Chen Kenichi is well known as a chef himself, as the son of Chen Kenmin—considered the father of Sichuan (a Chinese regional style) cooking in Japan, and, most famously, as one of the original Iron Chefs from the cult Japanese TV series on which the American version is based. This wonderful little cookbook reflects all of the above.

Despite the author’s growing up with Sichuan food, the recipes aren’t all spicy or even super hot spicy when they are. They do use a few specialized ingredients that may not be found in the average American kitchen, such as Chinese chili paste, dashi, or sweet soy sauce. But surprisingly few; in true Iron Chef spirit, these recipes reflect the wonderfully different results you can get using some of the same core ingredient(s). All of the ingredients are common enough in Asian cooking to be readily found online if you aren’t lucky enough to have local Asian markets like mine, or a supermarket whose Asian cooking options extend far enough beyond jars of pre-made sauces.

None of the recipes are really difficult, except to a complete cooking novice, and there are even a few recipes they could comfortably tackle, such as one turning a package of ramen noodles into a hot and sour noodle soup by adding a tablespoon of this and that to the seasoning packet. The instructions are very clear, and accompanied by both a photograph of the finished dish and an array of staged photos to keep you on track along the way.  There’s a surprisingly broad range of recipes for such a slim volume, ranging from new lunch options to interesting uses for leftovers and one or two knockout presentations at the end. Most importantly, the recipes are also very good. I was surprised how much difference adding a few things made to that package of ramen (something I'm not usually enamored of), while a spicy spaghetti with broccoli was good with American style broccoli, but an absolute knockout with gai lan (Chinese broccoli—substitute asparagus if you can’t get it) and a few shrimp sprinkled on top (both my innovation). The Ma Po Tofu was miles better than any restaurant take-out version I’ve had, and a steamed cabbage soup recipe reminded me of the Shanghai soup I love at a local restaurant by being comfort food that’s a matter of a simple thing made wonderful through mixing different tastes and textures.

Recommended.