I'm happy to share my simple approach to Japanese Home Cooking.

The recipes, techniques, and stories of Japanese cuisine that you can bring back home and replicate

or even arrange to your own favorite dishes to enjoy at your table. 

I'm also keen to demystify whole misconception that sometimes surrounds Japanese food and culture.

My name is Masumi, I was born in Osaka and currently living in Nara, Japan.

Nearly half a century ago, I went to the US through an exchange student program for two years and came back to Japan after graduating from high school in northern part of California.

I joined my family company in the costume jewelry business, I've had a lot of great opportunities visiting European countries to get inspired and Asian countries to learn about the general business, manufacturing and trading for over 20 years. 

Last 10 years, I traveled to the UK, France and Spain with my son for cultural experience and pleasure. I also started antiquing in the UK, sometimes in France and Belgium while my son joined summer school in the UK, I just love taking trains crossing countries. 

Through these opportunities, I had experienced those local cuisine, stalls to fancy restaurants, and home cooked meal where I home-stayed.

I also discovered 'Japanese Restaurants' in each countries I visited. Very much impressed to find, in these years, many people enjoy Japanese cuisine with SAKE, and using chopsticks effortlessly, finding Japanese food and ingredients in the local supermarkets, which was something I was not able to encounter when I once lived in the US or traveled some European countries a few decades ago. 

And then I thought of sharing some simple techniques and basic core principles of Japanese home style cooking for people to enjoy...

I embarked on an exciting mission of finding recipes that are authentic yet simple, mostly replicatable at people's home, with the intention of creating a special place for people around the world, learn to cook homestyle Japanese meals and have a good time!

I inherited this property of "The Little Orangery" a few years ago, a house with a backyard in a residential area in the city of Nara, Japan. 

And then, there're various kind of virus trees, over 20 of them, and an old small green house, as well as some other trees and overgrown weeds everywhere in this backyard. 

I had no intention to keep this property. The grading  was never my thing, and growing citrus trees was far beyond my imagination. 

But we never know what will change our mind. 

Making a long story short, because I want to omit the suffering part. 

One morning, I took a walk around this house, I saw those trees bearing lots and lots of citrus - oranges, mandarins and lemons, even though those trees hadn't been taken care of, by any hands for many many months. 

Between these fresh and colorful fruits and deep green leaves sway in the air, there're a couple of little birds enjoying one of these oranges, poking in, so lovely.

That was a touching moment, thanks to the blessing of the nature heartily.  At the same time, my eureka moment!

The Little Orangery project is an idea I've always had at the back of my mind for so long, probably it started when I was an exchange student and meeting people from different countries, culture through my business opportunities, and my journey.

A strong gut instinct to creating a convivial place where we could share cultural experience with people from around the world.

And I finally found a way to make it happen with this private house The Little Orangery and Orangery Kitchen. And then, there're various kind of virus trees, over 20 of them, and an old small green house, as well as some other trees and overgrown weeds everywhere in this backyard. 

I had no intention to keep this property. The grading  was never my thing, and growing citrus trees was far beyond my imagination. 

But we never know what will change our mind. 

Making a long story short, because I want to omit the suffering part. 

One morning, I took a walk around this house, I saw those trees bearing lots and lots of citrus - oranges, mandarins and lemons, even though those trees hadn't been taken care of, by any hands for many many months. 

Between these fresh and colorful fruits and deep green leaves sway in the air, there're a couple of little birds enjoying one of these oranges, poking in, so lovely.

That was a touching moment, thanks to the blessing of the nature heartily.  At the same time, my eureka moment!

The Little Orangery project is an idea I've always had at the back of my mind for so long, probably it started when I was an exchange student and meeting people from different countries, culture through my business opportunities, and my journey.

A strong gut instinct to creating a convivial place where we could share cultural experience with people from around the world.

And I finally found a way to make it happen with this private house The Little Orangery and Orangery Kitchen. 

There was a green house with nearly 200 pots of orchids and more than 20 citrus trees in the back yards. 

This place was my father's dream realized place. He loved growing citrus trees, cherry trees, orchids and many more in his private time. 

I can still see him sitting on the chair in his green house and taking care of his orchids all day on Sundays, or showing my little son the varieties of citrus and how to pick and eat them.  It's not what is called a beautiful garden, but it had a full of his love and dream. 

He loved hosting small parties on cherry blossom and citrus harvest seasons and I joined entertaining his guests as well. 

Unfortunately this green house had to be demolished, so I wanted something that could remind us of his favorite greenhouse was once existed here. 

Now I have a miniature greenhouse in my garden, and orange trees growing as well, thus I settled naming this place The Little Orangery.

We had been a father and a daughter team for a long time.

Been in same family business, we traveled a lot together for both business and pleasure. 

And he was, as my mum's figure as well at my younger age. 

As he had been a very busy business man, we used to eat out very often . He took me to various dining places/restaurants in local and cities we visited.

We did eat out a lot, but he always had-made my school lunch 'JAPANESE BENTO' every morning.

I recall one of my classmate always made fun of me about my father's BENTO, only it didn't look as fancy as what's like those mother made. I was never ashamed of though, always happy and grateful as they tasted so good!

There're several dining places of our favorites, specially the Sushi Bar that I still visit in these days, the Sushi Master is in his 80's, he's know me since I was a baby. He's always served me a special plate of the day, only for me. 

A lot of people from all around the world come visit his Sushi Barthes years, I've heard many of them say 'It's the Best Sushi ever had in Japan or anywhere else."

Yes, even for me, always the best sushi I've ever had. 

It may sound strange, but I could say, my father's Bento and this Sushi Master's plate are like mum's cooking for me. 

When I decided to start teaching Sushi, I asked him to teach me how to shape sushi and everything, he had said that I've already known all his taste so just watch carefully what  and how he does.

It's rather a western style house, there's no room with 'Tatami' or 'Fusuma', but a fireplace and many items come from Western countries which mostly my father had collected when he traveled to Europe. 

Not so many 'Japanese' in this house except for our family house-temple 'Butsudan', several small and old Japanese furniture that I brought from my late grandmother house, vases and porcelains and Japanese stones in the garden.

Oh, we ask all the guests to take off their shoes to go into this house, which I believe so Japanese,right?!

This house was quite big for two of us living, but my father had a purpose of having it in this size. 

As I went to high school in the US through the foreign exchange student program, I home-stayed at three different families in the States. I have also home-stayed in Canada and New Zealand when I was a student. 

My father was so grateful to those families having me, welcoming a student from Japan to their home for a long period of time.

In return, he wanted to invite them to home-stay at his house when they visit Japan, also open to anyone who wants to study in Japan or just come visit and stay. 

My host families and friends have visited and stayed at his house, we also had a French student to stay for a while.

But after a while, we became too busy in our family business, we didn't have time to have guests in the house and these rooms were left empty for a long long time. 

My next plan is self-renovating these rooms, and have quest to have home-stay guests again!

I grow up watching the several famous cooking shows on Japanese TV, almost everyday.

I used to collect many kinds of cooking books enough recipes for my entire life and still won't be able to complete. 

I just loved watching the process of cooking and the art of presentation on the plates. 

My first cooking for someone besides my family was making Tempura dinner for my host families when I lived in the US.

That was a time we couldn't find any Japanese groceries in the local supermarket, fortunately there was a small Chinese grocery store in the neighborhood, finding some Japanese-ish ingredients, so I somehow managed to prepare Japanese-ish dinner for them. 

Otherwise, as I mentioned earlier, when I joined my family business, I was happily stuck in my position, I was often away for business trips, eating out most of the time, I, actually, didn't have to cook for myself inspire of all the cooking books stored in my great book shelf. 

With dining out experience,  I've discovered useful techniques by watching those professional performing efficient skills and presentations. 

We enjoyed dining at the restaurant where the chefs cook in the front of bar counter, watching the chefs preparing the dishes, fillet and slice the fishes with the sharp 'Yanagiba' knife, school sushi-rice and efficiently shape or roll it. I watched them grill, steam, braise, fry and beautifully arrange on the fancy plates to serve. 

Not only impressed with their master's touch every time I see them, I could gain a great idea for my 'future' home cooking. 

I, myself, have taken Japanese home cooking classes, also a short-course cooking classes at the French culinary school, attend to workshops and taking classes when I visited other countries, wine and cheese in France, vegetarian cooking in the UK, I even visited a Tuna-farm in Spain and tasted freshly cut tuna 'Maguro no sashimi'.

Research and study - both in food, techniques and its background culture has been always my passion. 

And most of all, my cooking for my family.

Benefit from all thee experience to conduct hands-on cooking classes, sharing authentic but simple techniques in an approachable way for you to bring back home and replicate.