[.ca] Japanese Family-Style Recipes (ISBN 4770015836)

Tasty, REAL Japanese food:
When I was on business trips in Japan, my Japanese colleagues took good care of me. So in addition to the "fancy" food that guests usually get (Kaiseki-ryori--the kind where neither the host nor the waiters are really sure what the ingredients are), I got a good sampling of what regular people *really* eat in Japan. I found the "home-style" food to be tasty, even hearty, and eminently healthy too. On the last day of my last trip (alas, I'm not going back for a while!), I saw this book at the airport and bought it. Am I ever glad I did! It's typically Japanese in that you see what you get before you get it. Just as Japanese restaurants have models of the dishes outside, this book has appealing pictures of every single recipe. The recipes are easy to follow and the results are delicious. Even my Japan-sceptical boyfriend likes them.

THE Japanese Cookbook To Buy!:
This cookbook has recipes for food that Japanese people actually do eat in everyday life. While fish is a big part of the Japanese diet, sushi is a delicacy in Japan much as it is elsewhere in the world. This book offers some sushi recipes but more importantly offers the kind of stock Japanese meals that families really eat. I speak from experience, I stayed in Japan with a Japanese family for 2 months. Many of my favorite dishes from that stay are in this book. The instructions are clear and concise, the pictures are beautiful. If you appreciate Japanese food and want to make some meals for yourself this is the book for you.

Not a bad start.:
I quite like this book. There's a picture for each of the recipes, fifty odd of them. There are however some problems which prevent the book from being really useful. The recipes are quite short, a page or less each. There's not much in the way of hints and tips, meaning that trial and error is required with some dishes. But I've still no idea firm my "white dumplings" really should be. I'm learning to make some assumptions, due to the instructions brevity, such as "cook for three minutes" means "cook for three minutes over a medium heat". I bought this book because I liked the concept, but a book three times this size is needed to do the subject justice.

My Favorite Japanese Cookbook:
My wife and I received this book as a gift from a Japanese exchange student 3 years ago. She used it to cook Japanese meals for us and now we use it at least once a week ourselves. We have purchased several other Japanese cookbooks since, but this is the very best we have seen. These are recipes that the Japanese actually prepare for themselves every day. Just an easy to understand cookbook with very delicious recipes. The photos of each recipe are also well photographed and appetizing.

A Culinary Delight!:
This is a wonderful book, even for those not knowledgeable about Japanese cooking. The photography is inspiring, and made me want to try every recipe! The recipes are clearly written, easy to follow, and the dishes come out as expected. The authors have provided additional useful information at the top of each recipe, including helpful hints, possible substitutions and modifications, and food history and lore. My husband is Japanese American, and he actually was the one who chose this book. As a testament to the authenticity of the book, my husband's comment after I made a few of the recipes was: "Just like mamma use to make!"