Cookpad is Japan's largest recipe sharing service that was founded in 1997 (then it was called Coin Ltd., then Kitchen@coin the following year, and finally Cookpad in 1999) in Japan by Aki Sano. The site enjoys 60 million monthly users in Japan and 40 million monthly users globally. Users can upload and search through original and user-created recipes. As of December 2018, Cookpad has more than 5 million registered recipes.
Cookpad has been a godsend. Whenever I encounter or receive an ingredient I have no idea how to use (ex. gobo or burdock, and nagaimo or Chinese yam are some ingredients unfamiliar to me before I moved to Japan), Cookpad generates tens, sometimes hundreds of recipes, from savory to sweet. And because most of the users are ordinary people like myself, the recipes are simple and mostly foolproof.
Then I discovered Cookpad cookbooks. Cookpad culled through the best and most popular recipes from their website and compiled them into cookbooks guaranteed to be oil splattered with use. I discovered this particular Cookpad cookbook called "あの店あの味絶品レシピ" (roughly, recipes for exquisite dishes reminiscent of this or that taste from this or that restaurant). This book is a gem. Every recipe I've tried so far is easy to make and has won raves from my family.
One of the recipes that I have made several times now is this recipe that hacks Lawson Convenience Store's Karaage Kun chicken nuggets. Now, I have never tried Lawson's chicken nuggets but this recipe does not include any preservatives or artificial ingredients. Another recipe that is a hit with the kids is the kissaten (Japanese coffee shop) spaghetti napolitan.
As the pandemic continues to keep us home, now is a great time to grab this Cookpad cookbook and try recreating some of your favorites in your own kitchen.
