Containing just two simple recipes among its pages, it’s hard to call “A Very Asian Guide to Japanese Food” a cookbook in the traditional sense of the word.
One recipe is for Japan’s favorite comfort food — onigiri (rice balls) — and the other is for yose-nabe, a style of hot pot where strict adherence to culinary rules pales in comparison to the addition of your favorite ingredients.
Still, for author Naoko Takei Moore, these two recipes are indicative of a much larger message “A Very Asian Guide to Japanese Food” is meant to convey: They cut to the heart of what makes Japanese food Japanese.