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October 2009
Catching up with Japan's "Martha Stewart"

As Japan’s most famous home cook stopped in NYC to promote her latest cookbook Everyday Harumi (Conran $29.99), we took the opportunity to field a few questions to the her, in the hope that she would garner us with a greater understanding on the art of, simple Japanese cooking.

About Harumi Kurihara
Harumi's cooking, lifestyle books and magazines have made the charismatic former housewife a phenomenon in her native Japan and she has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.  She currently has more than 60 shops and cafes in Japan that sell her home-ware, cookware and clothing ranges.  Her success is rooted in her effortless, down-to-earth and unpretentious approach to stylish living and eating, which follows a philosophy of elegance and simplicity.

About Her Latest Cookbook

In Everyday Harumi, Harumi Kurihara, selects her favorite foods and presents more than 60 recipes. Arranged by her favorite ingredients, Harumi presents recipes for soups, starters, snacks, party dishes, main courses and feasts that are quick and simple to prepare.

Five Questions for Harumi Kurihara

G.C - Often chefs that have not trained in Japan or grown up in its culture are
challenged to understand and cook authentic Japanese food, could you offer
me and my fellow chefs a few words of advice...

H.K - First, you must go to Japanese restaurants often. You cannot develop a palate that understands Japanese taste by just by looking at recipes. Please start by going to places that Japanese people recommend to you, restaurants that Japanese people think of as good authentic cooking, to familiarize your palate with various Japanese flavors.

G.C - How should chefs think about the ingredients that they use. My feeling is that we (chefs) use too many ingredients when recreating Japanese dishes?

H.K - I do not think that is the case. The more ingredients, the more variety, the better - at least in Japanese home cooking. Taking many different elements such as bitterness, spiciness, aroma, texture, etc., and balancing all of them is what creates delicious dishes. I would not worry about using too many ingredients when cooking Japanese food. Please enjoy the variety that is offered by Japanese cuisine.

G.C - What about favor combinations, again do we chefs over complicate dishes and loose the pure flavors that many Japanese dishes posses? How should we think using different flavors in a dish - should we just focus on one?

H.K - This can go both ways. You can make a great authentic dish using just soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar. Or even just soy sauce! Or you can layer many different flavors at once in Japanese cooking. Both ways are seen in Japanese food.

G.C - What other common mistakes or misunderstandings do you see/taste when traveling?

H.K - These days, I no longer encounter any major mistakes. A while back, I would find strange, entirely incorrect interpretations of Japanese food. For example, there was a “miso soup” that tasted absolutely nothing like miso soup - the only thing it had right was the color! But lately, I see very few big mistakes or misunderstandings. Even if there is some variation in flavor, most dishes in most places are quite good. I think that this shows just how much Japanese food has been growing in popularity over the years.

G.C - Is there a particular Japanese chef that you would recommend chefs with a passion for Japanese food research and read up on?

H.K - Me! (she laughs) But in all seriousness, I focus on authentic home cooking, not specialty dishes that are only found in restaurants. Those kinds of restaurant recipes use very expensive, difficult ingredients. But my recipes use items that are easily found in regular supermarkets. So please do start with my recipes!

G.C - To a chef that wants to recreate a simple delicious dish from your book, which recipe would you suggest they start with?

Quick pickled cucumbers; Cut the ends off of a cucumber, and then slice it lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then turn the halves over on your cutting board, with the skin-side up, hit the cucumbers with a rolling pin to break them up into pieces and to soften the skin. Tear any remaining large pieces into smaller pieces. Add these cucumbers along with julienned ginger into a mixture of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup vinegar (rice vinegar or even white wine vinegar), and 4 tablespoons of sugar. Let sit for at least an hour, then enjoy! This pickle will keep for at least 2 weeks in your fridge.

This recipe is great because the only “Japanese” ingredient you need to get is soy sauce - everything else; you already have in your kitchen! It’s very quick and everybody loves the result!

Everyday Harumi
List price $29.99
Amazon.com Price $19.79
Click Here To Buy Online