On Sunday, I went to a Japanese Home Cooking class with my Canadian friend Kim, and Aussie friend Maggie. The class is run voluntarily by some very kind Japanese women who like to mix with foreigners. We only had to pay for the ingredients.
First, we took a walk through the oldest food market in Kyoto. It's full of interesting fresh seafood and fresh fruit / veges / flowers, pottery, sweets, tea, etc.
Kim & Maggie checking out the barrels of pickled veges.
We saw Whale Meat being sold!! Look how fatty it is. It's expensive, about NZ$30 for a few thin slices.
Baby Bamboo Shoots - Special Spring Food.
Ever wonder where the hot green wasabi comes from?? In Japan, you can buy a fresh Wasabi Plant and grate it to get fresh wasabi for your sushi. "HOT!" 
Japanese 'Okashi' (Sweets) - I love Japanese sweets...soft and freshly made from a fine sweet white bean paste, with red bean paste 'anko' on the inside, and softly colored to look like seasonal flowers and fruit. (In 2 weeks time, I'm going to learn how to make them!)
COOKING CLASS:
We learned how to make 'Yuba'. YUBA is made in the same process as TOFU. It is essentially like the skin of milk that you see when you heat milk up in a pot. Except, it's the skin of Tofu. It's kind of got a rubbery texture when dried, but if you heat it, it's got a slippery texture.
We made 'Yuba-Unagi Donburi' which is sticky white rice, with a mixture of Yuba & Eel on top. We also made 'Yuba Miso soup', and a side-dish of vinegared Yuba & cucumber.
Served with hot tea. It made a good lunch! 
Oh, except the rice dish was a little slimy/gluey for me...but maybe that was my fault for adding too much cornflour...?!
Full and Happy after the meal.
2008-01-11 @ 21:36