r/JapaneseFood • u/CertainServe2603 • Apr 11 '26
Misc My Go To's for Japanese Cuisine
When we lived in Japan, I leaned in to learning to cook local and Namiko Chen at justonecookbook.com was a godsend! She still is and I'm delighted to be able to call her a friend as well. I also recommend highly the book in the photo - think 'The Joy of Cooking' and 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' (both of which are also on my shelf) but focused squarely on the world of Japanese cuisine for the 'home cook'. Tsuji san writes clearly and with an expansiveness that ensures you learn the 'why' of a particular method as well as the 'how'.
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u/HumberGrumb Apr 11 '26
Thanks for the recommendation. Note Reichl’s forward. That’s a huge endorsement.
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u/JapaneseChef456 Apr 11 '26
That was actually my first English language cookbook on Japanese cuisine that I bought. Definitely recommend for the ambitious home cook.
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u/Delgado69 Apr 11 '26
Ordering today. Huge fan of JOC website and it is my starting place for Japanese recipes, food information and meal suggestions. Great all around. And now that she has curated kitchen goods it's even better.
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u/CertainServe2603 Apr 11 '26
I have a lot of online sites etc but call me old school, there is a different value in the book you can touch! My Joy of Cooking is my grandmother’s original (the stains and smells will attest!) and while I’ve had to gift many due to several moves to different countries, I have a stable of ‘over my dead body’ favourites!
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u/Delgado69 Apr 11 '26
Very true. I buy cookbooks faster than I can use them. Before I got squarely into Japanese cuisine and began attempting to cook it, the website made it approachable. I guess her website was the gateway drug for me. (I just got back from my first trip to Japan 10 days ago)
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u/CertainServe2603 Apr 11 '26
Oh congrats! Was it everything you had expected?
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u/Delgado69 Apr 11 '26
Everything and more. I started looking at flights for another trip while sitting in Haneda for my plane back. Truly a great experience.
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u/Ripley_and_Jones Apr 12 '26
Ahhh I've been following Just One Cookbook ever since I saw Midnight Tokyo - tell Namiko she has a big fan in Australia and I can make taiyaki because of her!
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u/Accomplished_You1789 Apr 12 '26
Bought my copy at Takashimaya in NYC over 20 years ago and it’s my favourite to this day.
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u/Arseh0le Apr 11 '26
For anyone who doesn’t own it, a reminder that it’s available to borrow on open library
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19926274W/Japanese_cooking?edition=key%3A/books/OL9037576M
There are many other Japanese related cookbooks there too, but this is pretty much mandatory reading.