Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking

I have a Japanese mother... she is a really bad cook. In fact, I thought I hated fish because the fish my Mom made was soooo gross growing up. What Japanese lady does NOT know how to cook fish??? My Mom, that is who! Anyway, I love the authentic Japanese food my Mom's friends would cook and the stuff you can get at authentic Japanese restaurants, and realized that my Japanese Mom, who could not even cook fish, probably was not the one to learn Japanese cooking from, so I learned from watching her friends and from the internet. This book refines, simplifies, and explains so much more thoroughly what so many native Japanese cooks probably take for granted as a way to do things. A simple example is just rice washing. My Mom just threw the rice in the pot and swished it around a few times to get some of the talc off, did not measure the water, just cooked it. Dry rice, wet rice, sometimes still crunchy rice... not so good rice. The book describes cleaning rice - a staple in Japanese cooking - as a job that Mr. Morimoto did for years before becoming the cook that he is. Starting from basics, such as washing the rice until the water runs clear, and measuring the water, which may not seem like a big deal, but more than likely makes a big difference in the end product. All the little tips that a Japanese cook may do but not feel it is necessary to tell you and things that the internet teachers may not pass on because either they don't know or don't do it that way, etc. All these things are explained in the book. Lots of good basic recipes and not a whole lot of weird things that have hard-to-obtain ingredients.

I’ve bought more than a few cookbooks, but I used this one book more than most of the rest combined including my well worn, stained copy of Betty Crocker. Lots of easy recipes I never knew I could make in so little time and so inexpensively. The soups and soba dishes are as good as any I enjoyed in my favorite restaurants. And so much healthier! I never mastered home made pasta or tortillas, but my first attempts at home made udon noodles were great and so much fun. I’m trying the spaghetti dishes he included tomorrow. Morimoto’s humor and grandmother tips made it so much fun to read and added so many incredibly useful insights.

I’ve always wanted to learn Japanese cooking, just always thought it was difficult. Masaharu Morimoto made the intro wonderfully easy, but also freaking delicious as I find myself coming back to these recipes again and again. He explains it super well, traditional ingredients you can find in any Asian market (and many big box markets), and explains many substitutes. What really makes this stand out to me is how good he is at explaining technique. I’ve never understood, until this book, how technique really changes and perfects cooking. Must read!!

This is a decent, but not amazing Japanese cookbook. As an avid fan of Japanese cooking, I own 10+ cookbooks and being a fan of Morimoto, this one was a little disappointing. While the recipes are OK, they tend towards the Americanized versions of the dishes with a flavor balance towards the very salty and very sweet flavors - consider reducing sugar and soy from written recipes and add more later if needed. Too many Japanese cookbooks teach Teriyaki sauce and Miso Soup, and I was hoping for Morimoto's to teach more more modern home dishes such as Yakiniku and Shabu Shabu sauces. Additionally, even though the recipes are geared towards home cooks, they still on average tend to require at least 5-10 ingredients and 1 hour or more. If you're looking for simple yet very delicious Japanese home cooking, I recommend starting with Japanese Home Cooking by Yoshihiro Murata, also found on Amazon. The recipes look deceptively simple but they are the best versions around! The reason I still give this cookbook 4 stars is that I've learned a few good tips and tricks from the book and there are some advanced recipes which I will try soon and update the review. My recommendation is to rent this from the library first before buying.

Having visited friends in Japan on numerous occasions, I really appreciated this book as it contains recipes I have personally eaten at my friend's micro-apartments. For food with such complexity of flavors, I am surprised on how easy these dishes were to make. Okay, I have been immersed into Far Eastern cuisine since I was a child due to my father's work colleagues allowing me to be their kitchen grunt, but I had little exposure to Japanese daily fare. This has helped fill in the "gaps", and I have enjoyed many of the recipes within. As to a reviewer's comment about using commercially made curry, I cannot think of anyone whom I know in Japan that makes their own curry from scratch. Maybe Thailand, but then again, they usually used a commercially prepared product, too! (I'm partial to the Hand brand.) But that comment did remind me of a cute little incident in which my friend Masako had to show me a vendor whose job was selling already cooked white rice for those who don't have time to do it themselves. Well, that's like not making your own coffee and going to Starbucks and... uh... Well, maybe it's not that ridiculous... Get the book. Have fun. If you find something you don't like about a particular recipe, do what I do – make a substitution!

Enjoying the recipes. Beautiful book.

I've been trying to learn Japanese cuisine on my own for a while, and currently I live in an area that makes going out for any Asian cuisine very difficult, as there are no restaurants to go to. I've been a big fan of Iron Chef since the early 2000's and have always enjoyed Morimoto's work. When I learned that he had a home cooking book, I had to get it. Fast forward to today, I received my book, beautiful book (as someone in the printing industry, I really appreciate a well-made book). Well, I flip open the book to start perusing, and discover on the title page Morimoto's signature!!! I didn't know this was a signed copy, but I'm totally not complaining. I know it's not a printing of a signature because of some characteristics of the ink (reminder, I work in the print industry). Definitely a surprise, I'm going to cherish this book forever. (First picture is a sample I pulled from Google, the first is my copy).

I bought this for my Son, who loves not only to cook but also loves to try new things. I have purchased many different cookbooks over the years and we have found Japanese flavors are a hit. I'll have to tell you later after he cooks us a meal on easy readability and ease to follow.

Muy buen libro, enseña lo básico en la cocina japonesa, muy fácil de aprender Buen material a mi juicio a muy buen precio

Explaining "how to" - very easy way and easy to understand. It's covers very basic Japanese Home Cooking. I'm enjoying this book a lot.

Awesome learning tool for how to cook Japanese style and how to use it everyday. Great photos and easy to follow.

Beautiful pictures but that's all it added to my recipes collection

Oferece uma grande lista de pratos que podem ser elaborados em casa, com facilidade.