Workshop: Japanese Curry Brick and Rice Workshop with Sonoko Sakai and Robin Koda 6/23

Date/Time : June 23rd Sunday 10:00am-12:30pm (including lunch!) 

Please join us for a special workshop focusing on Japanese curry brick and rice making with Sonoko Sakai and Robin Koda.  

During the workshop, Sonoko will instruct students on how to blend, toast and grind their own spices to create a curry brick that will be later used to prepare the day’s lunch.  (You can keep it for 3 months in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer!)

Unlike industrial curry bricks, this curry brick contains no palm oil (inexpensive oil that is environmentally unsustainable), or chemical additives.

Participants will make a chicken/veggie curry with the pre-made curry brick and have it for lunch with delicious organic rice – grown at Koda Farms in Dos Palos, California operated by Robin’s family since 1932, along with home made Fukujinzuke (Relish of the Seven Lucky Gods). Participants will take home 1 curry brick with them at the end of the class, which can be used at home to cook 3 batches of curry.

The fee for this class is $135 and includes all materials, tools and instruction. Please bring your apron and a kitchen towel.  

Classes are non-refundable, non-transferable and cannot be rescheduled once booked.  The workshop is limited to 10 students, and a minimum of 6 participants is required.  If we do not have a minimum of 6 participants, the class will be cancelled and all class fees will be refunded.

Set of Sonoko’s take-home Spice and Robin’Rice Package can also be purchased for an additional $20 if participants or non-participants wish to purchase – available until supplies last.

Please indicate which you prefer to have for lunch, chicken curry rice or veggie curry rice in the “notes” section during the checkout.

About Sonoko Sakai:

Sonoko is a cooking teacher, noodle maker, food writer, and grain activist. Born in New York and raised in Tokyo, Kamakura, Mexico City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She is the author of the new cookbook “Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals and Authentic Flavors” (Roost Books, Distributed by Penguin/Random House), which will be out November 19, 2019. Sonoko is also the author of two other Japanese cookbooks, “The Poetical Pursuit of Food: Japanese Recipes for American Cooks”, and “Rice Craft”. Her stories and recipes have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle,Chicago Tribune, Saveur, and Lucky Peach.  Today, along with teaching cooking workshops around the world, she devotes her time to the restoration and preservation of food traditions and culture, soba noodles and curry being among her favorite pursuits.  You can find more information about Sonoko at her website: http://sonokosakai.com 

About Robin Koda: 

Established in 1928, Koda Farms is the oldest family-owned rice farm in California.  Their monthly stall at the Santa Monica Farmers Market and feature in well known rice dishes served at restaurants like SQIRL make them a familiar name and grain here in LA.  

Robin Koda, granddaughter of Keisaburo Koda – founder of Koda Farms (who also appears on their packaging) – is the current head of the family farm with the help of her brother Ross.  Both are passionate about rice, passionate about their farm and passionate about building a community of knowledgable rice consumers and eaters.  Koda rice is one of the rare organic rices found on the market today, and is favored for its sweet and nutty taste that suits a variety of dishes.

(above photographs taken by Rick Poon for Sonoko’s new cookbook: Japanese Home Cooking)