Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, and More from the Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond [A Cookbook]

My 14yo daughter loves all things Japan! I bought this as a fun way for her to learn some cooking skills. We are having a blast cooking through the book together! The recipes are clear and easy, even for a beginner to follow, and each dish is better than the last. I don't know how that's even possible! We've done 6 recipes so far, all ones featured in her favorite anime shows. She's so excited that she actually knows what the characters are eating now! Wednesday Japanese Cooking Night has become our favorite night of the week!

In a nutshell, if you're looking how to cook that popular dish from the local izakaya (japanese pub eatery), then this is a good place to start. Basically this cook book has all the most popular dishes you'd find at most izakaya. If you mastered everything in this book, you would actually be able to open your own izakaya as all these dishes in this book are available at my local izakaya lol. But anyways, recipes are concise, usually 1 page with a page of pictures, which is great. It might just show you the most important parts of the recipe like how to cut a fish for frying and stuff like that, which i really like. I can list all the types of food, but it's basically this, ramen (the 3 basic styles (no tonkotsu) including shoyu egg), soba, udon (including nabeyaki), gyoza (japanese potsticker), donburi (rice bowls), japanese curries (including the famous navy curry), tempura (including kakiage (fried vegies)), karaage (lightly fried chicken/fish), japanese pasta (including uni), omu rice, chahan (fried rice), tonkatsu (pork cutlet), okonomiyake (famous osaka pancake), side dishes like japanese potato salad, hamburg steak, you get the idea, it's like the most popular dishes are in this book, there are about 4-5 recipes in all these sub sections above, but cover most of the things you've seen in izakaya type restaurants. Anyways, great book to have on the shelf when inviting friends over for some home style local japanese foods that every japanese and non japanese alike know and love.

I love this book. Simple. It has a collection of hallmark recipes from the most traditional street dishes in Japan. The authors have experience in cooking and food and chef Ono is regarded as one of the best chefs in Tokyo and New York. Paper quality is great, with nice photos. All recipes use easy to find ingredients and the processes are simplified, compared to the hour or day long traditional methods. If you would like to sample Japanese food aside from sushi, this is a nice book to have. I spent some time in Japan and memories come every time I prepare Osaka-style okonomiyaki. It even has takoyaki (small fried dough balls filled with octopus). It would have been nicer to have photos for every recipe, but this would've make the book pricier.

I particularly enjoyed reading about the surprising history of many of the dishes, e.g., who knew that ramen doesn’t have an ancient culinary history in Japan. Unfortunately, though, I won’t be trying many of the recipes, a large number of which call for deep frying, a no-no in my kitchen. Also, there are quite a few ingredients, especially fresh ones like the Japanese herb shiso, that are not available in smaller cities that don’t have large Asian markets. It would have been nice if the authors had suggested some more readily available substitutes.

Bought primarily for the curry recipe. I would definitely say it came out tasting and smelling excellent. The aromatics from the garam masala and the taste of fresh garlic made for a most enjoyable experience. I wish they would make a large print edition. Overall i would definitely recommend this cookbook.

The only Japanese cookbook you need

This is a fantastic cook book for someone looking to go beyond sushi and explore some of the best recipes in Japanese cuisine. We recently moved to Japan and have been working our way through the book (one recipe a week), and are finding the directions easy to follow and the results fantastic. This weekend we made tonkatsu and it was just as good as any tonkatsu I've had here in Japan. I know the internet seems to have made cookbooks a bit obsolete these days, but for those bibliophiles who would rather thumb through a book than swipe an iPad, you won't regret this purchase. Though, a quick note to those impatient cooks who think, "Do I really need to go through all these steps? I can just wing it.": Japanese cuisine - like every other part of Japanese culture - is about respecting and following the process to achieve the desired outcome. Process counts in Japan.

I moved to Fiji after spending five years in Japan and I sorely missed ramen, kara-age, okonomiyaki, and yoshoku (Japanized western dishes). When I saw this cookbook, I doubted I would be able to make any of them here because of my lack of access to foreign ingredients. A few shops carry Japanese soy sauce (Kikkoman), sake, and mirin, but I couldn't find most of the ingredients listed by the cookbooks I bought in Japan. This wasn't the case with "Japanese Soul Cooking": because it's written for a foreign audience, it makes do with the most basic Japanese ingredients and even teaches how to make some condiments like Tonkatsu sauce from scratch. And because one of the authors is a Japanese chef, the recipes live up to my memory of the comfort food I enjoyed in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Hiroshima. And the best part is, they're not complicated at all: I was able to make three recipes from this book in just one week (they were all hits, by the way, especially the Nagoya Tebasaki). I'd recommend this to those who are missing authentic Japanese soul food, no matter where they are (as long as they have access to soy sauce, sake, mirin, miso, and dashi, they're all set). Here's what you can make with this cookbook: Ramen (Shoyu, Miso, and Shio Ramen, among others), Gyoza (includes recipes for homemade rayu & miso dipping sauce), Curry (without the boxed roux!), Tonkatsu (with recipes for panko & tonkatsu sauce, Furai & Korokke (plus how to make Japanese-style tartar sauce and salads), Kara-age (with a recipe for homemade ponzu), Tempura (with step-by-step pictures for making the batter), Okonomiyaki (both Osaka and Hiroshima styles, plus takoyaki and yakisoba), Donburi (nine variations of pure comfort), Soba (hot & cold dishes), Udon (wide range from classics to a modern cold version with fresh tomatoes), Itame & Chahan (stir-fries and fried rice), and Yoshoku (gratins, steaks, and pasta). Highly recommended. Hats off to the authors!

Recettes faciles à essayer chez soi et la plupart des sauces (curry, dashi, ...) sont présentée pour les réaliser à la maison donc pas besoin de se ruiner le portefeuille ou la santé avec des préparations instantanées. Très bon livres pour les débutants en cuisine japonaise comme moi !

Resistente. En cuanto al contenido, todo está muy bien explicado.

Un recopilatorio de las recetas japonesas más reconfortantes y agradables: gyozas, udon, ramen, tonkatsu, entre muchos otros. Todas las recetas que he hecho (que no ha sido pocas) han salido perfectas (kitsune udon, soba con magret de pato, curry udon, alitas de pollo de Nagoya...). Además, se dan recetas para complementos como caldos y salsas, y cada plato va precedido de una agradable descripción o breve referencia histórico-social del plato. Eso sí, fundamental tener cerca un establecimiento asiático (o al menos ser consciente de que te faltarán ingredientes o tendrás que comprarlos por internet). En cualquier caso, si sabes inglés y te gusta la cocina japonesa, aquí encontrarás las recetas más agradables y auténticas que puedas desear.

As Described - great cook book

I have had this book for - *checks amazon* 11 years now and it is one of the best cool books I have ever bought. The food is delicious and, having been to Japan in the last year, I can confirm very authentic. It is also very thorough, and I have learned a lot about Japanese cooking- although I do tend to just buy dashi granules instead of making the stock via the book instructions. 10/10 would buy again.