Sachie’s Kitchen
Dec 18, 2025
Sachie Nomura has been passing on her passion for Asian cuisine to thousands of cooking school attendees and fans of her popular television show for nearly two decades. Despite a professional life comprised of many moving parts, when it comes to food worth celebrating, her mantra remains ‘Keep it simple’.
My first thought is, how does Sachie Nomura have time to do everything she does? When you make a mental note of every project the well-known chef and cooking school founder has on at any one time, I’m almost slightly embarrassed to have asked her to pop down to the Elemental Cooking School by Sachie kitchen and whip something up for the benefit of 66.
But not only is the request met with an enthusiastic ‘yes’ (with an apology that she might be a bit tired, having just flown back from Japan, where she was visiting family, the previous day), but Nomura then follows this up with a list of what might be best to cook for the occasion and a thoughtful query about what sort of clothing she should wear for the photo shoot.
While food remains central to almost everything she does, Nomura is always considering the angles and opportunities. As a female immigrant entrepreneur, she’s as passionate about raising the profile of women as she is about helping people gain the creative confidence to cook.
No wonder she has been named as one of New Zealand’s 50 most influential women and one of Auckland University’s ‘40 under 40’ aspiring alumni. She's also an Honorary Adviser to the Asia New Zealand Foundation. And yes, you’ll know her from her Sachie’s Kitchen television show (now syndicated to 45 countries) and companion cookbooks.
And you also might be one of the thousands of budding chefs to have passed through the doors and hovered over the cook tops of the Elemental Cooking School by Sachie, headquartered in an old chocolate factory in Auckland’s Parnell.
“Over the last 15 years we have had about 80,000 students come through here – can you believe that?” Nomura laughs. “We’ve had all sorts of people from all walks of life. My youngest student is two years old, my oldest is 86. It has been very successful.”
Originally from Aichi, Japan, Nomura arrived in New Zealand in the mid-1990s. Not being able to speak any English, she immersed herself in study, first in computer science and then switching to a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Chinese and Linguistics.
“After I graduated, I told my parents ‘Sorry, I’m not coming home yet.’ I wanted to work. And I was lucky because my parents’ attitude was basically, ‘Well, if you like what you do, then go do it.’”
For the next seven years Nomura forged a career path within travel and tourism, including a stint in hotel management. However, one particular day at work caused her to re-examine what she wanted to achieve from life.
“On this one day, two of my colleagues’ partners died of heart attacks. On the same day – one in the morning, one in the afternoon. It was absolutely shocking. I started thinking about what I actually wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
That evening Nomura says she drew a mind map of all the things that she wanted to achieve, including how she could utilise her knowledge and love of Japanese cooking. The idea for an Asian cooking school was born.
“My husband and I discussed it, and he said if you can make it work – great. If it doesn’t take off after a year, you’ve got to go find a job. I said ‘Yeah, I can do that.’ And I quit my job the very next day.”
“I told my colleagues I’m walking away,” Nomura remembers. “They were like ‘What are you going to do?’ and I said, ‘A cooking school’. They all laughed. They were saying ‘Are you serious?’ Well, yes, I was.”
“People have got to eat, so I started putting the word out about the cooking school. I remember I had this hens’ party early on. I didn’t have a venue; I just had our apartment kitchen. My husband says ‘What? Ten women in our little apartment kitchen?’ But thankfully, this was during the recession and there was a lot of commercial space available at good rates, so I could establish the cooking school outside of our home quite quickly.”
As for the original mind map Nomura drew up on that dramatic evening, it’s framed on the wall of the cooking school as a reminder that some ideas should be grabbed with both hands.
“I wanted to demystify Asian cooking – that was my main goal. I wanted people to go, ‘Oh, that's actually not that scary’. I wanted to remove the fear. I didn’t want people to look at a condiment or an ingredient and see that it’s written in a different language and just give up.”
Classes at Elemental Cooking School by Sachie now cover seven different cuisines -Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Malaysian, Korean and Chinese. There’s literally something for every participant.
“When we create the cooking school menus, I tell my myself and I tell my team ‘Keep it simple, don’t overcomplicate it’. I really think it’s the chef’s job to make sure it’s simple, because that’s how you inspire people to think ‘Oh, that was easy! Yeah, I’m going to make that at home this week’, or ‘I’m going to make a delicious curry and invite my friends over’.”
Ever-entrepreneurial, Nomura’s cookbooks and TV shows have proven as popular as the cooking school. She has also leant her name to food products such as meal kits and sauces and today oversees a significant food distribution enterprise.
And in whatever spare time that remains, she has even created what she believes is New Zealand’s first ever cast-iron wok.
In collaboration with well-known Kiwi company Ironclad, Nomura has co-designed the Takumi Wok, which is handmade in small batches and can effectively be used like a Dutch Oven or a traditional wok depending on what’s for dinner.
“We launched it in April and the first 500 sold out immediately,” she says. “You can braise in it, you can stew in it, you can put it in the oven. It comes with a handmade bamboo serving lid too. It’s very authentic and will last generations if you look after it.”
Endlessly enthusiastic – and with all her ventures bubbling away on the stove at once – I still get the feeling that the cooking school remains her main motivator, her pride and joy.
“Giving people confidence in the kitchen and getting them cooking – it is very rewarding,” she says. “There is such joy in cooking great food.”
Deep-fried Prawn Nest in Wok
When you crave something crispy and deep fried, or want to impress friends and family, here is a great recipe you could give a try!
Makes: 8
Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Method:
- In a bowl, mix all the filling ingredients thoroughly. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Mix Japanese mayonnaise and Sriracha in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Take small portions of the spring roll strips and lay it in a hand and create bird nest like shape. Place a small portion of filling in the nest and wrap the filling with another small portion of spring roll strips. Compress it with both hands and create small bundles (ball shapes)
- Heat oil in a wok to 180°C (350°F).
- Fry the wrapped filling in batches until golden brown and crispy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with the mayo sriracha sauce.
- Garnish with garlic chili oil and coriander leaves if desired.
Ingredients:
Filling:
120g prawn meat (8 prawn cutlets), tail removed and chopped
30g bamboo shoot, chopped
¼ tsp ginger, grated
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Shaoxing Wine (Chinese Cooking Wine)
1 tsp corn starch
A pinch of white pepper
10 deep fry spring roll sheets, cut into thin strips
Oil for deep frying
3 TBSP Japanese Mayonnaise
1 TBSP Sriracha
1 tsp garlic chili oil, garnish (optional)
Fresh coriander, garnish (optional)