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Summary: Serious history and cooking too.
Review: Although the recipes are interesting and useful, you have to know something of Oriental cooking to use them. This is not a beginners book.The heart of the book is not the recipes, though. It's the Japanese Cultural history. This is absolutely the best ethnography of rural Japan ever written, in my experience. If you've ever wondered what life in rural Japan, or, for that matter, any rural subsistance society was like, this is where you'll find out. There is a lot of our own history in this book, if you care to look.
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Summary: Great Simple Every Day Food
Review: First, this is not your typical cookbook. You will probably first notice that there are no big flashy pictures of perfect looking food. Next you will see that you have to read about 100pages to get to the recipes. But it is well worth it. The first half of the book deals with the history and ingreadiants of Japanese country cooking. The second half has all the recipes. For some of the ingreadiants you will probably have to try an Asian market, but over all most of the recipes are pretty simple, healthy, and taste great. A lot of these dishes are also not the type of food that you will find at the typical Japanese restrant, they are what you will probably encounter if you are lucky enough to be invited to someone's house for dinner in Japan. Also nice is that many simple things such as how to cook rice in a pot or cut up a whole fish are covered for us less expert cooks out there. So if you like more Asian food or just want to try something different I really recommend this book.
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Summary: Great Simple Every Day Food
Review: First, this is not your typical cookbook. You will probably first notice that there are no big flashy pictures of perfect looking food. Next you will see that you have to read about 100pages to get to the recipes. But it is well worth it. The first half of the book deals with the history and ingreadiants of Japanese country cooking. The second half has all the recipes. For some of the ingreadiants you will probably have to try an Asian market, but over all most of the recipes are pretty simple, healthy, and taste great. A lot of these dishes are also not the type of food that you will find at the typical Japanese restrant, they are what you will probably encounter if you are lucky enough to be invited to someone's house for dinner in Japan. Also nice is that many simple things such as how to cook rice in a pot or cut up a whole fish are covered for us less expert cooks out there. So if you like more Asian food or just want to try something different I really recommend this book.
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Summary: This is a wonderful book!
Review: I have eaten at Gaku Homma's restrant, Domo's, and it is wonderful but I can't eat there as often as I would like. Not that expensive but being a student I can't aford going out to eat very often unless it is McDoalds dollar menu. I bought his book and it has made it a bit eiser for me to eat good food. I also enjoy the stories behind the food and his life experiances.
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Summary: This is a wonderful book!
Review: I have eaten at Gaku Homma's restrant, Domo's, and it is wonderful but I can't eat there as often as I would like. Not that expensive but being a student I can't aford going out to eat very often unless it is McDoalds dollar menu. I bought his book and it has made it a bit eiser for me to eat good food. I also enjoy the stories behind the food and his life experiances.
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Summary: Awesome Book... Even more Awesome Food
Review: So... I'm a different sort of reader here. I ordered and read this book after having eaten at Domo, the author's restaurant in Denver, CO. To say that Domo is the absolute finest Japanese restaurant I've ever been to, or for that matter even heard of, is a HUGE understatement. It's quite simply my favorite restaurant ever. So... this is a review of both... Buy the book... Come to Denver, and eat at Domo!
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Summary: Avoid Timothy R Murray
Review: The author gives you a very useful view of the history behind traditional Japanese Country Cooking. It's interesting to have that kind of background to understand the tradition. I found it valuable. As for Mr. Murray, he appears to be a negative person judging from his other review, as some choose to be. He can probably see the negative in just about anything if he tries hard enough. Go to Domo and see for yourself. It's a wonderful restaurant. You won't be disappointed. Aikido for Life is also another fantastic book by the author. It actually has more to do with life than Aikido. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Wonderful and bizarre
Review: This book is sort of bizarre. On the one hand it is a great cookbook with emphasis on techniques and little on "recipes". The upshot is that one might actually come to understand the techniques of Japanese cooking. It is also an interesting discussion of rural Japan. My only objection to the book is that the author seems both wrapped up in nostalga and aware of the trade value of nostalga to some of the audience reading the book. If you are looking for a good Japanese cookbook, I would recommend this _AND_ another, and eating at restaurants. The idea is that you can follow the directions in the other cookbook, but understand the issues of technique and/or philosophy from this one. The only catch is that you are less likely to get the sorts of things that this book discusses at restaurants.
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Summary: Avoid the Author's Restaraunt
Review: While I can not speak for the book, I challenge another reviewers comments about the Author's restaraunt in Denver. Do not eat there. The service was beyond poor, it was lousy. The staff was rude. Plan on waiting over an hour to get in (assuming they do not cross out your name like they did ours). You will have to wait another 30 minutes, once seated, to get drinks or place a food order. It will take another hour to get the food. Hopefully, the Author does not encourage this type of behavior in his book. On a positive note, the food was good.
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Summary: What Japanese cooking is really all about
Review: While Tsuji and Andoh have risen far above most other authors of the "Japanese cookbooks" genre, Homma is really at the pinnacle in helping the Westerner understand what Japanese cooking is all about in the cultural context. Whereas most books provide a workable recipe and a useful picture of the presentation, allowing one to do a reasonable job of "cooking a Japanese dish in an American kitchen", this book provides the social and historical context in which the ingredients and the dish exist, so that one understands what one is doing when using a recipe. Not to be found in other books are discussion of breakfast and recipes for it; once you've made and enjoyed okayu you'll do it again and again (and eventually invest in a neuro-fuzzy-logic rice cooker with timer so that the okayu is waiting for you in the morning). The book has many useful illustrations not found elsewhere, such as three ways to set a breakfast tray. Homma's sincere desire to convey the "spirit of Japanese cooking" and the stories he tells add incomparable charm. Highest recommendation
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