Food Story: Japanese Cooking Classes with Yoko Isassi

Neighborhood · Downtown, Los Angeles

Usually when kitchen novices decide to do a cooking class, they look for something easy. A chicken dinner perhaps? Maybe some sort of pie? Or they decide to go “ethnic” and then find a course on Mexican food only to get the basics of Spanish rice or tacos.  Rarely are we brave enough to try something much more exotic.

How about Japanese cooking? Sure, you say, “I’d love to learn how to make sushi.” But what if I told you there was so much more to Japanese cuisine than sushi rolls? Would you be daring enough? One Japanese cook takes you into her kitchen and shows you how to make authentic Udon noodles, Ramen or Okonomiyaki (a traditional savory pancake from Osaka, Japan).

I was invited to sample an evening class at Japanese Foodstory and share my experiences.

Our group was made up of about 9 young foodies who worked as a team to piece together a seemingly complicated dish. I don’t think I would ever have been brave enough to try and make Okonomiyaki on my own – in fact, I know I wouldn’t. As simple it is, it takes a lot of know how of proper preparation of ingredients and timing. Nevertheless, it was really cool to partake in something very different especially with ingredients that were completely new to me. We all chopped and stirred and flipped our dinner. And after about 2 hours of cooking, we all sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor, chat some more and of course, instagram our beautiful dish.

You can look at some pictures from our class below or click here to see the video recap!

Perfect for any small group – a birthday, date, bachlorette party or perhaps a team building exercise. I found her classes to be great way to learn about Japanese culture in a relaxed, fun environment.

Thanks to Yoko Issasi and Marian the Foodie for hosting a lovely class and dinner!