Cookbooks

The Sushi Experience

by Hiroko Shimbo

Knopf, 280 pp., $40

Hiroko Shimbo's first book, The Japanese Kitchen, was an impressive feat, ranking at the top of the best English-language cookbooks on Japanese cuisine. Her second title, The Sushi Experience, matches or exceeds the brilliance of the first. It's loaded with step-by-step photos to carefully guide the neophyte through every stage of the sushi-making process. Shimbo begins with the culture of sushi and the sushi bar, including proper etiquette when dining out, not to mention the language. Next is an exhaustive compilation of every component needed by the cook, including tools, ingredients, teas, and sake.

Recipes are laid out starting with a single master recipe, accompanied by added variations on that basic theme. Hiroko seduces the reader into more complicated dishes without fear. Sauces and garnishes are included, as are thick and thin rolls, inside-out and hand rolls, cone rolls, pressed rolls, scattered forms, decorated bowl forms, nigiri-rice-ball forms, sashimi cutting techniques, as well as cooked and craft forms. Moms will also find a chapter on kid's sushi in whimsical shapes using cooked, kid-friendly ingredients.

Next follows an amazingly detailed buyers guide and chapters that deal with side dishes: cooked seafood, vegetables, soups, and desserts. Meanwhile, Hiroko's exhaustive sidebars provide insight into an incredible range of topics: history, obscurities, how the finest sushi knives are made, and the like. The Sushi Experience is total immersion into sushi on the highest level, presented with clarity, passion, and beauty.