THIS Saturday sees the launch of my new Japanese food venture – a mobile catering van offering authentic Japanese home cooking to the people of Oxford.

The mobile van is the latest stage in my Japanese cooking adventure, so I’m not so much starting up, as branching out.

Juggling a busy job in student recruitment with bringing up two young children and pursuing my passion for cooking was something of a challenge, so I decided to set up my own business, drawing upon my Japanese roots.

I started I’m Japanese five years ago, making sushi at home and selling it locally at Wolvercote Farmers’ Market. The business has grown from strength to strength, and I now sell sushi at several weekend markets in Oxford – East Oxford, North Parade and Summertown.

If you’re used to modern-day Western sushi, you might be surprised to learn that the definition of sushi is ‘sour-tasting’. Sushi was originally made in Southeast Asia and was a fermented food. The oldest form of Japanese sushi is still made by wrapping fish in soured fermenting rice, but most modern forms of sushi use rice cooked with vinegar combined with ingredients such as seafood, cooked meat and vegetables.

Sushi is now widely available in supermarkets and restaurants, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing like homemade sushi made with locally-sourced produce. I come from a small village in Japan where everything moves very slowly; everyone knows everybody else, everyone else’s business and everyone grows their own vegetables.

I grew up eating seasonal vegetables donated to my father’s temple; they were cooked beautifully by my mother and grandmother who taught me how to cook and present food. I try to retain this element of my Japanese upbringing in my cooking, using locally-sourced and environmentally-friendly produce whenever possible.

For me, the joy of homemade Japanese cooking is not just the superior taste that far surpasses anything you could buy in the supermarket – it’s also the social element of cooking together and sharing expertise. I pass on my knowledge through classes and workshops.

I teach people how to create simple homemade sushi, as well as dishes such as Sake Nanban (salmon in sake and soy sauce), Tonkatsu (fried breaded pork with sweet miso sauce) and Ingen No Goma Ae (green bean and sesame salad), through Sophie Grigson’s Pop-up Cookery School.

It’s this broader focus on Japanese cooking that has encouraged me to branch out. The new van will give me the opportunity to sell hot food, such as gyoza (fried/steamed dumplings), teriyaki chicken with rice, udon noodles in soup, miso soup, and fried chicken. I’ll also be offering my traditional rolled sushi, and I will still have a presence at the farmers’ markets, but I am looking forward to being able to offer a wider range of authentic food.

I’ve built up a good customer base and customers in Oxford have said they will welcome a Japanese street food van. Selling cold food such as sushi has been great fun, but I want to be able to vary the menu and offer hot food which tastes much nicer. I could have tried a restaurant or a café, but I think this option will be more exciting!

Find my I’m Japanese van near the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter on Woodstock Road, opposite the Royal Oak pub, Monday-Friday from 10am-2pm. We launch this weekend – so come along and get a special launch freebie!

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Find out more about I’m Japanese catering, courses, parties and workshops at www.im-japanese.com/japanese/.