Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love [Paperback]

Kentaro Kobayashi (Author)

Book Description

Series: Easy Japanese Cooking | Publication Date: August 11, 2009

Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love features a collection of more than 60 mouth-watering, easy-to-make recipes designed to go. There are also columns on "Spices, Seasoning and Tupperware for Making Bento," "Bento I've Eaten," and "White Rice Is Good." Categories and recipes include:

One Day, I'll Reach My Dreams Meat Bento:
Beef Steak / Heavy Steak / Pork Cutlet / Salt Flavored Chicken

First off, Heating Up the Meat Side Dishes:
Pork and Cabbage / Spicy Pork / Szechwan Pork / Meat and Peppers in Oyster Sauce / Sweet and Spicy Meat and Shiitake Mushrooms / Meat with Sesame Seed Seasoning / Meat and Broccoli / Chicken and Cashew Nuts / Chicken and Eggplant

Completely Satisfied, Lots of Fish!:
Capelin Fry / Fish and Chips / Pacific Saury Fry

Bread Bento:
Hamburger / Tatar Sauce and Fish / Sausage and Avocado

Satisfaction Using Leftovers:
Croquette and Meat / Savory Chicken / Meat Balls / Stewed Vegetables / Crispy Chinese Dumplings

Main Dish in Big Volumes!:
Spaghetti / Spinach and Pork Stir-fry / Egg, Chicken and String beans / Caviar and Rice / Stir-fry / Salmon over Rice

Lots of Vegetables Hidden Inside:
Cabbage and Ground Pork Cutlet / Veggie Burger / Vegetable Spring Roll / Vegetables and Fried Oysters

Boiled Dishes to Add-On:
Peppers in Oyster Sauce / Peppers in Sesame Sauce / Miniature Shrimp and Pods / Sweetened Spinach / Sausage and Spinach / Sweet Potato and Honey / Potatoes and Cheese / Potato, Ham and Cheese / Sesame Butter Potatoes / Broccoli and Ham /
Asparagus and Bacon / Spicy Carrots / Tasty Cabbage / Chinese Chicken / Pickled Plum Flavored Chicken and Cucumber

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in Tokyo in 1972, Kentaro Kobayashi studied art in school, and after Musashino Art School, he started working as an illustrator. His mother--cooking personality and award-winning cookbook author, Katsuyo Kobayashi--is known by millions in Japan for her TV show, Today's Cooking, and not only challenged, but also proved victorious against Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi in 1994, handily vanquishing him in the "Potato Battle" episode of IronChef, one of the few female chefs to ever win in Kitchen Stadium.

No surprise that Kentaro turned his attention to cooking. Like his mom, he is known for creating fun, easy-to-make recipes--albeit with a more Western flavor--and also has appeared on television, magazines, and radio, becoming popular with the motto "Nice and easy, practical food with style." He is known to have revolutionized Japanese conceptions of good eating. His best-selling cookbooks are all about transforming convenience-store products
into attractive hot meals.

He frequently incorporates his artistic training working as a chef and illustrator for magazines and book stores, creating logos, and has co-authored works with his mother. To date, Kentaro has authored or co-authored more than 15 cookbooks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Vertical; Original edition (August 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193428758X
• ISBN-13: 978-1934287583
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.3 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian > Japanese

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rofusely and beautifully illustrated in full color throughout, August 14, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love (Paperback)

Japanese cuisine, while not as ubiquitous as Chinese restaurant fare, is nonetheless highly prized by those with a gourmet taste for Asian dishes. What is especially appreciated with Kentaro Kobayashi's "Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love" is that this collection of elegant entrees take as its inspiration traditional Japanese box lunches called 'bento', and includes the author's childhood favorites such as Salt-Grilled Chicken Steak Bento; Spicy Sweet Beef and Shiitake Stir-fry Bento; and Crispy Dumpling Bento. But this gourmet quality Japanese alternative to ordinary American hamburgers and hot dogs does not stop there, but includes such selections as Fish and Chips Bento; Cheeseburger Bento; and Veggie-Filled Meatballs Bento. Profusely and beautifully illustrated in full color throughout, "Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love" is a unique and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, family, and community library Ethnic Cookbook collections.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tastes so good!, August 23, 2009

By 

J. Burke "Twins mommy" (Kingston, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love (Paperback)

Really like this book! Recipes tried so far are good both hot (for dinner) and cold (for bento boxes). Only down-side is amounts seem for single serving, which is good for a bachelor, but not for a family. Fortunately, multiplying recipes isn't too hard.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Man's Bento!, October 7, 2009

By 

cynical_reader (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Easy Japanese Cooking: Bento Love (Paperback)

Kentaro Kobayashi is a well known TV cooking personality in Japan, and has published many cookbooks there. This is a translation of one of his books. His speciality is easy home cooking that even a guy can tackle, and this book reflects that. Portions are generous, and the bentos are practical - attractive sure, but not pretty. Never mind though, the recipes I have tried so far are really good! A great book for Japanese cooking enthusiasts and bento lovers.