Nanban: Japanese Soul Food

Nanban: Japanese Soul Food is the perfect introduction to real Japanese cooking for the Japanophile Westerner, written by the guy who won the UK's 2011 Masterchef with a fancy burger recipe. Anderson, who was obsessed with the Japanese culture from a young age, spent his adolescence immersed in a world of Nintendo, J-pop, and anime, and taught himself to like sushi. Later, after a family vacation to Japan, he decided to study Japanese food history at university, which included a four-week research stint in Japan. Anderson opened his hugely popular Japanese street-food style restaurant in London after spending another two years in Japan and winning Masterchef.

Southern Japanese soul food includes ramen, gyoza, fried chicken, udon, pork belly buns, and other boldly flavored, stick-to-your-ribs dishes. This hearty comfort food has become popular in the United States as street food and in ramen bars as an antidote to typical refined restaurant fare. Nanban brings the best of these crave-inducing treats to home cooks in a unique package that includes a cool exposed binding. Nanban is the ideal cookbook for any Asian food lover, with recipes ranging from pungent kimchi to three types of Japanese fried chicken, as well as a primer on Japanese ingredients and substitutions.

View Details: amazon.com/dp/0553459856