Japanese cuisine has seen something of a revolution over the last decade but long before Yo Sushi and Wasabi got in on the action, one woman in Wimbledon was quietly leading the charge from her own kitchen.

Reiko Hashimoto grew up in a traditional Japanese family where food was at the heart of the home and set up Hashi cooking ten years ago after moving to London.

With cookery courses ranging from beginner to gourmet and classes in sushi to canapés and dumplings there is something for any Far Eastern food fanatic to enjoy.

I joined her sushi and sashimi class in Wimbledon Park alongside just seven participants.

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Sashimi spread of blue fin tuna, butter fish, sea bass and salmon.

Reiko enthusiastically took us through the basics, teaching the fine art of making sushi rice and rolling into delicious, maki and nigiri.

She said: "Japanese food is still regarded as quite an expensive cuisine and it is expensive if you eat out.

"So I think a lot people would like to try it and cook it themselves."

Reiko then took us through how to make Japanese omelette and miso soup before showing us how to carefully prepare sashimi during the four hour class.

By the end we managed to roll enough sushi for a small army and sat down to a feast of sashimi, all manner of sushi rolls, sake and miso soup.

She said: "Sushi is a dish people can have a go at by looking in a book, but I think it’s always good to witness how it’s done.

"French or Italian is Western cooking so people are used to it but most people have no idea how to cook Japanese food.

"If I wanted to learn French cooking I would want to learn from a French person, and you can talk more about the cultural background of the food which can be very interesting."

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Green tea ice cream