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Bentoya Cooking, an English-language Japanese cooking school in Tokyo, has started offering online classes during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. You’ll get to learn how to make traditional Japanese dishes with a twist – all the recipes are vegan.
Bentoya Cooking classes are usually held at the company’s studio in Roppongi. However, due to the current circumstances, the workshops have moved online via Zoom, meaning you can attend from anywhere.
Online lessons are offered regularly throughout August, on both weekends and weekdays, so you can learn to make a range of Japanese staples including soy sauce ramen, rolled sushi, bento boxes and okonomiyaki, using only plant-based ingredients. It costs ¥3,300 per lesson, which includes an introduction to the dish, a one-hour cooking demonstration, and a recipe to help you re-create the meal yourself.
On Saturday August 22, Bentoya Cooking is hosting a special vegan izakaya-style cooking class in collaboration with sake brewery Kanbai, where you’ll learn how to make meat-free tsukune ('chicken' skewers), summer pickles, seared potatoes, spring rolls and miso wrapped in shiso leaves. The lesson costs just ¥2,200 – and if you live on Honshu, Japan’s main island, you can opt to receive a bottle of Kanbai’s sake for an additional ¥1,000.
Book a spot in Bentoya Cooking’s regular online classes via the official website. But, to attend the special vegan izakaya class on August 22, you’ll need to email hello@bentoyacooking.com.
Remember to read our guide on how to go out safely in Tokyo, or anywhere for that matter.
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