Paper Screening

Screening Assignments

Applicants will be screened based on their submission of the following 3 assignments.

[Assignment 1]

Photos and recipes of 2 dishes

According to the theme “My Japanese Cuisine”, please create 2 dishes by yourself and upload photos and their recipe (brief description of ingredients and methods)

• * Ingredients: within 50 words for each dish
• * Methods: within 150 words for each dish

[Assignment 2]

Short essay

Please describe in what ways the essences of Japanese cuisine (e.g. process, knowledge or skills of Japanese cuisine) have been incorporated in to the dishes from assignment 1.

• * within 200 words

[Assignment 3]

Short essay

Please describe what is your thoughts, passion and enthusiasm towards Japanese cuisine.

• * within 200 words

Points to Note

• Please use Japanese ingredients as much as possible, and specify their name if you used them.
• Dishes must not have already received awards in other Japanese cooking contests.
• Sushi recipe is not accepted
  *Non-Japanese sushi chefs wishing to compete should see HERE for details of the annual World Sushi Cup Japan, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
• Recipes for sweets, snacks, desserts, and drinks are excluded from this contest.
• Photos should be clear enough to understand what ingredients are being used.
• If 1 photo cannot show all the ingredients of your dish, you can submit up to 3 photos per dish, in order to show different angles.
• Photos and content submitted by applicants may be used on the official websites and social media accounts of The Washoku World Challenge and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.

Example Photos

Criteria for Judging

The judging will be conducted under the following 3 criteria.

1. Photos and recipes of 2 Dishes that have been made in accordance with the theme "My Japanese Cuisine".

• Photo: Factors to be considered include plating harmony / food color and arrangement / how beautifully the ingredients are cut.
• Explanation: How brief are the descriptions of ingredients and methods.

2. Incorporating the Essences of "Japanese Cuisine"

• Factors such as the way ingredients have been thought about and utilized, and what knowledge and skills have been demonstrated will be judged.
• How you take in the basis of Japanese cuisine? (e.g. the incorporation of 5 cooking methods, 5 tastes).

3. Passion and Enthusiasm for Japanese Cuisine

• Showing your good understanding of the theme and describing your thought and passion for Japanese cuisine.

Video Screening

Screening Assignments

The 15 contestants who passed and proceed to the second stage will be required to complete the following assignments.

[Assignment 1]

A video of yourself cooking incorporating at least one of the five cooking methods of Japanese cuisine.

[Assignment 2]

Presentation Videos

• An explanation of your dish made for Assignment 1.
• Your thought and passion for Japanese cuisine.
• What you hope to achieve through this competition or what do you aim in the future.

• * Recipes and photos should be submitted by Saturday, October 31st.
• * Please make sure to check the video shooting guidelines carefully before recording (to be released around October 22nd).
• * For guidelines on video screening, please see below.

Screening Guidelines

Followings are the basic criteria for the screening.

• Combinations of ingredients
• Method of cutting ingredients
• Knife techniques
• Correctness of cooking procedures
• Using proper cooking methods to ingredients
• Color scheme of ingredients
• Efficient cooking procedure
• Appropriate plating for tableware and well balanced coordination
• Presence of at least one of the five cooking methods
• Maintenance of hygiene standards
• Following the theme of "My Japanese Cuisine"
• In the presentation videos, whether the contestants' passion for Japanese cuisine and future vision are well explained.

Advice from the Deputy Head Judge:

This time, contestants will prepare their dishes according to the theme of "My Japanese Cuisine". We will be judging contestants from every aspects, from knife skills, cooking procedure to cooking arrangement and so on. We will also evaluate how contestants treat and prepare their ingredients, as well as hygiene management.
Since the contest will be via videos this time, we cannot actually taste or smell the dishes, but we encourage contestants to work with essential culinary elements like plating, color and balance. If you can perform these Japanese cuisine elements well, we have no doubt that this will be a spectacular contest.
Although this is our first attempt to hold an online contest, we will evaluate your dishes with our knowledges and experiences with the senses of Japanese cuisine.
We think we will be able to judge contestants' cooking skills, hygiene and cooking management throught videos.
We wish to receive many applications from around the world!