Book review: Tokyo Stories by Tim Anderson

Some chefs latch onto a particular cuisine, but few live and breathe it in the way Japanophile Tim Anderson does.

The winner of MasterChef in 2011 has studied Japanese food culture at university, lived in Tokyo, written two other books on its cuisine and opened Nanban, a Japanese restaurant and cocktail bar in Brixton.

Tokyo Stories takes the reader on a tour of the country’s food culture. We start in the depachika, the department store basement food hall, for a guide to basic ingredients, rising to subway kiosks selling hot soup in cans and crispy fried chicken. We travel on to local specialities, such as sushi and gyoza, to regional cuisine from Hokkaido and Okinawa, and then to international hybrids, such as pizza and pâtisserie with a Tokyo twist. Then it’s Tokyoites’ home-cooked food, including a Japanese breakfast and a bento box, and finally arrive at the rooftop bar for fine dining and cocktails.

Recipes range from the simple, such as filled rice balls, mizuna salads and speedy stir-fries, to guides to making your own dashi, tofu and udon. Needless to say, there are instructions on making perfect rice, or the ‘Japanese Carb Emperor’, including how to keep it soft in the fridge.

Anderson has a weakness for the offerings of the izakaya, a type of Japanese pub combined with a tapas bar; recipes more than capable of soaking up a beer include cheesy goya spring rolls, ‘flavour potato’ (skin-on fries with chicken consommé-flavoured powder to sprinkle over while hot), octopus balls, okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes) and curry-stuffed doughnuts.

Tokyo Stories, by Tim Anderson (Hardie Grant, £26)

Recipe of the week:Â Harukiya-style old-school Tokyo shoyu ramen >>

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