Customer Reviews

The Manga Cookbook: Japanese Bento Boxes, Main Dishes and More!

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am active on LJ's bento community and was happy to find this book. It is GREAT if you are into bento. There isn't much out there in English for bento (I have several Japanese bento cookbooks), and this has very clear, easy to understand instructions for all kinds of Japanese recipes, and includes a whole bento section on how to pack a box and suggestions of what to include. Step by step instructions for making a train bento, and garden bento, also instructions for making several decorative foods to go in bento.

It's organized really well, with recipes and illustrations, then a page of text that tells about the recipe or food item - history, culture, stuff like that. For example, I finally learned about those traditional bento of scrambled egg, ground meat and sliced snow peas over rice. They're called Soboro, and there are some examples of making pretty bento with that. The recipes look easy enough that my 12-year-old said she wanted to try some.

All in all, I wish I'd found this book a year ago when I started being interested in bento, but it's not just for newbies. I am seeing recipes in here that I really want to try, including some cute bento ideas that I haven't seen or thought of. Lots and lots of recipes, it's a thicker book than I expected.

If you are a big Manga fan, you might expect the book to be read back to front/right to left, Manga-style, but it's not. It's American manga, which is fine with me. Very easy to read. Much more helpful and "how to" than the (very cute) "Face Food" book.

I bought this book on a whim at Anime Expo. I've read recipes before on making Japanese food, and generally thought, well, that's nice, but it's a lot of effort. After getting halfway through this book in one day, I went shopping and tonight I have umeboshi onigiri made with sushi rice in my fridge, a bento for my lunch tomorrow and have finished a dinner of karaage. This book is PERFECT for the beginner, especially those introduced to the delights of Japanese food through manga or anime. It makes everything simple enough to dive right in and enjoy the delights of Japanese food in your home. The authors have made a real effort to adjust things to American kitchens and measurements. It's even an entertaining read. I can't wait to get through the second half of the book and see what I'm making later this week!

This book is fantastic. I just received my copy a few days ago and have already made several of the recipes with no problem at all. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. The book is full of pictures (color and b&w), extended notes on the customs and history surrounding the recipes and has lots of suggestions for switching up your recipes. I think this book is perfect for anyone just getting into Japanese cooking or bento and would be great for beginners as well as seasoned chefs. I was surprised at how much useful information they stuffed into this book! A great value for your money!

The Manga Cookbook is a lovely little collection of Japanese recipes, illustrated with manga-style drawings and accompanied by notes about Japanese culture. The dishes run the gamut from simple steamed rice to complicated multistep affairs, and following the Japanese tradition, the authors pay attention to appearance as well as taste.

The book begins with a few simple decorative tricks, converting an apple to a rabbit, a hardboiled egg to a bird, and a hot dog to an octopus. Next up is steamed rice and onigiri (rice balls), with the obligatory shout-out to Fruits Basket, in which onigiri are a small but important plot element. Other common manga foods include chicken yakitori (kebabs), okonomiyaki (vegetable pancakes), and three-color dango (pastel dumplings on a stick). Several pages are devoted to the construction and decoration of bento box lunches. And no manga book would be complete without Naruto--specifically, Naruto rolls, spirals of ham, cheese, and nori (seaweed) that recall the decorations on the famed boy ninja's jacket.

The recipes are presented by three supercute manga characters: perky Miyuki; her boyfriend, Hiroshi; and their cat mascot, Coo. Each section begins with a full-page cartoon followed by a list of ingredients and step-by-step illustrations of the dish being prepared. Many are followed by cultural notes. Unfortunately, the last 26 pages are just blank notebook pages with the heading "Cook's Notes," which is a lot of empty space in a book that is just 160 pages long.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) chose The Manga Cookbook as one of their Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers, and it's easy to see why. The subject matter is naturally interesting to manga fans, and the text is accompanied by pictures that help get the information across. Hattori's illustrations and a clean, simple design make for an attractive package.

The recipes themselves present a few problems, however. Many rely on ingredients that are not readily available, and the ingredient lists are often vague. The Gyudon recipe, for instance, simply calls for "beef," without specifying which cut. Sometimes ingredients on the list aren't in the instructions that follow, or vice versa. In addition, some of the recipes simply aren't suitable for young children to prepare on their own, especially ones that involve sharp knives and deep-fat frying.

On the other hand, a child who is assisted by an adult with a little cooking experience can do pretty well with this book. I field-tested the recipes for Steamed Rice, Gyudon, and Okonomiyaki. All were delicious, and I knew to use sirloin steak in the Gyudon and to put one teaspoon of baking powder in the Okonomiyaki (baking powder was left off the ingredient list).

With its cartoon characters, intriguing cultural notes, and attractive food arrangements, The Manga Cookbook is an enticing little volume. It's too bad the recipes weren't edited better, but with a bit of help from an adult, most children over 10 will be able to prepare these real-life manga goodies.

-- Brigid Alverson

This manga/book is great!

PRO'S
It's perfect for all ages (grown-ups like me will need to be manga-lovers too). The recipes are basics of Japanese cuisine with step-by-step illustrations.

So, if, like me, you want a nice introduction to Nippon-cooking, this book is a fun way to start!

CON'S
Calorie-counting and portions: not all recipes define what a "portion" should be, making it difficult to count how many calories are in front of you (and the food is sooo tempting, it's a real bummer).

Also, you can find some of the recipes online easily enough...

But, for presentation, efficiency, simplicity and covering all the basics, I give this book 4/5!

Matta Ne!! <(^o^)>

I recently purchased this book because I want to begin to make bento lunches.
This book not only has colored photos of the bentos, but very detailed instructions (in English) how to cook the foods necessary to make the cute little lunches.
If you are just starting out and are intimidated by the other books that don't contain written cooking instructions, buy this one first.
You'll learn the basic cooking techniques for rice, eggs and other foods, Japanese style.

This is a decent beginner's cookbook. It would be great for children or teenagers who want to learn how to cook. The photos in the beginning are fine, but it's a bit disorganized because of the lack of photos throughout the book especially for different recipes.

The Manga CookbookA 5Star publication, The Manga Cookbook is a very easy How To Cook Japanese publication with very cute, expressive, masterful illustrations. Definitely for manga [Japanese Comic] and anime [Japanese animation] fans, who also wish to learn cooking Japanese food their favorite characters eat in much loved stories. With a cute level of 10 [1-10], this publication is both a THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU gift or a I AM SO HAPPY I GOT IT purchase. The instructions are easy to understand. With a bit of practice, this book can make meals to have all your manga/anime loving friends shouting: ARIGATO! [THANKS] as they munch and praise your cooking. With parent or older sibling help, even pre-teens can enjoy COOKING JAPANESE. The instructions are also easy for teens and young adults. A fine publication, The Manga Cookbook, is worth having just on the basis of the cute illustrations. Definitely it is a well thought out instructional cookbook also.

This was a fantastic purchase. I had been making bento kits for a few years prior to getting this book- and the recipes it contains are so perfect!
They didn't fill the book with traditional Japanese foods that require an "aquired taste", they only included recipes of foods that can be used between cultures effortlessly.

a very simple, cute book. If you are looking for something with more classic japanese recipes, this is not the book for you. I think this book was meant for children and very beginner cooks. This book mostly covers how to make a japanese Bento (lunch). When I got it, I was hoping there would be more recipes. Don't let the number of pages fool you. About 1/3 of the book are blank "Chef's Notes" pages. Huge dissapointment. If you want more japanese recipes, I would just look online.