A very delightful and calm book, featuring simple and elegant recipes. The photography is fantastic and each recipe has turned out perfectly. I highly recommend this book for both seasoned and new chefs alike.

This book combines simple, fresh ingredients with straightforward recipes to make the best part of Japanese cuisine: home cooking. Amongst the 100+ recipes in this book are a number of deliciously home-oriented snacks and meals, as well as some delightful drinks and pantry-fillers.

The book is great for beginners as it starts by helping you put together an ideal pantry for Japanese cooking and then holds your hand as you combine the wonderful flavours you’ve just brought into your home.

I'm never going to ferment my own miso for months, true, but I really enjoyed reading about how to do it! And I am capable of making some of the recipes, which I could never do without this book!

The first part of the book is very informative, and I especially enjoy the parts about how Japanese cuisine has evolved in North America. The few recipes I’ve tried are very flavorful and use ingredients I would have never considered in the grocery store.

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 mocha... yes.. make your own miso and mocha.. 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!

I was intrigued by the description of this cookbook-how-to by a tease from Netgalley (the book would not download) and gifted it to myself for my birthday last week. My children and I have learned a few tricks from Malay and Chinese family members, a little Korean, but this book provided a whole new background of hints and tips to simplify and authenticate the Japanese, Guamanian and Malay dishes we love. Thank you Chihiro Masui for sharing your knowledge with us.

Simplicity

If simplicity is the guiding light of Japanese home cooking, it is also the guide for this lovely book. Ms Sakai demonstrates that shows us that a clear cooking philosophy is reflected in clearly realized food.

Japanese home cooking has been the subject of other books written by famous chefs including Masaharu Morimoto and Harumi Kurihara. I am in no way qualified to compare these three books – I did not grow up in a Japanese household. I can say, however, that Ms Sakai's book is satisfying to read and to see and if you are keen to attempt this cuisine, this book can guide you.

This book is so beautiful and calming. It has inspired me to try new things in the kitchen and to think differently about a few different foods that I would not have tried on my own.

Author Sonoko Sakai has done an excellent job of making the potentially-intimidating world of Japanese cooking accessible to the uninitiated. For many Western chefs, Japanese cuisine can be intimidating due to the new and unfamiliar ingredients, techniques, and presentations. Just as French cooking has its five mother sauces that have informed the way Western chefs cook, Japanese cooking has its own vocabulary of sauces and broths (dashi) - and Sakai manages to make these accessible to her readers.

Japanese Home Cooking begins with an exploration of the Japanese pantry and its constituent ingredients and recipes that form the backbone of more complex dishes. These include the aforementioned dashi as well as recipes for basics like homemade noodles, egg dishes, and seasonings.

The second section of the book is devoted to fully-developed okazu (dishes) for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. I was delighted to find recipes for familiar okazu like okonomiyaki (cabbage pancakes), gyoza (dumplings), and chawanmushi (a seafood custard). Of course, there were plenty of new recipes to discover as well, including ochazuke (rice soup) and oden (seafood and meat hot pot).

Interspersed among the recipes are gorgeous photographs and brief essays that explore Japanese cuisine and culture in more detail. My favorite article featured the kambutsuya, or traditional Japanese grocery store, and included a photograph of the colorful bonito flakes that are used to make dashi.

Sakai attempts to create a comprehensive resource for curious chefs, and this means that there is great attention to detail that could border on overwhelming for some. For those already interested in Japanese cuisine who are motivated to dive more deeply, this book is a perfect fit, with the skilled photography and essays a welcome bonus.

Anyone who has ever wanted to master authentic Japanese cooking at home will want to pick up a copy of Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors by renowned California-based author and teacher, Sonoko Sakai. In this excellent cookbook are recipes for popular Japanese dishes that are served in restaurants, as well as dishes generally served in Japanese homes.

Those who have spent a fair amount of time in Japan and (also in Hawaii where there are a lot of Japanese people and restaurants), this book is one that will be used often to recreate those authentic and delicious dishes served there. There are beautiful photographs of some of the dishes – unfortunately not all – and the recipes are easy to follow. This cookbook is for those who are serious about cooking Japanese, since there are dozens of ingredients that are needed that can only be obtained from good Japanese grocery stores. Most larger cities have good Asian markets, so obtaining the ingredients shouldn’t be much of a problem. The book does feature recipes for some of the ingredients in homemade form, but special ingredients are necessary to make them. It’s fun to go to the Japanese grocery and see how many ingredients there are that most of us haven’t heard of.

Some of the most tempting recipes included are Gyoza (these are luscious and nothing like the dumplings found in the freezer section of club stores), Tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork cutlets) with a homemade sauce, and Japanese curry made from scratch rather than the curry blocks that most of us use. All of the chicken dishes call for chicken thighs, which are fattier and stronger flavored than breasts and are typical of Japanese cooking (I substitute breasts, even though it isn’t as authentic). There is a recipe for Japanese Potato Salada which is delicious and has hints of Japanese flavors – perfect for a backyard party, and an excellent Yakisoba recipe. Also included are recipes for homemade pasta for fabulous ramen and other noodle dishes, with step-by-step instructions and photographs.

Okonomiyaki (“as you like it”), which is a pancake full of vegetables (always lots of cabbage) and meat or seafood and served with a wonderful sauce, is a recipe alone worth the purchase of the book (the price is a bit steep, however, so brace yourself). Sakai’s recipe is excellent and tastes very similar to those versions served in Osaka and Hawaii. Her version (Osaka style) is the kind without the noodles (Okinawa style), and will become a favorite.

All told, this is the perfect cookbook for learning about Japanese food and learning to cook it right. Highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

First of all, this book is BEAUTIFUL. I love all the gorgeous images included. Secondly, I appreciate how in depth it gets with traditional Japanese cooking. It takes you all the way from the author's experiences and the basic principals of the Japanese' relationship with food through all of the basic staples of Japanese cuisine. This book is very comprehensive, however I did not find it practical for your average or even advanced home cooks. The recipes for the basic staples presented in part one are quite intensive and involve making each ingredient from scratch. This was very neat to learn about but not likely something I would want to implement. Part two focuses on how to use those basic ingredients for the creation of everyday meals. This was a little more practical provided that you could source ingredients elsewhere, but all of the recipes refer back to part one. Therefore, creating just one of these dishes is a much bigger effort that the actual recipe makes it out to be. If you were going to cook Japanese food all the time, I think this book would be much more useful. That being said, I was able to glean a few ideas from this book that will inspire my future home cooking and I really appreciated getting to see the artistry involved in Japanese cooking. Thank you NetGalley for providing this advanced copy!

An odyssey into the art and tradition of Japanese cooking, with a warm and generous guide. Even non-cooks will enjoy Sakai's reminiscences of learning to cook with her grandmother. Recipes are reassuringly detailed, good for nervous first-timers or more experienced cooks. Includes a lengthy section introducing different types of ingredients and basic recipes, such as mochi and beans. Lots of pictures--both step-by-step demonstrations and travelogue-style photos of the author with various food harvesters and chefs.

I love learning different recipes from all of the different regions of the world because food is so interesting. It is fascinating to learn recipes from other places and the origins of those recipes. Japanese Home Cooking gives a very thorough explination of the history of Japanese cooking as well as of the recipes themselves. I felt that because of those intricate explinations the recipes get lost in the book, and for me when I get I cookbook the focus for me is the delicious recipes. I thought that the pictures of the food were beautiful. Overall this was an enjoyable cookbook,

I received an ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I'm always looking to expand my cooking horizons and I really enjoyed reading this book. Lots of beautiful pictures and easy, yet detailed instructions are included. I really liked how much information about the ingredients and techniques were integrated with the recipes- the reader gets an opportunity to learn about the history and uses of each.

Anyone interested in learning about Japanese cooking at home will find this beautifully organized and photographed book!

A delightful book explaining how to produce Japanese cooking at home. It is so much more than sushi!

The book is split into two parts, plus an Introduction to the author and includes the principles of Japanese cooking and the kitchen equipment you require, along with table ware. Also included is how to set up the table correctly with the chop sticks and bowls being put in the correct positions, much like setting a formal table with the cutlery in a certain order, but its much more than that. I enjoyed reading about her early life moving between the USA and Japan with her parents, learning from traditional chefs and how she crashed on peoples.couches when travelling to teach others Japanese cookery.

Part one of the book is the Japanese Pantry and covers what are the base dishes to many others, including Dashi, Seaweeds, Rice & other grains, Noodles and bread, Beans & Legumes, Eggs, Pickles & Ferments, Seasonings & condiments and Herbs & Aromatics. At the end of this part is a selection of everyday pantry recipes.

Part two, includes the main recipes which include Breakfasts, Vegetables & grains, Fish, Meat, Dumplings, noodles & savoury pancakes, Sweets and Beverages. Most of these recipes use recipes from part one of the book.

.Whilst it says the recipes are easy, they are quite detailed with many steps to follo; it's certainly a book where you make parts in advance ready to add to the main dish, which is their customary way.

Not all the dishes have photography, though what is included does look delicious. The recipes include both imperial and metric measurements.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

This is the kind of cookbook I love! Tons of authentic recipes from a country far from home that are what the people who live there might actually make themselves, not just fancy "restaurant food". Lovely pictures and easy to follow recipes you can make in your home. A real joy.

My thanks to Roost Books and NetGalley for providing an Advanced Digital Read Copy of JAPANESE HOME COOKING by Sonoko Sakai in exchange for an honest review. This book is a serious, detailed cookbook for the cook who wants to cook Japanese food extensively. It opens with a chapter on creating the Japanese pantry where the cook is encouraged to make everything including spice mixes, soup flavorings, noodles, etc. from scratch. Most of the ingredients necessary for creating this extensive pantry will require time spent in an excellent Asian market to find the necessary ingredients.

Once the cook has completed creating his or her own pantry, the book moves into sections of specific genuine recipes this author prepares in her own home on a regular basis. These recipes lean extensively on ingredients that have been created and exist in the cook’s pantry. While it is possible the cook may find some of these ingredients ready-made in an Asian Market, but the author makes it clear she believes they will yield an inferior result.

In addition to recipes, there is some information available in terms of how to prepare raw ingredients and create the finished product. For example, there are extensive directions on how to create dumpling skins and then how to put them together and create a final gyoza product. There are also details regarding preparation such as how to filet fish in preparation for creating sashimi and then ultimately how to create various sushi and sashimi hand rolls.

The photographs of finished dishes as well as those that demonstrate the correct method of how to prepare the ingredients are crisp and excellent. Through these photos, attention is given to the appearance of the dishes which is as important as how they taste. These photographs give the cook a goal in terms of how to create their own dishes that not only taste good but look inviting as well.

Accessible, informative and fun! Definitely a great addition to anyone’s cookbook shelf! Would make a great gift to a budding home chef!

This is a beautiful book, but home cooking it ain't. For someone very interested in Japanese cuisine it would make a lovely gift. I loved it for its detail and style, but if I were to own a copy I have a feeling it would sit gathering dust on a shelf - its very in depth and uses a lot of specialist ingredients.

A dream comes true with this beautiful book and lovely pictures. Everything is well explained, even the fundamentals and techniques of Japanese eating culture. The detail this book gives is overwhelming in a positive way. You want every cooking book to be like this. A very easy read into Japanese cooking. Thank you Netgalley for giving me this book. Worth every 5 points.