Books and Media

with Elizabeth Andoh, award-winning author

Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen

Washoku is an integrated approach to achieving nutritional balance and aesthetic harmony at table; both a culinary philosophy and a set of practical guidelines for preparing food. This full-color cookbook features more than 140 recipes for the classics of the Japanese home kitchen and includes a guide to the Japanese pantry – an array of herbs and spices, shelf-stable dried land and sea vegetables, numerous varieties of miso, tōfu, noodles and other essential ingredients – all illustrated in full-color photographs.

WASHOKU won the 2005 Jane Grigson Award for academic excellence. One of Andoh’s previous cookbooks, An Ocean of Flavor, won the IACP cookbook award in 1988.

  • Hardcover: 328 pages
  • Publisher: Ten Speed Press (October 1, 2005)

Kansha: Celebrating Japan's Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions

A celebration of Japan’s vegan and vegetarian traditions with 100 vegan recipes.

Kansha is an expression of gratitude for nature’s gifts and the efforts and ingenuity of those who transform nature’s bounty into marvelous food. The spirit of kansha, deeply rooted in Buddhist philosophy and practice, encourages all cooks to prepare nutritionally sound and aesthetically satisfying meals that avoid waste, conserve energy, and preserve our natural resources.

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Ten Speed Press; 1st Edition (October 19, 2010)

Featured Media & Appearances 

Radio and Podcasts

Japanese Food, The Podcast

Bento & Co. Episode 4: Elizabeth Andoh December 2, 2022

Japan Eats!

Episode 208: Shojin Ryori, Japanese Vegan Vegetarian Dishes November 2, 2020

Episode 200: Domburi, a Japanese Food as Comforting as Ramen August 3, 2020

Episode 180: Unique Kitchen Tools of Japan January 13, 2020

Episode 156: Food Defines an Era: Reflecting Japanese Food Trends during the Heisei Period. May 13, 2019.

A Taste of the Past

Episode 329:  Eat With Your Eyes: “Moritsuké” Japanese Arrangement of Food on the Plate.  May 23, 2019.

Meat and Three

Episode 46: The Transformative Power of Food Literature. An interview with four Hall of Fame writers: Michael Pollan, Temple Grandin, Elizabeth Andoh, and Jessica B. Harris.

Japan Eats, A Taste of the Past, and Meat and Three are produced by Heritage Radio, a part of National Pubic Radio in America. 

Here are all of Elizabeth’s episodes dating back to 2012.

Webinar

International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) special interest section webinar with Elizabeth Andoh (May, 2021) Japan’s Kitchen Wisdom: Washoku.

Videos

Culinary Institute of America (Greystone campus, 2011) Worlds of Flavor Conference. Elizabeth Andoh was a speaker at the conference. These interviews were taped:

Articles & Columns

Slide-Illustrated Talk

The Heart of Washoku, Creating A Seasonal Sensibility

Part of the Delve into Japan series co-sponsored by I-House and KISAKO Intercultural Institute, this program was delivered, in-person, on February 23, 2016 at International House, Tokyo.

A recording of that evening can viewed on the I-House Japan You-Tube channel.

Elizabeth Andoh has been releasing books on Japanese cuisine since the ’80s, but her finest work is
Washoku, a 2005 tome on Japanese home cooking. I love the book. My Japanese grandmother lived in our apartment building on the floor below us while I was growing up, and was a good Japanese home cook. Flipping through the pages of Washoku always brings me back to her living room, where she’d eat while watching Japanese soap operas, the smell of soy sauce, smoky dashi, and vinegar in the air.

If all you know of Japanese cuisine is sushi, ramen, and teriyaki, there’s no better way to discover the kinds of things Japanese people really eat at home than this book.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Serious Eats

We cook from the heart (kokoro) and express our feelings with our dishes. In this book, Elizabeth Andoh conveys the way of the Japanese kokoro through cooking to people around the world.

Nobu Matsuhisa

Restaurateur and author

Andoh is at once lyrical and meticulous, taking the reader effortlessly from the profundities of Japanese philosophy to practical and novel culinary techiques…

Rachel Laudan

Food historian and author of Cuisine & Empire

Elizabeth Andoh’s groundbreaking cookbook introduces Western audiences to the age-old concept of washoku, the art of creating nutritional and aesthetic harmony at the table, one that transforms our thinking about Japanese cuisine and culture. Composed with deep scholarship and loving craftsmanship, Washoku is filled with authentic recipes and personal stories that place the Japanese cooking and dining experience in a much needed cultural perspective only an insider could share.

Grace Young

Author, The Breath of a Wok

“It’s great to open up a cookbook and absorb all the years and effort that an author puts into the publication. If you’re into Japanese, vegan, or vegetarian cooking, Elizabeth Andoh’s Kansha  should be in your collection. She writes with humor and utmost care because she wants you to understand and appreciate Japanese food traditions. The recipe collection is full of insights that she accumulated during her decades in Japan. Kansha captures the culinary distinctions and artful aspects of Japanese cuisine. The food tastes good too!”

Andrea Nguyen

Author, Teacher & Consultant, Viet World Kitchen