Baachan and my relationship was founded on our time spent cooking together. Growing up, I knew whenever she and my Jiichan would come to visit, we would be making gyoza and inarizushi. I had my designated job—stuffing the skins with the filling. It was always fun to be in the kitchen with her, making (and eating) these Japanese staples.
In 2020, the pandemic hit and I moved from my college apartment to my parents house, where Baachan was also living. In the first few months of the pandemic we cooked many Japanese dishes together. The more we cooked together, the more I wanted a record of Baachan’s recipes for myself to use with my future family. And, as I shared more of our cooking adventures on my social media, I found that others wanted her recipes as well. And so, Cooking with Baachan was born.
Baachan & me cooking in 2007 and 2020
Each of the recipes included in the book have been hand selected based on dishes we eat in our everyday lives. On hot summer days we eat somen, we make gyoza for family parties, and Baachan always prepares inarizushi in a bento for when we go on family trips. The miso soup and tamagoyaki recipes are the same dishes Baachan makes every morning for her breakfast.
This project started as a way to stretch myself photographically, and quickly turned into a much bigger endeavor than Baachan and I could have envisioned! We hope that you take these well-loved, simple family recipes, and incorporate them into your own life.
Included are 30 of our favorite family recipes, including tonkatsu, gyoza, inarizushi, tempura, sukiyaki, and more!