Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

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Jun 22nd, '13, 14:20
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Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by dgm » Jun 22nd, '13, 14:20

I'm not much of a cook, but I want to get a little bit more into it. I love Asian food for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it generally avoids dairy, which I am very allergic to. Japanese is my favorite.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a noob-friendly cookbook, that I might use to make relatively simple lunches or dinners?

Jun 22nd, '13, 18:50
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by ole » Jun 22nd, '13, 18:50

My cookbooks are all in Norwegian I'm afraid, so can't recommend any directly to you.

I have however heard good things about this, and I'm strongly considering buying it myself.
Being a vegetarian myself I like the idea of shojin ryori.

Jun 22nd, '13, 21:03
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by dgm » Jun 22nd, '13, 21:03

^ That looks great! Thanks for the suggestion. =)

Although, I do like meat and seafood, so I'm hoping to find some recipes in that domain as well.

Jun 23rd, '13, 05:19
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by ole » Jun 23rd, '13, 05:19

In general there is not exactly a lack of sea food in Japanese food culture, so I think that will be easy to find :lol:

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Jun 23rd, '13, 16:14
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by wyardley » Jun 23rd, '13, 16:14

I would really, really recommend Fuchsia Dunlop's new Chinese cookbook "Every Grain of Rice" (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1370 ... in-of-rice).

While it's not a book, take a look at http://www.koreanbapsang.com/, which has some good Korean recipes.

As far as Japanese food, take a look at some of Elizabeth Andoh's books, like:
http://www.amazon.com/Washoku-Recipes-J ... pd_sim_b_4
(she also has a Shojin Ryori influenced cookbook; to me, it looks like it may be a bit better than the Mari Fujii, which I own, but haven't made much out of)

This also looks decent, though I don't own it myself.
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Farm-Nan ... 231&sr=1-1

Jun 26th, '13, 20:50
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by dgm » Jun 26th, '13, 20:50

^ Very cool! I can sense some purchases being made in the near future. ;)

Jun 28th, '13, 22:39
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by edkrueger » Jun 28th, '13, 22:39

I recommend this book for traditional Japanese:

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Cooking- ... simple+art

Its lacking some modern/low-brow stuff like Ramen, Curry, Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Sobayaki, etc.

It lacks about every dish where mayonnaise is a key ingredient –something I'm not complaining about.

Its simple enough, but its not just a list of recipes.

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Jun 29th, '13, 10:31
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by JBaymore » Jun 29th, '13, 10:31

edkrueger wrote:It lacks about every dish where mayonnaise is a key ingredient –something I'm not complaining about.
Mayonnaise should be banned in Japan! :lol:

best,

............john

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Jul 1st, '13, 08:43
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by chingwa » Jul 1st, '13, 08:43

I recommend this book for traditional Japanese:
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Cooking- ... simple+art
I would also highly recommend this book. It's focus is completely japanese (no asian fusion here!) and it actually could be considered a bit outdated by modern standards, but it will teach you all the basics to Japanese cooking. It's actually more of a reference manual than a "cookbook" per se, perhaps a little intimidating, but completely awesome! :mrgreen:

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Jul 1st, '13, 08:45
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by chingwa » Jul 1st, '13, 08:45

Mayonnaise should be banned in Japan!
Well I don't know if I'd call what they use Mayonnaise.... it's a flavor unto itself... :lol: (and it's disgustingly delicious! How can you even think of banning it!?!?!?)

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Jan 12th, '14, 11:44
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by Nerys54 » Jan 12th, '14, 11:44

Not a cookbook but see sites www.japanesefood.about.com/
and see www.chinesefood.about.com
there is also a thaifood and a koreanfood at about.com site
Also for japanese cooking www.justhungry.com/ and www.justbento.com/

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Jan 14th, '14, 04:10
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by bliss » Jan 14th, '14, 04:10

Hands down the best Japanese cookbook I've come across are (all) the books by Harumi Kurihara. The entry book would probably be Everyday Harumi. It focuses on everyday Japanese food that tastes epic and does not have the silly and naïve sushi-focus that a lot of "Japanese cookboks" have. Harumi holds your hand and breaks it all down to the level of how to cut and prepare things (example: put the sliced abourgine in a bowl of water for a while to avoid bitterness before cooking). The ingredients are not crazy. The fresh ingredient are mostly things you can find in most well stocked places. Mirin, rice vinegar, kombu, silken tofu and other ingredients probably require access to a city or internet purchase.

Being a vegetarian since a few years back I've tried finding a book of equal splendor, but it's hard. There are definitely a number of great vegetarian recipes in the Harumi books and some that can easily be converted by taking a few things out and changing the stock to Kombu stock and so on. I really wanted the Kansha book to be a great and inspirational Japanese vegetarian cookbook, but it is slightly intimidating and uses a lot of hard to source fresh key ingredients (at least this is what I remember). It does teach a few key ideas about cooking vegetarian Japanese food. I should really revisit it soon! Regardless, I still think that the Harumi books are a great introduction to learning the basics of Japanese cooking.

Learning a new kitchen it is always a good idea to find food being prepared by people of that culture on Youtube and soak up the general underlying pattern. That has definitely been a great help for me when it comes to indian cooking.

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Jan 14th, '14, 04:15
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by bliss » Jan 14th, '14, 04:15

edkrueger wrote:I recommend this book for traditional Japanese:

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Cooking- ... simple+art

Its lacking some modern/low-brow stuff like Ramen, Curry, Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Sobayaki, etc.

It lacks about every dish where mayonnaise is a key ingredient –something I'm not complaining about.

Its simple enough, but its not just a list of recipes.
I've eyed this book many times, thanks for the recommendation. With the exception of not being vegetarian (for obvious reasons), it seems to have the focus I enjoy and love about Japanese food.

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Jan 14th, '14, 04:25
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by bliss » Jan 14th, '14, 04:25

Sorry about the triple-post, but I was reminded of this great manga I read recently. Oishinbo. I've only read the first book in the series, but will definitely read more. It really incorporates a lot of ideas and cultural aspects of Japanese food and living. I found it very enlightening from a cooking perspective. There are no recipes per se in the book, so it's more about choice in ingredients and what makes a dish great etc. Volume one also has a chapter on tea! :D
Image

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Jan 16th, '14, 12:36
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Re: Simple Japanese (or other asian) cookbook?

by MEversbergII » Jan 16th, '14, 12:36

I'll pick myself up a copy soon as I can...thanks!

There's also the Japanese Recipe Wiki: http://japaneserecipes.wikia.com/wiki/J ... cipes_Wiki

M.

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