(Photo: Michelle Goldchain)
Enjoy a three-course lunch at Washington’s modern Japanese restaurant Nama Ko and learn how a single fish can be used to make essential Japanese pantry ingredients, both fresh and preserved.
Chef Derek Watson begins with a whole bonito or skipjack tuna and demonstrates how it is used in each course of the lunch. Miso soup is first up, made with katsuobushi, or dried bonito, a key ingredient in Japanese cuisine. Watson demonstrates how the soup’s fish broth, called dashi, is made.
The second course features a classic preparation of tuna sashimi with house-made ponzu sauce and garnishes. Watson explains how the same ingredients are used in the fresh sashimi and the preserved sauce. He also covers how soy sauce is made and how to turn it into ponzu for the dish. For one of the third-course options, salmon is marinated in Saikyo miso, made in the creamy, sweet Kyoto style.
The ticket price covers the three-course lunch, gratuities, and demonstration. Drinks are not included but may be purchased separately at the restaurant.
Menu
Miso Soup and a Japanese House Salad
Fresh miso soup with silken tofu, scallion, and mushrooms, farmers market salad with pickled spring veggies
Tuna Sashimi
Katsuo bonito or skipjack tuna, yuzu ponzu, mizuna, crispy lotus root
Choice of Chicken Katsu Curry Over Rice or Salmon Donburi
Crispy fried and breaded chicken cutlet with Japanese curry sauce and pickles served on sushi rice or roasted salmon rice bowl, miso-marinated salmon, creamy avocado, scallion, sesame
General Information
