Customer Reviews

Everyday Harumi

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thank you Harumi for such a great Japanese cookbook! I absolutely love this cookbook. I was so excited to see Harumi came out with a new cookbook. I have her other two cookbooks and really enjoy them. But, when I received this cookbook in the mail I fell in love right away with the book itself. Beautiful photos to go along with the delicious recipes. I have been so inspired by the recipes in this book and everything I have made has been so tasteful (my husband and daughter agree, too). This cookbook has really inspired me. I have several Japanese cookbooks (I mostly cook french food), but Harumi's books (especially this one) are the only ones that are so flavorful when I make them. The Sauteed Leeks and Mushrooms were so easy to make and terrific. Loved the Tuna Tataki, Fried Rice with Crabmeat and most of all loved the Tofu with a Spicy Minced Meat Sauce. Can't wait to try more. If you are interested in Japanese cooking this cookbook is a must! Also, can't believe Harumi is over 60 years old - She looks amazing - must be the Japanese diet!!!

I bought this book off a recommendation in Saveur magazine. I have always been hesitant of reaching out to Japanese books because of their need for fairly difficult to find ingredients that don't have much place in the other types of cuisine I normally cook. I am a big fan of Japanese food in general and have been eager to bring it home for some time.

Construction:
This is a very well made book. The paper stock and print is very well done. Aesthetically its very well presented and very clear and easy to follow/understand.
5/5 Stars

Content:
This is where this book shines. I wish I could score this thing A+++ just for the content. The first thing this book does is break down your fear of cooking and then further remove any barriers to entry to Japanese food in general by going over the base ingredients you will need. The thing that's attractive here is that there are alternatives suggested to items so that if you cant find something or don't want to purchase it for a one off recipe there is a suitable alternative suggested. Very very cool. The next part of book that is amazing is the fact that the recipes are all everyday cooking recipes so they are not too involved. This translates to delicately crafted dishes that are not heavy on ingredients so if you were to stock a couple of the base ingredients Harumi recommends you are able to make a large number of dishes in this book. Cant ask for better let me tell you!
5/5 Stars

Overall:
This is a no brainer, this is 5 star over and over again. This is a cornerstone book for anybody who wants to try their hand at Japanese food or even for those that want to take their skills one step further. Harumi is considered Japans Julia Child and this book tells you why. She has demystified Japanese cooking and made it accessible to the masses.
5/5 Stars

I absolutely love this book. Harumi is one of the most talented Japanese homemade cooking chef. Her recipes are very simple to follow, and it tastes wonderful. You can learn basic Japanese seasonings, veggies, food with beautiful presentations and more . I would highly recommend you to get your own.

Harumi Kurihara is almost unknown in America, but in Japan, she's a household name --- literally. Like: 52 shops in department stores. Like: 12 cafes and restaurants. Like: books and books.
Just don't think of her as "the Martha Stewart of Japan."

"Martha is an entrepreneur but I am a housewife, and I want to continue," she says. She started giving cooking classes because her husband and child loved the way she cooked, and even when she became a successful teacher, she still took her greatest pleasure from making family dinners. One thing led to another, and she began sending articles to magazines.

In 1992, she published her first cookbook, "Gochisosama Ga Kikitakute!," which means "I want to hear you say delicious!" Her publisher hated the title. 'It is too casual and inappropriate. It sounds like the title of an essay, not a book' was the complaint," Harumi has said. "But I did not compromise. The book sold over a million copies and remains in print. I feel vindicated."


Everyday Harumi, her most recent book, was created for Western home cooks. It capitalizes on our attraction for Japanese food --- its lightness, its scant use of meat, fat and dairy products, its smaller portions, its creative use of vegetables. Even better, it's not for purists. This is a cookbook for housewives, both literal and metaphorical. That is, it's for busy people who have little time to cook but who are too proud, cost-conscious and health-minded to order take-out.

It is, simply, the most useful and creative approach to Japanese cooking I have yet encountered. Harumi is to Japan what Marcella Hazan is to Italy and Patricia Wells is to France. Though new in our home, Harumi's book is already food-stained --- the ultimate compliment.

What you get are more than 70 user-friendly recipes, most of them simple to prepare. Yes, you have to do some shopping first, but you'll be buying oils, spices and condiments that will find their way into many dishes. And the recipes are, mostly, simple in the extreme. Barbecue sauce: 12 ingredients, a few minutes of preparation, brief cooking, and you're done.

Western influences? Chicken and celery salad, with mayonnaise in the dressing. Japanese hamburger (tsukune). Ginger pork with bok choy: 6 ingredients, 6 steps. Green beans with ground pork. Lots of fish. Mashed potatoes with a Japanese-style mushroom sauce. Japanese coleslaw. Sauteed leeks and mushrooms.

Simple family meals? Rice with soy-flavored pork and carrots. Fried rice with crabmeat. Stir-fried noodles with pork and cabbage. A surprising tofu "steak." Several varieties of miso soup.

Vegetables? You expect green beans with sesame dressing, but pumpkin with a sweet sesame glaze (4 ingredients, 4 steps) will surprise you. Ditto potatoes with a sweet soy dressing

Delicacies? Deep-fried scallops stuffed with mozzarella will make you forget your pledge never to eat fried food.

Desserts? None. Not one. How totally refreshing.

Harumi's latest cookbook features a bundle of simple, elegant, tasty recipes - just what you want from Japanese cooking. It's suitable for cooks of every level and for under twenty bucks it's a steal!

Just to echo the other reviewers, this is really a great addition to any cookbook library. I found this at a used bookstore and bought it immediately. I wish Harumi's publisher would get some pages up on Amazon, as I really like to at least get a peek at a selection, so I didn't get it on Amazon. I already owned Harumi's Japanese Home cooking; but I will keep both, along with the many other Japanese cookery books I own. Incidentally, I live in the Midwest, and have little trouble finding most ingredients. You do need to go to any Asian grocer, but, well, it IS Japanese cooking! It's very beautiful, and full of lovely recipes. If you're on the fence, buy it. You can always return it, but I doubt you will!

Harumi's book is absolutely outstanding. However the recipes are a bit over-doused with soy. If you cut back on the soy, you'll find this book to be a real joy. (Hey, that rhymes!) Less soy, more joy!

This book is well done. The pictures are all beautiful and the recipes are easy. Definitely worth taking the time to read the beginning of the book for her explanation of Japanese meals and her thought process for her cooking. I've already ordered another of her books.

I love Japanese food but have not tried cooking Japanese dishes until I bought this book. for someone with limited knowledge of Japanese cooking, by simply following the instructions on the book will never go wrong. the is the reason why I started buying the other books of Harumi after reading this one. I have no hesitation recommending this book the anyone who likes to learn Japanese cooking. also, there are a lot of dishes that you can prepare as lunch box for the kids, and they love it. thanks, Harumi.

LOVE this book! so beautiful and exciting and healthy and I could just go on and on with my excitement for this book!! I have also purchased her other cookbook and look forward to lots of cooking from that one too! She is awesome!!! BUY this book for sure!!!