A Cook's Journey to Japan: 100 Homestyle Recipes from Japanese Kitchens Paperback – February 25, 2014

I first saw this at my public library and knew I'd refer to it over and over, if only for the Oolong Tea Chiffon Cake and the section on Japanese teas.The author, a librarian and culinary journalist, made the small town of Iwaki her "Japanese 'hometown'", traveling around the countryside to collect recipes as people prepared food "to feed their families, satisfy a sweet tooth and celebrate life." The result is a beautifully illustrated guide that almost makes you feel you've visited the kitchens of her friendly, welcoming hosts.Like any great cookbook, this starts with an introduction to ingredients, utensils, and preparation methods -- an indispensable reference for the produce section of my local Japanese market. And like any good anthropologist of food, the author includes regional and seasonal variations and both traditional and newer, internationally influenced recipes.The recipes are clear, with English and metric measures and step-by-step illustrations for trickier bits. Most recipes include substitutions for Western palates and groceries. There are suggested menus, a guide to web resources, and a thorough and accurate index. Chapter titles are helpfully repeated as footers near the right margin.Whether you want to explore everyday Japanese cuisine or expand your bento lunchbox repertoire, "A Cook's Journey to Japan" belongs in your cookbook collection.

Being somewhat of a cook book connoisseur, I would have to say this is one of the best on the market for Asian-inspired dishes. The pictures and layout are fantastic. The author not only shares with you some authentic as well as modern recipes, but also talks a little bit about the culture of Japan as well. I have prepared several dishes from the book so far and have yet to be disappointed with any of them. This is a book you will definitely NOT be returning.

This is definitely a book to use, keep, and reread. The author relates her journey through Japan, searching out food cooked in homes, not restaurants, and then collecting those recipes. She presents each recipe with the story of its collection, a picture of the finished dish, and tips for preparation. These recipes are generally simple, use ordinary ingredients, and are wonderful. Non-cooks will still appreciate the book for its beautiful photographs and interesting stories.

Good book but recipes frequently include ingredients not readily available in the US.

This is the BEST Japanese homestyle cookbook I've found. Beautiful photos, well written, excellent, simply delicious, do-able recipes. I've given this book to friends as gifts and they LOVE it! Highly Recommended.

I've enjoyed this book on regional and home cooking recipes from Japan. Enjoyed the stories and photos, too.

Love this book!

I bought this book after meeting the author at a demo. It was a great demo, and she was so incredibly charming, funny, and self-deprecating that I bought the book to support the author and the store where she did the demo. Then it sat on my shelf for years because I was too intimidated by the idea of jumping into a whole new cuisine full of unfamiliar ingredients and techniques.Boy, am I glad I finally cracked the cover. I've made at least a dozen recipes out of this cookbook so far, and every one of them has turned out great on the first try. The recipe for sesame fried chicken is a huge, huge hit with my family, and it's now part of our regular, weeknight rotation. Sadly, we have no access to good seafood where we live, so I have not tried the seafood recipes (about 15% of the book, maybe?), but the soups, meat dishes, veggies, and noodle dishes we've tried have all been stellar. I bring one of the cold noodle salads to work for lunch almost every week. I even pack onigiri to bring to the zoo for toddler snacks. It's one of those cookbooks that has food stains on the pages because it spends a lot of time in the kitchen, instead of on the coffee table.One commenter said that the recipes are bland and not the best of Japanese food. Bland I don't agree with. I'm a bit of a food snob, and I thought they were very tasty. Not big, bold flavors, perhaps, but definitely well-balanced, delicious, and somehow wonderfully "homey". I think the cookbook is very much geared towards the Western home cook who wants to try out some everyday Japanese dishes. A lot of the book is "weeknight food," and all of it can be made with ingredients readily available in the US. There's nothing you can't find in a well-stocked grocery store. If you are already well-versed in Japanese cooking, though, or if you are looking for elaborate dishes to wow a dinner party, you might want to try the other cookbooks that the other commenter suggests.Oh, and I loved the little stories that went with the recipes. The impression I got was not of someone who wanted to brag, but of someone overflowing with gratitude and recognition for her teachers and hosts in Japan. I thought it painted a picture of someone who fell in love with Japanese cuisine and with the people she met in Japan. Still, there's no reason you have to read the stories to make the dishes. There are also helpful notes with each recipe on finding good ingredients and on possible variations.