Some of you must have been very frustrated about the slooow progress on my catering updates. Well, the wait is over, for now at least. I’ve got a commercial kitchen lease for the next few months with potential extension.

Now I am taking bento orders at lunch time mainly for the Seattle area with minimun order $200 and $10 delivery fee. If you want a delivery to the eastside please contact me to discuss possibilities. Hopefully we can figure something out.

If “Bento” makes you think of a quick grab’n go type of lunch box such as chicken teriyaki or tempura bento, Kozmo Kitchen bento is quite different. I make everything from scratch. A typical bento includes one main dish (chicken karaage is most popular), 3 vegetable side dishes, tamagoyaki, homemade pickles, and mixed rice. Sometimes there is a salad to go with the main dish. I know, there’s a lot of bento for a quick lunch. But if have a lunch meeting at work or lunch parties with colleagues, you should give a Kozmo Kitchen bento a try! You would not be disappointed ;D

Here is an example of Kozmo Kitchen bento. This time I made it gluten free with no charge. I try to use seasonal ingredients in my bentos so that customers can feel and enjoy the seaon.

Today’s bento was Chicken Karaage Bento Autumn Version wiht kabocha pumpkin salad and mushroom mixed rice.

 

 

 

 

I don’t even know how many “boxes” of corn I consumed this summer. There is a farm stand called Country Farms up north on HWY 99, and their corn is a great find. Started at 2 for $1 about a month ago, and now it’s 4 for $1. I scored some super-sweet Yakima corn there and enjoyed cooking so many corn recipes.

My favorite corn recipes that I repeated a number of of times in the season include corn and rice, corn silk tea, chilled corn soup, and corn miso soup! I’ll update the recipe page on kozmokitchen.com soon, but you can access some of the recipes directly through the above links.

 

Thank you corn, for maing me and many customers so happy with your wonderful sweetness! Love, Kanako

My latest article for the North American post is Hiyashi Chuka recipe. Make your own and beat the heat!

Hiyashi Chuka – A Summer Classic in Japan

Japan Fair 2017 is a two-day interactive event that showcases Japanese cultural heritage through various seminars, workshops, demonstrations and many more.

This volunteer oppotunity came up recently to teach simple onigiri and sushi making workshops to those who are new to Japanese home cooking. I am honored to be part of this community event to share Japanese culture through my passion, cooking! Both workshops are free and fun to participate in for all ages. Come stop by and say hello to me 😀

Onigiri making workshop (for all ages): http://www.japanfairus.org/page/workshops#Onigiri

Sushi roll making workshop (for adults): http://www.japanfairus.org/page/workshops#SushiMaking

What an amazing night it was! I got the opportunity to participate in the food event called Food Lover’s Weekent at Tom Douglas’ Hot Stove Society on April 28th for the opening night as the Japanese cooking instructor featuring some Izakaya food.

In the demo sessions, I was next to Tom Douglas, and Thierry Rautureau(the chef in the hat)’s segments!  Tom made a few Chinese dishes and Theirry demonstrated how to make Coq au Vin, but my heart was beating so fast that I couldn’t remember many details except that Thierry remained very cool when the pan caught a flame on the stove top. He was it was not unexpected and just needed to put it out. His professional demeanor kind of calmed me down,  and I felt ready for my demos.

Now my turn – Chicken Karaage and Butcher’s Croquette in a paper bag. My cocktail partner is Nick Jarvis from Carlile Room. His presence gave me so much comfort and helped me grealy to maintain my composure, thanks Nick! But of course the big guy is standing in the audidenc with a microphone, as a facilitater, and he was always in my vision. Tom asked, “the audience is wondering how you could peel the skin of the super hot potatoes right out of the steamer with bear hands.” Well, I was screaming inside. I couldn’t find a towel but tried look calm! He asked more questions throughout my demos, but I got used to it and acutally appreciated him making the atmosphere more relaxed and intimate.

The second part was a hands-on session. There were 4 stations with different izkaya/street food themes – Takoyaki, Yakitori, Yaki Onigiri and Okonomiyaki. My station was Okonomiyaki. My friends know my relationship with Okonomiyaki. It’s not a good marriage. I don’t care for pancakes of any kind, okonomiyaki included. So I rarely make it at home. So this was a big assignment for me. I must say I am so glad I took the challenge. I have never eaten that many okonomiyaki pancakes in my life and am not so confident that I can teach making it again! Big thanks to my friend Yuta (the owner of Issian) for his consultation and hands-on training! And thank you my friend Yukari for bringing all the coold okonomiyaki gadgets from Japan!

Note: The okonomiyaki mentioned here is Kansai style (the cabbage mixed in the batter). To master Hiroshima style, I still have a long way to go but am optimistic now 🙂

Lastly, the Hot Stove Society crew was AMAZING. They were hard working and the critical part of the entire team. Outside the kitchen they went out and bought all the funky ingredients for my class that are usually not available in the kitchen. I couldn’t be more grateful for them being there to help me get through the evening.

Now I am ready for a couple of my classes coming up next month at Hot Stove Society!