A fresh look at Japanese
IT is entirely possible to respect traditional family cooking while at the same time cooking with an open mind and thinking outside the box, Maori Murota says.
Murota, a selftaught chef, was inspired to write Japanese Home Cooking by her mother’s cooking and memories of growing up in Tokyo.
Her mission is to demystify Japanese food and make it accessible to everyone who is interested in finding out more about Japanese culture.
‘‘This is my version of today’s Japanese cuisine.’’
With the birth of her daughter and Covid19 lockdowns, her perspective on food has changed a lot and she has started to seek out more locally produced foods with less of an environmental impact.
Murota left Japan at 17 for New York and also lived in Indonesia before settling in Paris in 2003, where she worked as a stylist before giving up fashion for food and working as a chef in restaurants. She is now an event caterer and private chef.
Spending lockdown on a small French Island where access to traditional Japanese ingredients was difficult, Murota learnt to make things from scratch, discovering a joy in that process that she did not expect.
‘‘I was pleasantly surprised — it was delicious and not as complicated as I thought it might be.’’
She also discovered many Frenchmade Japanese ingredients meaning she did not have to import them from Japan.
In this book she shares her favourite 100%homemade recipes for Japanese dishes such as ramen and sushi, as well as recipes to make miso and Japanese curry paste without using processed curry cubes.
‘‘Cooking at home is, of course, healthier as you know exactly what is in the dish and it is more delicious.’’
As a vegan, she has provided many plantbased recipes in the book, but as she also cooks fish and meat for her family they are included as well — she wants to share her recipes with everyone regardless of religion or diet.
Murota has divided the book into chapters based on flour, rice, fermenting and preserving, meat, fish and tea and sweets. There is a handy resources section at the back as well.
This is an extract from by Maori Murota, photography by Hachette Livre (Marabout). Murdoch Books RRP $55.
Home Cooking
Japanese