Frugal Japan | The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook & The Art of Japanese Cooking
Bundle offer — both books plus the free printable shopping list Offer ends in 01:34:10
Japanese home cooking, made clear

Save money. Waste nothing.
The Japanese way.

Two books from me and my grandma. One shows you how to save money, the other one shows you how to cook Japanese meals that your family will love. Plus a free printable shopping list with the bundle.

The Art of Japanese Cooking book cover
Book one · On its own

The Art of Japanese Cooking

180 recipes from a Japanese home, and the grandmother who taught them.

$44 $69
  • PDF ebook, 12 chapters
  • 180 recipes, photographed
  • Clickable contents and index
Buy the cookbook, $44

Instant download · Yours to keep

Best value · Bonus list free
The Art of Japanese Cooking Book one
The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook Book two
The printable Japanese pantry shopping list Free
Both books + free bonus

The Complete Bundle

Both books for less than two. The printable shopping list costs nothing.

$49 $86

You save $37 and the bonus is free

  • The Art of Japanese Cooking
  • The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook
  • Printable Japanese shopping list — free
  • 1,200 techniques and 180 recipes in one go
Get both books, $49

Instant download · 7-day money-back guarantee

The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook book cover
Book two · On its own

The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook

1,200 techniques, methods and recipes, and why each one works.

$42 $89
  • PDF ebook, 8 chapters
  • 712 pages, 40 sections
  • Storage, freezing and waste-nothing habits
Buy the handbook, $42

Instant download · Yours to keep

Secure Shopify checkout Instant email delivery Read on phone, tablet or computer 7-day guarantee
1,200Techniques & methods
180Recipes, photographed
20Chapters across both
1,000+Pages in the bundle
Morimoto Yukio cooking in his kitchen
Morimoto Yukio showing his organized freezer storage
A note from the author

“I started this to cut a grocery bill. It turned into two books.”

I grew up eating this food and I still cook it every day, but for a long time I couldn't have told you why any of it worked. My mother knew. My grandmother knew. Neither of them could explain it — they just did it, the way you don't explain how to walk.

That knowledge exists. It's in old Japanese cookbooks my mother kept, in the food-science writing our universities publish, in what the tempura cook down the street knows in his hands after forty years. It's just all in Japanese, and it's scattered across a hundred sources that no Western reader would ever find or be able to read.

I spent 6 months pulling it into one place and translating it — not just the words, but the reasoning, the why, the part that lets you actually cook. That pile became the handbook. 1,200 entries, each one telling you what it is, why it works, and what goes wrong. The waste-nothing thread running through it is the oldest part — we have a word, mottainai, for the feeling of throwing away something that still has use in it. Entry 199 turns the bonito flakes you were about to throw out into furikake that keeps three weeks in a jar. You already paid for the ingredient. Nobody told you it had a second life in it.

Then readers asked the obvious next thing: fine, but what do I cook tonight? That is the second book. 180 recipes from my grandmother's kitchen, written the way she cooked them, one page each, photographed. The handbook explains the method. The cookbook is dinner.

Morimoto Yukio
Inside the books

One kitchen. Two books.

The handbook teaches the method. The cookbook is the food you cook with it. They were written to be used side by side.

The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook

8 chapters · 1,200 entries · 712 pages
01Japanese Pantry Essentials

Build the foundation: dashi, soy sauce, miso, sake, mirin, vinegar, seasoning order, aromatics and finishing touches.

DashiSoy sauceMisoSeasoning
02The Frugal Kitchen: Save, Store & Waste Nothing

Give ingredients a second life, store Japanese staples correctly, use the freezer strategically and shop with confident substitutions.

StorageFreezer strategyWaste nothing
03Cooking Method Mastery

Learn the six method families that organize the Japanese kitchen: grilling, frying, simmering, steaming, hot pot, dressed and raw dishes.

YakimonoAgemonoNimonoMushimono
04Rice, Noodles & Grains

Get the everyday centre of the meal right: rice fundamentals, rice dishes, noodles, broths and tsuyu.

RiceSobaUdonBroths
05Fish, Meat, Egg & Vegetables

Choose, prepare and cook core ingredients with dedicated sections for fish, sashimi, sushi, meat, eggs, vegetables, tofu and soy.

SushiFishEgg craftTofu
06The Japanese Art of Fermenting & Preserving

Make pickles, understand koji, dry and cure safely — with a full section on spoilage and when to throw food out.

TsukemonoKojiCuringSafety
07Restaurant & Izakaya Secrets

See how specialist kitchens think: izakaya setup, ramen, sushi counters, tempura bars, teppanyaki, yakiniku, plating and seasonality.

IzakayaRamenTempuraPlating
08Bonus Recipes for Real Life

Put the techniques to work with fifteen-minute weeknight meals, bento, make-ahead food, sweets, drinks and the tea break.

15-minute mealsBentoMake-aheadSweets

The Art of Japanese Cooking

12 chapters · 180 recipes · photographed
The Pantry and the Basics12 recipes
Rice and Rice Bowls18 recipes
Noodles16 recipes
Soups12 recipes
Vegetables and Small Plates20 recipes
Fish and Seafood18 recipes
Meat and Poultry18 recipes
Eggs and Tofu12 recipes
Fried12 recipes
The Grill and the Pan14 recipes
One Pot at the Table12 recipes
Pickles and Sweet Things16 recipes
The Art of Japanese Cooking The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook
Start with the dashi. Everything follows.

Take both. Pay less than for two.

The method and the food, delivered together the moment you check out.

  • The Complete Japanese Kitchen Handbook — 712 pages, 1,200 entries
  • The Art of Japanese Cooking — 180 recipes, photographed
  • The printable Japanese shopping list, free with the bundle
Secure checkout · Instant delivery · 7-day money-back guarantee
Questions

Before you order

What is the difference between the two books?

The handbook is the method: 1,200 numbered techniques telling you what something is, why it works and what goes wrong. The cookbook is the cooking: 180 recipes, one page each, photographed, with times and quantities. Most people who buy one come back for the other, which is why the bundle exists.

What is the free printable shopping list?

Three printable A4 sheets you can take to the shop: the seven things to buy first and what to look for on the label, the eight that can wait, the swaps that work and the ones that quietly ruin a dish, and a blank list to fill in at home. It comes with the bundle at no extra cost.

Do I need specialist Japanese equipment?

No. Both books explain useful specialist tools where they genuinely help, but the methods and recipes are written for an ordinary home kitchen, with honest substitutions and shopping guidance.

Is it suitable for a complete beginner?

Yes. Start with the pantry chapter and dashi, then cook a small group of dishes from the cookbook. Experienced cooks can use the numbered entries and the index as a reference.

Do they cover food safety?

Yes. Risk warnings sit beside the relevant techniques and recipes, including raw and lightly cured fish, raw egg, hot oil, fermenting and pickling, mochi and konnyaku. Always follow the stated temperatures, times and salt percentages.

How will I receive them?

Digitally, straight after checkout. The PDFs read on a phone, tablet or computer, and the contents pages are clickable. No subscription is required.

What is the refund policy?

7-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If a book doesn't deliver what's promised on this page within your first week, reply to the delivery email and we'll refund you in full. After 7 days, refunds are handled case by case. The guarantee is real — we'd rather refund a reader who didn't get value than keep money from someone who isn't happy.