Ramen & Gyoza Cooking Class in Dotonbori Osaka

Dotonbori and Namba: Osaka's food heart

Osaka has long been called the nation's kitchen, a merchant city where good food mattered more than fine clothes. Its spirit lives in the word kuidaore, roughly to eat until you drop, and nowhere shows it better than Dotonbori. This canal-side street in the Namba district glows with giant moving signs and neon at night, and is lined with stalls selling takoyaki, okonomiyaki and steaming bowls of noodles.

The cooking studio is in a residential building in the Namba area, a short walk from the canal, so a ramen cooking class in Osaka here fits perfectly before or after an evening in Dotonbori. The gyoza class starts at 13:30, which leaves time for a stroll along the canal and the Ebisu Bridge once you finish, when the lights start to come on.

Making ramen noodles and broth from scratch

Ramen has become as famous worldwide as sushi, but few visitors see how it is really made. In this ramen making class you start with plain wheat flour, knead it by hand into a firm dough, then roll it through a noodle machine and cut it into fresh noodles. Your instructor explains how the dough and cutting change the texture, from thin and firm to thick and chewy.

The broth is the classic shoyu, or soy-sauce, style, built on chicken bones and dried sardines for a clear, deep flavour. Once it is ready you season your own bowl, add toppings you like, or stir in miso to turn it into miso ramen. The result is a bowl that exists nowhere else in the world, and a technique you can repeat in your own kitchen.

Gyoza: Japan's favourite dumplings

In Japan a bowl of ramen is very often ordered with a plate of gyoza, the pan-fried dumplings with a crisp golden base and a soft, steamed top. Originally inspired by Chinese dumplings, they became a Japanese classic in the decades after the war, and some cities now compete for the title of gyoza capital.

In the class you prepare a filling of minced chicken and vegetables, then learn to fold the thin wrappers into neat pleats, the step everyone finds most satisfying once they get the knack. The dumplings are cooked the Japanese way, first fried and then steamed in the same pan, and served hot with your ramen. Vegetarian, pescatarian and no-fish versions can be arranged if you add a note when booking.

The sushi option: Kansai-style pressed sushi

If you choose the morning Ramen and Sushi option, the gyoza is replaced by two types of sushi. The first is oshizushi, the pressed sushi of the Kansai region around Osaka. You fill a square wooden frame with seasoned rice, lay Wagyu roast beef on top and press it by hand so the rice and topping bind, then cut it into neat rectangles.

The second is egg sushi: you cook a Japanese rolled omelette, layered and rolled in a square pan, and place slices of it on rice. Pressed sushi is older than the nigiri most visitors know, and making it in Osaka is a lovely way to taste local food history. This option starts at 09:30, leaving the afternoon free to explore.