Japanese Cooking?

[Wave]

Ok, so I just moved out of my parents place and into a new apartment. This of course means that I have to stat cooking my on food. I always really liked Asian food, so can any one tell me of a good Japanese cook book? It would be greatly appreciated!

wave.

[Esoteric]

Hmmm, well I like Asian food a lot too, but Japanese food is very different from Chinese or Thai. Japanese specializes in sushi, tempura, and some soup and noodle dishes. You will mostly find these things in a traditional japanese cookbook like Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko. it's an interesting book because there first several pages teach you about various ingredients. The recipes can be a little labor intensive however.

But actually, i prefer Chinese food...stir fry, sweet&sour, wontons, eggrolls, all that good stuff. Honestly, I recommend you get a good 'stir fry' book instead. Stir fry stuff is super easy and quick to fix for yourself once you get used to the basics. I can't recommend a book for it off hand, but I would suggest you visit a bookstore or two and browse the cookbooks. Find one that has recipes in it which sound good to you. You'll probably pick up a few different books and practice a bit before you get to where you can virtually make up your dishes with whatever ingredients you have on hand.

[Wave]

Cool! Thanks for the advice!

Wave.

[Debitt]

:3 Another nice site to try that has a lot of the quick basics: http://www.bento.com/tf-recp.html

[Ashley]

My parents bought me an AWESOME Japanese cookbook called Japanese Homestyle Cooking by Tokiko Suzuki for Christmas. It has a whole section on the tools/foods, then has dishes organized by type and by season, with big pictures too.

[AsianBlossom]

I found one at Borders for $10. It's Japanese Homestyle Dishes by Susie Donald. Hope it helps.

[Wave]

Cool! Thanks KoDa Ashley AsBl I'll check though bolth out.

wave.

[ShiroiHikari]

The problem with Japanese cooking is that the ingredients are so expensive...@_@ I spent about 30 dollars getting all the stuff to make miso soup! I mean, I can make a lot of miso soup with all that stuff, but...

[Mave]

Speaking from experience of living away from home, I wouldn't recommend cooking Japanese food on a regular basis. It's very time-consuming as it focuses on delicacies and presentation. I rarely make my own sushi and I typically opt to go out to a Japanese restaurant so I can enjoy the eating and not endure the preparing. XD

Why not try simple Chinese stir-frys? You can eventually graduate to more complex Asian dishes such as curries/appetizers and you can even experiment with ingredients with your stir-fry (something you can't really do with Japanese). If you're pressured for time like me, I'll go for ready-made curries or sauces for cooking. South East Asia has a great variety of options to choose from. I still do this today....yum!

I would imagine making your own Japanese food to be expensive if you're making raw sashimi or something but.....miso soup? I don't know, my miso soup was quite easy and cheap. All I had to do was grab some miso soup paste, some seaweed and tofu.

Where do you shop? At your local Asian supermarket? I think the prices would be more reasonable there.

[bigsleepj]

I've never had any Japanese "cooking" or sushi in my life. I should get around to trying it someday.

[Shaera_Phina]

Riceballs are easy to make and the ingredients are cheaper. They also fill you up fast only 2 or 3 in enough for a meal.

[Miso_Chan]

Shaera_Phina should know, she eats them all the time.

I like pocky, i'm going to the store to stock up on some tomorrow