But you're saying, "So it _looks_cool - what about the recipes?" The answer is they are great if you're into Japanese cooking. There's Japanese meatballs (niku dango) that would be very easy to put together from what you probably already have in your kitchen. There is eel bowl (unagi donburi) which you probably don't have all the ingredients on hand. THere is also a wide range of recipes that span the simple to the much more complex and unusual (for Americans) ingredients.

The recipes are clear and concise, explaining how to accomplish the recipe. THere's an introduction, explaining various aspects of Japanese cooking and assuring the reader that you don't have to be "The Iron Chef" to cook tasty Japanese foods. You may have to look around to find the right ingredients and spices for some of these recipes.

I recommend this book highly if you want to expand your cooking skills and add new culinary delights to your table. Maybe you could even open up a restaurant that shows how good Japanese "peasant coking" can be.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

Great recipes, too bad it's out of print  Sep 07, 2006
By Lisa Petrison
I bought this book years ago and (after four trips to different regions of Japan) it's the only Japanese cookbook I've found useful. The recipes are easy to make and come out surprisingly well using only the simplest ingredients and techniques. For the most part it's organized very well (with vegetable recipes in one section, seafood in another) and so I rarely have problems finding the recipes I want. The textured paper is a plus and a minus.....it makes the book more interesting, but it's admittedly a bit hard to read. Buy it anyway!

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

A must have for the adventuresome chef  Apr 25, 2004
By Nicole N. Pellegrini "sockii"
This is my absolute favorite cookbook. I probably make at least 2-3 dishes from it every week. If you are interested in exploring Japanese cooking but intimidated by what you are used to seeing in Japanese restuarants, then this is where you should start. Most recipes are incredibly simple to prepare and don't require excessive or hard-to-find ingredients. With a few simple tools and a quick trip to an Asian grocer you'll be wowing friends and family with delicious new meals.

Discover great uses for leftover/small-quantities of meat in various stews, tofu, and rice dishes. Learn simple ways to turn boring old vegetables into exciting side dishes that will appeal to nearly all tastebuds (when I was a child, my grandmother frequently made dishes from this book to get me to eat my vegetables!) For dieters as well, this is an excellent source for low-fat healthy cooking choices--I belong to Weight Watchers, for instance, and it is very simple to fit these meals into the WW plan and surely others as well.

On top of all of that, you will learn a great deal about traditions and the history of various dishes and ingredients in country-style Japanese cooking.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

Japanese Comfort Food  Mar 11, 2009
By S. Brook
This is my favorite of my 8 Japanese cookbooks. I used to eat at Mingei Ya restaurant, where these recipes are from, so I bought this book as soon as it came out. Mine is so well used it's falling apart, so I just bought another one! The recipes bring back my childhood when I lived in Japan. Most of the recipes are easy to make, and are quite good. A lot of information is given about traditional Japanese cooking. The only other cookbook I use as often is a handwritten notebook of my Italian grandmother's recipes.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

A great, little cookbook  Oct 19, 2009
By Bethesda Dad "Happy retiree"
We have been cooking from the "Japanese Country Cookbook" for nearly 40 years. The recipes are relatively simple and the instructions are complete. The recipes cover everything from sushi to soups, pretty much everything you might find in a simple restaurant in Tokyo. The book also contains lots of background information on life in Japan and the history of some of the dishes. If you have a yen (sorry) for creating some of your favorite Japanese dishes at home, this is the book you need.

The book has two unusual features. It is printed on a brown, textured paper. This makes it a little hard to read but adds a great deal to the setting. Second, there is no index, but rather a complete table of contents. There is a logic to the arrangement of the recipes so that, with a little experience, the reader can find recipes fairly quickly.

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