LOTE News

8C’s Japanese cooking class

It is a truth universally acknowledged, or at least widely agreed upon by St Albans Secondary College staff members and students alike, that there is never not a busy week at this school. Small wonder, then, that there will be times when one event on our calendar will prevent some members of the community from participating in another. And that’s how the special 8C Japanese onigiri-making class came about.

This year, the very popular LOTE Week just happened to occur at the same time as 8C’s camp. “Zannen desu ne” (What a pity!) lamented the members of the class when they spotted the clash, as it meant that they would not to be able to sample the food on offer on LOTE Week’s market day, nor to order one of the incredibly scrumptious bento (packed Japanese lunch boxes).

Putting on our de Bono green hats, the class brainstormed potential solutions, and unanimously it was decided that we should organise a Japanese-cooking session, which is exactly what happened this Monday just past. Onigiri (rice balls, though - oddly enough - often triangular in shape) were chosen as our entry-level aspiration. All members of the class participated in the preparation, with students working in small groups to stir the gohan (rice), cut to size nori (sheets of dried seaweed), mix maguro (tuna) with mayoneezu (mayonnaise), fill small dishes with furikake (a Japanese condiment), and decorate the tables in a red and white theme.

Traditionally, people preparing onigiri dip their hands in water and then sprinkle them with salt to prevent the rice from sticking to them as cupping motions shape the delicacies before they are wrapped in nori and dipped in furikake. Our food-handling gloves did make for an awkward start with many not-quite-rice-balls being produced. Nevertheless, “Narau yori narero” (practice makes perfect), as they say, with many students producing very authentic-looking onigiri by the end of the lesson.

A very big “Arigatou” (Thank you) to all members of 8C for their creative and culinary efforts on the day.

Bronwyn Salton

Japanese teacher