tag:ayakoiino.com,2011:/about_ayako//2 2011-03-28T06:50:50Z Movable Type 3.33 tag:ayakoiino.com,2006:/about_ayako//2.4 2006-10-01T05:09:37Z 2011-03-28T06:50:09Z

Growing up eating her mom's home-made miso soup and vegetable pickles, Ayako Iino's appreciation for good food was set at an early age. After graduating from University, she spent ten years in a tiny village on the edge of the...

Growing up eating her mom's home-made miso soup and vegetable pickles, Ayako Iino's appreciation for good food was set at an early age. After graduating from University, she spent ten years in a tiny village on the edge of the Boso Peninsula, Japan. She immersed herself in the culinary traditions of that region and it was there that her deep interest in cooking from the seasonal bounty was formed. She grew her own rice and vegetables, harvested edible plants from the surrounding hills and coastline, and cooked her daily meals on a wood fire stove. To pursue & broaden her passion she moved to California eleven years ago. After training at culinary school she worked as a cook at Oliveto Restaurant in Oakland. At Oliveto, Ayako found striking similarities between Italian regional cuisine and her countryside food experience; particularly in their emphasis on seasonality and freshness of ingredients. She then worked at Boulette's Larder and drew from a wide range of cuisines to craft unique lunch menus. Since her time at Boulettes Larder, Ayako has been involved in a variety of events and projects in the local food community and continues to broaden and deepen her culinary skills and repertoire. She lives with her family in Berkeley, California. ]]> tag:ayakoiino.com,2008:/about_ayako//2.45 2008-08-26T04:58:38Z 2008-08-26T19:44:28Z

Magic Miso A Guide to Japanese Soybean Pastes and How to Use Them Ayako Iino is featured in this front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle about the art of miso....

Magic Miso A Guide to Japanese Soybean Pastes and How to Use Them Ayako Iino is featured in this front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle about the art of miso. ]]> Some miso varieties and uses Miso may be named for its color, koji grain or the region in which it was made, which makes it tough to sort it all out at the market. And lots of imported brands have labels in Japanese only (except for the ingredient list on the importer's label). Here are some types you may run across: Shiro. Known as sweet or literally "white" miso, it's pale yellow to almost white in color. Shiro miso is made with a rice-based koji and a higher proportion of koji to soybeans. Mild and relatively low in salt, it's good for dressings and dips. Saikyo. Very sweet with caramel overtones, this creamy shiro miso is used in making confectionary and flavored sauces. When used to thicken soup, it's often combined with other miso pastes to balance sweet and salty overtones. Watch for added sweeteners. Shinshu. Widely available, this has a salty taste and medium yellow to light brown color. Less sweet than shiro miso, it is used for toppings, dips and soups. Sendai. A full-bodied, rice-enriched red miso, it's pungent without being intensely salty. Some brands are chunky, others smooth. Sendai miso complements non-Japanese ingredients like tomatoes and olive oil. Aka (or inaka). Literally "red" miso, it's reddish-brown with a salty medium-strong taste. Made using a rice-based koji and good for miso soup, it's also a great all-purpose miso. Mugi. Both the koji and the miso are made with barley. Winey and usually caramel colored, with bits of barley still visible, it's medium to dark brown and medium-strong tasting. Genmai. Known as brown miso, it's made of whole-grain brown rice and has a medium-strong taste. Genmai is often combined with Saikyo to tone down sweetness. Whole-grain miso is saltier. Hatcho. Deep brown, it's thick as fudge with a dry texture. Made with soybeans only, no rice or grain added, Hatcho is vaguely reminiscent of Chinese hoisin sauce. Very strong tasting, it's used mainly for soups, stews and sauces. -- Beth Budra ]]> tag:ayakoiino.com,2008:/about_ayako//2.46 2008-08-26T19:46:56Z 2008-08-26T19:54:39Z

Cook Sharp Prepare a Moroccan feast, make udon noodles from scratch, and learn the secret to the world's best butter-scotch puddling. The 12 hands-on cooking classes will help you make the cut in the kitchen. Ayako's classes are profiled in...

Cook Sharp Prepare a Moroccan feast, make udon noodles from scratch, and learn the secret to the world's best butter-scotch puddling. The 12 hands-on cooking classes will help you make the cut in the kitchen. Ayako's classes are profiled in this San Francisco Magazine article.]]> Japanese cooking with Ayako Iino Or you could call it Beyond Sushi and Tempura. Ayako Iino expands her students’ experience of Japan’s varied cuisine as she teaches them to make such dishes as chawanmushi, yaki aburaage, and handmade udon noodles. Instructor: Ten years of nearly self-sufficient living in rural Japan—growing rice, harvesting edible plants, and learning traditional ways of cooking—left Iino with a deep appreciation of her native cuisine. After moving to the Bay Area in 2000, Iino attended culinary school and worked for four years in the kitchen at Oliveto before leaving to focus on teaching. Curriculum: Classes, held in different commercial kitchens in the East Bay, are typically built around a single seasonal menu. Grilled salt-cured salmon with daikon radish is featured in the late summer, for instance, and traditional New Year’s dishes, such as sticky rice cakes and dried anchovies with sweet soy seasoning, are taught in January. After a brief explanation of recipes, ingredients, and techniques, everyone gets to work. Iino moves about the room, stopping to demonstrate how to swiftly cut udon noodles or to dip her spoon into the dashi to check the seasoning, all the while answering questions and sharing tales of her life in Japan. Philosophy: Seasonality and a focus on ingredients may be a very Bay Area ethos, but according to Iino, the same values are essential to the Japanese kitchen. Write it down: “There’s no such thing as a traditional recipe. I lived in the Japanese countryside for years, cooking alongside the grandmothers there. No two people ever made the same dish exactly the same way.” Worth the tuition: After one class, Iino sent students home with jars of her pickled Napa cabbage. Extra credit: BYO sake to enjoy with the meal at the end of class. Tuition: $70. To register, go to http://www.ayakoiino.com/]]> tag:ayakoiino.com,2011:/about_ayako//2.48 2011-03-25T18:11:43Z 2011-03-28T06:50:50Z

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