I have loved reading this cookbook. It is a truly amazing addition to the shelf of anyone who loves to explore culinary tastes and textures and basically try out things without caring much about where it comes from. I have always cooked multicultural meals and love borrowing from different places. This is a book for the adventurous. A lot of the pantry staples talked about are ones that I could never do without, like fish sauce, buckwheat, anchovies, coconut oil, capers, Chinese black vinegar... and things which regularly come back into my kitchen like bee pollen, curry leaves, mirin, preserved lemons, black garlic, seaweed and a lot more. Obviously this isn't everyone's thing.
The first third of the book in fact lists those pantry ingredients, spices and added flavours really, and tells you how to use it unconventionally for added punch in a typical dish. It was really interesting. I know I appreciated that a lot and it gave me many ideas.
Then there are the recipes with are truly inspired and not always that difficult... but again more for the adventurous palate I suppose. In any case I loved them and want to try most of them! Like the Eggplant fritters with date syrup, Easy pumpkin dumplings with black vinegar and parmesan, fluffy buckwheat pancakes, ume rice salad, the rice porridge with all the things. The salads are unusual and attractive, playing with bitter, sour and sweet notes, often including charred veggies. I love the recipes which are fanned out with different options like the list of possible toasts sweet and savoury, or meatballs or the fruit salads. There is also a very interesting drink and dressing section. I do recognise a lot of Japanese influence in it.
This book really talked to me, appealed to my taste and I adore it.
My only criticism is that only 1 out of 3 recipes has a photo I would say, maybe less. For some people that might be a deterrent, but when you see the quality of the book you really can't complain. This is the type that builds skill and confidence in the kitchen rather than just give out steps to follow and suggests ingenious pairings I can't wait to try!