Chronicle Books
$26.95 |
After living in Japan for a year, I became a fan of down-home Japanese cooking, the type of food I found at the noodle bar in the train station or a neighbourhood pub. When I crave a tray of cold zaru-soba, a proper bowl of rice, or some marinated and deep-fried chicken wings, this cookbook makes life easier. Lesley Downer writes extensively on Japanese culture, and her insightful introductions to each chapter place the food in its cultural context, while also offering hints on preparation.
The book is organized by type of food – soup, salad, sashimi, noodles, sushi etc. – and by cooking method – deep-fried, grilled, steamed. These are culturally relevant categories that make it easy to find a dish by thinking about what kind of cooking I want to do. The glossary of ingredients is excellent, with good ideas for substitutions for the harder to find items.
If you enjoy cutting radishes into chrysanthemum shapes or rolling your own sushi, At The Japanese Table has cute little line drawings that demonstrate the techniques. However, the strength of this book lies in its easy-to-understand instructions for making the fundamental foods of Japanese cuisine, a steamy bowl of Classic Miso Soup, a heaping bowl of sticky rice, and even how to toast nori for rolling up some sushi or sprinkling over a bowl of soba noodles. |
