Sushi Making Party… and my matcha

Long time no post.

Last weekend I co-hosted a Japanese sushi making party!  More like “American style” sushi. haha. A large majority came out as these awkward, overstuffed maki rolls with copious rice to fish proportions.  We used the untraditional ingredients like cream cheese and smoked salmon, but the more everyone practiced the better they became.

We had all types of fresh, wonderful ingredients: Hamachi (yellow tail), Maguro (tuna), Tamago (Japanese omelet/egg), Unagi (grilled eel), Kani (articifcial crab meat), avocado, cucumber, carrots, tofu, spinach, even Inarizushi (sweet bean curd pockets that hold rice), and much, much more…. yum!  Japanese food is my absolute favorite.  I could live on it and never eat any other type of cuisine.  I was in Japan this summer, and I would have to say one of the best parts was eating Japanese food for breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner and dessert of course!  I never get sick of it.  Sake, or salmon sashimi is my absolute favorite.

So I was asked to bring dessert for the event.  About 50 members of the Marin Chinese Cultural Association came together for a big cooking class.  I already had a suggestion of what I should make…..  actually more like a demand from my mother of what I had to make. My matcha cupcakes.

Now, when I say my cupcakes, I say this because these cupcakes are my signature.  I make them special by injecting sweetened red bean paste into the center and piping a heavenly matcha buttercream on top.  I created the recipe myself, or dramatically adapted one, one could say… In fact, I’m still perfecting these babies.  But don’t get me wrong, they never cease to impress.  These cupcakes are damn good.

Instructor of the class:  Kyoko Lin, with me as her humble assistant. I had the pleasure of traveling to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe with her this summer.  We are good family friends and it was wonderful to get to spend some quality time together for the first time in a long while.  Being the wonderful person she is, she still agreed to instruct the class after just coming back from Japan two days before! Imagine the jetlag!  Honestly, the woman is one of the sweetest individuals I know. It’s all the Japanese etiquette!!!

The class was so much fun and all the food was super delicious.  We had some fantastic potluck accompaniments to go with our sushi, and we also served miso soup.  My cupcakes came at the end.  Yum.

I’m not quiet sure if I’m entirely ready to disclose this recipe yet….. perhaps some more time or more perfecting.  I’m sure I’ll be able to let go in the future.  In the meantime, you can dreamily await……