Amidst the excitement of the holiday season, surrounded by family and
friends, we want to express our gratitude to all the people who have
contributed to our success and wish you a happy and healthy new year full
of good cheer.
The New Year, Shogatsu, is an especially important holiday in Japan,
celebrating the previous year’s bounty and inviting a fresh start. That is the
reason we give thanks to our supporters’ generous contributions to our
programs, attendance at our events, and becoming members.
We are grateful for our participating chefs who donate special dinners at
their restaurants, contribute their time leading our student and teacher
public school programs, and host our chefs and students from Japan.
Our sincere appreciation goes to our partners in Japan for hosting our Chef
Scholars and transforming their lives by immersing them in Japanese
culinary culture.
The Gohan Society’s goal of fostering a mutual appreciation of culinary
heritage between the United States and Japan is only made possible
through your commitment to our work. We thank you for that and look
forward to celebrating new beginnings with you in 2020.
Warmest regards,
Saori Kawano
Founder & Chair
Welcome our New Executive Director and Board Members
We are delighted to announce the recent hire of Cerise Mayo, our new
Executive Director.
Cerise began working as an advocate for small agricultural producers in
2002 at the U.S. office of Slow Food. As the Director of Special Projects, she
led national education campaigns that championed dynamic models of
small-scale food production, distribution, and procurement.
Since 2011, Cerise has contributed to the creation and growth of a select
group of businesses and organizations focused on food, farming, art,
education, and social justice under her consultancy, Nutshell Projects.
Please join us in welcoming her to The Gohan Society.
*
We are thrilled to announce the appointment of our most recent Board
Directors: Nick Sakagami and Yoshimasa Tada.
Nick Sakagami is a fresh seafood importer and consultant and the only
certified osakana meister (fish master) residing outside of Japan. This award
is recognition of his expertise on fish and sustainable fishing practices. He is
the author of the recently published book: Sushi Master: An expert guide to
sourcing, making and enjoying sushi at home.
Yoshimasa Tada is the owner of the revered Mt Fuji Steakhouse restaurants
in Hillburn, New York and Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. His restaurant in
Hillburn, New York, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month.
In late October, food enthusiasts had the extraordinary opportunity to attend
our Tribute to Japan tasting dinner at the highly-acclaimed Junoon
restaurant prepared by our 2019 Chef Scholars Akshay Bhardwaj, Executive
Chef of Junoon, William Nacev, Executive Sous Chef of Daniel, Justin Borah,
Sous Chef of Gabriel Kreuther, Katie Hagan-Whelchel, Culinary Director of
Tartine, Ian Benites, Sous Chef of Gramercy Tavern and Leon Biscoe,
Executive Chef of Restaurant Associates. Each chef presented a tasting that
was inspired by his/her experience in Japan. From the incomparable food to
the stellar silent auction items, the event was a great success and sold-out
early! Thank you to those who attended, and please SAVE THE DATE for our
Benefit tasting on October 14, 2020!
A Japanese Chef’s Ultimate Comfort Food
An Interview + Recipe with Chef Shuichi Kotani, Founder of Worldwide Soba
Every person has a favorite childhood dish that lives in his heart. In Japan,
it’s called “ofukuro no aji,” literally “mother's taste.” In this interview series,
we visit a prominent Japanese chef and explore his ultimate “ofukuro no aji.”
We recently chatted with Chef Shuichi Kotani, Founder and CEO of
Worldwide Soba-Inc., a restaurant consultancy and most notably a “noodle
master.”
Please tell us about your favorite childhood dish that your mother cooked
for you.
My absolute favorite childhood dish is “Himeji Oden.” Oden is a plentiful hot
pot dish enjoyed throughout Japan, but the Himeji Oden is the style unique
to Himeji, my hometown. So, I guess it’s not really my mother’s taste, but
regional taste. Unlike standard oden dishes in other regions, the Himeji style
is done by simmering a bunch of ingredients in a light dashi broth and it’s
served with a strong sauce made with soy sauce, ginger and scallions. We
add a variety of ingredients such as fish cakes, eggs, daikon radish,
konnyaku (konjac or devil’s tongue), kombu kelp, kinchaku (deep fried tofu
stuffed with mochi), and octopus, which are common in every region, but we
also add gyu-suji (beef tendon). Every supermarket in the Himeji area has
gyu-suji, skewered just for oden.
In the Himeji area, we generally use light dashi made with bonito flakes,
sardine, and flying fish, but I think every household uses dashi powder for
saving time.
Could you describe the Himeji region?
It’s a port city facing the ocean. I used to dive a meter or so and catch
octopuses. I could catch sea cucumber by hand, too. It’s so easy, and it’s
free! Hyogo Prefecture also has many mountains and rivers, producing tasty
vegetables and grains like rice and soba (buckwheat). Since Hyogo’s somen
(vermicelli-like thin wheat noodles) is so famous, soba is not as well-known.
How often did the Kotani family eat oden?
Once or twice a week. As you know, oden can be enjoyed for a couple days
and it gets more flavorful as the ingredients absorb dashi. So, my mother
always put it in my bento box. That made me tired of oden at that time. She
was too busy to cook something elaborate and fancy, so she cooked oden in
a big pot and said, “There is oden in the kitchen. Help yourself.” I have a big
brother, and oden was perfect to feed two hungry boys. There was no
season for the Kotanis’ oden. We enjoyed it year-round.
This special recipe below was handed down to me from my mother.
Himeji Oden Recipe*
Serves 4
Ingredients:
800g (1.75 lb) gyusuji
450g (1 lb) octopus, boiled
400g (6-7 pieces) hardboiled egg
380g (0.85 lb) konnyaku
320g (0.7 lb) daikon radish
60g (2.1 oz) kombu kelp for oden
(It’s pre-cut and pre-tied perfect for the dish.)
280g (0.6 lb) fish cakes
240g (0.5 lb) kinchaku
4 packages of 8-gram (0.53 tablespoon) dashi powder bag (You can use 2
tablespoons of dashi powder instead of small bags)
4L (1 gallon) water
100cc (3.4 oz) Higashimaru brand usukuchi soy sauce (Can be substituted
with a lighter soy sauce)
60cc (2 oz) mirin
10g (2.5 tsp) salt
(For topping/dipping sauce)
75g (5 tbsp) soy sauce
15g (1 tbsp) grated ginger
15g (1 tbsp) finely chopped scallion
*Oden ingredients are available in Japanese grocery stores.
Directions:
Slice daikon and konnyaku to your favorite thickness.
Slice gyusuji and octopus to your favorite thickness.
Cut fishcakes if necessary.
Make hardboiled eggs and shell them.
Dissolve dashi powder in water and add soy sauce, mirin, and salt.
Add oden ingredients into the soup and bring it to a boil.
Simmer at least 30 minutes.
Mix all the sauce ingredients, and serve with oden.
To enjoy, pick your favorite ingredients and top the sauce (1 tbs). If you
like, you can sprinkle shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven flavored
pepper mix).
About Worldwide-Soba, Inc.
Founded in 1999 by Chef Shuichi Kotani, the organization aims to promote
the beauty of soba buckwheat noodles to the world. Today, Chef Kotani's
mission has grown to introduce Japanese cuisine internationally as well as to
consult with restaurant businesses.
_
Thank you again for your support.
Have a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year!