In her groundbreaking book, Kimiko Barber presents 100 essential ingredients, from the more familiar, such as soba (noodles) and nori (seaweed), to the more unusual umeboshi (pickled plums) and fu (pretty, colored gluten sponge cakes). Through informative prose, beautiful food photography and images of real people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, The Japanese Kitchen tells the full story behind Japanese cuisine and makes it both inviting and accessible to all.