Member Reviews

we really enjoyed exploring this book as we very much like the cuisine of japan - now we can make old favorites at home and discover new ones.

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I was looking for a cook book that made japanese cooking more accesible and this was lovely. I wish the ingredients had been more widely available in the small town I live in in Spain so I would have been able to try more of the recipes. Anyone living in a moderately large cosmopolitan place should have no problem trying to make most of the dishes in this book.

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Just wonderful. My family and I love Japanese culture and food and I was particularly pleased to read this book to prepare authentic Japanese dishes at home especially during the lockdown. From beginner to more complex dishes including miso soup and different sushi. Step by step instructions for even the novice cook.

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I have always had an interest in Japanese cuisine so I was very excited to get my hands on this cookbook! I found the recipes to be diverse and easy to follow, I especially loved the step-by-step photos (I wish more cookbooks had this!). The translations were at times not the best, but thanks to the photos and the very detailed recipes, we were able to cook delicious meals ever time!

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I love Japanese food but I've always viewed the cuisine as intricate, something that only people with an in depth understanding of the Japanese culture could make. Well, this book begged to differ! I find it delightfully easy to understand and achievable, even for the likes of me who has never tried their hand at this.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Media Do International, Inc. (Shinsei Publishing) for providing this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Unfortunately, it's hard for me to review this book because the digital copy that was sent was formatted in such a way that the images and text were not lining up.

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I want to thank netgalley for allowing me to review and blessing me with a Eversion of the book. From beginning to end I enjoyed every word and recipe it had to offer. As a beginner in the kitchen and a lover of Japanese culture I couldn't have had a better time learning from all the recipes the book had to offer.
This useful cooking guide introduces basic Japanese recipes which you may want to try cooking. Each recipe is accompanied by more than 20 step-by-step photos and useful tips.

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What a lovely book. Full of delicious looking recipes and beautiful pictures. Step by step photographic and text instructions in both English and Japanese. We learn about equipment needed and how to use it. We learn how to fillet fish, how to make stocks, how to cook rice, ingredients used and how to prepare them, how to make garnishes.

A very nice book - very useful and very user friendly.

Thank you for sending me this ARC.

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This was a great cookbook for cooks who were not very familiar with Japanese recipes. There are discussions of basic skills like chopping and descriptions of Japanese ingredients. The recipes were authentic Japanese, which can be a little different from some of the foods we find in the US. 4 stars.

Thanks to Media Do International, Inc., Shinsei Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Many thanks to the author, publishers and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
Despite numerous attempts on various devices I was unable to download this book.
I am therefore unable to comment further. I will continue to try to download it and will provide a full review when I succeed.

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It’s great to see a cookbook that makes it as easy as can be for beginners. However, as an accurate Japanese cookbook, you’ll most likely need to purchase some of the ingredients from specialized shops, but it depends on where you live. The extra tips that accompany each recipe are quite useful (like when telling you not to fan and mix the sushi rice at the same time). A must-have for those interested in real, everyday-life Japanese cuisine and culture. Looking forward to more books like this one. It would be awesome if Kawakami Fumiyo’s next book would have this same format and focus on bread and desserts from Japan! I’m drooling just thinking about it.

About the contents:

The first part of the book has very detailed explanations and images about essential cooking utensils and techniques. There’s more than 20 pages dedicated to knives, sharpening, and cutting vegetables and fish. Soup stock and rice cooking are the first recipes to appear, followed by ingredient measuring, cooking methods (simmer, grill, steam, etc), Japanese ingredients, seasonings, etc. Specially liked the extended explanations about the different kinds of miso around Japan as well as soy and sugar varieties. Attention is also paid to the importance of tableware in Japanese cooking as well as decorative cutting, garnishing and seasonal dishes. Last but not least, chopsticks, Japanese tea etiquette and the balance of meals according to their taste, color, and cooking method.

The next 4 parts of the book consist of recipes divided as ‘main dishes’, ‘western and Chinese dishes’, ‘side dishes’ and ‘rice and soup and pickles’. Each recipe has step by step instructions, pictures for every step and instructions in both Japanese and English. I was really happy to see many popular recipes like sukiyaki, tonkatsu and omuraisu but also many others which were new to me, for example: chawanmushi (steamed egg hotchpotch) or red miso soup with clams. Yummm.

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Fumiyo Kawakami's Japanese Cooking Recipes is geared towards both Japanese and English audiences. It provides the home cook with a grounding in Japanese cooking from the ingredients to Japanese knife techniques to authentic recipes. The recipes include dishes that fall under "home cooking" - the food that would be eaten on a regular basis such as beef bowls, pickled plums, rice balls, etc. Kawakami includes a generous number of vegetable, vegetarian and vegan recipes which prove both tasty and not intimidatingly complicated. This is a great book for someone like me who loves Japanese food but doesn't have the time to make elaborate meals.

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Preparing real Japanese food is fairly elusive in the US, but Fumiyo Kawakami, in her cookbook, Japanese Cooking Recipes explains and shows would be Japanese cooking aficionados just how to prepare Japanese dishes correctly. It’s a fun cookbook to read, and it will help anyone with some new kitchen skills.

One of the most impressive things about this cookbook is that there are fabulous helpful basics such as how to use a knife and how to chop vegetables in the Japanese way. These are illustrated perfectly so that everyone, whether beginning or experienced in the kitchen, can successfully use these skills in their kitchen. There are chapters on ingredients, Japanese cooking methods, and even how to hold chopsticks and the etiquette associated with them to name a few.

The recipes include appetizers, side dishes, main dishes, a few Chinese dishes, and even a primer on sushi with several different mouthwatering varieties. While the recipes are written a bit differently than most of us are used to, there are beautiful photographs of each step of the preparation, as well as written instructions. This is very helpful, and it’s nice to know that these are authentic Japanese dishes that you could actually order in a restaurant in Japan.

One thing to remember is that to successfully produce these recipes, a trip to a good Asian market to pick up the unfamiliar ingredients.

This is the real deal; everything is written in both Japanese and English, which adds to the charm, but all told, this cookbook is Awesome! Anyone who wants to cook Japanese will want to add this cookbook to their collection.

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

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I am Japanese-American and love to connect with my culture through cooking. These recipes are reminiscent of family meals as a kid and some are new to me! I can't wait to cook through this book.

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What a great book with detailed pictures of techniques, recipes and everything you need to make this Japanese recipes into a success. The cover did not do any justice to what is in this book. Worth every send if you want to cook something different.

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I'm glad to have been able to review this cookbook because Japanese Cuisine is my absolute favourite.

Japanese Cooking Recipes by Kawakami Fumiko is a great resource for anyone who's interested in Japanese cuisine and culture. Some recipe books go just compile into several pages the basic tools and ingredients one might need to cook food from a certain type of cuisine, but Ms. Kawakami goes above and beyond that. Aside from the normal tools and equipment, and basic ingredients, she also includes a chapter on step-by-step (photos included) procedures for basic cooking skills. You could tell this was aimed for beginners since cooking rice is included in the basic skills chapter of the book. The book is in both Japanese and English languages, for anyone who's looking to improve their language skills.

Aside from that, she also includes a chapter on learning basic japanese seasonings, seasonal fruits, miso from different regions, and Japanese etiquette on eating. Oh and there's tableware and a chapter on tea, too! This book covers every thing you need to know about Japanese cuisine.

I'm definitely inspired to try out several recipes from this book pretty soon. And I am confident that this book will enable me to produce delicious meals.

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Everything you need to know Japanese cooking!!! This cookbook is an amazing resource for Japanese cooking with easy to follow recipes. I am so impressed with the details in both preparation but in tools and actual recipe preparations. This is a must have reference guide for both basic and more complex Japanese food preparation. I highly recommend it!

I received this book from NetGalley and Media Do International Inc. for an honest review.

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I'm a huge fan of Japanese food and this is utterly wonderful. There's something for every proficiency level, from beginners to the more advanced cook. Great recipes and pictures to illustrate. 5 stars!

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Wow...what a fantastic book. After only a few pages I could tell this was going to be a highly useful cookbook. Lovers of Japanese style cuisine will love this versatile cookbook. Easy to use with step by step instruction and pictures galore!

What did I like? The pictures.... so many pictures. I love home cooked Japanese food and this book delivers. Basic understanding of what kitchen essentials you need, how to hold and use knives, basic chopping of vegetables, all the way to some gorgeous recipes. Fantastic book! Wealth of information and step by step instructions to a fabulous looking meal.

Would I buy or recommend? I would love a paper copy, Amazon isn’t being too great about the pricing on this book. It’s been out about two years and I still put it on my wish list. If I had a go to Japanese cooking book, it would definitely be this one. I can’t wait to make the sushi! If your looking for an amazing step by step...you can’t go wrong here. Really in depth steps.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance complimentary copy of this book. Five huge stars for an exceptional book!

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Excellent recipes that are easy to follow thanks to the step-by-step photos! The layout could be slightly challenging for readers who are not used to bilingual Japanese cookbooks, however, it's worth since the recipes turn out deliciously!

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