Japanese food is healthy, delicious and universally enjoyed but, despite the popularity of sushi and noodle bars around the world, so few of us cook this delightful cuisine at home. This inspiring guide from Japanese cook Kimiko Barber demystifies the cuisine and makes it accessible to the home cook. Kimiko covers everything you need to know about Japanese food, including its long and intriguing culinary history, and gives clear and concise explanations of Japanese ingredients, cooking terms and techniques, as well as providing more than 200 recipes. These exceptional dishes are a combination of traditional classics that have been updated to suit today's busy home cooks, and include new, specially created, easy-to-make meals, laid out in the more familiar Western-style format of starters, mains and desserts rather than the traditional Japanese one of cooking methods. With Kimiko's expert guidance and ideas for clever improvisations, your confidence will grow and soon you'll be creating Japanese dishes with all the flair and style of a true itamae.