Food of Japan

by Shirley Booth

A Japanese culinary revolution has taken place in the US: witness the explosion in the number of sushi bars, as well as the popularity of noodles, rice, and other Japanese foods, and their appearance in supermarkets everywhere. Japanese cuisine is being served up in restaurants everywhere, and much has been written about the health benefits of miso, steamed fish, and green tea. Japanese foods are finally being appreciated in the West, but most of us are still unfamiliar with how they are prepared. Shirley Booth, who lived in Japan for many years and has taught Japanese cooking to both Japanese and foreigners, gives us a wonderful, engaging history of Japanese food, its styles and traditions—from Imperial cooking to temple cooking and the food of the Yatai or street vendors. She explains every aspect of this great cuisine, the ingredients, the techniques, the essential equipment, and the importance of color and presentation. She shares over 200 recipes: soups, broths, dumplings, noodle dishes, tempura, sushi, pickles. With or without chopsticks, classics such as Broiled Eel on a Bowl of Rice (Unagi donburi or unadon) and new dishes with a twist like Chicken Breasts with Vinegar, Mustard, and Miso Dressing (Sasami no karashi zu) make Japanese cuisine very much the food of today. This wonderful cookbook invites us to sample these recipes and discover a whole new/old world of tantalizing tastes and textures.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 1999

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is less a true cookbook than a collection of culinary memories of a Western woman traveling in Japan, it does have some pretty good recipes for common and festival foods.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the details given on the specific types of food, seasons, cooking types and so forth. It makes this book invaluable as a reference book. However the lack of pictures with the recipes makes it hard to understand some of the recipes and how the techniques are applied. Also not impressed that the author admitted to bringing seeds in from a country and having her dad plant them. Not usually something allowed since the 1800s in case the species introduces disease to our native fauna or becomes invasive.

[Cin · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. It doesn’t have pictures so it’s hard to imagine the recipes if one has not previously acquainted with the food
2. Numbered steps would be more beneficial than paragraphs
3. Some recipes are just variations so why not make them such? No need to waste so much space for a variation of the previous recipe
4. I should have picked up food about japan that’s written by Japanese people…

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

good reference- might buy if avail in us

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has an interesting list of basic ingredients.

Also, some of the recipes are interesting. Though some of them are ... interesting. Like, hot pot with optional hot dogs? Ewwww.