Buying Options

Print List Price:	$40.00
Kindle Price:	$10.99 Save $29.01 (73%)
Sold by:	Random House LLC Price set by seller.

Promotions apply when you purchase

Deliver to your Kindle Library

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen [A Cookbook] by [Elizabeth Andoh, Leigh Beisch]

Follow the Author

Elizabeth Andoh

Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen [A Cookbook] Kindle Edition

by Elizabeth Andoh (Author), Leigh Beisch (Photographer) Format: Kindle Edition

374 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$39.99

$27.02

$18.00

Kindle
$10.99 Read with Our Free App
Hardcover
$39.99

36 Used from $18.00 20 New from $27.02

Great on Kindle

Great Experience. Great Value.

Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.

In 1975,Gourmet magazine published a series on traditional Japanese food —the first of its kind in a major American food magazine — written by a graduate of the prestigious Yanagihara School of classical cuisine in Tokyo. Today, the author of that groundbreaking series, Elizabeth Andoh, is recognized as the leading English-language authority on the subject. She shares her knowledge and passion for the food culture of Japan in WASHOKU, an authoritative, deeply personal tribute to one of the world's most distinctive culinary traditions. Andoh begins by setting forth the ethos of washoku (traditional Japanese food), exploring its nuanced approach to balancing flavor, applying technique, and considering aesthetics hand-in-hand with nutrition. With detailed descriptions of ingredients complemented by stunning full-color photography, the book's comprehensive chapter on the Japanese pantry is practically a book unto itself. The recipes for soups, rice dishes and noodles, meat and poultry, seafood, and desserts are models of clarity and precision, and the rich cultural context and practical notes that Andoh provides help readers master the rhythm and flow of the washoku kitchen. Much more than just a collection of recipes, WASHOKU is a journey through a cuisine that is rich in history and as handsome as it is healthful. Awards2006 IACP Award WinnerReviews“This extensive volume is clearly intended for the cook serious about Japanese food.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune“. . . scholarly, yet inspirational . . . a foodie might just sit back and read for sheer enjoyment and edification.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Print length

330 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Ten Speed Press
Publication date

February 28, 2012
File size

5215 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Not Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Nancy Singleton Hachisu
321
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $2.99
Tadashi Ono
2,257
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $13.99
Shizuo Tsuji
502
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $20.99
Sonoko Sakai
669
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $24.99
Masaharu Morimoto
703
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $28.99
Azusa Oda
939
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $6.99

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If the food of a culture has a pulse, in Japan that pulse would be called washoku. It's a set of principles in fives that takes into account color, taste, ways of preparing food, the diner's senses, and the outlook brought to bear on both the cooking and the dining experience. The result? Meals that are balanced, pleasing, invigorating, healing, and satisfying--all in ways that seep deep into the soul. It's the great good luck of the West that Elizabeth Andoh chose a life in Japan and a focus on food. Her expertise has brought forth the award-winning An Ocean of Flavor as well as countless newspaper and magazine pieces.

With Washoku Andoh takes the reader into the heart of the Japanese home kitchen. She explains the guiding philosophy then brings it into practical terms with a section on the essential washoku pantry. Her section on the washoku kitchen begins with cutting and ends with shaping and molding. Recipes are found in chapters on Stocks and Condiments; Soups; Rice; Noodles; Vegetables; Fish, Meat and Poultry; Tofu and Eggs; and Desserts.

You might never prepare an entire Japanese meal from beginning to end (though with this book in hand you certainly could), but there's no reason not to believe you wouldn't begin to include some of these recipes in an expanding foodway. The sauces and condiments are particularly exciting. As is the underlying thinking that goes into how you are cooking and why you are cooking--the washoku of it all. Not a bad lesson to learn from an exemplary teacher. --Schuyler Ingle

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

ELIZABETH ANDOH is the American authority on Japanese cuisine. She has made Japan her home since 1967 and divides her time between Tokyo and Osaka, directing a culinary program called A Taste of Culture. Her book Washoku won the 2006 IACP Jane Grigson award for distinguished scholarship in food writing and was nominated for a James Beard Award.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Washoku, literally the “harmony of food,” is a way of thinking about what we eat and how it can nourish us. The term describes both a culinary philosophy and the simple, nutritionally balanced food prepared in that spirit.

My first encounter with washoku was nearly forty years ago when I suddenly, and serendipitously, found myself staying with the Andoh family on the Japanese island of Shikoku. My urban American sensibilities were challenged by more than the rural plumbing that first summer. Hunger forced me to be adventurous at table, where my curiosity grew, along with my appetite, for things Japanese.

I was particularly impressed by the rhythm and flow of activity in the Andoh kitchen. This was the cherished, domestic domain of Kiyoko Andoh, the woman who was to become my mother-in-law. From the start, she encouraged me to call her Okaasan (literally “mother,” it is also a term of endearment and respect for women who care for others). Okaasan moved about her daily routine with determination and grace, feeding the Andoh household—children (and their friends), grandchildren (and their friends), workers at the family-owned factory (and some of their family members), and foreign visitors (me) alike. Running such a large, busy home required not only consummate culinary skill, but also an understanding of the value of nutritious, wholesome food and a knack for balancing the budget.

Okaasan’s ability to integrate smoothly such practical considerations as getting meals on the table in several shifts (early risers, after-school lessons, and factory overtime needed to be accommodated) with a deep artistic sensibility (fashioning a flower from a carrot, or reflecting on the texture and shape of tableware) was remarkable. A fine cook for whom the ways of washoku were deeply ingrained and practiced daily, Okaasan never had occasion to doubt the wisdom of this time-honored approach.

Because I had no language skills at first with which to question or challenge, I merely watched the activity around
me and tried to follow suit. I desperately sought to grasp the logic of it all, or at least discern some predictable patterns. Later, as I acquired fluency in Japanese and broadened my experience to include formal culinary training at the Yanagihara School of Classical Japanese Cooking, I fine-tuned my understanding of the principles and practice of washoku. It is those ideas and skills that I am sharing with you in this book.

Washoku: The Five Principles

The calligraphy for wa is used to refer to things indigenous to Japanese culture. In the realm of food, washoku distinguishes Japanese food fromforeign-inspired cuisines, such as yōshoku, or Western-style food.

The philosophy and practice of washoku can best be summarized by a set of five principles that describe how to achieve nutritional balance and aesthetic harmony at mealtime. The first three principles—one each concerning color, flavor palate, and choice of cooking method—deal with the practical considerations of food preparation. The fourth principle defines the sensual nature of food—that is, the need for food to appeal to all the five senses, not just taste and smell. The final principle,which ismore spiritual and philosophic, compels us to appreciate both human endeavor and the natural forces that provide for us.

The five principles of washoku are as follows:

Five colors, or go shiki, suggests that every meal include foods that are red, yellow, green, black, and white. (Often very dark colors, particularly deep purple—eggplant, grapes—and sometimes brown—shiitaké mushrooms—are counted as black.) Vitamins and minerals naturally come into balance with a colorful range of foods.

Five tastes, or go mi, describes what the Japanese call anbai, a harmonious balance of flavors—salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy—that ensures our palates are pleasantly stimulated, but not overwhelmed.

Five ways, or go hō, urges cooks to prepare food by a variety of methods, simmering, broiling, and steaming being some of the most basic. By combining various methods at every meal, it is easy to limit the total amount of sugar, salt, and oil consumed, thereby avoiding excessive calories.

Five senses, or go kan, advises cooks to be mindful not only of taste, but also of sight, sound, smell, and touch (in this case, the texture of food as we eat it).

Five outlooks, or go kanmon, are rules concerned with the partaking of food and have a strong basis in Buddhism. Indeed, many Buddhist temples in Japan that serve vegetarian fare (shōjin ryōri) will have these rules written on their menus. They instruct us, first, to respect the efforts of all those who contributed their toil to cultivating and preparing our food; second, to do good deeds worthy of receiving such nourishment; third, to come to the table without ire; fourth, to eat for spiritual as well as temporal well-being; and fifth, to be serious in our struggle to attain enlightenment.

The five principles are not unique to Japanese foodways. Many Asian cultures share similar beliefs. Indeed, the ideas arrived from China by way of the Korean peninsula about a thousand years ago. In Japan, the five principles intertwined with indigenous Shinto beliefs, such as humanity’s oneness with nature, and evolved into a broadly encompassing, deeply integrated culinary philosophy. A vocabulary emerged to describe various aspects of this distinctive Japanese food culture. Kisetsukan is what the Japanese call their keen appreciation for seasonal cycles and other rhythms of nature. The word shun is used to describe a point in time when a particular food is at its peak of flavor. Shun can last for several weeks or even months—or it can be as fleeting as a few hours or days. The notion of meisanbutsu, or “regional specialties,” holds locally produced foodstuffs in especially high regard. In Japan, where lakes, rivers, and the ocean provide abundant food to complement the harvest of the land, the phrase umi no sachi, yama no sachi (the bounty of the sea, the bounty of the mountains) describes the harmonious union of foods from both land and water sources.

As with other aspects of culture, such as language and dress, foodways settle in and are eventually taken for granted by the society that gave rise to them. Most Japanese today would have a hard time articulating washoku notions, and would not usually discuss among themselves the guidelines for assembling a nutritionally balanced, aesthetically pleasing meal. Yet when choosing items from an à la carte restaurant menu, selecting prepared dishes to take home from a departmentstore food hall, or purchasing packaged food from a convenience store or supermarket, most Japanese will, by instinct, employ the five principles on some level to create culinary harmony.

Despite the pervasiveness of washoku in Japanese food culture, the word itself and the concepts associated with it are relatively unknown outside the country, even among aficionados of Japanese cooking. And although its origins are deeply rooted in Japanese culinary history and habits, washoku can be practiced and enjoyed outside Japan, by Japanese and non-Japanese alike. Selecting ingredients at their peak of seasonal flavor, choosing locally available foods from both the land and the sea, appealing to and engaging all the senses, using a collage of color, employing a variety of food preparations, and assembling an assortment of flavors—a washoku approach to cooking gives the creative and contemplative cook an opportunity to satisfy his or her own aesthetic hunger while providing sustenance and sensory pleasure to others. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Publisher

* A full-color cookbook featuring more than 140 recipes for the classics of the Japanese home kitchen, written by the leading English-language authority on the cuisine, Elizabeth Andoh, Gourmet magazine ’s correspondent in Japan.

* The essentials of the Japanese pantry — the array of herbs and spices, the numerous varieties of miso, tofu, and noodles — are illustrated in full-color photographs.

* Andoh’s An Ocean of Flavor won the IACP cookbook award for Seafood, Meat, and Poultry in 1998.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007DFV2PW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ten Speed Press (February 28, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 28, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5215 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 330 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #394,289 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #33 in Rice Cooker Recipes
- #66 in Japanese Cooking
- #211 in Japanese Cooking, Food & Wine

Customer Reviews:
374 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Elizabeth Andoh

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I was born and raised in America though Japan has been my home for more than four decades. As you can see from my photo, I am not ethnically Japanese.

My formal culinary training was taken at the Yanagihara School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine, in Tokyo. In 1972 I began my own culinary arts program, A Taste of Culture, that combines spicy tidbits of food lore with practical tips and skill-building lessons on how to prepare Japanese food. My programs are conducted in Tokyo, Japan and offer a unique opportunity for foreign residents and visitors from overseas to explore and enjoy Japan's culture through its food.

I publish an electronic newsletter about 6 times a year. Each issue includes a short essay/story focused on some aspect of Japan's food culture. Each edition of the newsletter includes links to photo-illustrated recipes related to the chosen theme. Recipes can be downloaded and printed out, making it easy for subscribers to take into the kitchen when they cook. A Taste of Culture's newsletters are free-of-charge, though permission-based. To subscribe, fill out the form on the home page of TASTEOFCULTURE dot com.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

374 global ratings

5 star		78%
4 star		15%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

pichan

Not Enough Photographs

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

Washoku is a beautiful cookbook and likely a great addition to your collection if you are already familiar with Japanese cuisine, however, for a beginner like myself this not quite what I had hoped for.

First, a few notes on the positive -

Washoku is a hearty hardcover cookbook that can last many years of regular use. The pages are clear and crisp, and what images are included are indeed gorgeous. I enjoyed the introductory backstory about the author's observations and learning process in the kitchen with her Japanese mother-in-law. Very sweet and personal. The first third or so of this book is a very informative and detailed guide to individual ingredients, broken into sections by product type. This section alone is incredibly helpful and I would love to see an expanded version with more images for reference. Each recipe includes a short description and some include recommendations for variants on the same dish.

Now the criticisms -

I would give this cookbook a much better rating if I could see and understand what I am trying to make in advance. Japanese cooking is new to me and I'm finding it to be far from intuitive learning process. I blame my own lack of familiarity - but I did have high hopes that this cookbook would be my guide. Unlike the author I don't have an awesome Japanese mother-in-law to show me what to do each step of the way. I just have this book and it isn't quite as detailed or as expansive as I'd hoped.

Specifically - I need more detailed instructions regarding preparation steps within each recipe and there are simply not enough photographs. Visuals of completed recipes cannot be underestimated. Without photographs I cannot know if what I am making is something close to the written description. I won't even know if the dish is going to be served cold, roasted, fried or sautéed until I read through the entire recipe and even then it's not always clear.

I had hoped for a rough guide to cooking Japanese food at home (aka - introductory level cooking with simple ingredients) but found most of these dishes require a lot of prep work and small amounts of many ingredients - many of which tend to be very expensive. I purchased all the "10 essential pantry items" and some other items for good measure but still find myself needing another trip to a specialty market every time I cook a new meal. It's just not worth the hassle.

Overall I'm giving this title a 4-Star rating based on book quality, but be wary if you are new to Japanese cooking, this may not be the best place to start. I imagine there must be more a more diverse collection of Japanese recipes out there in the world of cookbooks and maybe even one with more instruction. I'll just have to keep looking.

16 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kevin McKenzie

Great, authentic recipes. Definitely a few factual errors that come from historical misconceptions.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

I've read about half the book so far and I've tried a few of the recipes. They are all very good and from what we can tell, the recipes are authentically Japanese home cooking. The author does a great job of providing background on the ingredients, why certain things are included, and how to achieve balance or harmony in a meal.

The only problems that I've noticed is that there are a few factual inaccuracies that certainly must affect the book. For example, the author claims MSG causes headaches and other maladies, and therefore should be avoided entirely. Instead, you should use natural MSG sources like bonito, dashi, etc. This is positively wrong and has been proven by numerous studies to be completely untrue. It can be safely used in many foods at levels similar to salt.

Second, the author makes a blanket statement that salmon has higher level of parasites and should therefore should never be eaten raw. This has been a misconception in Japan in particular for decades. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has been eating raw salmon in sushi dishes for decades safely. Flash frozen salmon from reputable sources is no more dangerous than salt-water-exclusive fish served in sushi restaurants.

These sorts of blanket statements that are factually incorrect make me not trust some of the other recommendations. That said, the book is still very enjoyable and has introduced me to many new cooking techniques, recipes, and flavors.

29 people found this helpful

Helpful

FAMILY MATTERS WITH AMBER

Beautiful and smart Japanese cookbook but packaging lacks

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a gift. The reviews were very helpful. As the book truly is gorgeous, smart, with great tips, information and photographs (not of every recipe like the reviews confirmed but that was ok with me).

I've only given it four stars though due to the packaging. I also purchased a book stand. They came packaged together and both the book and the book itself and the stand box are slightly damaged. The packing inside the stand box seems sufficient, but the book had no individual packaging around it, and the book jacket as beautiful as it is (and I expect this to be used as a show piece on a counter top as well as a functional cook book) now is slightly torn in two places and one corner at the bottom is bent. The box with the two items came with two air bag packaging pieces on top. So only the top of the book was protected. I will not be asking for a replacement as we are traveling out of state in a few days with this gift and the damage is minor, but I did want to share this, as if it's a gift you may want to allow extra time to return it depending upon the amount of damage to yours, if any. Also, maybe they'll improve their packaging of the books.

I would have given 5 stars on stand and book being giftable it if the book hadn't obviously squashed the box. Just too heavy of a book to put together in my opinion.

And book jacket too beautiful and fragile to leave to just laying in a box with air bags on top.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Wolf

Excellent source of info

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

Not just a cook book but also a lesson in the technique and art for this style of cooking.
Great source of knowledge.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Martin

Homely and doable recipes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

The recipes feel doable and homely, very nicely illustrated; wasn't keen on the bits of what felt like food philosophy thrown in but overall a lovely book and we're using it.

One person found this helpful

Patrick Brown

Looks beautiful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

Got this for my girlfriend and she loved it, good quality printing.

One person found this helpful

Brian

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

Fully satisfied with this book. Everything I had hoped for as a Japanese cook book.

2 people found this helpful

Nyx

wundervolles Buch

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on January 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

Dieses Buch über die authentische japanische Küche ist ein wahrer Schatz an Information. Der lange Einführungstext erklärt die wichtigesten Zutaten, Zubereitungsweisen und Kochtechniken, sowie die Philosophie hinter der japanischen Küche, die stark vom Buddhismus geprägt ist. Der zweite Teil ist eine Sammlung von tollen Rezepten, die zwar nicht immer einfach und zeitnah umzusetzen sind, dafür aber mit viel Geschmack punkten. Eine leidenschaftliche Empfehlung für alle Fans der japanischen Küche! Problematisch sind nur die amerikanischen Maßangaben, die teiweise gar nicht so einfach zum Umrechnen sind, das beste ist, man hat z.B. Cup-Meßbecher in seiner Küche.

9 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

Rita

Bellissimo

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on December 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Ottimo libro di cucina giapponese. Non per vegani come me, ma ogni ricetta `e comunque "veganizzabile" . Molto bella il mescolare la tradizione culturale giapponese con le loro pietanze: due aspetti inestricabili.

Buying Options

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the Author

Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen [A Cookbook] Kindle Edition

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher

Product details

Videos

About the author

Elizabeth Andoh

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries