Being passionate about cooking, veganism, and cultural exchange, I was beyond excited to learn about this service that offers a unique and intimate cultural exchange experience for both foreign travelers and Japanese hosts. Furthermore, airKitchen helps make Japan\u2019s incredible food culture more accessible to those with dietary preferences like myself \u2013 whether vegan<\/a>, vegetarian<\/a>, halal, kosher, gluten-free… I sent airKitchen a cold email, not expecting a response, but was lucky enough to join the team a couple of months ago.<\/p>\n This past weekend, my friend and I participated in an airKitchen class ourselves, and I wanted to share our experience! We signed up for Yoko\u2019s Shojin ryori for vegans and vegetarians with Tempura <\/a>in Kanagawa \u2013 just about an hour train-ride outside of Tokyo. While I love the liveliness of Tokyo, it was nice to escape the city and venture into a slower, more residential area of Japan.<\/p>\n Our host, Yoko, and her husband and adorable child \u2013 who coincidentally shares my name \u2013 met us at the train station and took us to their home. My friend and I were joined by another guest from France for the class.<\/p>\n For those who don’t know, shojin ryori<\/a> ( \u7cbe\u9032\u6599\u7406\uff09is a type of traditional Japanese cuisine historically consumed by monks and informed by principles of Zen Buddhism. It is usually vegan.<\/em><\/p>\n 1) After being picked up at the train station, we all headed back to Yoko’s home. She provided green tea and recipes of the dishes we were making in both English and Japanese. She, like all airKitchen hosts, speaks English. However, since the three of us wanted to practice our Japanese, Yoko and her family were kind enough to tolerate our poor Japanese and speak in a mix of English and Japanese with us.<\/p>\n 2) Following the introduction to what we’d be making, we started cooking the dishes together! Considering the number of dishes we made \u2013 five total \u2013 it was impressive that we were able to finish all the cooking in under three hours. Yoko had prepared a schedule and some ingredients beforehand to help us cut, soak, cool, and otherwise prepare the food in the best order possible.<\/p>\n 3) Together, we prepared servings for the six of us. Yoko taught us about how different dishes are positioned when being served in Japan \u2013 for example, miso soup is always placed to the right of the rice.<\/p>\n 4) Then, we all sat down and enjoyed the meal we had created together! It was sooooo<\/em> good. My favorites were the kabocha tempura and goma-dofu topped with an amazing miso-sesame sauce.<\/p>\n My airKitchen experience was a special and memorable one. I’m so grateful for hosts like Yoko that welcome foreigners into their home, teach them their recipes, and make special cross-cultural and culinary experiences like this possible. This rings especially true for vegans, vegetarians, and others with dietary preferences for which enjoying Japanese food can be difficult when traveling around Japan.<\/p>\n Thank you Yoko!<\/p>\n Learn more about Yoko’s shojin ryori class<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Explore vegan cooking classes in Tokyo<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMy airKitchen Experience: Vegan Cooking Class in Tokyo<\/h3>\n
![\"vegan](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/P1190963.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat We Cooked:<\/h4>\n
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![\"shojin](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/1.jpg\")
Yoko has a plot in a nearby neighborhood community garden, and some of the veggies we cooked with were grown by her!<\/span><\/p>\nClass Structure<\/h4>\n
![\"vegan](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/P1190844.jpg\")
![\"vegan](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/P1190893.jpg\")
![\"vegan](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/P1190943.jpg\")
![\"vegan](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/P1190947.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"vegan](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/P1190964.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThoughts on My Vegan Cooking Class in Tokyo<\/h2>\n
Some of the Highlights:<\/h4>\n
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![\"vegan](\"https:\/\/airkitchen.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/koji.jpg\")