HANAPEPE — You like rice?
The Kauai Soto Zen Temple Japanese Legacy Cooking Series will present a one-day lecture and lunch on rice, described as “the ordinary, extraordinary, and edible rice.”
Registration for the presentation by Naoko Komagata Moeller is being accepted by email at hulali1233@gmail.com, or by calling 808-346-5068. There is a suggested $35 donation, depending on cost of ingredients, for the lecture and lunch that will take place from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Kauai Soto Zen Temple in Hanapepe.
“The Sunday class will include a lecture and lunch presentation on rice, its history and culture by Naoko Komagata Moeller, an expert on Japanese cooking and cuisine,” said Jerry Hirata of the Kauai Soto Zen Temple. “Other topics will include Japanese cooking styles and attitudes, a look into regional cuisines, with demonstrations, participation and dining.”
One of the featured presentations will have students learning how to prepare Niigata style ozoni. Participants are asked to bring their own cutting board and knives.
Niigata style ozoni, as described by online sources, is a traditional Japanese New Year’s soup created with mochi rice cakes, vegetables, salmon and salmon roe. The soup that is traditionally eaten during New Year celebrations, is a regional variation using salmon and salmon roe that are local specialties from the Niigata region of Japan.
“The Kauai Soto Zen Temple has sponsored the Legacy Cooking Class Series since 2022,” Hirata said. “Some of the classes offered in the past include preparing miso and mirin, two distinctive Japanese flavors and learning the art of cooking vegetarian meals that originated in the Zen Buddhist monasteries.”
For more information, visit www.kauaisotozen.org.
