Fifteen professional chefs and home cooks from Southern California became the first group to complete the bronze certification course requirements administered by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), it was announced this week by David Ikegami, president of the Little Tokyo Business Association, which helped coordinate arrangements for the program.
The course, which included dashi (soup base) made by using hand-flaked bonito and kombu, took place Nov. 1 at Eigikutei in Little Tokyo. The newly opened fine dining establishment is owned by veteran restaurateur Tomoko Morishita, best known for her association with Sushi Go 55 and Little Tokyo’s legendary Eigiku Restaurant, home of the second sushi bar to open in America.
Kensuke Miyake, CEO of the Association for the Advancement of Japanese Culinary Art, led the lecture portion of the certification course. Derek Yamashita of The Hidden Japan coordinated the cultural exchange program.
Chef Jun Okada, executive chef of the Kato Group and Kani Kato, an exclusive, invitation-only restaurant in Tokyo’s Asakusa district, was chosen to administer the inaugural training program in the U.S. At 39, he is one of Japan’s youngest executive chefs and has received multiple awards from the Japanese government.
The group of professional and aspiring chefs was welcomed by Deputy Consul General Naoshige Aoshima, who is based in Los Angeles.
On the following day, Eigikutei was the setting for a Japanese cooking demonstration by Chef Jun, which was followed by a tasting that included Alaskan squid and king crab.
Technical support and staffing for both the course and the cooking demonstration were provided by executive chef Shinji Kugita of the Katsu-Ya Group, which operates 10 restaurants in Southern California and one in Seattle.
Ikegami said he hopes to see the program return next year.
Photos provided by Ellen Endo