Customer Reviews

Japanese Cooking: The Traditions, Techniques, Ingredients and Recipes

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Consider yourself lucky if you find this book used or in the bargain bin at your local bookstore. My Japanese-Hawaiian aunt, who snagged it on sale at the bookstore where she works, introduced me to this book. Although she has several other volumes of Japanese recipes, the excellent photos and text on history, technique and ingredients (as the subtitle suggests) are not often found at this price or in such a manageable book.

Kazuko and Fukuoka start with an enjoyable history of Japanese cuisine, from the early colonization of Japan when rice was a precious ingredient to the modern, post-war age. I appreciate authors who learn the evolution of their food over time; in many of the classic sushi, sashimi and meat dishes the history is referenced.

A large section of the book then discusses the traditional tools, preparation and cooking techniques, and unique ingredients. Extensive photos improve this section; I will now feel less bewildered on my next trip to the local pan-Asian supermarket.

Recipes build off of the techniques and basic prep methods learned in the middle of the book; for example, many recipes refer to the detailed explanation earlier in the book for making vinegared rice (su-shemi) for most of the sushi recipes. Each recipe receives its own page and picture, though sometimes variations on the classics are suggested on the same page. I was impressed by the variety of dishes suggested and the detailed instructions provided for recipes.

If you are looking for an authoritative, detailed tome, consider "Japanese Cooking: A simple art" by Shizuo Tsuji; it is still the standard and perhaps the best choice. However, 500-page books are not for everyone, and the lovely imagery and layout of the book makes it a great bargain, if you can find it.