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

by Amy Kaneko

Book Overview

Amy Kaneko explodes the myth that Japanese food is difficult to cook at home with this collection of modern, practical and easy-to-cook recipes. The recipes are very child friendly, with lots of mild sauces, rice and noodles.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811848329
• ISBN13: 9780811848329
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (CA)
• Length: 167 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.0" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Valuable for more than just the recipes

My hubby was born in Tokyo, but came over at 7. He's a great cook, but his repertoire of from-scratch homecooked Japanese food is pretty limited -- miso soup and fried rice. He's taught me those. Everything else Asian that we eat at home comes partially out of a box/bag from the Asian grocery -- curry, mabo tofu, real ramen, and okonomiyake. I've bought several Japanese homecooking cookbooks, but something was missing from the translation on the **method.** The author of this book explains those missing methods in ways I can understand. For example, the author explains how to cook kabocha squash. Kabocha is probably in everyone of my Japanese cookbooks. Being used to boiling potatoes for American fare, I've always put way too much liquid in it. I end up with mush. She says 1/2 inch of liquid at the most. I can't wait to try this out when the weather gets cooler. I love the narratives that come with every recipe. You don't get a whole lot of recipes in this book, but I think her explanation of *how* to cook Japanese homestyle food is well worth the price.

a reassuring book for Japanse-cusine beginners

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.

Japanese Cooking Made Easy and Beautiful

This is a wonderful cookbook for those who love to eat Japanese food but are a bit intimidated by how complicated preparing it may seem. I've been making simple Japanese dishes for years, but I wanted to add more than just onigiri, sushi and udon into the mix. Amy Kaneko's book provides a good variety of dishes that are not that difficult to prepare and are sure to make your family's tummies satisfied. Even the pickiest of eaters (kids) will find some of Amy's recipes rather tasty. This cookbook features a glossary to help you figure out what the various Japanese ingredients are, and the author even helps solve your shopping woes by providing alternative ingredients to items you might not be able to find in your market (although most of what's in the book should be found in the Asian food aisle at any major grocer). There's even a list of web sites that sell many of the ingredients used in the recipes, should you be at a complete loss at your local supermarket. I'll admit that the reason I even picked up a copy of "Let's Cook Japanese Food!" in the book store is its beautiful art direction. The colors and patterns featured on the cover and pages of this book are vibrant and cheerful, and they complement the gorgeous photos very well. Even if you don't feel like cooking, this book is great to thumb through because it's nice to look at. But because Amy's book is filled with stories and helpful information as well, the book is even better.

great book

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.