The Illustrated Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients, Preparations and Culture

Nominated for the Glenfiddich Food Book of the Year Award--now with hundreds of full color photographs!

"A must for anyone interested in the cuisine of Japan." --Saveur Magazine

"Newly typeset and featuring a fascinating and informative new foreword by Japanese cookbook author Debra Samuel, The Illustrated Dictionary of Japanese Food will continue to help both food lovers and visitors to Japan discover the wonders of one of the world's great cuisines." --BooksAboutFood.com

The Illustrated Dictionary of Japanese Food helps food lovers around the world understand all the intricacies and nuances of Japanese food ingredients and culture. Definitions of Japanese food terms found online and in standard dictionaries are misleading and often simply wrong. Richard Hosking eliminates this problem by giving each term a concise English definition with rich cultural and historical notes.

This new and expanded edition has 320 color photographs along with black and white drawings for easy identification. These allow readers to identify everything from abura-age fried tofu to zeusai red-bean soup. A series of fascinating appendices address critical elements of Japanese cuisine--from how miso and sake are made to the keycomponents of a Japanese meal.

Newly typeset and featuring a foreword by cookbook author Debra Samuels, The Illustrated Dictionary of Japanese Food helps food lovers and visitors discover the wonders of one of the world's truly great cuisines.

Author: Richard Hosking
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Published: 05/12/2026
Pages: 248
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.10w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9784805320006

About the Author
Richard Hosking holds an M.A. from Cambridge and was Professor of Sociology and English at Hiroshima Shudo University. He lived in Japan for many decades and lectured on Japanese food at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, the Symposium of Australian Gastronomy, and elsewhere around the world.

Debra Samuels has written about food for over three decades. After owning and operating a successful catering firm in the 1980s called "Eats Meets West" she developed the popular "Kids Are Cooking" series on food, culture and nutrition for Boston's Children's Museum. Samuels worked for many years as a food writer and food stylist for The Boston Globe. She has written extensively about Italian, Indian, Korean and Japanese cuisines, with a particular focus on the latter. In 2020, she was awarded the John Thayer Award from the Japan Society in Boston, which recognizes outstanding contributions to understanding and friendship between the U.S. and Japan. Samuels leads the program content and curriculum development for TABLE FOR TWO USA. Currently, she travels around the country teaching hands on workshops on bento, the Japanese lunchbox. She is the author of Tuttle Publishing's My Japanese Table, and co-author of The Korean Table and Japanese Cooking with Kids.