Japanese Home Cooking

The most comprehensive and easy to follow cookbook I’ve ever had.You 100% will not regret this purchase.Photos with every recipe. Short but precise descriptions. Definitions of what everything is.This is so comprehensive even a beginner chef of American food could follow it.I finally feel like I can cook Japanese food and not feel overwhelmed or confused by anything.I can’t believe how cheap this book is. They could charge at least $30.

I cook often but am not familiar with Japanese-style cooking. This cookbook provides an excellent introduction to the art of Japanese cooking and provides some delicious recipes for those willing to take the time.

Japanese Home Cooking is a bit of a misnomer, I think. Looking through this book, I am reminded of many dishes my mother made for me while growing up - but I would say that a good chunk of them would be considered special occasion or "guests are coming over" type dishes. The recipes included are very common in Japan, but I wouldn't call them everyday. While most of the ingredients can be found nowadays via Amazon or a local Asian supermarket, there are definitely a few in here that will leave you scratching your head on how to source them. Having said that, the majority of the recipes require nothing more exotic than silken tofu, miso, or kombu. Every recipe has an accompanying photograph so you can see what the finished dish is supposed to look like. There's also a quick little techniques glossary in the back. The dessert section had my mouth watering.This is a great authentic Japanese-style cookbook for those who are wanting to learn about what many of those items you see in your favorite slice of life anime might be. However, there's nothing along the lines of omurice, curry, or even nabemono for those looking for a bit more "common" meals. There's "effort" required for basically everything in this book. No set-it-and-forget-it. If that's what you're looking for, this is a great collection to add to your personal library. If you're looking for some easier day-to-day meals, this one might be a bit too elevated (Harumi's books, or the Quick and Easy line are good alternatives).

I love Oriental and Eastern food and I have taught myself to make some of my family's favorite Chinese dishes over the years, but little did I know that Japanese food is much more than Sushi and just as delicious as our favorite Chinese until I started reading this Japanese Home Cooking Book and preparing many of these dishes myself.The authors Chihiro Masui and Hanae Kaede have written and composed a perfect introduction to cooking Japanese in your home, exactly as the cooks of the house do in Japan. Japanese cooking has a true simplicity about it- most meals can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, and it isn't because they eat everything raw, but rather because they use minimal ingredients and slice everything so thin, that the cooking time is very short.What I especially love about this cookbook is that there are gorgeous clear color photographs for every single recipe. Even better, there are step by step clear color photos in some of the recipes for anything more complicated or unfamiliar to prepare. In the back of the book are Basic Recipe And Techniques in step by step clear color photos to Prepare Rice, Cutting Vegetables, Cutting Fish, Slicing Filets, Cutting Shrimp, Draining Tofu, Blanching Vegetables, Simmering With A Drop Lid, Making Dashi, and even how to make the different Vinegars used in many of their dishes.The beginning of the book gives you a history of what the Japanese cook and why. Meat is a western influence, as there isn't much land for cattle or farms, and of course the sea provides an abundance of their foods. I was shocked to read that the Japanese dislike food smells due to the high humidity and natural smells from the water. This makes them dry everything and dispose of the smelly parts of foods immediately, like fish scales.I was also surprised that Sweets are not eaten as desserts, but any time with tea. The book covers Cold Starters, Bowls & Soups, Vegetables & Soy, Steamed & Simmered Dishes, Deep-Fried & Grilled dishes, Rice & Noodles and Sweets. The ingredients are minimal and you will find the plating and perfect cutting of the foods make the dishes look absolutely beautiful. A simple dish of Rice and Peas look like a work of art. So far, my family have fallen in love with Tempura, Salmon Teriyaki, many different noodles, Grilled Gyoza (just like Chinese potstickers only thinner wrap and more vegetables) and Korokke (Western influence of beef, potato and onion breaded and fried). This beautiful well organized book of delicious home style Japanese dishes all beautifully photographed in color earns a big 5 STARS.

Excellent cookbook with lots of color photos and illustrated step by step instructions.Naturally this is Japanese cuisine and thus primarily seafood. Even if you don't like seafood (and you might discover you like it if you learn to cook it properly) there are tidbits for everyone (including steak, pork and sweets). It's amazing how much they have packed into this excellent cookbook. The section on "Basic Recipes and Techniques" is very valuable.There are some recipes that require some special equipment that the typical American isn't going to have at home and a few ingredients that won't be familiar to Americans. Most Japanese cooking calls for high heat and may be difficult if you just have a basic electric stove.An excellent glossary is included and both English and Japanese recipe indexes as well as an ingredient index. Don't miss the short list of "useful resources" (companies you can buy some of the less common items from) at the end of the book.It isn't perfect, there are occasionally some things like "mirin" which I wasn't familiar with and wasn't listed in the glossary, but those can easily be looked up on the Internet. The only thing I find annoying is the page numbers are small, not on every page and in different positions thus it is a little slower and clumsier to find the page you may be looking for.