Customer Reviews

Japanese Country Cookbook

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

THis is an extremely cool little cookbook not only for the recipes but for the look of it. It is printed on what appears to be brown rice paper, which gives it a wonderful feel as well as a great look. There are black ink illustrations and the recipes are printed in red ink - quite a different look for a cookbook.

But you're saying, "So it _looks_cool - what about the recipes?" The answer is they are great if you're into Japanese cooking. There's Japanese meatballs (niku dango) that would be very easy to put together from what you probably already have in your kitchen. There is eel bowl (unagi donburi) which you probably don't have all the ingredients on hand. THere is also a wide range of recipes that span the simple to the much more complex and unusual (for Americans) ingredients.

The recipes are clear and concise, explaining how to accomplish the recipe. THere's an introduction, explaining various aspects of Japanese cooking and assuring the reader that you don't have to be "The Iron Chef" to cook tasty Japanese foods. You may have to look around to find the right ingredients and spices for some of these recipes.

I recommend this book highly if you want to expand your cooking skills and add new culinary delights to your table. Maybe you could even open up a restaurant that shows how good Japanese "peasant coking" can be.

I bought this book years ago and (after four trips to different regions of Japan) it's the only Japanese cookbook I've found useful. The recipes are easy to make and come out surprisingly well using only the simplest ingredients and techniques. For the most part it's organized very well (with vegetable recipes in one section, seafood in another) and so I rarely have problems finding the recipes I want. The textured paper is a plus and a minus.....it makes the book more interesting, but it's admittedly a bit hard to read. Buy it anyway!

This is my absolute favorite cookbook. I probably make at least 2-3 dishes from it every week. If you are interested in exploring Japanese cooking but intimidated by what you are used to seeing in Japanese restuarants, then this is where you should start. Most recipes are incredibly simple to prepare and don't require excessive or hard-to-find ingredients. With a few simple tools and a quick trip to an Asian grocer you'll be wowing friends and family with delicious new meals.

Discover great uses for leftover/small-quantities of meat in various stews, tofu, and rice dishes. Learn simple ways to turn boring old vegetables into exciting side dishes that will appeal to nearly all tastebuds (when I was a child, my grandmother frequently made dishes from this book to get me to eat my vegetables!) For dieters as well, this is an excellent source for low-fat healthy cooking choices--I belong to Weight Watchers, for instance, and it is very simple to fit these meals into the WW plan and surely others as well.

On top of all of that, you will learn a great deal about traditions and the history of various dishes and ingredients in country-style Japanese cooking.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This is my favorite of my 8 Japanese cookbooks. I used to eat at Mingei Ya restaurant, where these recipes are from, so I bought this book as soon as it came out. Mine is so well used it's falling apart, so I just bought another one! The recipes bring back my childhood when I lived in Japan. Most of the recipes are easy to make, and are quite good. A lot of information is given about traditional Japanese cooking. The only other cookbook I use as often is a handwritten notebook of my Italian grandmother's recipes.

We have been cooking from the "Japanese Country Cookbook" for nearly 40 years. The recipes are relatively simple and the instructions are complete. The recipes cover everything from sushi to soups, pretty much everything you might find in a simple restaurant in Tokyo. The book also contains lots of background information on life in Japan and the history of some of the dishes. If you have a yen (sorry) for creating some of your favorite Japanese dishes at home, this is the book you need.

The book has two unusual features. It is printed on a brown, textured paper. This makes it a little hard to read but adds a great deal to the setting. Second, there is no index, but rather a complete table of contents. There is a logic to the arrangement of the recipes so that, with a little experience, the reader can find recipes fairly quickly.

Prepared by the owners of San Francisco's world-famous MINGEI-YA COUNTRY STYLE RESTAURANT. THE JAPANESE COUNTRY COOKBOOK offers a complete guide to the home-style foods of Japan, from sukiyaki to tempura and beyond. You will find the scores of recipes simple, delicious and amazingly easy, with full instructions on preparation in your kitchen! Professional hints and specialties from the MINGEI-YA kitchen along with a full glossary of terms and ingredient substitutions make THE JAPANESE COUNTRY COOKBOOK unique!

Illustrated in the traditional style!

The recipes are good and not too difficult to follow if you are into Asian cooking, but the book itself is very difficult to read with the red type on brown pages. I wish they would re-issue it in a more easily read format. Try the picked muhrooms...delicious11

I have had this cookbook for over 40 years now. The reviewer who complained about the indexing and order of the recipes? oh pishaw! She/He's right ... this little book is not organized well. But the recipes are great!! It's been my go-to Japanese book for many years now and I stumbled upon a used version in Amazon trying to find a copy for my adult daughter before she sneaks mine into her suitcase after the holidays! I highly recommend this cookbook IF you can find it. No, I wouldn't pay the high price for it ... there are only a few coveted cookbooks I've paid real money for. But for an inexpensive copy? Oh yes! And I'm going to hurry and buy one of the used ones here so my children don't fight over my copy after I'm long gone. lol.

I, taking a chance, entered the name Min Gai Ya on my google page and again found this marvelous cookbook. The receipt for Shabu Shabu alone is priceless and worthy of purchasing the book. I lost the book and receipt 20+ years go but the memory of the food it creates has never left me, to bad the ingredients and portions did. I can't tell you how pleased I am that I can again purchase it and create a meal for favored friends and I rarely cook anymore but this is worth the exception. Truly it is an unforgettable dish as well as the many others. Purchase it and thank me later, you will.

I have lived in Japan off and on for years and eaten in the home of many a Japanese family. I love all their food (even natto)and am so particular when it comes to native flavor that I can't enjoy myself at most "Japanese" restaurants; they're not close enough to the real thing.

Japanese Country Cooking is one of the best recipe books I've come across for someone who wants to reproduce authentic Japanese recipes in the American kitchen. Hardly any recipe calls for more than 5 ingredients and they are delicious and easy to make. I just made an amazing donburi soboro from ingredients I had on hand in the time it took my son to make the rice.