Japanese Home Cooking Supper Club

The London Foodie Supper Club

Towards the end of my second year in university, I applied for a year-long work placement in Japan. For the interview, I had to do a presentation to a group of serious-looking, straight faced Japanese guys. Needless to say I was extremely nervous, so I thought my chances were doomed. It was not until I got my ‘special activities’ visa from the Japanese embassy, that I realized I was actually leaving London for Japan.

Living in Japan was totally brilliant - I got to try broccoli ice cream in Okinawa, see the amazing ice sculptures in the Sapporo snow festival, and visit the Ninja museum in Iga (East of Nara) - but this all came at a price. I had a limited monthly allowance, so I only allowed myself to go out for a meal once every two weeks, and occasionally travelled to Tokyo to queue up at the popular ramen restaurants (regional ramen restaurant rankings are published weekly in Japan). During the week I would wait for the daily supermarket sale, usually after eight o’clock in the evening, to get the discounted fish and meat to make donburi for dinner.

I used to live here and my flat was tiny!

I was very lucky to make some good friends at the company I worked for. They taught me how to speak Japanese, and invited me to meet their families. It was such an amazing experience to sit round a table with a Japanese family, and have a home cooked meal together. We had different parties - temaki (hand roll sushi), sukiyaki (thin sliced beef cooked in mirin and soy sauce), yakiniku (barbeque meat), nabe (hot pot) and many more. Since my parents were far away (and I could not afford many luxury meals myself!), I always treasured the ‘family time’ in Japan.

That was why The London Foodie’s (Luiz) latest supper club ‘Japanese Home Cooking’ really caught my eyes.

We arrived at Luiz’s beautiful home in Islington around half an hour before the official start, and there were already a few people mingling in the lounge. It was the first ever supper club I had been to that was hosted in somebody’s home, so I was a bit anxious about breaking things or spilling drinks on the carpet. Luckily my silly self consciousness was soon offset by trays of mouth-watering maki.

After the drinks, we were led to the dining room where several nabe were setup on the tables. The ingredients - clams, pork belly, daikon, prawns and vegetables - were perfectly arranged in the pot. Luiz chose nabe to kick start the meal, because it is a dish for sharing so would help to break the ice. What a thoughtful idea.

Udon noodles were added to the broth after the food in the pot was cleared. The broth contained all the flavours from the meat and seafood, so it became lusciously rich and sweet.

We had some salmon sashimi while waiting for the nabe to cook. It was prepared in the ‘South American Way’, served with avocado, crème fraîche and a yuzu dressing.

There was a small break after the nabe, so we took a sneak peek at the kitchen.

Back at the table, arrays of main courses had arrived. The fillet of beef used in the tataki was of a high quality, it remained very moist even though it was served at room temperature. The creamy sesame was light so it did not overpower the beef, a perfect dish after a relatively heavy nabe.

You can find nasu dengaku in most of the Japanese restaurants in London. Unfortunately I have found most of them rather dry, with the ‘miso’ poured over the cooked aubergine like a sauce. It was a very clever move from Luiz to use baby aubergines, they are easier to cook through, and I could taste the white miso throughout instead of just on the surface.

We also had stir fried green beans with Japanese fish cake, takikomi gohan and tamagoyaki. The spicy sauce which came with the beans gave the dish a lovely kick, I could just eat that with a bowl of rice all day long.

Takikomi gohan is a rice dish cooked with sake, soy sauce, carrot, mushroom and chicken. Each ingredient was carefully seasoned to create a beautiful balance.

The main courses ended with grilled layers of sweetened egg, which required a huge amount of skill (and patience!) to master.

The dessert was a madeleine with a trio of homemade ice creams - green tea, black sesame and red bean.

During dinner, a guest at our table asked ‘So is this what Japanese people have for dinner at home?’. I answered ‘Yes!’ without any hesitation, as Luiz’s food had brought back the memories of all those heart warming meals I had in Japan. Not only had he showcased his culinary skills in the supper club, he had also reminded us that Japanese cuisine is a lot more than sushi, tempura and gyoza.

The London Foodie Supper Club