Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook

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This book is not for those who like dumb-downed Asian cuisine (hello, people who use ketchup to make pad thai! 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. Given that she moved to Japan in the 1960s this makes sense, but I would assume that a proper editor would switch this to one of the newer, more logical (and officially recognized) versions.

There are a lot of traditional Japanese elements that you can use to up the tastiness and eliminate animal products. Page after page of mouth-watering recipes and gorgeous photos, with rich cultural context and extensive notes about ingredients and methods. The author is an American who moved to Japan and married there in the 1960s and has lived there ever since. Then she demystifies ingredients that are staples in Japanese pantries that will boost your kitchen repertoire—vegan or omnivore—to new heights. 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.But seriously, reading this (and cooking from it in the past months at least once a week) has proven to be itself a cooking class with Andoh. Later, it offers a very compelling history of Japanese vegetarian food, taking us through the rise of fermented soy products, the religious and political dominion over meat-eating, Japan’s 72 microseasons, and some reflections on food and nature. 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. She is totally enamored with Japanese food/tradition and Buddhist philosophy, and therefore knows exactly what she is talking about. Granted this may be because I am biased towards Japanese cooking and vegetarian recipes, but Andoh explains pretty much everything in striking detail and boasts wonderful pictures (we all know thats what makes a good cookbook GREAT).

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 flavours 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. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. i am probably my least experienced when it comes to Japanese cooking, ramen alone seems like an unfathomable treasure, but this book does a great job of taking you through some major categories. Of all nationalities, the Japanese have to be those who do vegetarian to perfection, mainly because of their particular attention to all things seasonal; and there is no better person to guide you through the seasons and how to make use of the earth's bounty than Nancy Hachisu. Sustainability is important to us and we’re working hard on ways to keep items safe while being kind to the planet, too.

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).

She has culled classics from shojin ryori, or Buddhist temple cuisine (Creamy Sesame Pudding, Glazed Eel Look-Alike); gathered essentials of macrobiotic cooking (Toasted Hand-Pressed Brown Rice with Hijiki, Robust Miso); selected dishes rooted in history (Skillet-Scrambled Tofu with Leafy Greens, Pungent Pickles); and included inventive modern fare (Eggplant Sushi, Tofu-Tofu Burgers). It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. And there are also a couple of different recipes for a basic vegan dashi, using dried mushrooms instead of tuna-based katsubuoshi.

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.