Atsuko's Japanese Kitchen: Home-cooked comfort food made simple

by Atsuko Ikeda

Overview

Learn how to make the enigmatic and umami-rich comfort food of Japan, with over 60 recipes straight from Atsuko’s Ikeda’s authentic yet modern Japanese Kitchen.

Japanese home-cooking is full of comfort, but a version of comfort food that is stylish, mouth-watering and less unhealthy than most. For those who aspire to recreate the Japanese dishes enjoyed in restaurants or on holiday, and to discover even more about the secrets and techniques involved in Japanese home cooking, you are invited into Atsuko’s Kitchen. Learn the subtle art of creating a balanced meal as demonstrated with an easy-to-follow infographic. Learn the basics, such as how to season food the Japanese way, how to prepare dashi stock and how to make variations on basic rice. Choose from the delicious array of main dishes you might be familiar with, such as chicken teriyaki, tonkatsu pork, beef tataki, gyoza, seared tuna with ponzu, vegetable tempura, okonomiyaki, grilled eggplant with sesame sauce, plus recipes from Atsuko’s own family and modern creative repertoire. Also featuring ‘izakaya’ small plates for sharing and sumptuous modern desserts, there is Japanese comfort food for every occasion. With tips on how to present your dishes in the traditional way, anecdotes and cultural explanations of dishes, discover the secrets of Japanese home-cooking for yourself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788790819
Publisher:	Ryland Peters & Small
Publication date:	07/09/2019
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Atsuko Ikeda is a Japanese chef, writer and food photographer. She was born in Kyushu, a southern island of Japan also known as ‘Food Island’ and famous for its fresh seafood. After traveling the world, she was inspired to teach people to cook authentic Japanese dishes miles away from home and has been teaching in the UK since 2008. She is founder and owner of Atsuko’s Kitchen, offering corporate and private catering and sell-out classes in Japanese cookery based in London's trendy Shoreditch. Atsuko also teaches at the esteemed Divertimenti cookery school. This is her second book for Ryland Peters & Small.

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2019

Ikeda’s second cookbook (after Sushi Made Simple) expertly takes readers into a world of Japanese home cooking far from the austere precision of the sushi counter, or the late-night rush of the ramen-ya. Aimed at readers new to Japanese cooking, Ikeda explains how to plan meals and properly use chopsticks, as well as listing the five essential ingredients to stock (soy sauce, sweet rice wine, sake, rice vinegar, and miso). “Making omurice brings back memories of my school days,” she says, introducing the first dish she learned to cook, an omelette-wrapped ketchup-flavored fried rice. But she does not shy away from complex fare, such as mackerel simmered with red miso, leeks, and ginger. Ikeda’s experience as a cooking instructor is evident in the morsels of history she sprinkles throughout, such as that chicken katsu was inspired by British curry. And just as she explores the foreign origins of many Japanese dishes, she also brings new flavors into her own kitchen, as in the matcha tiramisu, inspired by her Italian mother-in-law’s cooking. This welcome primer goes a long way toward making Japanese cooking accessible to home cooks curious but perhaps intimidated by the cuisine. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Hai! Japanese cooking made easy... From miso mackerel to marinated beef wraps, dip into Atsuko Ikeda’s new collection of simple, authentic dishes – The Times

From the Publisher