To support your cooking
This is a guide to help optimize your use of Cookbook. Please browse any content of interest.
1. Cautions for Food Ingredients
For all food products, please adhere to the guidelines provided by your local Food Safety Information Center. In some countries and regions, cooking and consumption methods introduced in recipes on this website may not be recommended. Pay special attention to dishes that involve consuming ingredients raw or partially cooked. Information about the journey of food ingredients to your table, such as how they were produced, distributed, and stored, may be available at stores, so please inquire. Additionally, ensure to wash your hands thoroughly before preparing meals, and cook with clean ingredients and utensils.
Seafood
The well-known Japanese dishes of sushi and sashimi consist of seafood that is eaten raw. Take caution, as some types of seafood are not suitable for raw consumption due to their type and storage methods. Recipes indicating “sashimi-grade” for certain ingredients are intended for raw consumption.
Meat
Please do not consume meat raw. Bacteria, viruses, and parasites that attach to meat during processing are highly susceptible to heat. Therefore, it is vital to cook meat thoroughly before eating.
Eggs
For sukiyaki and rice bowl recipes, raw eggs may be used. Additionally, onsen tamago (hot spring eggs) and poached eggs are served half-raw. Please be cautious, as in some countries and regions, eggs are not produced or distributed with the intention of raw consumption.
2. Ingredients of Interest
Please use the following tools for ingredients you want to use or avoid using for various reasons.
Using ‘How to Search’
In addition to allowing searches for preferred ingredients and themes, this tool also enables recipe searches that include or exclude certain ingredients for a variety of reasons. For this, please check the “How to Search” feature and use it to find the most suitable recipes for you.
Using ‘Glossary’
Please click on each ingredient link to our Glossary where information on alternative ingredients may be listed.
※ About alcohol usage in cooking
In Cookbook recipes, the common Japanese seasonings of “mirin” and “sake (cooking sake)” are often used. Both of these seasonings contain alcohol. Please refer to information in the links for alternatives, when necessary.
Information on Kikkoman products
For the ingredients and production process of Kikkoman products, please check out the Kikkoman product website for your area.
3. Tips for Cooking and Preparation
Cooking equipment and products vary by location. Please refer to the following information as a reference.
When using plastic bags, containers and wrap
Please confirm resistance to hot and cold temperatures. Also check that these are microwave safe and be careful not to overheat when using in a microwave.
When using a microwave
Many of our recipes use a microwave at 600W (or 500W). Please note that the higher the wattage, the shorter the required heating time.
E.g. 1 min at 600W = 50 secs at 800W, 40 secs at 1000W and 30 secs at 1200W
Please confirm the heat resistance temperatures of plastic wrap and containers when using in a microwave.
About measurements
Please refer to Weights and Measurements for measurement unit conversions.
Cooking preparation
Please refer to Cooking Basics for ingredient-specific preparation techniques.
For detailed information on ingredients and cooking tools, please refer to the ‘Ingredients’, ‘Seasonings’ and ‘Kitchen Tools’ sections of the ‘Glossary.’
