From the Screen to the Kitchen: Exploring Japanese Cuisine Through Open Learning

My cousin Sharlotte was the first person to introduce me to Japanese Cuisine. She was 10 years older than me, and always up for an adventure. Sharlotte loved to travel and try new things, and she loved to take me along for the ride. She got cancer and tragically passed away in 2015. I miss her a lot, but I try to keep up her legacy by exploring the world, and trying all of the fun food it has to offer.

Ever since I was introduced to Japanese food it has been one of my favourites. I lived above an EDO during university, and whenever I didn’t want to cook I would walk down the stairs to get supper. I have also been choosing Japanese Village or Mikado for the majority of my birthdays since 2004.

At various points I have attempted to cook Japanese dishes at home, but my skill hasn’t progressed very far, so most of the time when I want to enjoy my favourite food I am heading to a restaurant. This is why I have decided to make my project this semester to finally learn how to cook Japanese food. My plan is to utilize Youtube, TikTok, Google, and AI to train myself to cook progressively harder Japanese dishes.

My Starting Point

I am going to start off this project with showing you what my current skill level is. On Monday I made a very tasty stir fry for my family!

This meal was very tasty. The broccoli is soft, but with a hint of crisp still. The mushrooms were fried in butter, and are have a bit of crisp/char. The chicken is well seasoned and not dry. However, this is mostly following Taylor Farm’s recipe, with a few minor additions. My goal is to move to creating the entire dish, including the sauce from scratch, and also tackling making sushi rolls and Japanese soups (like Miso).

I am looking forward to all of the food I get to eat with my family, and I am going to dedicate this journey to my cousin. She would have loved this adventure.