Cibi: Simple Japanese-Inspired Meals to Share with Family and Friends

Cibi, a café and store in Melbourne, Australia, was built on the core theme of “head, hands, heart,” and that theme comes through in this delightfully imaginative collection of Japanese-inspired dishes that make the most out of seasonal ingredients. Stunners include pearl barley salad with shiitake mushrooms, beetroot, and feta, and beef shigureni, in which thinly sliced beef is stir-fried with ginger, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake, then placed atop a leaf of iceberg lettuce with Japanese mayonnaise and dusted with spices and angel hair chilis. The mash-ups continue with Japanese caprese—an ingenious riff composed of fresh tomatoes, tofu, and shiso leaves with a soy vinaigrette—which nicely accompanies the Tanakas’ cabbage and corn pancakes, salmon baked en papillote with mushrooms and miso sauce, or roasted eggplant and green beans with tahini ginger dressing. For desserts, there are sake and matcha chocolate truffles, a fig and ginger cake, and a chocolate gateau. The Tanakas blend a playful approach to healthy, flavorful recipes that rely on fresh ingredients. (Nov.)