Chef’s cutting board

The New Year brings new opportunities

Cultural News, January 2008

By Andy Matsuda

    Each year I say, “With the New Year comes new opportunities to further Japanese culture through food.”  The year 2008 is no different and in fact opened with a short cooking program on the UTB Japanese television program that aired on channel 18 on Dec. 29 at 7 a.m. In this program, I not only demonstrated how to make traditional Japanese New Year foods, but I also explained the meaning of each dish which sadly most Japanese people do not know about these days.

   I would like to continue this TV program with UTB with four other culturally significant days of the year, including March 3, May 5, July 7 and September 15.  Each one of these dates is called Sekku and is a significant date representing seasons of Japan.  Each date has special dishes associated with it.  Further information will be provided as it becomes available.

   We will return to the Asian American Expo in Pomona on January 19 and 20.  Organizers are expecting a turnout of close to 100,000, making it one of the five largest conventions in the United States today.  

  Three years ago, we sold 600 sushi packages in three and half hours. We had to hand out only information sheets to the attendees for the rest of the day. If the last time proves true to form, we will once again run out of food at our booth early in the day.   On both days of the Expo, we will start serving sushi packages at 11 a.m. But we will prepare only 400 packages each day due to our capacity for food safety, so come early.  Make sure not to miss out on the sushi prepared by graduates of the Sushi Chef Institute.

   Andy Matsuda is founder and Chief Instructor of the Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles. For more information about the school, visit

www.sushischool.net.

(This text was completed by Gavin Kelley.)