Let's Cook Japanese Food!: Everyday Recipes for Home Cooking (Paperback)

by Amy Kaneko (Author), Deborah Ory (Photographer) "I had never eaten sushi until I was eighteen years old..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Home-style Japanese cooking is demystified in this refreshing and informative cookbook. After marrying into a Japanese family, the American author was taken under her mother-in-law's wing to learn the ins and outs of Japanese cooking. Here she presents her acquired knowledge in an appealingly designed book with Japanese graphic motifs and color photos. The recipes themselves are a mix of family favorites and restaurant dishes Kaneko learned to recreate at home. Yet readers will see few of the familiar foods available in Japanese restaurants in the U.S. Instead, the book illustrates how to make dense, exotic creations like a sumo wrestler's stew with fish, bacon, chicken and tofu, as well as Yoshuko (fusion) dishes combining Japanese and Western influences, like Beef and Onions in Tomato Gravy over Rice. In the first few pages, Kaneko identifies the basic ingredients and equipment needed. Chapters devoted to Tofu and Eggs; Vegetables, Fish and Shellfish; Meat and Poultry; and Rice Noodles and Dumplings intersperse recipes with boxes that highlight Japanese traditions. Though she includes a labor-intensive Okonomiyaki (a pan-fried dish), Kaneko recognizes the home chef's limits: she readily employs the concept of mottai nai (don't waste) and saves readers time with suggestions for reusing leftovers. (Apr.)
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Product Description
"Yum!" thought Amy Kaneko when she tasted the Japanese home cooking she'd married into. Even better, turned out it uses easy-to-find ingredients, and she couldn't believe how simple the techniques are for food this delicious. This terrific cookbook showcases 70 of Amy's favorite recipes, including Tonkatsu (crispy pork cutlets in a tangy sauce) and Onigiri (cute little rice balls stuffed with salmon). A glossary describes the more unusual ingredients and a source list makes it a snap to find and use Japanese specialties such as daikon, miso, and wasabi. It's tasty, it's practical, it's a wow with family and friends so Let's Cook Japanese Food!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811848329
• ISBN-13: 978-0811848329
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #316,250 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a reassuring book for Japanse-cusine beginners, November 25, 2007

By	C. Clemens "random lunatic" (a big pile of dirt, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i'm not a novice cook, but just like other reviewers i wish to expand my repertoire of japanese dishes. i admit that i was initially seduced by the cover and the art direction, but the recipes i have tried so far have all tasted great and been happily eaten by my family (my kids are very accustomed to eating a wide variety of foods). there is a helpful section at the beginning which explains essential ingredients and implements, although most avid home cooks will have some version of the necessary tools (for example, a mortar & pestle can stand in for a suribachi).

based on my limited experience with more homestyle Japanese restaurants (not sushi joints), the results i have gotten from these recipes have been great. when i would try to reproduce japanese dishes at home, i would often not know what flavorings to add in order to get the right taste. for example, i never knew dashi was what was missing from all my broths! this book has helped take some of the mystery out of the flavors.

somebody mentioned that there are few vegetarian recipes in this book - the author admits in the notes that she increased the meat portions in order to appeal to the western palate - this is not a pure japanese cookbook, it's written for western schlubs like me! i've simply reduced the portions that she calls for and in some recipes eliminated them with normal vegetarian tricks. i'm not a committed vegetarian but like to minimize the animal products i eat.

i own roughly 40 cookbooks, but right now this is the one i take down most often for dinner ideas. if, like me, you want to learn to cook more Japanese dishes but weren't sure where to start, this is a great primer.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good beginning for a new cuisine, April 25, 2007

By	dewey eyed "sj" - See all my reviews

I bought this book after a positive review was written in the Oregonian's Food Day section. I enjoy Japanese food, but haven't had the nerve to try making it at home. Amy Kaneko's descriptive details helped me get over the fear of trying it myself. The meal I chose was simple to prepare, and the ingredients were fairly easy to find. (Note to anyone else about to try this - mirin, or sweet sake, wasn't with the sakes in the wine department, but next to rice vinegars in the Asian food section - it's not a drinking sake.) I was very pleased with the results - a much more complex flavor than the simple preparation would have led me to expect.

The only negatives about this book are that vegetarians will be a little surprised to see how much pork and chicken winds up in the 'vegetable' section of the book, and that there is no dessert section.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, June 18, 2007

By	C. Joseph (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i love this book. she makes recipes super, super easy... but all the food is also realy great. it's simple, so if you're into difficult recipes, this might not be your book... but if you want great food explained in an easy way, this is your book.