Island Eko Pantry

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Island Eko Pantry

𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐁𝐂 🇨🇦 For more details of our market schedule, please check our website!

We are at Esquimalt Farmer's Market (Thursdays) and Moss Street Market (Saturdays) for summer outdoor season. You can also find our products at For Good Measure (James Bay), The Market Garden (Vic West), Niche Grocerant (Royal Oak), Lifestyle Markets (Burnside), The Market Stores (Downtown & Millstream), Beauregard Cafe (Brentwood Bay), Carnivore Meats & More (Brentwood Bay), Southridge Country St

ore (Pender Island), Country Grocer (Salt Spring), South Island Farm Hub (online), and BCause (online).

05/28/2026

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 🌿

Many of the workshops returning this season are your well-loved favourites, but we’re also excited to introduce a brand new workshop this year: 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧.

Mirin is a sweet rice wine commonly used in Japanese cooking, loved for its depth of flavour and versatility. In this workshop, you’ll learn about the traditional fermentation and aging process behind authentic mirin, and how to incorporate its deep, naturally sweet flavour into everyday cooking.

All workshops are hands-on. The Gimbap workshop includes lunch together at the end of class, while the other workshops include samples, snacks, and tea.

📍 Where: Uchida Eatery
💌 Sign up: [email protected]

Discounts are available for seniors, students, alumni, pairs, and guests registering for 3 or more workshops.

Thank you, as always, for supporting our small business. We’re looking forward to another beautiful season of cooking, fermentation, and community together ✨

05/25/2026

We had a very fun Natto workshop last week! This was our 3rd time and I’m always amazed by our supportive community.

We had a returnee, the youngest (and so attentive!) participant of all our past workshops, and other curious minds!

Not only teaching how to make Natto, I also wanted to show them some great ways to eat it. The cold natto soup was a hit 🙌🏻

The diary of the girl about the workshop (the last photo) made my day 🥺 (she said she learned a lot and can’t wait to make her own!)

We will announce about our next workshop schedule soon.

05/01/2026

9 years of friendship.
5 years of partnership.

And here we are, from our debut in 2021 at the Esquimalt Farmers Market to growing into retail, and in 2023, making the difficult decision to step away from our products.

We may not be where we once imagined, but in many ways, this is exactly where we’re meant to be. For us, it’s never been about growing bigger, but about building a strong foundation and staying consistent for our community.

We trust that one day, we’ll arrive somewhere beyond what we ever imagined.

Thank you for being part of our journey over the past five years. We’re truly grateful for your support, and we look forward to finding new ways to serve you in the years ahead.

The new schedule for our workshops will be posted this month 😊

03/11/2026

Japanese Cooking Class 👩🏻‍🍳

Japanese traditional cuisine, 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐮, also carries a deeper meaning: peaceful eating. “Wa” means peace or harmony, and “Shoku” means food or eating. Interestingly, the kanji for “food” is composed of the characters for “people” and “good.” In Japanese culture, we believe that eating nourishes not only the body but also the mind.

The theme of this cooking class was 𝐃𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢, the essential Japanese broth. Kombu (kelp), katsuobushi (bonito flakes), and shiitake mushrooms are the three classic ingredients used to make dashi, so we explored all three in our class.

Every workshop requires a lot of preparation especially when it’s a new topic. We made two or three experimental batches for each dish beforehand, but it’s always worth it when we can share good food with like-minded people. With a small group, it felt like a family gathering 😊

𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐮
・Seasoned rice with shiitake
・Spinach with sesame sauce (Goma-ae)
・Root vegetable and tofu soup (Kenchin-jiru)
・Braised burdock and carrots (Kinpira)
・Grilled miso-marinated salmon (Saikyo-yaki)
・Black sesame and matcha kanten (agar dessert)

We may have some announcement in April!

02/12/2026

Sometimes, we ask ourselves why we teach our workshops. Are we doing enough for our customers? Is our teaching valuable for them? Then, we only realize we do it for ourselves more than anyone else. It might sound selfish, but this is how we can carry our cultural identity. So, we thank each one of you 🙏

01/04/2026

[𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓] 6/28 Korean Cooking

✨ Happy New Year! ✨

Thank you for patiently waiting for our 2026 workshop schedule. We’re truly grateful for your trust, interest, and continued support ❤️

A special thank-you to our dear friend and talented chef Yasu of for generously sharing his space with us again this year.

We’ll continue to share seasonal, nourishing dishes that reflect and celebrate the cultural heritage we’re proud of.

⭐️Please note:
This schedule covers the first half of the year only. The second half of our 2026 workshops will be posted in May. Food menu details will be updated on our website soon.

We’re so excited to welcome both new and returning faces and share what we love with this beautiful community.

Seats are filling up quickly, so be sure to sign up soon and share this with anyone who might be interested!

11/17/2025

We had another fun Miso workshop today! I (Misako) like teaching all kinds of Japanese fermentation, but my favorite is Miso because it was the first food that got me into fermentation 🦠 🕰️

Here are some snapshots from today.
#1 Introducing 12 Miso samples
#2 Giving a lecture
#3 Koji, the magical key ingredient
#4 Organic soybeans from Ontario
#5 Weighing ingredients
#6 Shaking fun!
#7 & 8 Mixing ingredients
#9 Delicious lunch prepared by
#10 With Miso baby 🫘

We have 2 more workshops, Gochujang and Korean cooking, this year. We will post our 2026 workshops next month, so stay tuned!

What’s your favorite fermentation? Let us know in a comment 🤗

10/06/2025

🙌 Woohoo!

It felt so great to share one of my favorite Korean comfort foods!
I might have gotten a bit too excited talking about my childhood memories. Hope it wasn’t too much 😣

We were so impressed by how natural everyone was. Nobody even used rolling mats!
I think I’ve found my Gimbap crew to start a little sidekick business with 😆

Thank you all again for showing up with such great energy and enthusiasm! 💛

06/24/2025

Lately 😊

Jungyeon is here again after 3 and half months back home. Welcome back! She’s doing well 🙏

It was great to host a workshop with her again.

Our first 🍙 workshop was successful. Each person made 3 rice balls with traditional fillings, which immediately disappeared into their hungry stomachs!

Our next workshop is cucumber kimchi in July 🥒

Photo credit to for the onigiri photo. Amazing creation!

05/26/2025

Natto sticked us together, literally!

We had a fun Natto workshop today. Alongside the delicious lunch Yasu prepared us, we sampled 4 Natto made with different starters and Koji natto, which was everyone’s favorite.

Today’s participants were all very attentive and curious, making notes and asking good questions.

We are sure they will start their Natto journey now 🥳

Address

776 Fairview Road
Victoria, BC
V9A5V1

Website

https://linktr.ee/island_eko_pantry

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