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[ONLINE] おうちごはん!Ouchigohan! | Japanese Home Cooking with Table for Two and NAJAS

JASH is pleased to join our friends at The Japan Society of Boston, The Japan-America Society of Georgia, Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, The Japan-America Society of Washington DC, Japan America Society of Colorado, Japan-America Society of Indiana, and Japan Society (New York) in this 2023 installment of the family-friendly cooking series おうちごはん!Ouchigohan! - Japanese Home Cooking with Table for Two and NAJAS!

Join us as we cook along with Table for Two’s innovative food program, Wa-Shokuiku: Learn. Cook. Eat Japanese!, and make simple, healthy, homestyle Japanese food to enjoy with friends and family.

Summer days at the beach, the park or just in your backyard are ahead. Join us and learn how to make delicious & healthy Japanese Picnic Bento featuring your favorite foods. This educational and family friendly program has plenty for all ages from cute bento design, crafts, and cupcake liners to add to the fun. This session’s Bento Cooking Class Menu can be found below:

  • Karaage Fried Chicken / Tofu

  • Tamagoyaki Omelet

  • Tako Weiner Sausage

  • Lemony Cucumber Pickles

  • Marinated Mozzarella Spears

  • Rice Cupcake w/ Furikake

Once registered you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link and recipe card.

NAJAS friends can enter their Society-provided code in the "Registration Code" bar to receive a discounted rate.

All classes will be taught by Debra Samuels, lead curriculum and recipe developer for Wa-Shokuiku, cookbook author, cooking teacher and 2020 recipient of the John E. Thayer III Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cultural Exchange Between the United States and Japan.

The ingredient list will be provided a few days before the event.


$10 JASH Members / $15 Non-members. JASH members use code "Houston" to register.


About the Instructor:

Debra Samuels leads the program content and curriculum development of TABLE FOR TWO USA’s Japanese inspired food education program, “Wa- Shokuiku -Learn. Cook. Eat Japanese!”.

She was a food writer and contributor to the Food Section of The Boston Globe and has authored two cookbooks: “My Japanese Table,” and “The Korean Table.” She curated the exhibit, “Obento and Built Space: Japanese Boxed Lunch and Architecture,” at the Boston Architectural College (2015) and co-curated “Objects of Use and Beauty: Design and Craft in Japanese Culinary Tools,” at the Fuller Craft Museum (2018). Debra also worked as a program coordinator and an exhibition developer at the Japanese department of the Boston Children's Museum (1992-2000).

Debra has lived in Japan, all together, for 12 years and specializes in Japanese cuisine. She travels around the country and abroad teaching hands on workshops on obento, the Japanese lunchbox. During Covid 19 she is teaching live online cooking programs to youth and adults.


This program is made possible by:


Program Note: Photographs may be taken during the event for the records of the program host and for use in public media outlets. Registering for the event generally signifies acknowledgment that your likeness may be used in these ways.