Better than Nobu’s. High praise indeed from one of Reiko’s students about her miso black cod.  Tasting it myself, I had to agree. Rich butter-soft white flakes framed in that craving-inducing caramelised coating, served straight from under the grill in Reiko’s kitchen. And the best part?  Now I could cook it too.

Having spent the last few months under the tutelage of a pictureless (if brilliant) cookbook, it was time to go in search of a real-life Japanese cookery teacher. Who better than Reiko Hashimoto-Lambert of Hashi, a Japanese cookery class and catering company, who kindly agreed to be interviewed and have me sit in on her class.

Five students in all, we perched primly round the kitchen table in Reiko’s lovely Wimbledon home. Tonight’s menu: beef-and-vegetable rolls, black cod marinated in miso, a spicy white miso soup (Reiko’s own special recipe), and wild mushroom rice.


As this was the Gourmet Course class, basic cookery skills were generally assumed, and the class pitched in with tasks such as rolling up thin slices of beef filled with carrot and green beans, and shaping minced-prawn-and-chicken into quenelles for the soup. For the rest, we let Reiko take charge, while we munched our way through her (and our) handiwork.

For me, the best part of the class was listening to Reiko herself — explaining how to make and store your own teriyaki sauce, encouraging us to taste-test three different types of miso to appreciate their stark differences, and of course, learning the secret of a great miso marinade (hint: lots of patience). Like all good teachers, she really engaged with her class, as well as showering us with nifty cookery tips.

Afterwards, stomach happily brimming with an evening’s worth of learning, I got the chance to ask Reiko a few questions about the simple art of Japanese cookery…

Have you noticed a growing interest in Japanese cooking over the last few years?

Yes, I started to teach in London about six years ago and Japanese food took off about that time, so in a way, I was very lucky. Actually I started off catering first, but I really enjoy the teaching, I get to be more interactive with people and I get this immediate reaction which is really nice.

Who taught you to cook?

I’m very self-taught, but I’d have to say my mother. She was always cooking, she never ever bought ready-meals, and you know when you make dashi stock.  The katsuobushi, my mother used to shave it every morning. Even at that time, that was really something — people usually buy it already shaven.

Do you consider your cooking to belong to any particular region of Japan?

I think my dishes are really mixed because I lived all different places – I was brought up in Kyoto, then moved to Hong Kong, then to Tokyo, and now here.



Do you often think about what ingredients you can substitute in the Japanese dishes you teach?

Absolutely, I do that all the time. It puts off people if they have to go to a Japanese store just to get one daikon radish. That’s the aim, for people to be able to cookJapanese food by going to the local supermarket….

How important is presentation when it comes to food?

I think presentation is very important. Obviously the flavour is the most important thing, but presentation I would say is very close. Not only the plate, but the way you present it, it makes a big difference.

Lastly, what other cuisines do you enjoy cooking?

I cook French, Italian, Thai…  Chinese I find is very difficult, Japanese food is so much simpler. I like everything, but probably on daily basis I like to eat Japanese or Italian, I think in a way they are very similar.