Real Japanese Cooking: Traditions, Tips, Techniques and Over 600 Authentic Recipes

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Makiko Itoh

Real Japanese Cooking

Traditions, Tips, Techniques and Over 600 Authentic Recipes

Makiko Itoh

$69.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

Tuttle
01 August 2025

Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies; Black & Asian studies; Cookery, food & drink; National & regional cuisine

'Maki Itoh has succeeded in creating a treasure trove in her exploration of Japanese recipes and culinary traditions...

Perfect for the Japanese food loving home cook.'

Elise Bauer, Founder, SimplyRecipes.com

The first comprehensive cookbook to fully cover all aspects of Japanese cuisine

with 600 recipes!

This book has been a lifetime in the making. Bicultural author Makiko Itoh was born in Tokyo and grew up in New York, where her mother ran the leading Japanese restaurant for two decades. She has since developed a career as a successful bilingual food writer and translator, uniquely positioned to explain the cuisine to non-Japanese.

Her book answers all the questions foreigners typically have about one of the world's greatest cuisines, including:

Why is Japanese food so unique? A full overview

from umami to seasonality to aesthetics Essential ingredients like miso, mirin, dashi, sake and soy

how and why they are used How to design a Japanese meal

from tableware to equipment to etiquette Which recipes are right for you? The 600 recipes in this book cover everything from bento boxes to nimono simmered dishes to izakaya, sushi and hotpots. But which ones should you try?

Itoh's mission is to demystify Japanese cuisine for non-Japanese. Her book contains 400 beautiful colour photos with clearly-presented recipes interspersed with fascinating essays and sidebars explaining all aspects of Japan's unique food culture. A must-read book for every Japanese food lover!

By: Makiko Itoh
Imprint: Tuttle
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9784805316153
ISBN 10: 4805316152
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 01 August 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Makiko Itoh was raised and educated in Japan, the UK and the US and has lived in Europe for many decades. Despite living abroad, she has always returned to her native Japanese culinary roots. In 2003 she started writing the JustHungry blog to introduce Japanese homestyle dishes to people with limited access to the authentic ingredients. In 2007 she launched a blog dedicated to bento, which led to the publication of her first book, The Just Bento Cookbook, which has become an international bestseller. She now lives in Switzerland and writes a monthly column on Japanese food for The Japan Times.

Reviews for Real Japanese Cooking: Traditions, Tips, Techniques and Over 600 Authentic Recipes

""Maki Itoh has succeeded in creating a treasure trove in her exploration of Japanese recipes and culinary traditions…From onsen eggs to ramen, from okonomiyaki to sukiyaki, this book has it all! Perfect for the Japanese food loving home cook."" —Elise Bauer, Founder, SimplyRecipes.com ""Blogger and cookbook author Itoh calls her latest ""the only Japanese cookbook you will ever need"" […] With love and care [she] goes over each ingredient: its uses, how it came to Japan, how it's cooked, and if it's used in celebrations…A perfect introductory book for anyone looking to learn Japanese cooking."" —Booklist Starred Review ""…an exhaustive compendium of the most popular homestyle Japanese recipes out there. […] Real Japanese Cooking covers a huge span of information on Japanese food and food customs and clearly is a valuable resource offering something for everybody."" —Nancy Singleton Hachisu, author of Japan: The Cookbook