Japanese Country Cookbook

by Mike Nelson, Russ Rudinski

Japanese Country Cookbook

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Japan, Japanese Literature

198 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1969

Reviews

[Mikejencostanzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first cookbook I ever read from cover to cover. It was given to me by an aunt who had picked it up at a rummage sale. She had heard that I was moving to Japan, and thought I might be able to use it. At first glance, I wasn't all that impressed: yellowed cover, dark beige pages with a red font (making it a little difficult to read). But soon I was drawn in by the book's charm (quaint illustrations, and editorial comments on Japanese cuisine), and realized that this could be my crash course in really learning how to cook Japanese.

I don't know about you, but I had always wondered a bit if those Japanese cookbooks that you find at bookstores nowadays weren't hiding something. Beautiful, glossy coffee table books that tell you how to make sushi, tempura, and maybe a handful of other gourmet-looking dishes... But is that all there is to Japanese cuisine? What do real Japanese people eat, ya' know?! Not when they're going out to a fancy restaurant, but when they're making their own everyday meals.

This cookbook, combined with a year and a half of living in rural Japan, served as my crash course in real Japanese cooking. I learned how to make delicious, hearty fish soups, rich vegetable stews, versatile teriyaki glazes, and my favorite, Japanese pickles. Plus, I found authentic recipes for things like katsudonburi, kuroke, and chirashi-zushi, and plenty of vegetable-heavy recipes (great for living in a Japanese farming community where the closest thing to a housegift is giving your host a head of cabbage when you walk in the door -- what do you do with 4 heads of cabbage?)

Another feature that I really liked about this book was that the recipe titles were generally in Japanese. I didn't have to try and decipher a clumsy "Vegetable and Thick Noodle Stew" -- I could know instantly that we were talking about "Nabeyaki Udon." Not only did it make the recipes more accessible for me, it actually helped me to be more conversant with Japanese people about food. I think my Japanese host was pretty impressed when I whipped out the word togarashii in everyday conversation.

So, this book still remains my favorite Japanese cookbook. Not very high-profile or aesthetically eye-catching, but definitely packs a punch in terms of authenticity and scope.

--Jen

[Ew Lake · Rating 4 out of 5]

And that's a wrap on 2025 reading!

How delightful to stumble upon an old blog by a Norwegian architect while searching for information on the restaurant. Her thoughts on the book ring true for me.

stuff that makes my heart beat faster
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
The Japanese Country Cookbook

What are the chances of this book turning up in a local thrift store over here? I guess the previous owner must have done some travelling. Not to Japan, though, which seems to be the obvious at first glance, but probably to the US. The book was published in 1969 by Russ Rudzinski, the owner of a country- style japanese restaurant called Mingei- Ya on Union Street in San Fransisco. Apparently (from what I'm able to dig up on the web) this was quite a famous restaurant in the 60s, but was closed down a long time ago.

I love oriental food, and could easily have bought it just for the recipes, but it's the great graphics, layout, colors and paper I fell for. It's a beautifully crafted book, printed with black and red inks on brown textured rice paper. The pen drawings are beautiful and rich in detail. They're done by artist Mike Nelson, who I unfortuneately haven't been able to find out anything about. Anyone? I found a graphic artist by the same name, but too young to having been around, professionally, in the 60s.

The restaurant interior and courtyard must have been pretty amazing too, just listen to this quote that I found in the food column of SF Weekly:

"I was reminded of a long- gone restaurant in san Fransisco, Mingei- Ya, a woody Japanese country- style place that felt as if you were dining inside an especially beautiful cedar- lined closet." That says it all, huh? I've always been amazed about how much Japanese and Nordic aesthetics have in common, even though they are, literally worlds apart, the simple lines, the love of wood. You see it all over the fields of architecture and design, both contemporary and modernist.

I found some more great stuff this weekend, but decided this deserved a feature of it's own. To be continued!

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic in the early 70s, when I always pined for a copy. Now that I've received a pristine copy from a library sale, I can say that Japanese food has become so much more elegant 50 years later. Perhaps this book is good for really tracking changes in country food, but I imagine that country food has become "faster" as our world becomes smaller. And then there is the matter of reading a cookbook, on brown bag paper printed in a red typeface. It is rough going.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new addition to my Nitty Gritty collection :)