Real Japanese cooking The only Japanese cookbook you will ever need! : traditions, tips & techniques with over 600 authentic recipes

Blogger and cookbook author Itoh (The Just Bento Cookbook, 2011; The Bento Lunchbox, 2024) calls her latest "the only Japanese cookbook you will ever need," and makes good on that promise as she takes the time to explain not just recipes but the culture, ingredients, celebrations, and beliefs behind Japanese foodways and customs. Itoh is amazing at explaining Japan's appreciation of its food and the history behind it, from how dashi and rice form the foundation of Japanese cooking to the history of bread in Japan. With love and care Itoh goes over each ingredient: its uses, how it came to Japan, how it's cooked, and if it's used in celebrations. Without making assumptions about readers' previous knowledge of Japanese culture and cuisine, Itoh comes off like a helpful, friendly mentor. Notable recipes include potato and onion miso soup, agedashi deep-fried tofu, bamboo shoot rice, basic shokupan, and Japanese strawberry shortcake. Lovers of Japanese food who have hesitated from cooking it themselves will appreciate how easy it can be to make their favorite dishes with Itoh's well-laid-out recipes: instructions are numbered, ingredients divided into sections, and key points highlighted. A perfect introductory book for anyone looking to learn Japanese cooking.

This excellent compendium from Itoh (The Just Bento Cookbook) offers an encyclopedic introduction to "the complete range of modern Japanese home cooking." She breaks down Japanese food into three main styles: washoku, or traditional fare, includes sake-steamed cod, mixed rice with greens ("a favorite since the Edo period," Itoh notes), and sukiyaki (beef hotpot); chuka, or Chinese-influenced dishes, ranges from chicken and ginger soup with glass noodles to sweet and sour okara and tofu meatballs; and yoshoku, Western-style cuisine, includes cream stew, classic tempura, and Japanese milk bread. Tips abound to help readers achieve authentic flavors even when ingredients aren't accessible: boiling spaghetti in a baking soda solution, for example, helps mimic the texture of Chinese noodles. Alongside the more than 500 recipes, Itoh immerses readers in Japanese food culture, with fascinating sidebars on the science of umami and the history of cheesecake. The result is a one-stop resource that Japanese food enthusiasts will turn to time and again. (July)