Japanese Cooking Class

I'm close to Los Angeles looking for a beginner cooking class, preferably a course in Japanese cuisine because I need to learn how to cook Japanese food (my mother says). I am not trying to do this as a career, but I am sick and tired of being affraid of the stove. I just need to learn the basics of food preparation and I'm not sure where to look. I tried searching for a course in Japanese cuisine but no luck. Does anyone know of a place or a website? Perhaps a good cookbook or two for beginners?

Thank you in advance.

Whole Foods offers cooking classes covering a variety of topics ranging from the base using a knife to ethnic cuisines. I recommend you check with your Whole Foods and from there.

As for cookbooks, I have not found a really great book for beginners Japanese, but I can recommend some books on basic cooking quality:

1. Joy of Cooking - any edition (used correctly). This classic covers the basics of cooking, cooking meat, vegetables, etc., and explains why and how tos. Most recipes are reliable.


2. How to cook everything by Mark Bittman
An excellent book of modern cuisine. I gave my brother for Christmas and he loved it!

3. cookbooks America Test Kitchen feature product recommendations, explanations clear and reliable, foolproof recipes.

Alton Brown has a few cookbooks of course. Cook's Illustrated, and Cooking Light magazines are two very good.

Online resources to consider:

Recipes and information:
www.foodtv.com
www.epicurious.com

Recipes and get an idea of America Test Kitchen & Cooking Light:
www.americastestkitchen.com
www.cookinglight.com

Mark Bittman "site:
http://www.howtocookeverything.tv/htce/H ...

After learning some basics and get an idea of what you want in a cookbook, you can read Japanese cookbooks at your local bookstore.

I prefer to go to my local bookstore Kinokunya. You can find Japanese cookbooks in English in some Japanese grocery stores or in a bookstore Japantown.

healthy cooking classes

Let me begin with a course on basic cooking to feel more comfortable in the kitchen first, then you can experiment with different types of classes thereafter.