Product Description

With his multinational and ever expanding empire of thirteen restaurants, Nobu Matsuhisa has become one of the most talked-about international restaurateurs and arguably the world's greatest sushi chef. In his first, long awaited book, Nobu: The Cookbook, Matsuhisa reveals the secrets of his
exciting, cutting-edge Japanese cuisine.

Nobu's culinary creations are based on the practice of simplicity the art of using simple techniques to bring out the flavors in the best ingredients the world's oceans have to offer and on his unique combinations of Japanese cuisine and imaginative Western, particularly South American, cooking.

While simplicity may be the rule in his cooking, exotic ingredients are the key to his signature style: in Matsuhisa Shrimp he combines shiitake mushrooms, shiso leaves, and caviar; Octopus Tiradito is made with yuzu juice and rocoto chili paste; he even gives away the secrets to making his
world-famous Seafood Ceviche, Nobu Style.

In all, fifty original recipes for fish and seafood are included with step-by-step instructions and lavish color photographs. It features all Nobu's signature dishes along with salads, vegetable dishes, and dessert recipes, while a special chapter about pairing drinks with the meals rounds out the
selections. A chapter dedicated to sushi instructs readers how to make Nobu's own original Soft Shell Crab Roll, Salmon Skin Roll and House Special Roll.

Throughout the book the author shares stories of his rich and varied life: his childhood memories of rural Japan; the beginning of his career; his meteoric rise to the top, as one of the most renowned chefs of his generation.

Featuring a preface by Robert De Niro, a foreword by Martha Stewart and an afterward by Japanese actor Ken Takakura, Nobu: The Cookbook is sure to be the season's hottest cookbook and a sure-fire classic for Japanese cooks and foodies alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176092 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-07
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 196 pages

Amazon.com
Excruciatingly chic to the highest degree, the Nobu restaurants are among the hardest to get into on three continents. They are the personal inspiration of a Japanese sushi-trained chef, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, who, with unusual experiences in Peru, Argentina, and Alaska behind him, was fortunate enough to open an establishment in Los Angeles into which part-time restaurant entrepreneur and actor Robert De Niro happened to wander. During those years on the Pacific coast, Nobu began to experiment, combining the pure, fresh, uncomplicated flavors of sushi with the Western flavors of garlic, chili, and coriander. As he attracted a more upscale clientele, he complemented those flavors with luxury ingredients such as truffles and caviar. Nobu: The Cookbook represents the current state of play. Exquisite, expensive, and breathtakingly stylish, this food is designed to impress with its artful simplicity. Perhaps the two most representative dishes are the most celebrated: the New-Style Sushi, in which raw fish is given a sizzling dressing of hot oil; and the beautiful Black Cod with Miso, marinated in sake, mirin, and miso for three days then grilled and baked and served with a single ikebana-like spear of pickled juvenile ginger. Altogether a beautiful production.

There are aspects of this cooking, however, that for all its glamour may require the turning of a blind eye. How many home cooks will be prepared to disembowel a live octopus? And eyebrows may be raised among environmentalists at Nobu's championing of Arctic sea bass, a fish known before its cosmetic rechristening a few years ago as Patagonian tooth fish and that is likely to become extinct within three years through illegal overfishing in the southern oceans. Food for thought. --Robin Davidson, Amazon.co.uk

From Publishers Weekly
Nobuyuki Matsuhisa began his career modestly swabbing floors and carrying fresh fish at Tokyo's venerable Matsuei, where he learned the sushi-making secrets that underpin "Nobu" food. Next he worked in Peru and Argentina, adding Latin-American influences to his repertoire. When he opened his flagship Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills in 1987, it was the first step in the making of an international superstar of Japanese-inspired cooking. The interplay of celebrity with fine dining is important to Matsuhisa. Illustrated by stunning photographs byFumihiko Watanabe, the exciting ideas presented here are challenging and full of expansive knowledge. The compositions range from the relatively simple Oysters with Nobu's Three Salsas to the complex Scallop Filo with Truffle Yuzu Sauce or the signature Latin-style Octopus Tiradito. Many of the dishes present traditional ingredients in fresh interpretations: Chilean Sea Bass with Black Bean (Chinese-style) Sauce, Monkfish Pƒt, with Mustard Su-miso Sauce, the Sea Urchin Roe Meringue topped with Frothing Blue Crab, or the Black Cod with Miso (business partner Robert De Niro's favorite). Many of the traditional Japanese and fresh seafood ingredients will be difficult to find. But since more North Americans are being turned on to sushi as a new way to enjoy fresh fish, this is the perfect time to introduce Matsuhisa to a wider audience.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Matsuhisa usually called Nobu is an immensely talented chef who now has 13 restaurants around the world, from the original Matsuhisa (his favorite) in Los Angeles and the always packed Nobu in New York City, to Ubon by Nobu in London and Nobu Tokyo. His food draws on his Japanese heritage and training as a sushi chef and the years he spent as a chef in South America, as well as his tenure in the United States with cross-cultural dishes such as Toro with Jalape?o, Freshwater Eel and Foie Gras, and Scallop Filo with Truffle Yuzu Sauce. His attractive cookbook features stunning color photographs of every recipe, as well as black-and-white technique and "location" shots. Many of the recipes are not especially complicated, but they depend on pristinely fresh, high-quality and sometimes difficult-to-find ingredients. It's also unfortunate that, as a note in the introduction points out, the cup measures used in the recipes are for Japanese, not American, cups. Nevertheless, this is an essential addition to any collection of chefs' cookbooks. [Good Cook selection.]
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

really good
this is an exelent modern japanese cookbook, exelent basics tips, nobu really takes care for the products.

Some of Nobu's signature dishes in a top quality book
Kodansha's corporate big wigs are Nobu fans so when he chose them to publish his first cook book, they decided to match the quality of the book to the quality of Nobu's ingredients. They used an eight colour separation process (absurdly expensive) for all the fish pictures, and try as you might you can't really see the dots that compose the image, at least not without a magnifying glass.

Nobu's aim is to proudly lay himself open to his public. He doesn't fear revealing his secrets because he's confident enough to know his style and character are unique to him. He wants to inspire amateur chefs.

Here are three of the simpler dishes that anyone could make.

1) Sea urchin in a shiitake mushroom cap, wrapped in steamed spinach, served on an egg sauce with a spoonful of salmon roe

2) Asparagus topped with salmon roe

3) Steamed monkfish liver with caviar

As the saying goes, the media is the message and the pictures actually help the amateur chef no end. With the superb pictures that accompany the recipes, you can execute these dishes almost from the name of the recipe alone. Without the pictures, you can't.

One caveat. Nobu is a name dropper. I've no doubt that Robert De Niro, Martha Stewart, Ken takakura, and Linda Evans really are his friends but he mentions famous names too often for my taste. On the other hand when I went to Nobu Tokyo during Nobu week, he was there and toured the dining room. He stopped by our table and signed a copy of his book for me. So he's not too proud to smile and have chat with us rabble; he really likes his customers.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

Model of the excellent coffee table cookbook.
'nobu THE cookbook' by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa is Nobu's first cookbook and as he has a new title on the bookstands now, I thought it was high time I got around to reviewing it.

For starters, I must say I rank photographic flash way down on my list of criteria for a good cookbook. I have very little use for cookbooks used to grace a coffee table, since I have no coffee table. So, If impressive looking cookbooks from famous chefs is your cup of tea, then this is an excellent book. Otherwise, it doesn't do a lot for me.

For starters, while the book deals almost exclusively with fish cookery and raw fish dishes, the introductory material on techniques, especially knife techniques is pretty thin. The story on sushi prep is that it takes years to learn everything you need to know about good knife techniques, and we are given but a half a page without even some pictures of the types of knives used in the three techniques described.

I will say that most of the recipes are relatively simple, as long as you have the right skills, but the ingredients for a lot of the dishes are somewhere between difficult and impossible to find. The poster boy for this state of affairs is abalone. Throughout my whole life, I have never seen fresh abalone available on the east coast fishmonger's counter. Now, I suspect this Pacific shellfish is endangered almost to the point of extinction. But, as Bob Kinkaid so eloquently says in his cookbook, high end restaurants can get things which are simply beyond the reach of the average shopper.

If this were a book on classic Japanese cookery, I would have a higher opinion of it, but it is a song to the virtues of Nobu Matsuhisa. It is a very pretty song, well graced with paeons from business partner Robert DeNiro, best bud, Martha Stewart, and about twenty testimonial blurbs from the culinary greats.

If your thing is good books on and about celebrity chefs, buy this book. But, if your interest is Japanese cooking in general, start with Shizuo Tsuji's 'Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art'.