Article by Andy Floyd
Finally!!! AFTER 6 Long Months waiting for this most important book, it's finally out!!
You've seen your favorite anime or manga characters eating or making food and you know it's all Japanese, essentially. But part of the mystery is what the heck ARE they eating? How do you put together a bento box? (That's one thing I've wanted to know!)
This has got to be the cutest Japanese cookbook ever produced. It's also very easy to follow. The only problem I can see is procuring the proper ingredients and utensils. Most places in the world are probably with 20 miles of an Asian Food store. Some items are available in your local supermarket but they're likely clueless about some items and won't have everything you need.
The Manga Cookbook is a delight to look at as well as learn from, which I guess lends itself well to teaching the "mitateru" concept behind making your food look as well as it tastes.
If you go on the website www.mangacookbook.com, you'll see they have it available online and with a couple gift set options. While I'm sure you can get a bento set for less than they're asking, I'm sure what they offer is good quality anyway. The sushi set also available separately is a good bargain.
Some things that disappointed me: I would have liked a section on a traditional Japanese breakfast is, and there's 27 pages available for "Cook's Notes" which in my opinion would have been better used for a few more recipes, perhaps the breakfast section I wished was in there or some recipes for Desserts like handmade chocolate (for Valentine's Day) or Christmas Cake. Considering the average length of a recipe is about 4 pages long, that might have yielded 6 more recipes, but what _is_ in there is a lot, so you shouldn't be bored too quickly!
The best point of the book are the full color photographs near the front of the book! A VERY good tool to use to make sure what you're being told to make matches what they actually did make. (niko niko)
Usagi Ringo? Tamago tomodachi? Tako sausage? I'm sure we've seen our favorite manga personalities eating these at one time or another - now's the chance to make them yourself! (and understand why some students make their lunches the night before! ^_^) I'm sure for Tako Sausage you can use turkey or chicken franks, which are not only kosher, but better for you. ^_- And yes, for Usagi Ringo, the author mentions Sailor Moon, so there's your connection and a reason to buy this one (as well as our own Warriors of Legend).
I think the recipe for Tamagoyaki is interesting and I might try it soon. I'd love to get the special pan they make for it. If you live near a World Market store, check them out. Very nice things there for your Japanese cooking needs.
This may be the chance to get those picky eaters who don't otherwise like Japanese food to finally try some and like it!
I tried the Tamagoyaki recipe shown in the book. I will try it one more time without any milk in the eggs, just with the salt and sugar. And maybe this time I will wait the entire 3 minutes recommended. The problem I have is with pouring the eggs onto the aluminum foil and then rolling and wrapping it. I can't get the eggs tight enough (milk appears to interfere with this) and they're still kinda hot at this point. I must be transferring the eggs too soon, mainly because I know how fast eggs can suddenly go solid on you if you don't pay attention. Might even try 2 sheets of foil to see if I can get the wrap tighter. Don't try putting the eggs in the foil back on a burner as it will cause them to expand and then they'll fall apart.
The California Roll sushi recipe turned out much better than I thought it would and was pretty easy to get good results! Prepare the rice as they show and then get your ingredients ready as shown. Some tips on this one: Sticky Rice Is Good. You want it to be sticky so the roll will stay together. Roll tightly but firmly. Even if you don't have the bamboo rolling mat, I used parchment paper to help with the rolling. The main thing with the bamboo mat is to help apply even pressure across the length of the roll as you make it. When you've gotten it to roll up nicely, seal the edge of the nori by running a wet finger on it. When cutting the roll into smaller pieces, rinse your knife clean of anything sticking to it between slices. I ran my fingers on the sides of the blade to make sure it was clean. The roll cuts better with a clean knife. You'll want to cut your cucumber along the entire length of the vegie, and to get it in thin strips, cut it so that you remove the center part with all the seeds because you don't want them. I also put a little lemon juice on the avocado (they're super easy to peel and really soft, but can get slimy quick) to keep it fresh a little longer.
Don't get discouraged or frustrated the first few times you try one of the recipes. Practice makes perfect as always! Also when preparing sushi rice, try different vinegars to see how they change the taste. Start with regular white distilled and go from there!
