Osozai

Bringing balance, colour and flavour to the family table, osozai are everyday dishes in Japanese home cooking. Bright salads, quick pickles, simmered vegetables and satisfying mains - simple, home-style dishes designed to fit everyday life and be enjoyed together.

Featuring 80 accessible recipes made for sharing, this cookbook showcases the food Meg grew up eating - pumpkin nimono, hakusai pickles - and the food she now cooks at home for friends and family - kara-age, miso butter corn, smashed cucumber and edamame salad.

Whether you're new to miso, dashi and mirin or looking to build a regular spread, you'll find dishes to cook on repeat and make your own. This is modern Japanese cooking at its best: thoughtful, nourishing and full of joy.

'This book is so much more than the dishes. It's about community' - NANCY SINGLETON HACHISU, AUTHOR OF JAPAN: THE COOKBOOK

'A balanced collection of tasty recipes that could work in any home, all of which I will happily add to my own family repertoire'- ANDREW McCONNELL, CHEF AND RESTAURATEUR

'Transform not only a meal, but the way we gather, nourish and connect'- HELEN GOH, AUTHOR OF BAKING AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

About the Author

Meg Tanaka is the co-founder and food director of CIBI, a lifestyle concept brand established in Melbourne, Australia in 2008 together with her husband, co-founder and creative director Zenta Tanaka. What began as a small cafe and design store has grown into a cross-cultural platform spanning food, design and everyday living, with locations in Melbourne and Japan, including Tokyo and Okayama. At the heart of CIBI is a philosophy of enriching daily life through thoughtful design, nourishing food and the everyday happiness that brings people together.

Meg's work is grounded in washoku, traditional Japanese food culture, shaped by growing up in a multi-generational family in Okayama, Japan, and guided by the belief that food should nourish both body and soul. Meg introduces Japanese home cooking to a wider audience through recipes that are easy to prepare yet rich in flavour, intention, and care - food designed not to impress, but to be lived with.