Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 2:00PM - 4:00PM
ENGLISH
JETRO Event

Be it soba, udon, ramen, and pho, Americans have a fascination with Asian noodles. Among them, soba is one of the healthiest of the noodle kingdom. Soba is high in protein, low in fat. Soba is appreciated for its earthy flavors and good texture. Please join Japan's Soba Master, Akila Inouye, Chef Jonathan Sundstrom from Lark in Seattle, and food writer and soba maker, Sonoko Sakai and try classic and modern interpretations of soba dishes, and find out how soba can be integrated into your cuisine.

To see the recipes of Chef Inouye and Chef Sundstrom's menu, please download this PDF ( 709 KB).

ABOUT CHEF AKILA INOUYE
Founder/Master Chef - Tsukiji Soba Academy

Akila Inouye is the Founder and Master Chef of Tsukiji Soba Academy, which was established in 2002 near Tsukiji, Tokyo, home of the largest fish market in the world. He has been teaching soba preparation for more than fifteen years. Akila has developed a logical approach to making soba by hand.

Since the Academy's inception, Akila has taught soba to over 20,000 people, many of whom have become soba masters themselves, and own their soba restautants in Japan and overseas. Teach Akila has written many books about soba in Japanese. He is the contributing editor and writer of "The Dictionary of Cookery Terms" 2010 Japanese edition. Akila's new book on Soba has come out in the fall of 2010 by Asahiya Syuppan.

Akila was born and raised in Tokyo. He enjoys Tokyo style cuisine. Soba is his favorite food, and it is the main reason why he decided to become a Soba artisan. His dream is to spread soba culture to the world.

ABOUT CHEF JOHN SUNDSTROM
Chef/Owner - Lark & Licorous

John Sundstrom trained at New England Culinary Institute, in Montpelier, Vermont. Prior to NECI, John apprenticed for 4 years to chef Yasuyuki Shigarami, classically trained in Japanese cuisine and sushi. After graduating from culinary school, John spent the next few years working in some of the country's finest resort hotels, including; the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Club XIX (Lodge at Pebble Beach) and Stein Ericksen Lodge.

In Seattle John worked at raison d'etre cafe, Campagne, and Cafe Sport, and began his study of Northwest farmers and foragers. He was Chef de Cuisine at Dahlia Lounge. Working closely with owner Tom Douglas, they developed the restaurant into one of national prominence.

In 1999 John spent several weeks in Japan, exploring, tasting and researching Japanese food and culture. In October and November of that year, he also went on a working tour of some of New York and San Francisco's finest kitchens, a sort of "Culinary Graduate School." Following these inspiring and educational travels, John returned to Seattle with a renewed sense of purpose, new ideas and techniques, and a greater understanding of excellence.

From the Dahlia Lounge's Pacific Rim ingredients to a stint at Carmelita, a vegetarian Mediterranean restaurant, John began to invest in organic, foraged, and heirloom ingredients and flavors. In 2000, he happily reintroduced fish and meat to his repertoire when he took over at Earth & Ocean, and within 6 months John was named one of Food & Wine Magazine's Best New Chef's for 2001. In the 3 years that John was chef at Earth & Ocean, the restaurant thrived.

John has been featured on the Food Network's "Best of" Show as well as "Food Nation." Also John was featured in the PBS original series "Chefs a-field," which was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2003. John was named "Best Chef Northwest" by the James Beard Foundation in 2007, following nominations in 2005 and 2006.

John opened Lark in 2003 on Seattle's Capitol Hill, with his wife, JM Enos and partner Kelly Ronan. Lark is an artisan focused restaurant with serving dinner. In 2006, John and his partners opened Licorous, a sophisticated cocktail lounge next door to Lark. (Please see www.larkseattle.com for more details)

ABOUT SONOKO SAKAI
Food Writer

Sonoko Sakai is a Japanese writer and homecook, who calls two places home: Santa Monica, Calif., and Tokyo, Japan. Sonoko was born in New York but raised in many places -- Kamakura, Tokyo, San Francisco, Mexico City and Los Angeles. As a freelance writer, Sonoko writes about food, and pens memoirs of her multicultural upbringing and travels. She is passionate about making soba by hand and is a certified soba maker. She has offered cooking workshops and pop up events at USC, Tortoise in Venice, Breadbar and Lark restaurant in Seattle. Sonoko learned how to cook from her Japanese grandmother and her mother. Sonoko's cookbook, The Poetical Pursuit of Food, Japanese Recipes for American Cooks (1986; Clarkson Potter) is about the season-to-season days spent in her grandmother's kitchen in Kamakura. Sonoko contributes stories to the Los Angeles Times and Zester Daily. Her cooking blog is at www.cooktellsastory.com.

What Is Soba?

Soba is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckweat flour. It is typically served chilled with a dipping sauce (mentsuyu), or in hot broth as a noodle soup. From popular inexpensive fast food served at train stations throughout Japan, to expensive specialty restaurants, Soba is available in a wide variety of qualities. Soba became popular in Tokyo (originally called Edo) during the Tokugawa period due to the fact that the majority of the population in Tokyo was considerably wealthier than rural areas, and they consumed more white rice, which is low in thiamine. Beriberi, a nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency, affected a wide population in the city and regularly eating thiamine-rich Soba was encouraged. In the Tokugawa era, every neighborhood had one or two Soba establishments and where many patrons socialized while enjoying their meal with sake.

What are the Nutritional Benefits?

Soba contains all eight essential amino acids including lysine, a type of polysaccharide that can easily be digested, antioxidants (including rutin and quercetin) and essential nutrients such as choline, thiamine and riboflavin.

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