Customer Reviews

Authentic Japanese Cuisine for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is perfect for those looking for authentic Japanese cusine that is not overly complicated and has reasonably easy to find ingredients. This book covers all sorts of Japanese food and not only gives a detailed picture explaining how to use certain techniques, but also gives helpful hints along the way to help the reader understand WHY certain steps are made in the cooking process. (such as why you cook certain vegetables with rice in the water or with vinegar water)

I'd have to say the only drawback to this book is that it is so short, if only it was longer!

The instructions are detailed with great photos to illustrate what the dish should look like. One of the best Japanese recipe books. Some ingredients are hard to find in the States.
(Reviewed on 12/9/2005)

First, I love Japanese food and probably have around ten Japanese cookbooks. There are two major problems with this particular cookbook. First, the pages started falling out the first time I used it. The publisher did not do a good job with the binding. Second, the recipes just aren't very good and use a lot of ingredients that are hard to find even if you live near a Japanese grocery store, which I do. Ingredients such as nuka (rice bran), udo (a kind of vegetable), taro root, konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly), gobo (burdock root), and mitsuba leaves are often difficult to find. As for the recipes themselves, they just aren't very tasty. I do love her thick omelet recipe, but you can find similar recipes in other cookbooks. The photos and directions are the one strength this book has: they are clear and well-done.

For a better cookbook check out Naomi Kijima's Bento Boxes. Most of Naomi's recipes are for single servings, but can easily be doubled or tripled or whatever.

I bought this book hoping to learn a few basics of Japanese cooking. I cook from this book several times a month and have become more comfortable with understanding basic principles involved. From varieties of miso soup to inari-zushi to bean dishes it has been indispensable!!! I was actually on here this morning hoping that Ms. Shinojima had another English cookbook available.

This is absolutely the most comprehensive and high-quality Japanese cookbook (in English) I have come across in terms of simple everyday home cooking: simmered vegetables, rice dishes, tofu dishes, seafood dishes, quick pickles, broth recipes, dippin...g sauces, noodle dishes- its amazing! And boy have I been through a lot of Japanese cookbooks.

I found this book extremely interesting and very helpfull for beginers.
I love japanese culture and kitchen and with this book I can easily prepare and serve japanese dishes and enjoy them.

Great photos, very detailed explanations. This is a great book to have in your kitchen's library.

Just moved to Japan love the book. Teaches us how to make our favorite dishes at a lower cost.