Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking [Hardcover]

Masaharu Morimoto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2007

Morimoto's cooking has distinctive Japanese roots, yet it's actually, as the chef calls it, "global cooking for the 21st century." Morimoto's unique cuisine is characterized by beautiful Japanese color combinations and aromas, while the preparation infuses multicultural influences such as traditional Chinese spices and simple Italian ingredients, presented in a refined French style. Bringing all these elements home, with helpful step-by-step instructions and gorgeous photography, this accessible book explains Chef Morimoto's cooking techniques and plating philosophies and brings Japanese cooking to your own home. AUTHOR BIO: Chef Morimoto has been the Japanese iron chef on the Food Network's weekly show, "Iron Chef," and its spinoff "Iron Chef America," since 1999. The show airs in the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, and Hong Kong. Formerly the Executive Chef of the Sony Club and Nobu, Chef Morimoto now has his own restaurants in New York, Philadelphia, Tokyo, and Mumbai, and also created his own brand of sake and beer.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Recipes like Sushi Rice Risotto, Morimoto Bouillabaisse, and Bagna Cauda with Crab Naan and Eggplant Shigiyaki (a kind of eggplant parmesan with mozzarella and red miso sauce) all merge Japanese ingredients with Italian, French and even Indian classics. In addition to the restaurant style of many of the recipes, the book also features several recipes made on Iron Chef, which were originally accomplished in under one hour. --Cooking With Amy

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: DK Publishing; First U. S. Edition edition (August 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756631238
• ISBN-13: 978-0756631239
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian > Japanese
  • #15 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Professional Cooking > Professional

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The mind of Morimoto, October 12, 2007

By 

Cast Iron Chef "Cast Iron Chef" (Tracy, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking (Hardcover)

IMO, one of the most innovative chefs of our time. I absolutely love his combination of knowledge of tradition, combined with his blatent disregard of the constraints of tradition. The photography is superb, showing his mastery of plating skills and hinting at his highly advanced knife skills. He clearly goes beyond traditional Japanese cuisine, bringing in influences from multiple other cuisines. While this is certainly a great coffee table book to look through just for inspiration and to stir conversation, it is also a great book for the innovative chef to cook from.

My only minor, very minor, criticism is that a few of the pages have the text written over a background pattern, making it a bit difficult to read those few pages. It's worth the effort to read them anyhow.

This book has been carefully edited and is a most readable English, having lost none of the skill of the chef from it's editing. Actually, the editing enhances your understanding of what Morimoto is thinking. He is an obviously sophisticated thinker in terms of how he designs 'his cuisine.' The recipies are really quite straighforward, simple in the Japanese sense of having worked hard to remove complexity. Some of the ingredients are not common, but to worry about that is to miss the point of the book - innovative fusion cuisine at it's finest. You are given sources for ingredients, so you should be able to duplicate the recipies nonetheless. This book challenges your preconceptions with stimulating recipies, beckoning you to stretch your own culinary skills.

When the likes of Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, and Ferran Adrin, all masterfully innovative chefs, praise this work, I know I'm in good company.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read., November 5, 2007

By 

K. Olsen-Keyser "BookChick" (Greensboro, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking (Hardcover)

I simply love Morimoto!

The best part of this book is not so much the recipes, but the insight into japanese cooking, tools, spices and flavoring. If it were not for Morimoto, I would never have know that I have been eating sushi the wrong way all of these years!

The recipes that you will most likely use and find invaluable can be found in the back of the book and include broths and sauces. Many of the dishes seem rather simple to make and do not require any high end items or foreign ingredients - the Japanese Egg Castella being my personal favorite.

This book receives four stars only because I wish it contained more recipes!

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Elegant Cookbook, With Recipes That Are Both Difficult and Delicious..., January 16, 2008

By 

James Wright (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking (Hardcover)

Aesthetically, this cookbook is quite grand, offering tons of full-page, color pictures, and even entire spreads dedicated to demonstrating the process of properly slicing fish, sashimi-style. The pictures pop on nearly every page, and it gets you ready to cook, ready to sharpen your knifes. The only issue? Almost every recipe contains very difficult-to-find ingredients, and a quick read through of what is actually needed can be a bit of a reality check. You realize that only by going to a specialty market will you be able to recreate the dish, and therefore cooking these recipes requires a bit more dedication than you may be used to with your other cookbooks--this one can require planning ahead.

But don't get me wrong--if you are serious about cooking and about experiencing some of Morimoto's brilliant, layered flavors, then this cookbook is a great item. From what I have made, I can say that all the dishes have been fantastic--worth the effort, and really tasty (I've cooked the steak with Asian seasonings, the prosciutto-wrapped diver scallops in roasted sweet onions, and the tuna pizza). The only thing I wish the book went into a bit more is the process of making sushi. Morimoto does include his recipe for the perfect sushi rice, but never really gets into the specifics of making sushi at home (and it doesn't help that there are tons of colorful pictures showing vast arrays of sushi, none of which are joined by a recipe).

In the end, you have a section of the cookbook titled "For Contemplation," and some desserts. Both include many somewhat bizarre-sounding dishes created around seafood--squid, for example, and whether or not I would ever actually consider cooking any of these dishes I'm not sure. This cookbook, to be sure, is for those that enjoy the time spent in the kitchen, and want to take on some challenges. Morimoto don't play around, and he certainly doesn't play by convention....