Sushi: Taste and Techniques

I am a very advanced Home and Personal Chef who specializes in a number of Japanese cooking methods and foods. I own a plethora of Japanese cookbooks and sushi cookbooks that I use for reference and to review.Kimiko Barber and Hiroki Tamemura have published what I consider to be the Bible of Sushi preparation and serving. This is a truly awesome compilation...and absolutely the best of all the Sushi cookbooks I have read and/or reviewed.They start the book with Basics including Utensils, Ingredients, Basic Recipes, and then proceed to discuss Round and Flat Fish as well as Shellfish and Roe.The book continues with Making. How to make scattered Sushi, stuffed Sushi, Pressed Sushi, Rolled Sushi, and Hand-formed Sushi. COMPLETE! Awesome!They sum up with a chapter on what to do and how to order at a Sushi Bar, as well as proper Sushi Etiquette, What to drink, serving Sushi at Home, and Troubleshooting. Fantastic!The book is FILLED with outstanding photos and both prepping as well as end products. Techniques are clearly delineated with instructions and photos.The book has a Glossary; a notable Restaurant Directory; a list of Specialty Retailers, and an index.This is a seriously detailed and comprehensive cookbook...the likes of which I have never seen in regards to Sushi.I would gladly rate this book WELL above Five Stars if I could. It is that good. It has earned my honest and VERY wholehearted recommendation for anyone who has even a passing interest in making or eating Sushi.A+++!! Get it, you'll love it!*If you found my review helpful to you, please let Amazon know by clicking the "HELPFUL" button below!

No other work that I have ever laid my hands on has been such a masterful treatment of sushi, unless that work was a hefty tome that would end up languishing on a shelf. This book covers everything anyone from a beginner to a master would need, and does it in a total size that you can pack with you on a trip or in any kitchen.What you get:-History. It makes a massive difference to your sushi appreciation, and your cooking, when you know where sushi came from. Vinegar-laden rice began as a preservation method, protecting fresh coastal fish for inland transport. Tips like these provide insight into why you prepare sushi the way you do, that no simple ingredient list can ever convey.-Information. Not only do you get a breakdown of traditional and modern ingredients and tools, but also thorough breakdowns of why you use what items and what the pitfalls may be- for example, how the "wasabi paste" in your local market probably isn't wasabi.-Building blocks. It's been said that you can put basically anything into a sushi roll, so where a book really needs good focus is on preparing the rice, technique for rolling, and generally everything before the "recipe" of what to throw in the roll. This book includes all the building blocks in the necessary detail.-Plenty of advanced tips. Individual butcher diagrams of common fish and how to prepare them. Recipes to put your fundamentals into practice are delicious and well placed, from the simple to the nearly impossible. Tool lists include all of the rare, authentic, and historic items so even a master chef might find a piece to experiment with.Simply put, if you want to make or enjoy sushi, you need this book now. No other work is even close to being this concise, while maintaining the proper depth of information.

I've been on a tear lately and really encouraged by my first attempt to make sushi at home based off internet information. Having overcome the first initial fear of messing it up, I immediately started looking for a reference book that explored not just recipes, but also the "why's and what's" of sushi. Despite coming home late the night it was delivered, I stayed up even later to start reading it. I'm impressed.The recipes are accessible, though some had ingredients I know I can't get locally where I live. I'm thinking lotus root and flying fish roe. That's ok, I live in the country but work in a small city, I'm used to searching for what I need. Just the recipe section alone taught me so much about sushi. I had no idea there even was such a thing as "scattered sushi", and neither did any of my sushi loving coworkers! My only wish is that they had a few more recipes, it seemed like each section/style of sushi recipes was a bit thin, but I attribute that to a book that seeks to cover all bases in one space.I also appreciated the sections on history of, ordering out, and serving of sushi at home. I'd definitely recommend this as a helpful and interesting entry-level book for people who want to bring more sushi into their home-lives. Well written and beautifully photographed, it's a winner.

As someone else stated, you won't be actually making sushi rolls or nigiri based off of this book. While, yes, it does have recipes and techniques, it is definitely more of an informational tour through the wonders of sushi than anything else. The book itself is beautiful, with weighty, semi-gloss paper and a gorgeous hardcover.The book goes through where the fish comes from, what other ingredients are involved, what alcohol to pair sushi with and even what utensils are used. It's the perfect book for someone looking to become more educated about sushi before diving into the unknown. Furthermore, it is a gorgeous picture book and would serve as a nice coffee table book.I actually bought this as a gift for someone who was unsure about sushi, and decided it was so nice that I needed a copy for myself. 10/10 would buy again.