{"id":2069,"date":"2010-09-02T14:05:42","date_gmt":"2010-09-02T13:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/wp\/?p=2069"},"modified":"2018-03-06T16:47:22","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T16:47:22","slug":"donburi-mania-easy-japanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/donburi-mania-easy-japanese\/","title":{"rendered":"Donburi Mania \u2013 Easy Japanese Cooking by Kentaro Kobayashi – review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cookbook I love Japanese food but seldom have I been offered anything other than tempura and sushi. Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, I could eat both those lovely dishes every day but there is more to Japanese food than raw fish and battered vegetables. There is Donburi!<\/span><\/p>\n

What exactly is this donburi? It\u2019s all about rice. Doesn\u2019t sound very interesting, does it? Top that rice with meat and\/or vegetables and perhaps a few noodles and often egg, cooked or not. Those garnishes complement the rice which is held in such high esteem by the Japanese.<\/p>\n

The author, Kentaro Kobayashi, is a young man with both talent and passion. He started his working life as an illustrator but soon displayed his flair for food. His motto has always been \u201ceasy yet delicious, stylish yet realistic\u201d. He has featured in magazines and on television where he represented the new generation of cooks who wanted taste and texture in no time.<\/p>\n

I am a food writer and researcher and frequent eater, and I had oft encountered recipes for Donburi but it was Toronto (no, not Tokyo) that gave me an opportunity to try these tempting dishes for the first time. I chose a chicken donburi which arrived with a sunny egg yolk nestling on top of vegetables and tender meat. I have been searching for such donburi perfection since then.<\/p>\n

At last my menu scanning is over and I have help at hand in the guise of Donburi Mania, which houses between its covers 70 recipes for meals that are quick, delicious and healthy. You\u2019ll have dinner ready in the time it takes to cook rice. You can use last night\u2019s leftovers with some fresh vegetables for crunch. It couldn\u2019t be simpler. No exotic equipment needed and more importantly…no special skills.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been difficult for me to select a few recipes to represent donburi. All of Kentaro\u2019s dishes are appealing and encompass a wide range of ingredients. There is plenty here for a vegetarian and for fish lovers but the author will not expect you to follow his ideas meticulously. Donburi is about casual and modern eating so make a few from this book and then invent your own.<\/p>\n

Stewed Pork Donburi makes use of cheaper cuts of meat. This recipe is more time-consuming than others as the meat needs to simmer for an hour or so. You don\u2019t have to sit and watch the pork cooking so it hardly constitutes as slaving over a hot stove. The end result of your foreplanning will be a silky and soft preparation that will become a firm favourite. It\u2019s real comfort food that will have you finding excuses to make it.<\/p>\n

Chicken Sukiyaki Donburi reminds me of my first encounter. You can use last night\u2019s leftover Sukiyaki (or cook chicken in a sweet soy sauce) so you\u2019ll have a smart meal in less than 20 minutes. The egg yolk might be alarming for the uninitiated but it forms a creamy coating which is rich and luxurious. Be brave.<\/p>\n

Donburi Mania \u2013 Easy Japanese Cooking is the most comprehensive book around covering just this unique and flavourful dish. I\u2019ll be eating my way through each of Kentaro Kobayashi\u2019s tempting recipes.<\/p>\n

Donburi Mania \u2013 Easy Japanese Cooking
\nAuthor: Kentaro Kobayashi
\nPublished by: Vertical Inc.
\nPrice: \u00a39.99, $14.95US
\nISBN-13: 978-1934287491<\/p>\n

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Cookbook review by Chrissie Walker \u00a9 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

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See more books by Kentaro Kobayashi here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Read other articles about Japanese food, art and culture here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love Japanese food but seldom have I been offered anything other than tempura and sushi. Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, I could eat both those lovely dishes every day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,22],"tags":[99,2110,141,33,549,468],"class_list":["post-2069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-cookbooks","tag-asian-food","tag-donburi-mania","tag-japan","tag-japanese","tag-kentaro-kobayashi","tag-rice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2069"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25927,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069\/revisions\/25927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}