Salinas Press - Japanese Cooking Made Simple: A Japanese Cookbook with Authentic Recipes for Ramen, Bento, Sushi & More

Copyright 2014 by Salinas Press, Berkeley, California

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Photo credits: StockFood/Marc O. Finley, p. ii; StockFood/Maja Smend, p. vi; StockFood/Christian Petersen, p. x; StockFood/Martina Schindler, p. 18; StockFood/ Martina Schindler, p. 32; StockFood/Valerie Janssen, p. 52; StockFood/Eising Studio, p. 72; Masterfile/Edward Pond, p. 92; StockFood/Maja Smend, p. 114; StockFood/ Martina Schindler, p. 132; StockFood/Alessandra Pizzi, p. 168; StockFood/ISTL, p. 196; StockFood/Klaus Arras, p. 216; Getty Images/Patrick Yuen, p. 236. Illustrations: Tom Bingham, pp. 144-145, 156-157, 160-161.

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-62315-466-0 | Paperback 978-1-62315-392-2 | eBook 978-1-62315-393-9

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

To many Americans, Japanese cooking seems mysterious and inaccessible. The truth is that most of it is quite easy and surprisingly quick.

A mericans eat a lot of Japanese food, but very few prepare it themselves. You might be perfectly comfortable eating sushi or tempura at your favorite Japanese restaurant, but cook it at home? To many Americans, Japanese cooking seems mysterious and inaccessible. The truth is that most of it is quite easy and surprisingly quick. Think about the chicken yakitori you ate last night: a skewer of grilled meat with sauce, perhaps topped with a scattering of slivered scallions. Or that miso soup: broth with some cubes of tofu. The title of the classic Japanese cookbook, Shizuo Tsujis Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, perfectly describes these dishes, and, in fact, all of Japanese cuisine. Each recipe is a refined combination of only a few ingredients, beautifully presented.

The chapters that follow clear the air of mystery that surrounds Japanese cookery. Youll learn about the ingredients, most of which youll recognize from your visits to the sushi bar; the tools, many of which are interchangeable with gear you already own; and the techniques, which youre likely to master easily. , youll find listings of online sources for affordable ingredients and tools that may not be readily available at your regular supermarket.

Although sushi is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about Japanese food, youll discover theres a lot more going on. Savory rice dishes, vegetable salads, grilled meats, fried seafood, noodle soups, and hot pots bring a wide range of flavors and preparations to the table. Some of this variety originated in Japan, while many elements were adopted from other cultures.

The single most important ingredient in Japanese cuisine is rice, which the Japanese have been cultivating for more than 2,400 years. Soybeans, the second-most important food, arrived from China around the same time as rice, and were turned into a whole category of foodsfrom miso to tofuthat show up all over the Japanese menu. Soy products, along with the seasonal vegetables, game, and fish that grew on the islands of Japan and in the surrounding sea, served as accompaniments to rice, as they still do today. Starting in the sixth century, when Buddhism became Japans official religion, meat was almost entirely removed from the Japanese diet; fish and poultry remained. But the cuisine continued to evolve, incorporating more foreign influences. Deep-frying (tempura) appeared after the first European missionariesthe Portuguesearrived in the sixteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, sushi had been refined into its now-familiar form. Curry, now a very popular way of cooking, reached Japan in the mid-1800s, when the British imported it from colonial India, and ramen noodles came from China.

Japan has continued to make foreign ingredients and techniques its own, while remaining true to its rice-based culinary customs.

This has changed somewhat in recent decades, however, as processed, fatty Western convenience and fast foods have flooded in, and the time-honored respect for fresh, seasonal, simple foods has weakened (but not disappeared!). Yet at the same time, Westerners in search of culinary diversity and a healthier diet have embraced traditional Japanese fare. It turns out that the centuries-old Japanese habit of eating lots of fresh fish and vegetables just happens to be great for your health. Among its many benefits, the Japanese diet fights heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. It helps keep your mind sharp and your figure trim. Japanese food loves you just as much as you love it!