Tim Anderson. Hardie Grant Books, (208p) ISBN: 9781784882846. Cooking, read 15/01/26, Hardback ★★★★☆
Vegan Japaneasy
As I’d already written earlier I had read Japan: The Cookbook as an introduction to Japanese cooking and found it fascinating but a bit hard to grasp. I decided to get a cookbook on ‘Japanese’ cooking that could be a bit more accessible.
After looking through a few which were just a bit too meaty for us I decided to get Vegan Japaneasy as it’s easier to substitute up from veg to fish than down from meat.
There is a certain chatty tone to the book that can sometimes grate and for me this was the only downside to this, not the chumminess but there was something that just threw me out of reading at times, also having to convert from fan oven temperatures is going to take a bit getting used to.
But the recipes and the explanations!
The clarification in my head for some of the processes which I originally read in Japan: The Cookbook which confused me a bit, the making of dashi and some of the balances of how to put a meal together all sort of came together in the reading of Tim’s book.
The little bit about the rehydrated shitake mushrooms keeping in the fridge for a few days after making dashi so that they can then be used in other recipes was so easy to understand and was a relief that I didn’t have to think of something to do with them in the future.
There are so many recipes I want to try from the book, the first ones will be the making of dashi, sauces, pickles, and the basics to get my hand in at the flavour profile that is meant to be in the book.
but the first two I think I’m going to try are not usual Japanese dishes but I love beetroot and carrots, so Teriyaki-Roasted Carrots and Sweet Miso-Roasted Beetroot will be on the plate soon, probably with a big bowl of rice and some pickles at the side.
Looking forward to my holiday so I can experiment with this book, and the other great thing is it has made Japan: The Cookbook more useful to me, clarifying a lot of things that weren’t clear there.