Turning Japanese: A Ramen Masterclass & Easy Japanese Homecooking

Japanese food is one of my big loves. It is a cuisine I have really only discovered in the last few years basically because not many Japanese restaurants existed in Dublin! The scene has changed dramatically over the past few years and now I have my regular gotos, such as Musashi, Zakura, OCHA and Wagamama for my fill of sushi, ramen and noodles.  It is a cuisine and culture I love learning more about and jump at every opportunity to do so.

My Marinated Eel Ramen

Recently I was lucky enough to get invited to two events all about Japanese food. First up was a Ramen session with Wagamama’s head chef and trainer Juan Carlos Manteca. Wagamama opened in Ireland in 1998 and was actually the first place I ever tried ramen so I was delighted to go back to learn more. The morning started off with a very interesting presentation about ramen from Juan and was filled with loads of interesting facts. Did you know that ramen was actually brought into Japan by China and that nearly every region in Japan has its own variation of ramen! 

Juan Carlos Manteca

Next up was a ramen cook-off. We were introduced to all the ingredients  that the Wagamama kitchen uses and were free to sample them. I was particularly taken with the marinated eel as it was something I had never encountered before. I also never realised that Wagamama uses Irish seaweed in some of its dishes which I thought was fantastic. Then it was time to make up our own ramen. We choose our broth, cooked our noodles and picked out our toppings. Then it was down to a taste test between all five. Happy to say I won but I think the choice of marinated eel swung it for me! 

Feeling very proud of my dish!

It was a very informative and well spent morning learning about a chain I regularly visit and one of the dishes that I love the most. Wagamama provides customers with chance to eat high quality, tasty, fresh fast food and you get to eat it with chopsticks. Need I say more!  

A few days later I attended an Easy Japanese Meals demo in the Miele Gallery run by Fiona Uyema. Fiona, who blogs at Fiona’s Japanese Cooking, has recently become very well known in Ireland for her easy to follow Japanese style recipes which mix contemporary and traditional tastes. I had previously attended one of her sushi making classes so this demo was a broader take on Japanese food. 

Fiona telling us all about lotus root

She started off the session by introducing us to the ingredients that are regularly used in Japanese cooking. I took pictures of all of these so I can remember what they are! We were then introduced to a series of recipes including Yakisoba, Chicken Katsu Curry and Poached Fish in a Teriyaki sauce. Fiona made sure the demo was fun and interactive and fielded a lot of questions from the audience.  The great thing about this demo was that it showed us how easy and quick Japanese meals can be. The demo has inspired me to tackle the Asian market and to start cooking Japanese at home!

Some of the Japanese dishes we got to sample

Her next demo is on the 14th April and costs €25. Just email her at fionasjapanesecooking@gmail.com if you would like to book a place. 

Disclaimer: I was invited to these events free of charge but at no point was I asked for a review. I am sharing this information as I think it is of interest to my readers. 

Musashi Noodles and Sushi Bar

I have been hearing about Musashi since last year from bloggers such as Stitch and Bear and The Silver Chicken but haven't had a chance to try it until recently. Since my first visit just after Christmas it has now become my go to sushi place and I have tried to entice every friend I have to come with me just so I can keep going back!

Musashi is situated on Capel Street, a road I have generally bypassed on the way to the Italian Quarter or to Henry Street, but now I know better! Musashi is an unassuming restaurant which you could easily walk by if you weren't aware of it. Once inside though, the decor consists of long wooden tables and low wooden backless seats which help create an authentic Japanese atmosphere or as close to it as I imagine Japan to be!

The menu can be confusing with a lot of different choices for sushi and sashimi but the waiting staff are very helpful and will explain anything on the menu if you ask. For this visit we started off with Miso Soup which was quickly followed by an array of different dishes. We felt the best plan of attack was to just order lots of food and share it between us.

Miso Soup

Next up was Maria's choice of Agedashi Tofu. I have never really come around to the idea of tofu. I have always found it a bit rubbery but this was nice. It was lightly fried and its texture was more melt in the mouth than rubbery.

Agedashi Tofu

The tofu was followed by some Crab Cucumber Rolls and Ebi & Tuna Nigiri. The rice was wonderfully sticky and the fish tasted super fresh. One of the things I love most about sushi is that you can really taste all the ingredients that make up the dish and the sushi at Musashi is some of the best I have had in Ireland.

Crab Cucumber Roll

Ebi and Tuna Nigiri

We then tried some Tako Sunomono which was seaweed topped with octopus. I expected this to be like the seaweed that you get in Chinese restaurants where it has been fried. This was fresh and delicious and didn't taste at all like I expected it to. I personally would prefer it without the octopus as I find it rather chewy but that is just me.

Tako Sunomono

One of the last dishes we ate was the Ebi Gyoza which are essentially prawn dumplings. I adore Gyoza but they can so frequently go wrong and can end up tasteless and soggy. These were perfect, packed full of prawn and were just on the right side of crispy.

Ebi Gyoza

We finished off dinner with some frozen yogurt which is a lovely dessert after all that food, which I might add was eaten by only two of us! The food at Musashi is amazing, it is authentic, fresh and full of flavour and surprisingly not that expensive. For all that food, including a glass of plum wine, the total meal cost us €42.40.

Musashi is located at 15 Capel St Dublin 1. Their website is here and you can find them on Facebook here. It is also BYOB but this is only for wine as far as I can gather as they now offer beer on the drinks menu.