Some of the most rewarding Japanese food never makes it onto restaurant menus. It lives on the family table, in small plates of pickles, simmered vegetables, and a couple of satisfying mains, all served together and shared. That is the world of Osozai, and it is the subject of this week's cookbook review.
Meg Tanaka is the co-founder, with Zenta Tanaka, of CIBI, the Japanese-inspired cafe, grocer, and design store in Collingwood, Melbourne. Osozai: Everyday Japanese Home Cooking is CIBI's second cookbook, following Cibi: Simple Japanese-Inspired Meals to Share With Family and Friends, and it is published by HarperCollins.
In Japanese home cooking, osozai are the everyday dishes that bring balance, color, and flavor to the family table. Think bright salads, quick pickles, simmered vegetables, and a few hearty mains, the kind of food that is cooked often, eaten together, and rarely written down.
The book gathers 80 of these recipes. Some are the dishes Meg grew up eating, like pumpkin nimono and hakusai pickles. Others are what she now cooks at home for friends and family, from kara-age and miso butter corn to a smashed cucumber and edamame salad she describes simply as "a real staple."
What makes Osozai different from many Japanese cookbooks is the way it thinks about a meal. Instead of building dinner around one centerpiece, the book encourages you to put together a small spread: one or two mains, a vegetable dish or two, something pickled, and rice. It is a flexible, generous way to cook, and it fits easily into a busy week once you have a few dishes in your repertoire.
It is also a natural resource for anyone looking for good Japanese side dishes. Many of the vegetable recipes can sit alongside a simple roast or grilled fish just as happily as they would on a traditional Japanese table.
To put the book to the test, we cooked several recipes from across its chapters. One of its strengths became clear quickly: the techniques are practical and repeatable. Once you understand a marinade or a cooking method, it carries easily from one ingredient to the next, which is exactly the kind of everyday cooking osozai is built on.
Throughout, the instructions were clear and the ingredient lists manageable, even for cooks who are new to the Japanese pantry.
The book is written for home cooks at every level. If you are new to miso, dashi, and mirin, you will find enough guidance to get started without feeling overwhelmed. If you already cook Japanese food regularly, you will find dishes worth cooking on repeat and adapting to your own table.
The recipes also feel at home outside Japan. Dishes like Ginger Pork with Lemon, Cauliflower and Potato Salad with Spiced Sour Cream, and Everybody Loves Honey Sesame Chicken Wings reflect the relaxed, modern way many Japanese families cook today, drawing on local ingredients while keeping the balance and restraint that define the cuisine.
It is worth noting the company the book keeps. Nancy Singleton Hachisu, whose Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook we reviewed previously, writes that the book "is so much more than the dishes. It's about community." After cooking from it, that feels like a fair summary.
Osozai is a warm, practical, and thoughtfully put together cookbook. Meg Tanaka captures the spirit of Japanese home cooking without making it feel precious, and the result is a collection of dishes that are easy to cook, easy to combine, and easy to love.
If you want to cook Japanese food more often, not just for special occasions but on an ordinary Tuesday night, this is one of the most approachable Japanese cookbooks you can start with.
Osozai is a warm and practical cookbook from CIBI co-founder Meg Tanaka, bringing the balanced, shareable dishes of everyday Japanese home cooking to any kitchen.
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