On Saturday, August 26 at 2PM, the Okinawa Association of America (OAA) in Gardena will host a special hands-on cooking workshop to make sātā andāgī (often referred to as “Okinawan dango”).

Sātā andāgī - which literally means “sugar” + “deep fried” in the Okinawan language - can be found at Nikkei events across Los Angeles, but the traditional methods of cooking these festival favorites are slowly being forgotten.

There are noticeable differences depending on how the sātā andāgī are prepared. The OAA invites interested persons to learn one of the old-fashioned Okinawan processes, which not only emphasizes flavor, shape, and density but also how you mix the dry ingredients. Other important factors include using your hands to scoop and drop the dough into the oil (instead of the more convenient ice cream scooper) and using a very precise temperature (not too hot, not too low).

Since the traditional recipes and cooking methods are not being widely utilized, the goal of this and subsequent workshops is to pass these on to the next generation.

The cooking workshop will be followed by a short lecture about sātā andāgī presented by the OAA’s Uchinaaguchi (Okinawan language) instructor Chogi Higa.

Admission is $5 for OAA members and $10 for the public. A limited number of participants can be accepted for the hands-on cooking portion due to limited space, so please RSVP by August 21 (Monday): 310-532-1929, oaamensore@gmail.com. (Even if the spots are filled, people are still encouraged to observe the lecture portion of the workshop)

The OAA Center is located at 16500 South Western Avenue in Gardena (event in the Yamauchi Building).

This workshop is being organized in coordination with the OAA’s Okinawan Bazaar (October 8), which is the only annual event in Los Angeles that celebrates Okinawan culture.