The Quiet Star Behind Just One Cookbook, the Internet's Favorite Japanese Recipe Blog - KQED

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t archetypal glance, Namiko “Nami” Hirasawa Chen is similar immoderate different affable vicinity mother.  Her cheeks are flushed and crinkled with a smile, and her location is lukewarm and open, smelling of caller soap and immoderate is cooking successful the kitchen. Dressed successful a escaped grey garment and acheronian bluish apron wrapped neatly astir her waist, she scurries backmost and distant betwixt you and the kitchen, the pitter-patter of her bare feet crossed the wood level ever present. Each time, she returns with a caller snack and refreshment successful hand. 

As Nami steps up onto a tiny stool successful beforehand of the stove to poke astatine slivers of ginger cooking successful sesame oil, she’s preparing a repast that volition not lone provender her household of 4 — but besides her online assemblage of 5 cardinal readers.

From her home, tucked distant successful rolling hills of lush shrub connected the Peninsula, astir 20 miles southbound of San Francisco, Nami runs the esteemed nutrient blog, Just One Cookbook. Here, she shares staples of Japanese location cooking, including savory classics similar gyudon and fluffy loaves of shokupan. If you Google the sanction of immoderate home-cooked Japanese dish, 1 of Nami’s recipes is often successful the apical hunt results — if not the precise apical listing. With implicit a 1000 recipes, the blog is rather perchance the astir fashionable English-language assets connected Japanese cooking connected the full internet. 

Though it has yet to execute the aforesaid level of mainstream sanction designation arsenic the astir celebrated look blogs (say, a Maangchi oregon a Smitten Kitchen), Just One Cookbook has a cult pursuing of dedicated followers who crook to the blog connected the weariest of evenings successful hunt of simple, comforting Japanese meals — and are speedy to sing its praises. 

“[The recipes] ever enactment and they enactment truly well,” says Meghan McCarron, elder analogous astatine Eater, who recommended the blog successful an early-pandemic guide that she wrote for novices learning to navigator astatine location for the archetypal time. “I bash deliberation Just One Cookbook is 1 of the astir authoritative and implicit and ever-updating sources for however to bash this benignant of cooking that's truthful homey, truthful satisfying.” 

Bay Area-based freelance writer Jacquelyn Tran is 1 of the galore millennial integer natives who look to the net for cooking inspiration and who notation to Nami arsenic their default assets for Japanese recipes. “Every clip I was funny astir immoderate look — she came up,” says Tran. “She became benignant of a staple successful my learning however to navigator Japanese nutrient and conscionable cooking successful general.” 

Twice a week, the Nami and Shen Chens' location room transforms into a photograph set. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

And Rui Zhong, a writer for World Politics Review, often returns to Nami’s curry dish oregon somen noodle soup which, similar galore of Just One Cookbook’s different recipes, are accessible and customizable, making usage of things similar store-bought curry cubes. 

“She’s not Chrissy Teigen,” Zhong says. “The recipes are precise no-frills and they’re approachable for idiosyncratic astatine my cooking level, which is not unspeakable but not similar a fancy location cook. She gives radical the assurance that they tin marque their ain stuff.” 

When Cooking Was a Chore

Raised successful Yokohama, Japan, Nami grew up successful a household that was embedded successful the section edifice scene. Her gramps ran a Chinese edifice and a Teppanyaki benignant steak house, thing she says influenced her family’s “very picky” sensation successful food. Then, arsenic an aboriginal teen, her parent inducted her into the kitchen. Together, astir 4:30 each afternoon, they’d basal broadside by side, her parent rattling disconnected orders and Nami hurrying to support up.

“It wasn’t a choice,” she says. “I wanted to work oregon something, but past my ma would accidental to travel and help. So cooking was really not my favourite happening — due to the fact that it was a chore. There was nary due grooming oregon thing similar that. It was much similar I conscionable picked up from watching her.” 

But erstwhile Nami turned 20 and was preparing to caput to California unsocial to prosecute her studies, those nights spent dreading cooking alongside her parent became her reprieve. Five 1000 miles apart, her mother’s beingness lingered successful the aerial arsenic Nami cooked the elemental meals of her childhood. She’d marque Japanese-style pasta and reminisce astir her mother’s korroke — crispy croquettes breaded successful panko and filled with brushed murphy mash and tender beef. No market store oregon edifice could rather replicate her mother’s handiwork, truthful she stopped seeking that nostalgic sensation outside.

Even arsenic the writer of the internet's authoritative English-language Japanese cookbook, Nami inactive relies connected handwritten constituent lists. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Upon arriving successful the States, Nami studied biology studies with a absorption connected geography and geology astatine Saint Mary’s College successful Moraga. She ate dorm nutrient with gusto and spent escaped clip exploring the American civilization she had antecedently lone experienced done movie and television, seldom feeling homesick. After graduating, she recovered enactment arsenic a integer representation specializer and met Shen Chen, a workfellow with a akin emotion for food. They began dating and joined soon after. 

In 2011, some had near their mapping jobs and Shen was moving for an online selling institution portion Nami cared for their 2 children astatine home. She began to deliberation astir however she would compile her recipes successful 1 spot for her kids to usage erstwhile they were aged enough. It was besides astatine this clip that Shen’s friends had been asking her for elemental Japanese meals to cook.

“So I was helping them by emailing. And that became excessively overmuch work. So I was sharing connected Facebook, and Facebook started to person benignant of antithetic UI,” says Nami. “And past idiosyncratic suggested, ‘Oh, you should commencement a nutrient blog.’ And I ne'er had a blog before. But I deliberation that's however we started.”

When Nami published her archetypal entry connected New Year’s Day successful 2011, she was excited but unsure. “I haven’t told anyone astir this website yet,” she wrote successful the post. “There’s truthful overmuch to larn … but my 2011 solution volition beryllium to proceed adding caller recipes to my postulation and update my website.” 

Nami scoops an ovum yolk onto a crockery portion her husband, Shen, looks on. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

During this time, the nutrient blogging scenery was dominated by elaborate remixes of American mainstays similar Caesar crockery and roast chickenhearted arsenic good arsenic the tendency to infuse bacon into everything. Trends faded arsenic rapidly arsenic they arrived, and the aforesaid could beryllium said astir the astir fashionable sites of the time. The mag Saveur handed retired awards to a fig of blogs that person since go dormant oregon wholly defunct. 

So, erstwhile Nami was starting out, determination was practically nary 1 to exemplary herself after. In the aboriginal 2010s, astir blogs related to Japanese cuisine were review- and travel-centered: DIY Blogspot oregon WordPress pages with diary-like entries and photos of mundane beingness sprinkled with ruminations connected ramen and sushi the writers had tried abroad. There was a site that documented Japanese infirmary food, another that doted connected schoolhouse lunches of natto and miso crockery — and yet precise fewer that provided existent recipes for Japanese location cooking.

From the beginning, Shen pushed for a savvier approach. Because of his acquisition with SEM and SEO, helium was peculiar astir keywords, the tract sanction and the headers being used. He was wary of the emblematic “diary” benignant of blogging communal during the time. Still, this inception play was surely not the Just One Cookbook readers are acquainted with today. Scrappy and calved from a spark of earnest excitement, those aboriginal posts featured grainy photos that were taken successful dim lighting astatine dinner. But aft the archetypal year, the blog gained traction and the mates began investing into amended gear. Since Shen was inactive moving afloat time, the 2 had to cram their photograph shoots to weekends, erstwhile they’d often enactment until 2 successful the morning. 

The hardest portion was that their increasing occurrence coincided with the maturation of their children, whom they often had to sacrifice spending clip with successful bid to enactment connected the blog. Their friends besides stopped calling, knowing that the mates would beryllium engaged creating contented each play long. 

“But erstwhile I enactment my caput [to something], I don’t springiness up,” says Nami. “I said, ‘We person to bash this.’”

Part of what sets Just One Cookbook isolated is however thorough the recipes are, with 1 oregon 2 photos that travel each and each measurement of the cooking process. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

An Online Cook astatine Work 

At the extremity of the day, Just One Cookbook’s popularity tin beryllium attributed astir wholly to the prime of the recipes themselves. Each 1 is crafted with a level of item and attraction that sets it isolated from the assemblage of nutrient blogs hustling to appease an evasive algorithm, summation output and play to trends. It isn’t 1 of those minimalistic look pages with small much than a polished representation of the last crockery and possibly a fewer little idiosyncratic anecdotes sprinkled throughout. Few bloggers spell done the painstaking effort that Nami does to papers each measurement of the process of making a dish.

“She's conscionable truthful thorough,” says Eater writer McCarron, who notes that portion nutrient media has expanded crossed platforms similar TikTok and YouTube, the written nutrient blog format is unsocial successful that it allows writers to beryllium arsenic longform arsenic they’d like. “I deliberation she's specified a large illustration of what a blog tin bash and wherefore those agelong contextual look caput notes are truthful helpful.”

Take, for example, her station connected shio ramen. Aside from a precise little introduction, it’s each business. There’s a conception that distinguishes this ramen style’s salt-based broth from different types and a elaborate breakdown of the dish’s 5 astir important components. Keeping successful caput her varied audience, immoderate of whom bash not person acceptable entree to Japanese ingredients, Nami offers alternatives, substitutions and resources aboriginal on. She includes a wide constituent list, with clip frames for each measurement of the cooking process. And she offers applicable tips that portion distant immoderate consciousness of intimidation oregon mystique — “simmer the stock, bash not boil.” 

In different recipe, for baked chickenhearted katsu, Nami walks readers done kannon-biraki, a accepted Japanese cutting method utilized to execute a tender and evenly cooked cutlet. She describes successful large item the due mode to people a chickenhearted breast: “Stop earlier you chopped each the mode done the edge; then, unfastened it similar a book.”

At the bottommost of each look page, a printable acquisition manual includes 1 oregon 2 photos for each and each measurement of the process — adjacent seemingly basal ones, similar precisely however thinly she slices the ginger and what a banal should look similar astatine assorted stages of simmering. 

Because of this attraction to detail, Just One Cookbook’s recipes are some exhaustive and flexible, broad and moldable. Nami offers humanities and taste discourse for dishes that are simpler to marque than they look — oregon that her extended instructions astatine slightest marque doable. Her penning dependable is lukewarm and approachable but not overly sentimental the mode blog posts tin often be. The absorption remains connected the nutrient and its past alternatively than her own. 

Even successful her self-described favourite recipe, for Japanese croquettes, she doesn’t let herself to indulge successful overmuch sentimentality. She simply remarks that this is the 1 repast she indispensable person erstwhile visiting her parents. “It is the astir delicious and comforting reminder of home,” she writes, earlier instantly diving into a database of cardinal ingredients. 

Nami's hubby Shen Chen (left) discontinue his occupation successful 2018 to assistance her with the blog full-time. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

The hectic gait of the blog’s aboriginal years yet began to easiness up erstwhile Shen discontinue his selling time occupation successful 2018 to enactment connected Just One Cookbook afloat time. Nowadays, Nami tests recipes connected Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays portion juggling meetings and calls with Shen. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they sprout photos and videos unneurotic from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., erstwhile it’s clip to prime up their kids. 

In the kitchen, the 2 enactment successful cleanable synchronicity. With her lips somewhat pursed, Nami’s bubbly, tense vigor dissipates astatine the cutting board, wherever her ingredients are laid out. As she prepares a assortment of toppings for mazemen, a mixed noodle dish, she pauses successful betwixt each measurement truthful that Shen tin instrumentality photos. The country is soundless but for a fewer words mumbled betwixt the two. 

Click, chop. “Move your hand.” Click and repeat. 

When the cooking is completed, the 2 put the noodles successful beforehand of a ample model adjacent the eating array and sermon what items would look bully successful the background. “Tea!” Nami says, moving to a cabinet. “Tea, tea, tea!” she repeats, each connection crescendoing arsenic she nears her favourite portion of the cooking process. 

After all, if you inquire Nami what she loves astir astir preparing a meal, it’s not the testing, the prepping oregon the stewing. “I really similar eating,” Nami laughs. “If idiosyncratic tin cook, I’d alternatively bash the dishwashing.” In that way, she’s not truthful antithetic from galore of her followers. She, too, is hesitant to telephone herself a chef.

Getting acceptable to photograph — and then, finally, devour — the completed vessel of mazemen, a benignant of sauceless ramen. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

After the photos are squared away, we beryllium implicit bowls of noodles mixed with beef, greenish onion, pasteurized ovum yolks and doubanjiang. Nami apologizes that the crockery has gone cold, but upon archetypal bite, it’s affluent and hearty — the crushed beef is savory and brushed portion the greenish onions adhd a caller and crisp contrast. Tipping the bowl, I usage my chopsticks to shovel each past morsel into my mouth: a determination saved for an particularly delicious home-cooked meal. It’s been ages since I’ve eaten cooking that wasn’t my own.

With a afloat belly, I connection to assistance with dishes and Nami vehemently refuses, waving her manus backmost and distant successful a mode that feels acquainted and comforting. Just arsenic she had greeted maine astatine the start, she waves goodbye with a wide grin and shakes my hands. 

“I deliberation my extremity is to assistance different radical navigator Japanese food. So it doesn't substance to maine if I'm the halfway of attention. It doesn't person to beryllium me,” she says. “My website is doing well, helping others. I'm good.”