Sonoko Sakai is a Japanese American cooking teacher and

food writer Food writing is a genre of writing that focuses on food and includes works by food critics, food journalists, chefs and food historians. Definition Food writers regard food as a substance and a cultural phenomenon. John T. Edge, an American food ...

. She has worked as a foreign-film buyer and producer. She was also a buyer for Kadowaka, Gaga and Nippon Herald before focusing on the food industry. She writes about Japanese cuisine at the ''Los Angeles Times'' and, in 2011, she created the organization called Common Grains. Common Grains promotes Japanese food and culture and has an emphasis on rice and grains. Common Grains has organized food pop-ups, cooking classes, onigiri (

rice ball A rice ball may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a ball shape. Rice balls exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten, and are particularly prevalent in Asia. Rice ba ...

) competitions and speaker panels. In 2013, she went to

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

headquarters to oversee the Japanese dinner for 800 employees.

Early life

Sakai was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to a Japanese executive with

Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...

who was stationed in New York. She grew up in the United States, Mexico and Japan. She is currently based in California.

Media career

Sakai's stories and recipes have appeared in

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews, who was also the ...

Lucky Peach Momofuku is a culinary brand established by chef David Chang in 2004 with the opening of Momofuku Noodle Bar. It includes restaurants in New York City, Sydney, Toronto, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles (Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, Má Pêche (defunct) ...

and

Zester Daily ''Zester Daily'' was a food and wine online magazine, published by a team led by Corie Brown, a former writer and editor for the ''Los Angeles Times''.Hallock, Betty, ''Los Angeles Times'': Daily Dish (August 17, 2009)Zester Daily now online The sit ...

. She has appeared on national television, including

the Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million U.S. households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. ...

, and public radio —

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

's ''Good Food'' and ''Sounds L.A.'', PRI’s “

The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

.” She was featured in the Omotenashi episode of KCET's The Migrant Kitchen, demonstrating Nihachi-Style Soba. She was featured in the ''It Starts with Dashi'' episode of the ''Big Root'' podcast. She was featured in the ''Inside the Incredible World of Japanese Cooking with Sonoko Sakai'' episode of the Milk Street radio program explaining how to make broth, bento boxes, and udon dough. Sakai appeared on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

channel's program '' Milk Street Television'' in the episode ''Udon Noodles at Home'' in 2021 to demonstrate the making of

udon noodles Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...

and their use in the recipe for Udon Noodles with Spicy Meat and Mushroom Sauce.Udon Noodles at Home
Milk Street Television, 2021-12-18.

Publications

Books

*1986 : ''Poetical Pursuit of Food: Japanese recipes for American Cooks'' - as Sonoko Kondo *2016 : ''Rice Craft: Yummy! Healthy! Fun to Make!'' *2019 : ''Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors''

External links

* *
Passing on the traditions of Japanese home cooking: Food writer, Sonoko Sakai
in ''

Discover Nikkei The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affil ...

'' (25 Oct 2011)
Changing Careers: From Cinema to Soba
in ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'' (7 July 2015)
L.A. Soba Queen Sonoko Sakai Is Hosting a Pop Up at Cofax Coffee
in ''

Los Angeles Magazine ''Los Angeles'' magazine is a monthly publication dedicated to covering Los Angeles. Founded in the spring of 1961 by David Brown, the magazine is currently owned and published by Hour Media Group, LLC. Los Angeles magazine's combination of feat ...

'' (9 Nov 2015)
Pen in Hand: Sonoko Sakai: Authentic food and the art of soba
in ''

Tehachapi News Tehachapi News is the local print and online source for news and events affecting the residents and businesses in Tehachapi, California. ''Tehachapi News'' is considered a Wednesday publication and is available through home delivery and at rack l ...

'' (20 Mar 2016)
The farmer and the chef: How rice was woven into two women's shared history
in ''

'' (28 July 2016)
For Sonoko Sakai, working with your hands affects more than just the food you make
in ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' (6 Feb 2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Sonoko Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Japanese cuisine Women cookbook writers American cookbook writers Food writers People from Queens, New York