Japanese Home Cooking with Master Chef Murata: Sixty Quick and Healthy Recipes

by Yoshihiro Murata

Yoshihiro Murata, one of the most accomplished and respected figures in Japan's culinary world, has combined his expertise and artistry with his enthusiasm for teaching Japanese cooking to create this exciting new book. Japanese Home Cooking with Master Chef Murata presents over sixty healthy
home recipes, from classic to modern, ranging from popular restaurant offerings like yakitori, tempura, and shabu shabu to typical home dishes like onigiri (rice balls), miso soup, and tonkatsu fried pork cutlets.

All of the dishes can be made using Western kitchen tools and ordinary ingredients readily available from the supermarket; if a more exotic ingredient is called for, Murata suggests alternatives. And, while he strives to retain the authenticity of a recipe, he also recommends ways for the Western
chef to adapt it. For example, in a number of the recipes, he suggests using high-quality store-bought chicken broth, which is also used in Japan, instead of traditional Japanese dashi stock.

Another important aspect of Chef Murata's approach to home cooking is his emphasis on presentation. With vivid color photographs, the book showcases Murata's simple and beautiful ideas for serving and plating the food.

Best known in the U.S. as the owner and chef of the fabulous Kikunoi restaurants, Murata has made it his mission to educate and enlighten food lovers everywhere about his native cuisine, in all its variety. As Chef Murata writes in the Introduction, "So let's begin cooking healthy food at home. I
assure you that with this book, you can cook Japanese food quickly and easily, and develop a close feeling for the cuisine. I look forward to helping you, even if only a bit little to lead a healthier life and make yourself and your loved ones happier."

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a ton of easy to cook recipes in this book. While I'm not partial to fish dishes, there's a great mix of other things.
I haven't specifically tried any recipes from THIS book yet, but I have tried similar ones.
I'll definitely be trying these out soon after I gave it a read through.

Also - there's a couple pages in the back for cooking rice and Dashi recipes, which is nice. (I mean, I can cook rice, but not everyone can.)

[Amanda Dicicco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t wait to use these recipes. They sound and look delicious.

[Georgiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good recipes, nothing special. However, don't make the peanut sauce from this recipe book...

[Sam Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone who wants to get into Asian style cooking (and more specifically Japanese cooking). The recipes are for the most part simple and easy to make and all of the ones that I have tasted (over half of the ones presented in the book) are delicious! It also gives very good instructions on how to properly prepare rice in the back of the book. This is trickier than just “throw rice in water and let sit until done”, but if you follow the steps there is a noticeable positive difference at the end of the process. Also, there are numerous color pictures throughout, showing both the finished product as well as some of the steps along the way.