Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art [Hardcover]

Product Details

Hardcover: 508 pages
Publisher: Kodansha USA; 25th Anniversary Edition edition (February 17, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1568363885
ISBN-13: 978-1568363882
Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.6 x 1.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Shizuo Tsuji
Price : $29.70
You Save : $15.30 (34%)

Customer Reviews

This is not just a great Japanese cookbook. It is a great cookbook in general. Not content to merely compile a series of recipes, Shizuo Tsuji adds descriptions of cooking techniques unique to Japanese food, insight into Japanese culture, and more importantly he imparts valuable knowledge on how to understand and appreciate Japanese cuisine.
He divides the book into two parts. The first part begins with a discussion on how meals are prepared and composed. Then he explains ingredients, tools, and techniques that are frequently used in the book. He ends part one with recipes that are intended to be a basic introduction to various types of Japanese food (each "type" employs different methods of preparation and cooking, such as frying, steaming, etc.) The recipes are traditional Japanese meals that you would encounter if you went to Japan.
Part two is all recipes, again divided into the same types that part one is divided into. However, these are slightly more complex and they build on the techniques learned in part one.
This is a book that can be used by beginners or more advanced cooks. It is definitely a useful reference for all those who love Japanese food and would like to know how to make it and how to enjoy it authentically.

If you love Japanese food, this is the book for you. More then simply a list of recipes, it really does describe Japanese cooking as an art form. Unfortunately, if you are a newcomer to Japanese cooking as I myself am, the book is not particularly useful in the kitchen. First of all, the book sacrifices ease for authenticity. This means that many of the dishes require ingredients or tools that aren't readily available at the local supermarket. However, if you want to really learn how authentic Japanese food is prepared, look no further.