Joy of Japanese Cooking

I purchased the 1996 hardcover publication and it has been the stalwart book of my Japanese cooking library. There are possibly better books out there, probably in Japanese, that I haven't encountered but this one is the best in my collection and in my encounters thus far. When I say complete, this book covers: * Basics: ingredients, seasonings, utensils, cookware, tableware. * Techniques: making dashi (if you don't know what that is, you aren't cooking Japanese cuisine), cooking rice, preparing fish, and so on. * A section of various main ingredients: seafood, chicken, eggs, beef, pork, tofu, vegetables. * A section of meal sections: appetizers, soups, salads, casseroles, rice, pickles, desserts. Includes various sashimi and sushi preparations in the rice chapter. * Above and beyond: menu planning and menus with schedules as well as sections on tea and sake. To be clear here, when I purchased this book I had been loving Japanese cuisine for nearly ten years at sushi bars and restaurants but that was it. By this time, I was just beginning to dive deeper into Japanese culture and history. Now, after another fifteen years, I read, write, and speak some of the language, have experience in Japanese martial arts, and have a much deeper understanding of the culture and history. And yet this book still holds up and has recipes and ideas to try. Maybe if you are Japanese and living in Japan this book doesn't relate but for the intended audience, Americans, this is the penultimate book. If someone has another that they think is better, I am always willing to try it and admit it.

I own the hardcover edition of the book, and assume the same content as soft cover. This book may have slight problems with editing, organization, but the quality of the content is top notch. The great photographs really convey the way traditional Japanese food is presented, and not trying to be "modern" and "fusion." I own many books on the subject, some costing alot more. This book has a great depth to it, And I consider it to be one of the most valuable books I own. Not as user friendly as some books but in my opinion, priceless for quality of content.

This is a wonderful concise Japanese cookbook by an artistic chef, Kuwako Takahashi. It has many color pictures of beautiful presentations, clearly written recipes, and a great variety of classic and and some contemporary dishes. Having "eaten my way around" at some restaurants in Japan and at many US Japanese restaurants, it's a double pleasure to see presentations I recognize as "classics", and to have the author describe clearly, often with clearly labelled drawings, just how to cut and arrange the component items from vegetables to fish and different types of sushi, and have you proud to serve them in a well presented dish or platter! Not sure how to serve Japanese dishes...not a problem! The author show how to make tea, serve sake, and even shows the traditional order of courses as suggestions. Nearly all of the ingredients can be obtained at a typical local Asian grocery, with the remaining ones obtainable over the internet.The inari zushi covers or "bags" even come in cans, so that shortcut takes care of a few steps, if one is so inclined. There are over 17 simple salad dressings, 8 simple ways to prepare tasty attractive rice dishes, and beautiful photos of sukiyaki to sushi, so you know how the item should look. She even has some pages on decorative food cutting. It's petty clear which are simple recipes, and which are more complex by the list of ingredients, so work your way up, from many simple and elegant recipes, to more complex if you desire. There's a glossary of Japanese ingredients, and their substitutes, when appropriate. The only "fault" I found is that the classic "shabu-shabu" was not in the index as such, I had to find it under "casseroles", as nabemono (a quick stew) is translated into that in English, and udon noodles are under "noodles"...fair enough! I have the hardbound 311 page, 1994 4th printing of the 1986 copyright, and this book is preferable over many of the more recent books with it's ease of making simple tasty meals, and overall helpfulness, with pictures and suggestions to make the meals look like artistic gourmet meals, epecially if you have little prior food artistry experience.

I found this cookbook to be easy to read, with plenty of photographs and easily understood. This is not a hardcover book, but I kept it since it has so much valuable information about a cooking forum that I haven't seen much in the midwest. I'm loving trying the new recipes! They are as good as in any Metro Detroit Japanese quality restaurant - even better. I consider myself lucky to have so many markets available to me!