WAFU COOKING

ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF 2024: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Bon Appétit, The Boston Globe, The Strategist, Serious Eats, and Saveur A bold, fresh new approach to Japanese cooking: 120-plus globally influenced recipes—from the author of Japanese Home Cooking

IACP BOOK AWARD NOMINEE

In this dazzling and wholly original cookbook, culinary authority Sonoko Sakai redefines what Japanese cooking can be. Wafu (literally “Japanese style”) food is fusion at its best, combining flavors, ingredients, and techniques from around the globe with a distinctly Japanese personality.

Wafu Cooking is a collection of recipes that captures the cultural exchange between Japan and the rest of the world in dishes that have come to Japan from abroad and been “wafu-ed” to suit local tastes, and in Japanese dishes that are reimagined through an American lens. From Dashi Cheese Grits with Honey Miso Butter, Collard Greens and Cabbage Miso Soup with Crispy Bacon, and Fish and Lotus Chips, to Caesar Salad with Aonori Croutons and Bonito Flakes, Shio Koji Marinated Roast Chicken, and Miso Apple Pie, these are recipes that reflect—and celebrate—the multinational, interconnected way in which we all eat today. Sakai also introduces the essential building blocks of Japanese cuisine—dashi, miso, and soy sauce—that can be used to give any dish a wafu twist.

A book that reflects as much the author’s own journey—a life spent in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico, and elsewhere—as it does the foods of Japan, Wafu Cooking is an utterly unique, thoroughly modern cookbook.

SONOKO SAKAI was born in New York  to Japanese parents, and she grew up in San Francisco, Kamakura, Mexico City, and Tokyo. She is the author of Japanese Home Cooking, Rice Craft, and The Poetical Pursuit of Food. She has worked as a recipe developer, producer, creative director, cooking teacher, and lecturer. She is also a grain activist. Sonoko lives in Los Angeles and Tehachapi, California, with her sculptor husband, Katsuhisa Sakai.