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Sonoko Sakai's Japanese Home Cooking is an absolutely gorgeous and thorough look at Japanese home cooking. Readers are treated with history and methods for each ingredient, with each element receiving precise detail. You won't learn just how to make a soup, you'll learn how to perfect the broth, the layers, and each element going into a dish.

To be honest, quite of lot of this book is information-only, for me. I came away with a greater appreciation for Japanese food. This book serves to remind us that Japanese food reaches far beyond sushi and ramen, but to comfort foods. I can't say I'll ever make my own noodles - no, I'll never be patient enough for that - but understanding how it is made and how it is made to a high quality gives me depth of appreciation I didn't have before. Don't get me wrong, there are recipes here that I will attempt, but I found this to be so much more than a cookbook.

I will post a full review to Goodreads, Blog, and Twitter closer to publication date. Thank you to Sonoko Sakai, Roost Books, and NetGalley for approving my access to this beautiful book.

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I recently returned from a trip to Japan and fell in love with the food and people.  I received this book from Netgalley.  It is beautiful.  There are lots of colored photos and great descriptions of the different types of ingredients and equipment used.  I also loved how the book explained the history behind the foods featured.  I learned so much about Japanese culinary arts and culture through this cook book.  A definite must have if you are interested in cooking and learning about Japanese food.

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Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful ARC.
This cookbook perfectly describes the essence of Japanese Hook Cooking.
I cannot wait to try out all the recipes in this book!

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This book has great overall coverage of simple, family oriented, classic Japanese dishes with the interjections of the authors experience with locals and experts in specialties like farming and fish butchering. I enjoyed the focus on first creating basics and then expanding them to recognizable complete dishes.

A nice bonus was the section on Japanese alcohols!

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Sakai-san has created a masterpiece, a master class in how to cook Japanese home cuisine. Easy to follow lay out and beautiful pictures are also accompanied with excellent instructions and guest authors who talk about foodstuffs and their importance.

Beginning with a list of pantry items and gadgets and flowing into the Five Elements of Japanese Cooking, this book is like the Do-Re-Mi song in Sound of Music. You must first learn the notes, the flavors and techniques, then you can sing the song or make the recipe.

This is sure to become a sought after item for the cookbook collector but is a must purchase for anyone who loves Japanese cuisine and wants to learn more.

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Thank you Roost Books and Netgalley for a copy of Japanese Home Cooking by Sonoko Sakai for review. Available November 19/19 this book is perfect for those looking for authentic Japanese flavours at home.

Japanese Home Cooking is very detailed and includes recipes for the broths and sauces and creating all the amazing flavours found in authentic Japanese food. This book is not for a quick weekday dinner. I found the recipes detailed and well described but a little complicated. I love learning about all the different ways other cultures develop flavours and the techniques they use but I wouldn't turn to this book last minute on Friday night. The recipes need a level of detail and specialty ingredients that would require planning and forethought.

Very well done, beautiful sounding recipes for when you are willing to put the time and commitment into learning new techniques and try new flavours!

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Semplici e saporiti, costituiti da ingredienti sani e freschi: sono i piatti che non si trovano nei nostri ristoranti giapponesi, ma che arricchiscono le tavole delle famiglie più comuni.
Un modo di scoprire le basi di una cucina che ha sempre più successo, gustandone la parte nascosta agli stranieri.

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This is a beautiful book. Drool-worthy food and accompanying pictures. It starts at the fundamentals of the kitchen and cuisine and works its was through to an appealing array of recipes. I skimmed a bit on the seafood and meat recipes since I don't eat those but every other section that I looked at was full of food that I would love to eat.

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My rating: 5/5

I was absolutely floored when I actually opened up this book. First of all: the pictures are amazing and full of life, full of many different types of subjects.

Secondly, though, this isn't a normal cookbook. This is one that I would truly consider a heritage cookbook, in that the author has not only gone over the recipes and how to cook them, but with plenty of background for the subject of each chapter and that many of the recipes are for ingredients I would not expect to have seen a recipe for (e.g. tofu -- from scratch! what?). I love the in-depth explanations for all of the variances that the author brings up, like the different types of shoyu or pickles or anything else that I saw in this cookbook.

It was also pretty interesting to see the tie in for Koda Farms and other local producers as a Californian, which was cool!

I feel like this is a Japanese cooking reference manual and cookbook rolled into one, and it's fantastic. I would highly suggest picking this up, especially if you enjoy cooking Asian foods.

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