

We offered a variety of onigiri using Koshihikari from Fukui and brown rice from Great Rice, including Kozmo’s favorites Eggplant Miso, Beef & Burdock, and Asparagus Kimpira with organic brown rice from Great Rice, LLC. But the featured onigiri was Iburi Gakko and Smoked Provolone cheese.

Iburi Gakko is a smoked radish pickle. It’s a speciality from my hometown Akita, so you can’t find it in the US. Well, you could, but some of them are “fake,” meaning they add artificial flavors and additives. Making real natural iburi gakko is a lengthy process (takes months to make) and labor intensive. So you should read the nutrition facts of the product carefully. I brought mine back from Japan. That fact itself makes this onigiri very special, but the very smokey aroma from the chopped pickles and smoked cheese is quite a unique experience as onigiri flavors.

It was a great fun being inside such a cool space filled with Asian artisan crafts and food items. I was also grateful to see old friends and Kozmo’s regular bento customers in person.

Because we sold out early, hopefully there will be another opportunity in the future to connect with more people to enjoy our onigiri with love!

A lot of you have asked, so I’ve decided to have a sushi making class!

Let’s get together and learn how to make home-cooking style sushi for your family dinner or hosting a sushi party!

You’ll learn how to make sushi rice (the most important skill to learn), followed by several sushi styles that you can enjoy making at home such as:

Nori Maki (sushi rolls – traditional, reversed)
Temaki (hand rolls)
Temari Sushi (sushi balls)

Purchase your tickets HERE!

Date: June 3, Saturday, 2023
Time: 10:30am – 12:30pm / 5:30pm – 7:30pm (Choose Day or Evening Class)
Place: Haller Lake United Methodist Church Kitchen
Fee: $100 per person

NOTE: Please choose “Haller Lake Household” for the pickup location.

All ages are welcome, but we will use sharp knives and depending on the height of the person, you might need to bring a step-stool. Please ask first about minor participants. 

New Japanese Cooking Class at Haller Lake Community Club!

Let’s have fun together while learning how to make Japanese traditional finger food, onigiri!

What you’ll learn in the class:

• How to cook rice right for making rice balls
• Select easy and delicious filling (broiled salmon, tuna salad, pickled plums, cheese, bonito, etc) – you can make it vegan too!
• Form triangle rice balls three ways
• Finish up with cool wrapping methods that you can show off to your friends! Check out this video for the use of a plastic wrapper. We will provide the wrappers in the class!
  
• Kanako has extensive teaching experiences at PCC and other locations over ten years, providing private and event cooking classes, and publishing Japanese homecooking recipes on various publications including North American Post. Come join us and make onigiri like a pro! Just in time for a spring picnic!

Date: April 16 (Sun), 2023
Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm
Place: Haller Lake Community Club Kitchen
Fee: $70
Please reserve your seats by making a payment to Venmo (@Kanako-Koizumi) or contacting us at info@kozmokitchen.com.

Or for an easy sign-up, go to https://shop.kozmokitchen.com/collections/upcoming-meals-1/products/cooking-class-lets-make-onigiri

Location: 12579 Densmore Avenue North, Seattle, WA

What an amazing summer month we had! The August bento popup and catering events were full of excitement, happy energy and new connections with so many wonderful customers.

With the finish of the hectic month, I am off to Japan again to see my family, celebrate my father’s 90th birthday and do some culinary research! So Kozmo Kitchen is closed in the month of September.

Please stay tuned for updates on when we will back with Kozmo’s virtual storefront. My dream is still to find a more permanent way to make people happy through Japanese Home Cooking. The environment is very challenging, but I will be exploring possibilities. I appreciate your patience and support.

As for private cooking classes, catering and personal chef services, we will be open again in October when I return. So, please send your inquiries to info@kozmokitchen.com.

Thank you very much for your love and support always. We’ll see you again!

After going through the two-week quarantine period and having much-needed family time and taking a time-off for myself for one and a half month in Japan, I am back in Seattle!

Thank you for all the interests on catering and food delivery services received while I was away. Unfortunately Kozmo Kitchen is still closed and it will remain closed for catering services until further notice. However, we will be open one week for bento/meal offerings in March from March 11th (Thu) through March 13th (Sun). Confirmation will be announced shortly. Currently there’s no plan for April and later at this point. Stay tuned!

I am so very grateful for having been able to connect with many of you with my homecooking style bentos and meals before and during the pandemic. All your warm, happy comments and encouragement were the fuel for me to keep running in the last couple of years.

With the new year started (a few months have passed already!), I’ve decided to make some changes for Kozmo Kitchen. I’d like to try something new, which might require frequent out-of-state travels. I also need to take care of my health and spend more time for research to grow and expand my knowledge on health, nuturition and wellbeing that food can contribute and nurture. I look forward to sharing more soon!

We are grateful that we have served quite a few events at the Seattle Japanese Garden in the past. And this contribution is definitely the largest in scale and one of the most memorable for everyone in the Kozmo Kitchen team.

Seattle Japanese Garden hosted their 60th Anniversary party on August 12th. In human age, 60th birthday is called Kanreki, a significant milestone in many Asian cultures including Japan. It’s known that the birthday person is dressed in red in the celebration.

To honor the red color, the bento used a red elastic band with very intricate decorative ornament called Mizuhiki, made by the Garden volunteers. To match the special presentation, we decided to make Shokado Style bento. The challenge there was, we were supposed to make 200 of them! Well, we did it, thanks to all the amazing people who helped us.

We are so glad we successfully delivered 200 shokado bentos to the garden in time. And thank you again for everyone involved to make it happen!

Of course, you know Seattle Japanese Garden at Washington Park Arboretum is one of the most beautiful places in Seattle. And one of the best to host an event!

So, we were humbled and pleased that they would ask Kozmo Kitchen to provide catering for their own private event this past Sunday morning, a breakfast buffet for 30 guests. What a great way for us to cater a traditional Japanese breakfast for the first time.

We prepared a 13-course meal for an outdoor buffet, including Salmon, Tamago, three kinds of Onigiri and yummy miso soup with fresh corn and okra. We ended up serving indoors due to bad weather, but the Tateuchi Room offers a perfect setting for a warm, wonderful gathering.

Special thank you to Akiko’s Pottery for letting us use your beautiful pottery!

Shoyu Ramen at Sunset.

Miso Ramen with sautéed vegetables, fresh corn and butter.

Learn how to make these delicious home style ramen at PCC Cooks locations.

Sign up at https://www.pccmarkets.com/class/authentic-ramen-at-home

Kozmo Kitchen makes broth from scratch with kombu from Hokkaido (the best!).

To make richer flavor we sometimes blend kezuri gatsuo (bonito flakes) or mixed fish flakes.

Talk about natural umami bomb!