Savour Kilkenny Food Festival 2013

 
My husband, Gilmar and I arrived in Kilkenny on Friday morning with a platter of sushi that I made earlier that morning for all the crew at KCLR96FM.

I had the pleasure of meeting both Sally and John McKenna just before we went on the Sue Nunn Show to talk about some of the great events taking place at Savour Kilkenny including the Focus on Fish Day organised by Mag and Ger Kirwan at Goatsbridge Trout Farm (http://goatsbridgetrout.ie). We also had a great discussion with Sue about my time in Japan, Japanese food and sushi. Sally who has just published a book on seaweed called "Extreme Greens" talked about Ireland and how seaweed was used years ago. I'm looking forward to reading her book and sharing it with you in the coming weeks.

We went straight to Goatsbridge Trout Farm after the radio interview to meet Mag and Ger Kirwan and all the guests that arrived to take part in a day of debate, discussions and demonstrations on fish. I'll write more about this in a separate post.

On Saturday morning I gave a talk at Food Camp on Japanese food and my experience living in Japan for 3 years. Then, I was honoured to open the Chef's Table - Main Demo with a sushi and Japanese cooking demonstration. It was so exciting to stand in front of such a large crowd and share my passion for Japanese food. Japanese food and sushi were certainly popular at Savour leaving no leftovers after my demo!

To bring a wonderful weekend to a close we attended the book launch of Fiona Dillon's "Food From An Irish Garden" at the Pembroke Hotel. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends in the food community and talk about the highlights of Savour! We're already looking forward to Savour 2014.

Japanese cooking and sushi making classes in Miele Gallery

Over the last month I was delighted to receive lots of email queries in relation to my cooking classes. I'm writing this post to keep you all up-to-date. 

I moved my cooking classes from my home in Kildare to Miele Gallery in Citywest, Dublin. This is a great development as it allows me to provide classes to larger groups with better facilities and the location is more accessible for people as Miele Gallery is just off the N7. Please see www.mielegallery.ie for more details. 

If you're interested in attending one of my classes please send an email to fionasjapanesecooking@gmail.com. 

I'm currently taking bookings for my next two scheduled classes in Miele:

- Wednesday November 20th 2013 (6:30 - 8:30 pm)

- Wednesday December 11th 2013 (6:30 - 8:30 pm)

If these dates don't suit you please contact me as depending on demand I may be able to accommodate additional bookings. I also provide customised classes for corporate or personal groups and team building events.

Japanese chicken stock recipe

I find this basic Japanese chicken stock recipe great for a variety of Japanese dishes including ramen, soups and one pot dishes. Although it takes more time to prepare your own stock the depth of flavour that it adds to dishes definitely makes it worthwhile.

Ingredients:
4 chicken leg and thighs (preferably free range or organic), remove skin
2 carrots (peeled and roughly chopped)
1 large leek (roughly chopped)
Thumb size piece of ginger (thinly sliced)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp instant dashi powder (optional)

Instructions:
1. Heat the vegetable oil and sesame oil in a very large saucepan.
2. Place the chicken pieces in the saucepan sealing both sides by frying for a few minutes on each side.
3. Toss in the carrots, leek and ginger and quickly stir.
4. Pour 2 litres of cold water into the saucepan and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for up to 2 hours. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface while it's simmering.
5. If you want to add the instant dashi powder please add about 15 minutes before taking the stock off the heat.
6. Remove from the heat and strain.
7. Once cool place in the fridge.
8. Remove the fat from the surface of the chicken stock before using or freezing.
9. This stock will last in the fridge for a few days and in the freezer for a few months.

Notes:
- I got these free range chicken legs and thighs in my local farmer's market for €1 each.
- I usually make chicken stock in the evening and place in the fridge overnight so I can remove the fat from the surface the next day before using or freezing.

Fiona Uyema's new logo

I've been working in the background with a wonderful graphic designer called Peter Dawson. He created this logo for me using my Japanese surname "Uyema" written in one of the Japanese alphabets called kanji (like Chinese characters). I believe he's captured the essence of my Japanese cooking in this logo by mixing my Japanese surname with a contemporary design and colour. I'd love to hear your comments. What do you think of it?