Practically any home-cooked Japanese meal revolves around rice. It sits beside miso soup, pickles, tofu, and a piece of grilled fish at breakfast. It soaks up the sauce in a comforting donburi bowl, or is wrapped in nori for the ultimate portable lunchonigiri. And its there for dinner, perhaps served with a pickled plum, some mild Japanese curry, braised fish, or even a Japanese-style Hamburg steak.

The everyday meals, cooked in the homes of Japanese mothers and grandmothers, is the food that Emiko Davies grew up with. Theyre the dishes she makes for her own children: simple, satisfying food like tamagonogohan (stir fried egg and rice), soba noodle soup, Japanese curry, yakisoba, and miso soup, prepared with whatever seasonal vegetables happen to be around.

Unlike what many people think, Japanese home cooking is not fiddly, nor time consuming. Its quick and remarkably simple, thanks to the Japanese philosophy that fresh, seasonal food doesnt need much to enhance its natural flavor.