Customer Reviews

Nobu: The Cookbook

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A great book for those interested in the art of japanese cooking.

Simplicity at its best.

Wonderful plate presentations. Recipes are more for the experienced cook. Obviously, reading and actually executing the recipes are totally different things. Procedures appear simple but technique will play a very important role in Nobu's dishes. If you're a beginner and interested in Nobu's type of cuisine, get your copy and practice, practice, practice! Ingredients are not easy to get (hard to find and/or expensive).

After an exhaustive search for the Spider Roll (soft shell crab roll), we discovered it in this book. The recipe is easy to follow, the photos are fantastic and really step you through the process. Nobu simplified the Japanese/Sushi cuisine enough that even a first-timer like myself found it so easy - can't wait to try other recipes.

Almost like magic! My expectations were muted when I first tried to re-create a snapper sashimi dish we had adored at Nobu in Las Vegas, but low and behold it was the same incredible flavor. When you make something from a recipe in this book, it will taste like the dish you tried at his restaurant (assuming you can find the same quality of ingredients of course). Nobu is beyond generous to share his trade secrets with the rest of us in this gorgeous well written relatively easy to follow book. I keep it on my kitchen counter! Remember, making sushi requires time, time to develop the skills. There is no substitute for lessons and practice (along with the proper tools and most importantly the ability to acquire and discern quality sushi/sashimi fish), but this book can have you eating the genius of Nobu at home!

This cookbook is full of amazing recipes and pictures (I love cookbooks with pictures, you can see what it is supposed to look like and work based on that!)

Anyway, I had the privelege to visit the restaurant in NYC twice through a relative of mine, and was pleased to realize that some of the dishes we tried were available in this book. I also think that, while on the difficult side for cookbooks (obviously, Matsuhisa is a true master of cooking,) the recipes are not impossible if you are familiar with the techniques and ingredients listed.

I am a big fan of Nobu's art; a miraculously simple, yet greatly inventive Japanese-Peruvian cuisine.
This book gives a representative sample of what Nobu's is capable of.
- RECIPES: step-by-step, easy to follow, and do not require sophisticated equipment. The pictures are nice and self-explanatory. In fact, Nobu's trademark dishes (New Style Sashimi, Tiraditos and Ceviches) are quite easy to reproduce with little effort or time. The only reason why I did not give this book a perfect mark is that I felt some sauces missed the mark, as if they were lacking an ingredient (my Matsuhisa Dressing trials greatly differ from the one I tasted in Nobu's restaurants). Plus, on rare occasions, the editor fails to specify which type of vegetable oils must be used (ex: in the spicy creamy sauce).
- INGREDIENTS: many are easy to find in North America. Some are almost impossible to acquire if you do not live in a major city (for example Maui onions, sansho, etc.). Nevertheless, most of these ingredients can be successfully substituted with more common ingredients; for example, Menegi for Chives, Yuzu for lemon and lime juice, Monkfish liver for Duck or Goose Foie Gras, and so on.

Like other viewers, I couldn't care less if Kenny G., Gandhi or Rasputin have been Nobu's clients. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book for all novice cooks and food lovers.

This cookbook has beautiful pictures that show off this great collection of Nobu recipes. The recipes are well written and easy to follow. You don't have to be a gourmet cook to make them. I don't care for sushi myself but many of the other recipes sound really good! Some reviewers mention the hard-to-get ingredients but even if you live in a small town like I do you can order most of the seasonings online. Just do a search under Asian food and you will find several online stores with reasonable prices. As for the exotic fish, just substitue any similar fish from your local market! Don't let the recipe ingredients intimidate you and you will really enjoy this cookbook!

While many of the recipes we have tried from this book have produced excellent results, it is not for the novice nor for the cook who cannot find exotic ingredients. We live in the San Francisco Bay area and must make special trips to the Asian seafood markets because the local grocer, although high-end, does not carry the exotic varieties of fish and shellfish that he uses. He does not offer suggestions for substitutions.
The food is very good, but you can tell that this is definitely a vanity cookbook. I don't think most home chefs could use this book - it is definitely for the obsessive foodie who would go to any lengths to prepare his recipes. Good for special occasions or for those who have a lot of time and resources for foods.

I bought this book because it is one of the only cookbooks I have found to contain recipes for Monkfish Liver (Ankimo), which I have frequently been in search of. I haven't tried any of the other recipes, although anyone who does must be prepared to go on some serious hunting missions for some hard-to-find ingredients. Also, I too was put off by Nobu's shameless name dropping-- why do Kenny G, Madonna and other celeb quotes get more of a spotlight than Ducasse, Keller and other major chefs? I could care less if DiCaprio sometimes indulges his petit frame with--count it--TWO PIECES OF SUSHI instead of ONE!!

This is more of a coffee-table cookbook; it has very high production values, the pictures accompanying the recipes are fantasitic (think Charlie Trotter) and the recipes are inspired and beautiful. However, the recipes include many ingredients (both primary and secondary) that might not only be difficult to find, but are also something you just WILL NOT cook on your own. (e.g. Whole baby squid? Sea eels?) This cookbook deserves five stars for its beauty and creativity, but only gets three stars for its actual practical use. Your best bet is to check it out for yourself at your local bookstore, and then (of course) come back here to Amazon and buy it.