Delicious Recipes with Awesome Photos
Japanese cooking is traditionally done with a variety of dishes, each on its own small plate. This gives a beautiful visual appeal as well as encourages healthy eating - you go slowly through your options, enjoying them at your leisure, filling up slowly and naturally. Unlike other cultures where they restrict you to courses in a certain order, in Japanese cuisine you take your own pace, eat at your own style.
Japanese Family-Style Recipes offers delicious recipes accompanied by full color, lovely photos. The book is very nicely designed so it lays out flat and gives you full access to the recipe without weights or other devices. My only real complaint about the layout is that they hide all the nutrition information elsewhere, so you have to cross-reference to find it. Also, they only show calories, protein, sodium, and fat - but not carbs or sugar. Those watching their sugar intake (diabetics) would really want that information.
That being said, the cookbook is great. The dishes are delicious. The photos are superb and help you really see what you're making. They help bring the visual beauty to the dish as well as the flavor combinations. No matter what your eating aims, you are sure to find something in here that is delicious and perfect. Want to eat more vegetables? There are many recipes which are quite tasty. Interested in soy / tofu dishes? You're all set!
Highly recommended.
Excellent and Simple Recipes
I ordered this book twice. I misplaced the first book and want to make sure I have it at home. I have made most of the recipes in it. The recipes are simple and delicious. The pictures are representative of what the food with look like. A lot of ingredients get used multiple times so you won't get stuck with something exotic that you won't use again.
I have bought other Japanese cookbooks but they tend to be more fussy and exotic. This book is fantastic for cooking leftovers. I always thought that Japanese food was difficult and very precise but not with this book. The stuffed cabbage is terrific and very different from the usual version. The donburis are great for leftover meat or chicken. Also good tofu and miso soup. It is an excellent introduction to Japanese cooking.
Excellent Quick Reference for Everyday Cooking
As a preface... this is a USA review from my perspective, some of my comments would be "very funny" if I grew up in Japan.
I've had this book for about 7 years. From my first opening of it, I realized this was a perfect match for me. I was born in the USA and am of Japanese heritage. While I did learn a lot from my mom about cooking, she died while I was away at university... I had hoped for an adult cooking relationship with her--she knew cooking was a passion of mine... but unfortunately, I was left with many "uhhh, how do I do this?"
This book helped me begin again. I admit I understand cooking, after all, I went to college to get a degree in Food Science, but knowing the "why" does not answer the knowing "how" or "OK... this really makes NO sense."
This is a very quick book. It might expect you to know some things about Japanese food (e.g., what the finished product is like--it's mouthfeel, doneness, general taste). For me it has been an "OK... you've had this before... and you've seen it prepared... this is what you do..."
I DO use other books for reference because there is a lot I was never taught. The "Joy of Japanese Cooking" and many of the JTB (Japan Tourist Bureau) books help me to understand the differences betweeen the many seaweeds, sesame seeds, greens, etc... that are not in your everyday supermarket (well... maybe if you live in Hawaii..., but I'm in Oregon).
Also, the internet is very useful... If you're using Amazon, then you're on the net... Recently, I got interested in nukamiso (sorta, pickling in fermented rice) A simple web search revealed pages of articles... Perusing a few pages and about a dozen sites allowed me to understand the concept, variations, etc.
Overall, this is one of my favorite "everyday" cookbooks.
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