Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors
Using high-quality, seasonal ingredients in simple preparations, Sonoko Sakai offers recipes with a gentle voice and a passion for authentic Japanese cooking. Beginning with the pantry, the flavors of this cuisine are explored alongside fundamental recipes, such as dashi and pickles, and traditional techniques, like making noodles and properly cooking rice. Use these building blocks to cook an abundance of everyday recipes with dishes like Grilled Onigiri (rice balls) and Japanese Chicken Curry.
From there, the book expands into an exploration of dishes organized by breakfast; vegetables and grains; meat; fish; noodles, dumplings, and savory pancakes; and sweets and beverages. With classic dishes like Kenchin-jiru (Hearty Vegetable Soup with Sobagaki Buckwheat Dumplings), Temaki Zushi (Sushi Hand Rolls), and Oden (Vegetable, Seafood, and Meat Hot Pot) to more inventive dishes like Mochi Waffles with Tatsuta (Fried Chicken) and Maple Yuzu Kosho, First Garden Soba Salad with Lemon-White Miso Vinaigrette, and Amazake (Fermented Rice Drink) Ice Pops with Pickled Cherry Blossoms this is a rich guide to Japanese home cooking. Featuring stunning photographs by Rick Poon, the book also includes stories of food purveyors in California and Japan. This is a generous and authoritative book that will appeal to home cooks of all levels.
Reviews (83)
“Simple” Does Not Mean “Easy”
The Product Description for Sakai’s “Japanese Home Cooking“ ends with assuring us that her book “will appeal to home cooks of all levels”. I disagree. This is no friendly “get yummy Japanese food on the table before the kids melt down, before the dog barfs in the hallway, before parents desperately need that next bottle of wine. Sakai is and writes as “shokunin”—a Jiro Ono, a master of her craft and artistry. To my mind, the title is misleading—this is kaiseki of home, not home cooking. So I highly recommend Ivan Orkin’s “Japanese Recipes from a Chef, Father, Eater and Lifelong Outsider: The Gaijin Cookbook” and Tadashi Ono’s “Japanese Soul Cooking”. They’ll do you fine, fellow home cooks!
Washoku has some competition :)
I received a preview digital copy of netgalley.. Had never heard of the author, nor of the book... Perused it on my iphone.. and immediately placed an order! I did read the complaint in a previous review about it not being simple.. and I don't disagree.. but I also don't agree.. Japanese cooking is all about simplicity that may be complex. There are some very simple recipes.. think soy sauce chicken thighs, or a dashi made simply by soaking kombu.. but if you are looking to create fast to put together short cut Japanese style dishes.. this book is not for you.. If your looking to really understand on a deeper level Japanese cuisine... then you hit the jackpot. I have never seen Japanese cookbooks that teach you how to make your own tofu, miso, buckwheat noodles, dried persimmons, or mochi . yes.. make your own miso and mochi . faint. (Keep in mind, the miso ferments for 4-6 months) Washoku has long since been my go to Japanese cookbook... and it still is! If youre new to Japanese cooking and ingredients.. it is an amazing resource with lots of pictures of pantry items. This book, though, dives deeper... see above.. make your own tofu! The art design/layout is great. If I were to nitpick.. I have caught two spelling errors already.. and hope that this editorial misses are not in any recipes/measurements. Looking forward to cooking from this book.. I haven't yet.. have just been reading it like a novel so far. I highly recommend this book!
Fantastic book!!
I am a fortunate Angeleno who has had the wonderful opportunity to attend two of Sonoko Sakai’s cooking classes at her home. She is a master chef who is truly passionate about making traditional Japanese cuisine accessible to the home cook. I love the introduction to this book and was very touched by her description of her journey to teaching cooking with a focus on the craft of artisanal cooking. The book is much more than an assortment of recipes, it is a complete education in the culture of traditional Japanese cooking. The subtitle “simple meals, authentic flavors,” refers to the home-style way of preparing food. This does not mean that the preparation of the recipes are necessarily easy and fast. But the ingredients are clean and authentic, and the recipes are clear and instructive with gorgeous pictures. The resulting dishes are so incredibly delicious. My favorites dishes so far are the water kimchi which is super beautiful and refreshing and the amazuzuke (quick vinegar pickles) which also make beautiful gifts. Speaking of gifts, I am planning to buy copies of this book for holiday gifts for friends and family.
Ultimate anthology for Japanese home cooking (and PS I made soba from scratch)!
Sonoko Sakai's book is the ultimate anthology for Japanese home cooking. Ms. Sakai is a wonderful storyteller. She writes about the traditions and principles behind Japanese ingredients and recipes, and adds historical contexts where applicable. If you're like me and a bit anxious about food safety, you'll also appreciate that she gives you tips on how to store leftovers and how long the ingredients will keep! There are so many delicious recipes in here. You guys- I made soba noodles from scratch and it was actually really easy! The soba in homemade bonito and kombu dashi- so good! The noodles were sooooo much tastier than store-bought! Ms. Sakai shows you how to make your own shichimi togarashi, la-yu, Japanese curry bricks, and natto (for those feeling adventurous). I finally learned the proper way to cut kabocha... been doing that all wrong. I can't wait to try the mapo tofu with handmade tofu! My family is also so excited to try Ms. Sakai's ozoni recipe for New Year! Mmm and okonomiyaki and crab cream croquettes! It's going to be a delicious new year. There's something for everyone in here. Enjoy!
The Go-To authority on Japanese cuisine
Sonoko Sakai is one of the reigning authorities on Japanese cooking in the US. Born in the US and raised in Japan, she is the perfect evangelist for what I consider to be the most sophisticated and complex cuisine in the world. Her many fans in the LA region and elsewhere have been anticipating the arrival of this book for a long time and it certainly doesn't disappoint. For my money, it is currently THE go-to book for those wanting to cook authentic Japanese cuisine. They say that 90% of Japanese restaurants in the US serve sushi while 90% of restaurants in Japan don't serve sushi. This book is for Americans (and others) who want to learn about the riches of Japanese cuisine that they don't get in Japanese restaurants here. Highly recommended.
Gorgeous and delightful Japanese cookbook filled with healthy recipes.
Japanese Home Cooking is a beautiful cookbook, perfect for your foodie friends and family. It is filled with beautiful photography, lovely recipes and fascinating stories from Sakai's childhood. Home Cooking has numerous healthy recipes that range from quick-get -it-on-the-table dishes to more challenging and interesting culinary experiences. In particular, Sakai's compelling journey as a young Japanese-American woman is an inspiring read. She is a true "world citizen". Born in NYC, growing up in Japan, Mexico and the US, her perspective on food, family and cultural traditions is engrossing. Please savor this cookbook and take a deep dive into the delightful realm of Japanese cooking. Your foodie friends and family will be delighted!
This book is a gem!
I cannot recall the last time that a cookbook captured my interest as intensely as this one. Ms. Sakai is the consummate teacher and her passion for her craft comes out in so many aspects of this book - they organization, the care in which even simply staples are introduced and explained, the care with which the recipes are written, her regular comments about her own learning and that of her students, the humor and humility that punctuates every page. It all leaves me with a sense that I'm learning from someone who is not only a master but sincerely wants her readers become masters themselves. I have only cooked a handful of recipes from the book to date but all have been outstanding, with the kind of grace and elegance that can only come from using a few simple ingredients of impeccable provenance to create something that is far more than the sum of its parts. The book is also beautifully produced and printed on heavy paper. I really want to give this book 5 stars but there is, in my opinion, one serious flaw, a very poorly designed index. There have been three occasions already in which I could not readily find a recipe and, in one case, where the recipe is completely missing from the index! For example, she has a recipe for Japanese Curry Brick but it is not indexed under curry, brick or roux. To find it you must remember that, even though shown as a stand-alone recipe on p. 153, complete with a two-paragraph introduction, it is listed as part of her Japanese Curry Chicken recipe. Similarly for Tonkatsu sauce, which can only be found by searching for 'pork', even though other sauces can be found by name in the index. The most frustrating example, though, has been for Okonomiyaki (p. 261) which cannot be found by name, as a 'pancake', or under 'cabbage'. In fact, I can't find a reference to it anywhere in the index at all. So, I encourage anyone with a love of cooking to add this book to their collection and, as you peruse it, be sure to flag any recipes of interest lest you waste an inordinate amount of time trying to find them again.
Delicious & Authentic Japanese Home Cooking
What a wonderful compilation of home style Japanese cooking. I loved the lovely photographs showcasing the delicious food. I have taken classes with Sonoko and have learned so much about cooking authentic Japanese food. My grandmother and mother never made dashi from scratch or cooked authentic Japanese food so I'm looking forward to using the recipes from the book.
My new favorite cookbook
I can't say enough good things about this cookbook! For context, I am a pretty intense home cook, and after four trips to Japan have become obsessed with learning everything I can about Japanese cooking. I have just about every Japanese cookbook available, and have read them all. I had seen Sonoko Saiki speak at the 2018 Grain School in Colorado Springs about soba and buckwheat, so waited with giddy anticipation for her cookbook to come out this past fall. I was not disappointed! There are several things that make her book so special and unique. First, she has lived in both Japan and the U.S, so has the perfect background for explaining processes and ingredients in a way that makes them accessible to a U.S. home chef. Second, starts the book with a long narrative about ingredients, how to find them, and how to create your own simple, essential pantry items. Third, she sprinkles wonderful personal stories throughout the book about her relationships with specialty vendors both here and in Japan. Fourth, she tells you where to get hard to find ingredients. And I could go on and on, but you get the idea. If you are into Japanese cooking, you need this book! I'll also say that I had the fantastic opportunity to take a soba making class from Sonoko after I read the book. It was such an amazing experience to get to work with her in person and I highly recommend taking one of her classes if you can! She teaches both out of her LA home, and she also travels to events and workshops around the country.
All the basics and very approachable.
Just received it but we've looked through most of the book and picked a few recipes to make ASAP. I generally appreciate how succinct and relatable the language in the book is. Sakai does a good job of giving context and talking about personal experience/history without getting too wordy. The recipes are straight forward but not in a choppy shorthand kind of way. While I am familiar with the most of recipes in the book, I'm happy to have a simple reference for the essential Japanese foods that is so approachable. I also reference the book "Japanese Cooking a Simple Art" for in depth info on techniques. All that said, I dont understand the other reviews saying that the recipes aren't "easy enough."...maybe those folks aren't familiar with Japanese cooking. If you want plug and play food, try something else. Japanese cooking often requires cooking from scratch more often than many Westerners are used to. Ingredients and flavors in Japanese cooking are so specific that Americanized versions aren't going to work...and substituting specialized ingredients isn't really an option...IE if finding Kombu and Bonito is too much work you aren't going to find any substitutes that work. BUT, if you like to cook and are interested in some basic pickling, dashi stock, making your own tofu, making Ramen noodles in addition to complete entrees that tie everything together...just getting a little outside your comfort zone and working from scratch then buy this book. There really is nothing too crazy. Sure, we aren't all going to make sashimi at home, but there's something in here for all skill levels.
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