Hiroko’s Kitchen | Blog

Chef Masato may be one of the most celebrated sushi chef in New York City. He is charming (very handsome), very low-key, generous and a very fun person (you cannot guess from his serious face during his work at 15 E!).We were so blessed to have Masato with us.

Each student received one whole fluke to tackle with it. A BIG CHALLENGE. Chef Masato first showed the students how to remove scales and how to fillet the fish into 2 back-side fillets and 2 belly-side fillets. Every student was very serious not to damage their fish too much, because they had to use it later in their sashimi and sushi preparation. Chef Masato, then, demonstrated nigirizushi, an acrobatic movement. Everyone was mesmerized. After the chef left we filleted mackerel, cured it in salt and vinegar and prepared sashimi platter. Then, each spent practicing nigirizushi rice balls, then moved on to making their own nigirizushi platter. Now students know that good sushi comes from far away – many years of apprenticeship, attention to quality and care.

In the evening we gathered at Aburiya Kinnosuke (213 East 45th Street) to celebrate the completion of the course. Chef Jiro prepared us memorable, delicious dinner. Thank you, Chef!

Plan your holiday in New York City this July (19-23) surrouding Hiroko’s Intensive Essentials of Japanese Cuisine course at International Culinary Center. After information packed, fun and delicious class (class starts from 9am and ends 2pm), you can roam about the exciting city and eat at several of the finest restaurants in the world. Two prominent Japanese chefs join Hiroko in teaching. The most celebrated sushi chef, Masato Shimizu of 15East and pupular Izakaya chef, Jiro Iida of Aburiya Kinnosuke. You will have a golden experience of learning the heart and joy ofJapanese cooking. We all wait meeting and working with YOU. The details are below;

NY 888.324.2433CA 866.318.2433Live ChatRequest a Call/More InformationStudy in New York
“BEST VOCATIONAL COOKING SCHOOL”
International Association of Culinary Professionals

Come learn the kitchen skills and the philosophy behind Japanese cooking in this 25-hour intensive course that will give you the know-how to make a variety of delicious, seasonally driven dishes. Get acquainted with Japanese ingredients and flavors, and discover how to use traditional water and fire cooking techniques (blanching, steaming, braising) to prepare tasty and extremely healthful meals.

You will leave knowing your kombu dashi from your kaeshi, how to cook with seaweeds and rice, how to prepare your own sushi, sashimi, tempura, udon, and more.

Course Instructor
Hiroko Shimbo is a chef-consultant for restaurants and food companies, trained sushi chef, cookbook author, writer, blogger, and instructor based in New York City. She is considered an authority on Japanese cuisine worldwide. Through her company, Hiroko’s Kitchen, she has also developed recipes for PF Chang, Ruth’s Chris, and University dining companies.

25 hours – $1,495

Daytime Schedules
Thursday through Monday
5 sessions over 2 weeks
Begins: July 19, 2012
Ends: July 23, 2012
Class time: 9:00am-2:00pm

Tuition Includes
Application fee
Uniform
Tool kit
Books and supplies

Apply Now
Check back frequently to see new start dates or contact us at 888.324.2433. http://www.internationalculinarycenter.com/courses/ny/cul/amat/essentials_of_japanese_cuisine

Big Thank You for Bogota Wine & Food Festival and Fundacion Prema for inviting us – Chef Daisuke Hayashi (Sake no Hana, London), Chef Masato Shimizu (15 East, NYC), Chef Shuichi Kotani (Soba Totto, NYC), Sake Sommelier Yasu Suzuki (15 East, NYC), Chef Tsuyoshi Murakami (Kinoshita, Brazil) and Chef Hiroko Shimbo (Hiroko’s Kitchen, LLC, NYC) – to offer a charity Japanese dinner at JW Marriott Hotel in Bogota. The raised money at the dinner was donated to Hospital Los Angeles de Pasto, founded by Dr. Doris Sarasti, where over 1,000 children who are suffering from cancer, caused by the spray to destroy the cocaine plantation, are taken care of. http://www.gastronomiajaponesa.org/

International Culinary Center (FCI) is offering additional Essentials of Japanese Cuisine in October. The dates are October 5th, 6th, 7th (Wed, Thurs, Frid), and 10th and 11th (Mon., Wed). If you are not registered yet, I highly recommend it! Here are some of the previous students comments on what did theylike the couse. Thank you very much for giving us a good reaction. Without chef Jiro of Aburiya and chef Masato of 15 East I could not accomplish to this high level. Thank you for the chefs!!! ;

- The amount of information covered and teaching style of chef Hiroko Shimbo
- EVERYTHING! I have taken courses at the CIA including some of the boot camps and I was delighted at how much I learned from Hiroko. She is amazing. I particularly loved the guest instructors.
- Learning or relearning techniques – history – making friends.
- The class size was perfect. I appreciated learning some of the science behind a particular technique or cooking method as well as its cultural significance. Chef Hiroko’s wealth of knowledge and talent was a true inspiration and I was honored to spend a week learning from her. In that short amount of time, I learned a number of skills I never imagined I would be able to successfully perform. It was also a wonderful opportunity to learn from 2 other talented Japanese chefs in the city. I am now much more confident in my Japanese cooking skills, which was my main goal.

We look forward to having you in October!
Hiroko, Jiro and Masato

Today was a final day. Jennifer did not show up, but everyone – Gail, Berta, Mauro, Wanda, Margie, Kasinee, Amanda, Amy, Pitipon, Mat, Leeana and Travis – fully enjoyed the last day of the venture. The topic of the day was Nigirizushi and Sashimi. We were fortunate to have a very special guest sushi chef, Masato Shimizu (15 East), with us today! Chef Masato first demonstrated how to scale (very unique technique) and fillet a fluke. Every students were sent back to each station and asked to challenge the scaling and filleting tasks. Under Chef Masato and my supervion everyone worked focused and diligently, and produced pretty good result even though none of them tried these techniques before. Hooray! Chef Masato then showed the students how to cut the filleted fluke into sashimi slices and make nigirizushi. After chef’s departure the students made sashimi platter with fluke, salmon, yellowtail and tai sea bream. Afternoon was spent to fillet one more fish, mackerel, for salt and vinegar cure. We then moved to nigirizushi rice ball practice and enjoyed one’s own nigirizushi…………..long and tired week but very happy and delicious week for everyone. Thanks for joining me the course.

[caption id="attachment_1445" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Chef Masato scaling fluke"][/caption][caption id="attachment_1449" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Amanda after filleting - look at my clean bone"][/caption][caption id="attachment_1451" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Chef Masato overseeing the class"][/caption][caption id="attachment_1453" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Mat Hey good skill"][/caption][caption id="attachment_1455" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Who\'s sashimi platter?"][/caption][caption id="attachment_1457" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="The First Graduate of Essentials of Japanese Cuisine"][/caption]

Today my students learned how to do basic items to make varieties of rolls, including traditional thin rolls, thick roll and American-born inside out rolls. The battery of my camera went down…not much photos. I will post them along with tomorrow’s class photos. We will be filleting a whole sushi fish, cutting into sushi and sashimi slices and making a REAL pro-nigirizushi. Chef Masato Shimizu of 15 East is our special guest chef!

Hiroko’s Essential Japanese Cooking Courseis running next year at International Culinary Center (ICC)/ French Culinary Institute (FCI)!  Anyone who wishes to learn the art of Japanese cooking to a thorough extent should join my Essential Japanese Cookuign Course at ICC/FCI in New York in July and October, 2011.  The course consists of five consecutive days of classes.  (more…)