MANILA, Philippines–Three batches of Japanese-cooking trainees recently completed their free lessons in “Washoku” with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

Washoku, a traditional Japanese cuisine, was named an intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization last year.

“Wa” means Japanese while “shoku” stands for a meal or anything food-related. Washoku is a Japanese social practice in food production, processing and consumption of naturally sourced ingredients such as rice, fish and vegetable.

Tesda director general Joel Villanueva said the culinary training completed last week by three batches composed of 28 aspiring chefs can help them earn a living by preparing the cuisine in their own restaurants or working in Japanese food joints.

Tesda teamed up with Japan’s ABC Cooking Studio to hold the free hands-on training on Washoku for 11 batches of trainees. The series, which is held at the Tesda Women’s Center in Taguig City, kicked off in June. The last batch will hold their training from Aug. 25 to 29.

“We have budding chefs in our midst, and we hope the training will help them find a successful career in cooking,” Villanueva said.

Of the 28 participants, nine are restaurant owners and six were overseas Filipino workers.

The trainees were taught to prepare Japanese dishes such as tempura (deep-fried seafood or vegetable) and soba noodles, katsudon (rice with deep-fried pork cutlet), onigiri (rice ball), tamagoyaki (rolled omelet), nikujyaga (meat, potatoes and onion stewed in sweetened soy sauce), gyoza (dumplings), ramen (noodle soup), takoyaki (wheat flour-based snack with minced seafood, ginger and green onion), gyudon (beef bowl), sukiyaki (hot pot dish) as well as bread and other pastries.

Washoku is known for its simple presentation and healthy image and is traditionally a meal of soup and three dishes, mostly fish and vegetable, served with a bowl of rice.