Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook

Product Information

There’s recipes for burdock and asparagus kakiage, deep fried koyadofu and simmered kabocha with azuki nom nom nom. Like, in many ways it reads like it's supposed to be a coffee table book, but it's notably lacking in pictures.

TL;DR: Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook is another very solid geographic-based cookbook in Phaidon’s powerful lineup. In this collection of new recipes, Nancy Singleton Hachisu, the most authoritative voice in Japanese home cooking today, showcases Japanese vegetarian dishes, bringing the exquisite flavors of the nation’s elegant cuisine to those who follow a plant-based diet or want to lower the amount of fish and meat they eat. Sustainability is important to us and we’re working hard on ways to keep items safe while being kind to the planet, too. In the second, Andoh demystifies ingredients that are staples in Japanese pantries, but may be new to you; they will boost your kitchen repertoire-vegan or omnivore-to new heights. or who want the author to hold their hand the whole way refusing to learn the actual Japanese words for ingredients.These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

I did think the photos and layout of the cookbook were gorgeous, however I wasn't that thrilled with the recipes themselves as a whole.Tim Anderson shows you how you can build your own delicious bowl from scratch as well as how you can construct your very own bento (Japan’s beloved and beautiful lunch boxes) from the comfort of your own home. Often, these recipes are about coaxing deep flavor from a few precisely cooked ingredients (and you could surely apply that to other elements of life). The opening pages conclude with a great guide to observing and enjoying Japanese dining traditions properly, like how to handle chopsticks and whether to talk while eating (don’t do it). But I feel like this book wasn't really sure who its audience was, so it was a little all over the place. that is some excellent udon" or "how on earth did you make these heavenly tofu-tofu mushroom burgers!

Several pages throughout the book are dedicated to exploration of a single ingredient like kombu, shoyu, or natto, recounting the history of the ingredient, the types, and modern-day sourcing tips. In the first section, she explains basic cutting techniques, cooking methods, and equipment that will help you enhance flavor, eliminate waste, and speed meal preparation. Because of all of the optics of sushi and pork broth, there’s also a common belief that it would be difficult to be vegetarian or vegan in Japan, when in actuality, Japanese cuisine has a long and beautiful tradition of plant-based cooking. Japanese food equals sushi, some people think; others focus on the fried stuff, and don’t take the time to explore beyond tempura, karaage, and katsu.This book says, “Sure, sushi’s great, but Japanese food also comprises dishes like deep-fried koyadofu with green nori, buttered bamboo shoot with sansho leaf miso, and fiddlehead ferns in sesame vinegar. I'm sure the publishers and the author must have dwelt on this issue but I cannot fathom why a cookbook, especially one created as an introduction to those not familiar with Japanese cooking, to have no images for references. For example, the author makes a point to use mostly Japanese terms and ingredient names (like, she gives the Japanese names for shredding, mincing, salt, soy sauce, bamboo shoots, etc etc). Our vegan ponzu is packed with citrus and umami and with 3 Gold Stars (a coveted prize from the Guild of Fine Food) you know the quality is going to be sublime. While the recipes themselves often have short headnotes, longer sidebars discuss important ingredients such as tofu, natto, mirin, and rice.