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It's no secret that Japanese cooking is highly codified. Certain foods require certain sauces and that's that. This works fine when you know what you are doing, but requires careful shopping for ingredients (and a market where such ingredients are fresh) and a surgical attention to detail in preparation.
One way around this problem is to wing it a bit. Although in Tokyo, several Japanese chefs have been doing this for some time, young American chef Eric Gower seems to be the first non-Japanese with the confidence to get in on the act. In this book, rather than offering slavish facsimiles of classic Japanese dishes (a shortcoming of Japanese restaurants the world over), Gower suggests ways of playing around with them, substituting American ingredients when necessary and even inventing whole new Japanese-style dishes. Gower's recipes are easily prepared and take little time. I've been cooking my way through them and have found them without exception to be fine. Not the least part of the fun of doing this has come from the beauty of the book itself, which contains inspirational photos of the dishes by food photographer Fumihiko Watanabe.
Perhaps the following will give you a better idea of what Gower is up to. While Japanese cooking uses sugar and sake, soy sauce and vinegar, Gower uses maple syrup, the juice of citrus fruits, and apricot jam. He uses vinegar with salmon, which actually gives the fish a new dimension. Because the primary market for the book is outside Japan, some of the ingredients he suggests, such as walnut oil and zucchini, can - ironically - be hard to come by here but olive oil, bell peppers, and eggplant can be substituted. He uses a blender, which doesn't get things quite as smooth as a suribachi (mortar), but it's simple and perfectly fine.
Particularly outstanding are Gower's Crab with Lime Ponzu and Chipotle and his Shiitake Ginger Pasta Salad with Radicchio. If you want to put Gower to the test for yourself, check out the recipe below. To tell you the truth, I sometimes feel like eating the book.
Rick Kennedy
Eric Gower's "Japanese Coleslaw"
Ingredients:
2 cups shredded green cabbage
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 large carrot, grated
2 tablespoons walnut oil or other light, neutral oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
Quarter cup of finely chopped peanuts
Combine the cabbages and carrot in a large bowl. Toss with your hands and set aside. To make the dressing, combine the walnut oil, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, and ginger in a small bowl, and whisk. Pour over the salad and toss well. Sprinkle on the peanuts. Serves three or four.
This dish takes only a couple minutes and is absolutely delicious.
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