5 comments about The Complete Book of Sushi.

1. Today I received this book it has none of the main sushi roll recipes (spicy tuna roll, normal california roll, hawaiian roll, tiger roll, dynamite roll, pizza roll, crunchy shrimp rolls, etc. etc. etc.) mainly vegitarian rolls, and sashimi.
   
   It does have nice pictures too bad it doesn't have good recipes. I am very disappointed with this book and am returning it.



2. The explanations are pretty good, but what sets this book apart is the pictures: large, beautiful and varied. After reading reviews for this book and for the rather unlikely Sushi for Dummies, I elected to purchase both, this one for illustrations and admittedly decent content and the other book because, after all, "dummy" pretty well describes me.



3. Wow stunning photos but what a lousy cookbook. If you like looking at pictures of sushi, this book is for you. If you like actually eating or making sushi, then this huge book is totally impractical in the kitchen.



4. This is a beautiful book--artsy enough to be a coffee table book, but it's full of outstanding directions on making your own sushi (everything from ingredients--what they are, where to get them, and how to use--to making the sushi and how to present it in a traditional style). It's so pretty that it's very motivating and inspiring. I gave this to my parents as a gift, and they loved it! This is the only book you need to learn to make sushi!



5. I bought this book for my sushi-loving-husband as a Christmas gift so that he can make his own sushi. This book is a great investment for the sushi lover. The author's recipes are complete and her directions for making sushi are impeccable.
   Especially helpful were her directions for making sushi rice - it came out beautifully! She provides instructions for making perfect rice whether you have a rice cooker or not. This was especially valuable because you do not need "special" rice for making sushi (I've seen so-called sushi rice in grocery stores for ridiculous prices!).
   The most difficult part of the process for us was rolling the sushi. She explains how to do this very clearly.
   Overall a great book with gorgeous pictures and helpful directions!

1 comments about Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook.

1. I rarely buy a book without reading a review first, but this was an exeption. The need for a book like this was long overdue. Beautiful photos, competent procedure, and a savage reference to the everyday Japanese dining experience. Oh and the recipes are not too easy as to insult a practicing chef or too hard as to send the home chef across town on a wild goose chase for some never heard of ingredient. Worth your time.

3 comments about Nobu West.

1. I don't really read cookbooks. I don't believe all the great words on the back cover and flyleaf about how wonderful this cook is. Instead I start by scanning the table of contents. And in this book, the top item on the second column is Nobu-Style Paella. Hold On! This is a Japanese cookbook. Paella is a traditional Spanish dish, and one of my favorites. So I had to look. Now I've go to try it.
   
   One problem with esoteric cookbooks is that they often have esoteric ingredients that you can't get in my little town. The Paella recipie calls for Dashi, a soup base made from konbu and bonito flakes. A quick scan on the computer and behold, Amazon, in their Gourmet Foods section sells both of these. So I'll be trying this one day soon.
   
   Then I find Ice Cream Tempura - two good things that have to be better together. And this book has a section on coctails. I have my own recipies for things like Martini's, Cosmopolitians, etc. But I'm always open to suggestions. How about a Lychee Martini?
   
   All in all, several new things to try and what more could you ask of a cookbook.



2. We all knew that Nobu Matsuhisa is a great cook, but the way he combined the west cooking with the east and his influences from Peru is just grandious.
   
   I would consider the best book I bought in years. Simple to follow, extremely well documented and the pictures are just marvelous.
   
   For an amateur like me, an excellent purchase to explore further the pleasures of life.



3. The book has a good presentation but is almost impossible to find the ingredients to do the dishes

5 comments about Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art.

1. A beautiful book, clearly written, but the simple of the title is misleading. These are difficult, exacting recipes calling for both ingredients and kitchenware that require a search in specialty Japanese markets.



2. I purchased this for my daughter for Christmas. I took some time to browse through the book and found it full of interesting information in addition to recipes and directions on how to prepare ingredients. I was very impressed, as was my daughter.



3. I wanted a book with a lot of information and recipes. Too many cook books are filled with pictures, and empty of information. This book is the opposite. Don't expect many photos, do expect lots of information. The author gives you information about the food, about the preparation, and about the ingredients. It even gives you a little Japanese history as related to the food.
   This is a must buy for anyone serious about cooking Japanese food.



4. This is the only Japanese cookbook you will ever need. As other reviewers have already mentioned, it is indeed "the Bible of Japanese cooking."
   A little bit about me, I first feel in love with Japanese cooking at the age of 8, when for my birthday, my parents took me to Joto's Japanese restaurant and I tried Sukiyaki. The sauce was to die for. The sauce won me over more than the ingredients inside the pot.
   I just had to know how to cook it so luckily for me there was a Japanese market nearby. I went inside a bought Japanese Cuisine for Everyone by Yukiko Moriyama. It was ok for the time. It does contain actual photographs of all the sauce bottles and packages of dried foods that you need to find. It can be hard to locate items at the market and the pictures helped in the beginning. Then, years later, I bought Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama. It does have some traditional recipes mixed in with fusion cooking. Recently I bought Japanese Homestyle Cooking by Tokiko Suzuki and Harumi's Japanese Cooking by Harumi Kurihaara. Someone let me borrow an old book from Time Life books in the Foods of the World series called The Cooking of Japan. I have looked through the Nobu cookbook and it is filled with wonderful pictures but the recipes are hard for the average cook. That said, Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art towers above all others in content, detailed descriptions, cutting techniques, meal planning, and how to put together lunches and dinners based on the seasons. Other books have the aboved mentioned information but not on the level of Tsuji. Its like comparing the novels of Jane Austen to those of Danielle Steel. Both are romantic writers but only one is a genuis whose works stand the test of time.
   Now in its 25th Anniversary, not much revising was needed, according to the author's son, you can see real Japanese cooking without all the added fusion cooking of today.
   I do agree with Tsuji in his introduction where he writes, "With a Japanese recipe, however, unless you have been to this country and eaten the food, you will probably have little idea of what you will be aiming at." Despite the fact that sushi bars are everywhere and numerous Japanese restaurants are popping up, I feel dissatisfied everytime I go to a Japanese restuarant in the Tampa Bay area. Ok the sushi is good for the most part, if you avoid the California and cucumber rolls, but the main dishes are usually sub par. Each time I look at the menu and see Teriyaki Chicken or Steak I cringe. Its just not what I'm looking for. I'm sure America does have real Japanese resturants like Rangetsu in Orlando that cater to Japanese tourists or in other places like LA or NYC. I'm baised because I'm spoiled. I lived in Osaka, Japan for three years and Osaka has to be one of the great food cities, along with Kyoto, in all of Japan. Tokyo does have excellent food and the giant crab in Hokkaido is great but there's something about the food in Kansai that is extraordinary.
   I lived with a Japanese host family for 1-year. Often on Saturdays, if I had no other plans, we would go to the supermarket to pick out things for the whole family. I got first hand experience on how to pick what kind of fish and why and how to buy various ingredients.
   Then she would cook and I would sneak around the corner and watch. Sometimes I didn't think she wanted me to see how to cook so I was always quiet. Then I would slip back to my room and write it all down.
   Also, you could wander around Osaka and just happen to find little soba and udon stands, kaiten 100-yen sushi, ramen restaurants, sukiyaki shops, shabu-shabu, Yakiniku grills, and my own personal favorite, Okonomiyaki (seafood pancake) where your table is a grill and you make and cook Okonomiyaki yourself. Staying 3-years in Osaka, I never had bad food even at the occasional trips to Wendy's or MacDonalds. Ok with that in mind, Japanese Cooking shows most of the stuff I learned from my host mother, plus the Osaka-style of Sukiyaki that I ate at many different restaurants in Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe, and all the foods that I tried in the Kansai area. It goes far beyond all my experiences with my host mother, reading various cookbooks, and learning how to cook simple dishes from different Japanese girlfriends.(When I would visit a Japanese girl at her apartment, I would cook for the most part.) I wish I would have read this book before going to Osaka because all kinds of doors would have opened up that I didn't even see at the time.
   Overall the single best Japanese cookbook out there.



5. I have to admit that I haven't yet to try one recipe from here. It is so informative. I like to read cook book and learn about the background of each food so this is the book for me.

5 comments about Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges.

1. This is another cookbook that I read like all the others, from cover to cover. I loved each and every page! The story of how Jean-Georges came to fall in love with Asian cuisine is wonderful and adventurous. The photographs are beautiful; full of color and very telling about life in Asia from a food-lover's view.
   
   The recipes are fabulous; full of color themselves and complex in flavor without being difficult to reproduce. The directions for each were clear and easy to follow.
   
   I made Chicken Samosas with Cilantro-Yogurt Dip, and I'd recommend this recipe very highly. The deep and spicy flavors of the samosas combined with the brightness of the yogurt dip was a perfect marriage and, like Jean-Georges, I would insist that the samosas be dipped before each and every bite. The samosas certainly stand alone, but the dip pulls them up to a whole new, and delicious, level.
   
   The truest test was my 3 year-old son, who couldn't stop eating them! Yes, they are spicy, and he knew it-asking for a drink after each bite-but he had no restraint whatsoever, and I must agree with him on this!
   
   I look forward to making many more of the recipes within the pages of Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges and urge you to get a copy of your own.



2. For several years we have waited anxiously for a Spice Market Cook Book. When we first learned that Grey Kunz was teaming up with Jean-Georges to create a restaurant of Asian street food, we couldn't wait. Our initial meal there rewarded our anxious expectations, and every meal thereafter confirmed our original impression. We were thrilled to find so many of our favorite dishes explicated here, and when we made several of them, the flavors confirmed our suspicions. This is a great, albeit complicated cookbook, but our only question is why Chef Kunz is mentioned nowhere. I know that they had a parting of the ways over Spice Market, but it is surprising that among the many acknowledgments, there is none for Chef Kunz, whom remember hearing traveled across Asia with Jean-Georges. Ah, perhaps that is why this is not called The Spice Market Cookbook!



3. This book is not for pro.I didn't see any special technic in this book.Maybe ,just maybe the flavor is good.



4. Beautiful pictures that make your mouth watering. The recipes are quite complicated and very impractical (see: "Peking Duck", which should be hanged from its neck in a refrigirator and cooled by a running fan at the same time!!!). The recipes in most cases also require ingredients that are extremely difficult to find and to buy outside the Asian countries where they are commonly used. Not a practical cookbook at all.



5. This is an extraordinary cookbook. I have this one and also "Cooking at Home with a Four Star Chef" and I like this one much better. His combination of flavors is truly extraordinary. Some of the ingredients are not things you might have in your pantry (go to your local Asian Grocery and get them) but once you have them you can cook most of the receipes. I have never made anything from this book that was not superb. Some of the recipes (but not all) are complex and time consuming but the effort is truly worth it. You will not be disappointed.

5 comments about Sushi Deluxe Book & Kit.

1. I've never made my own sushi before. This kit is great; there is a sushi press, mat and instructions on how to make your own sushi. I highly recommend this to anyone thinking about making there own sushi.



2. The box this kit arrives in is beautiful. The only problem was I had to pry the drawers open with a screw driver as they were jammed shut, and this wasn't easy. The good - The sushi making book has good information. The rectangle mold for molding sushi works great. The okay - The chopsticks, holders, and dishes are all usable. The bad - The bamboo roller was totally covered in mold and had to be thrown out. I purchased a silicone sushi roller at our local kitchen store which is fantastic! It works much better than bamboo, and washes and dries beautifully. Overall, this kit was low cost, so I didn't ask for my money back.



3. I believe I paid about $14.00 for this set. When I opened the box I noticed it was larger than I had anticipated. I was very happy with everything it came with....chopsticks, little bowls for soy or other sauce, little chopstick rests, and an instruction manual/cookbook. I found the book extremely helpful and was surprised that something so inexpensive actually contained nice colored pictures. I bought this kit mainly for the sushi mat, so I was very surprised with all the extras. As a bonus it comes in a cute little storage box. I would definetely buy this item again! It is one of the very best bargains I've seen in a long time!



4. Beautiful packaging, quality items, and easy to follow book- really nice package for such a small price.



5. I bought this as a gift to my girlfriend. We made sushi only once so far but it came out surprisingly good. The book has very useful info and tips. The only "bad" thing is that the dishes inside could have been a little nicer. I accompanied the kit with a sushi serving set I bought elsewhere.

5 comments about Sushi for Dummies.

1. Excellent detailed book. Best part was the details on making the best rice you can as that is the main ingrediant.



2. Don't let the title fool you -- this is the best book I've seen for explaining how to make sushi rolls for the first time. I had never done one before, or even seen it done, and this book had me making rolls in just a few minutes. No, they weren't all perfect, but practice helps too!



3. I was able to successfully make basic sushi rolls at home after only reading a few chapters of this book. Excellent for beginners!



4. i am fortunate enough to live awhile in japan and know good sushi!!! plus it is so inexpensive here of course!!! i wanted to have good reference once i leave here, so i got this book!!!! totally helpful!!! now, when i crave the sushi i know and love....i can pull out this book and have my own guide anywhere i go in the world!



5. This is a great product because it provided exactly what I was looking for. It was easy enough to be a beginner book but detailed with enough information to be helpful beyond the beginner level.
   My favorite part is that they offer a lot of vocabulary with definitions and pronunciations that makes eating sushi in a sushi place much easier. So it provides information applicable to both eating out and eating in.
   Overall a great find. I would definitely recommend it for a beginner who is looking for more than the over simplified version.

5 comments about The Manga Cookbook.

1. This is a decent beginner's cookbook. It would be great for children or teenagers who want to learn how to cook. The photos in the beginning are fine, but it's a bit disorganized because of the lack of photos throughout the book especially for different recipes.



2. This book is fantastic, wonderfully written, animated, and the meals are fantastic to boot! Cute, fun, and delicious. Now, to find a bento box to bring with me into the office, Pokemon, or Digimon?



3. this book is awesome if you're interested in cooking Japanese cuisine. And if you're a beginner then all the better! Each recipe in this book is simply explained with pictures and words to make the cooking experience as easy as pie. I would defiantly recommend this cooking book to anyone interested in learning some basic Japanese recipes.



4. If you're looking for a basic introduction to Japanese food, this works. If you're looking for something that gives you some Japanese recipes that don't require a lot of obscure or strange ingredients, this also works. In general, this makes a great kid's cookbook, but not much more. The recipes are all very simple, and while the art is cute, it just doesn't have enough content to be considered a true cookbook in my opinion.



5. Bought this book to help me learn to make Bento Boxes and my son enjoyed the book so much he got involved too! It is definitely written with kids in mind but easy enough for an adult to learn the "basics" of bento items to make.

5 comments about Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking.

1. Morimoto's book is just simply gorgeous. You may want to transfer the recipes to a card and leave the book out of the kitchen if you tend to try and cook and read the recipe at the same time (a bit messy and you definitly do not want a stain in this book).
   
   Others have mentioned that some of the ingredients are difficult to find. I think they have not gotten to the end of the book where there is a listing of suppliers. Most of the items can be found easily in a good Asian grocery store if you are lucky enough to have one where you live.
   
   This book also gives you great insight into the mind of an amazing chef and the care taken from the choice of ingredients to the preparation, execution and presentation of a dish.



2. I've been watching Morimoto on Iron Chef for a long time now. I love to watch him cook. He's always calm and very delicate with his plating. I always wanted to be able to cook the stuff he does. Now I can. I love the detailed pictures they give. Helps a lot. Some stuff is very interesting. I so recommend.



3. The recipes in this cookbook are wonderful with bold and inovative flavors. I love it.



4. I have always dreaming on Japanese Culture: Bonsai, Painting, Art, Gardening, Ikebana and of course Japanese Cuisine. Master Chef Morimoto present in this Excellent Book a new art from his point of view of Japanese Cooking, all pictures with details, all steps by steps with elegance, all details carefully presented in the most traditional art of Japanese Cooking with a Master touch of Morimoto. All dishes presentations are superb; every plate is a fantasy of colorful and textures as well as flavors. Surely this has been one of my favorite purchases reference to Japanese cuisine. If you love cooking if you love Japanese cuisine, do not hesitate to get this book.



5. Cooking. For me this is an orgasmic book of unmeasured proportions.
   
   I have loved Iron Chef. I have loved Japanese cooking and finally the two have merged and come full circle. On viewing the book it's self - wow. A nice presentation. A heavy slightly over sized cookbook. The editing of this book is very well done. Nice graceful modern designs. Page after page of glossy step by step images and techniques, and notations on traditional Asian ingredients and how that translates to using and accessing them (or a finding suitable substitutions) in the US . If I ever wanted to publish a cookbook, it would be in this style.
   
   This book showcases why Chef Morimoto is at the axis of a foodie empire, in this creative and intuitive take on Japanese cuisine. When I read this cookbook, I felt like the foodie version of Being John Malkovich , as this book allows you to peer inside the thoughts and actions of this culinary genius.
   
   In relation to skill level, I would recommend this book to people who have at least an intermediate knowledge of culinary techniques. The beginning home cook might not know how to utilize or apply the techniques Chef Morimoto has outlined in this book.
   
   It would be wise to do some further research on Japanese Culinary techniques also, as this book can only highlight certain facets of the cuisine itself and not act as a reference manual or course book on Japanese Cuisine as a whole.
   
   If you have ever had an inkling of adoration for Asian style cuisine, or are awestruck at the complexities of the full spectrum of Professional Japanese Culinary , as I am, you would enjoy this book.
   
   Highlights of this book include:
   
   * An in depth look at how the Japanese chef works his knife magic to create beautiful Sashimi w and Sushi w works of art out of various ingredients - parts of fish, Octopus , and Various Vegetables .
   * Recipes that are full of depth and charisma.
   * Master recipes of various sauces and marinades.
   * Text about the origins and importance of ingredients utilized in Japanese cuisine.
   * Beautiful photography displaying the frame by frame procedures for each culinary technique, and the eloquent plate presentation for each recipe.
   * A glossary of Japanese terms , as well as a source guide for obtaining specialty ingredients.
   
   
   Overall this book is a wonderful culinary journey that enables the reader to cultivate a better understanding of chef Morimoto, Japanese cuisine and the culinary revelations that Morimoto has contributed to todays culinary field. I loved this book!

5 comments about Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go.

1. This book is both an excellent introduction to bento lunches and a great inspiration for experienced cooks packing bentos for their loved ones. I have made nearly every recipe in this book and I have not been disappointed. Each recipe is made in a small quantity and most can be made in under 30 minutes, making this an excellent cookbook for small households (1-2 people). I have also increased the quantities to adapt the recipes for dinner. There are pictures to accompany each recipe, but for the beginner it might be worthwhile to pick up an additional guide to Japanese cooking. As with anything it might take some experimentation to adjust the recipes to your liking.
   
   I've been running a bento blog for going on 2 years and found the best way to learn about bento is to search web for Japanese bento blogs. Type the word "bento" in hiragana or try photo sites. This book is an excellent accompaniment to that sort of research because it enables you to identify what many of the items are and provides you with a recipe.
   
   My only complaint is the book should have been spiral bound and laminated. My copy is in pretty bad shape from being used so much.



2. I like the concept of this book (small meals with a Japanese flavor that are made for taking and eating on the go). The recipes and ingredients are geared for those familiar with Japanese ingredients and cooking techniques AND who have easy access to a Japanese or Asian grocery store. I'm not familiar, and don't have easy access, so this book isn't very practical for me. Therefore, I decided to return it using Amazon's easy return policy. Instead, I'll search for a book that not only has great Japanese recipes but has ones that I'll actually be able to make!



3. This little book is stuffed full of recipes that make good bento boxes. It is ,however, intended for a Japanese audience and assumes a certain level of familiarity with basic Japanese food preparation. Don't let that scare you off, though, this is a great book!
   
   If you are not familiar with basic Japanese food and ingredients, i suggest you also buy "the Asian Grocery Store demystified" or "a dictionary of Japanese food" or some other basic guide to Japanese cooking to go with this book. Most of the ingredients listed can be found in any large Asian supermarket, or failing that can be substituted with items found in typical American Supermarkets, if you are willing to take a small amount of time to figure out what the ingredient is meant to be doing in the recipe. (is it for taste? texture?) Part of this will depend on where you live, of course, but here in Philadelphia i had no problem finding all the ingredients.
   
   what this book offers is a LOAD of Japanese and Japanese style recipes that are meant to be packed for lunch or dinner. Many of them can be prepared ahead, and all of them are ideal candidates for the bento box or picnic lunch! Most other Japanese recipe books are full of wonderful foods, but with no guarantee that they will be able to survive packing and toting around.
   
   jammed with recipes, its a bargain for anyone looking to make healthy meals on the go.



4. This is well planned out. and it actually helps you plan out your boxes. Although the bento display is not as creative or cute as some would like it, the dishes themselves are fantastic. A great addition to your bento box cookbook collection.
   
   Other recommended reads:
   
   Easy Japanese Pickling in Five Minutes to One Day: 101 Full-Color Recipes for Authentic Tsukemono
   
   Harumi's Japanese Cooking: More than 75 Authentic and Contemporary Recipes from Japan's Most PopularCooking Expert
   
   Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking: Simple, Elegant Recipes for Contemporary Tastes



5. I stumbled across bento-making late one night when the Cooking Cute website was featured on Yahoo's "The Nine." I made my husband a bento that night, and have been hooked ever since. I found this book and was so excited to find a guide to bento in English. I don't think I've cracked the book more than three times or so. It's just not practical for the Western palate - there are a lot of "strange" foods I haven't dug up the gumption to try. I am a bit more food-adventurous than my husband, who actually has to eat my creations. For the ones I have tried, thank goodness I live in a city with a large Asian community and many ethnic grocery stores to peruse. Some of the ingredients have been a little harder to track down than others. The directions also seem to skip a few steps sometimes, I don't know if this is because it's supposed to be "common sense" or lost in translation, but nothing you can't stumble through. All in all - a beautiful display of food. Eye-appealing if not so to my stomach. :D