Hokkaido Cooking Masterclass with a Hunter Chef (Sapporo)

Hokkaido is known as Japan’s breadbasket, famous for its produce, fresh seafood and dairy products. Few know this better than Chef Noriyasu Aoyama, a Hokkaido-born professional culinary researcher and enthusiast hunter who has spent years in the culinary scene as a chef, cooking instructor, cooking book author and food coordinator. Drawing from his experience both in the kitchen and in the Hokkaido wilderness, Chef Aoyama designed this course to give you a taste of authentic Hokkaido cuisine from field to table.

In this class, Chef Aoyama will first give you an overview of local Hokkaido ingredients, like rice and kelp, before moving on to dashi, a fish stock with myriad uses in Japanese cuisine. After sharing stories of hunting in the Hokkaido backcountry, he will show you his technique to cook white rice perfectly using a blend of three kinds of rice from Hokkaido, and how to cook using dashi soup stock, which he will use to make suimono soup and dashimaki tamago (Japanese-style rolled omelet).

Next, it’ll be your time to get hands-on in making onigiri rice balls and filling them with your preferred ingredients. You will have a choice between five different fillings, including kelp, salmon and mountain wasabi, all native to the area. You’ll complete your meal with suimono (clear soup) and Yezo sika deer roast steak with alpine leek sauce prepared by the chef. Once all the food is ready, sit down to enjoy your meal while continuing to learn about Hokkaido wildlife, cooking and traditional culture.