Green Beans with Sesame Dressing (Ingen no goma-ae) | #JapaneseHomeCooking

I used to believe that Japanese was somewhat of an elusive entity to me; it existed, but just beyond my realm of understanding. I've made a few Japanese recipes over the years, almost always something very basic. But here's the thing I've started to realize—Japanese cooking isn't as out of reach as it sometimes seems.

Like anything, a solid knowledge and skill base builds a foundation and unclouds vision. That's what (Iron) Chef Masaharu Morimoto offers up in his new cookbook, Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking. While admitting that this book does not, and could not, contain "every dish in the Japanese grandmother's repertoire", it does feature ones that he whip up in your kitchen if he could...his favorites.