Osozai: Everyday Japanese Home Cooking

Bringing balance, colour and flavour to the family table, osōzai are the dishes at the heart of Japanese home cooking. Served together as a variety of small plates, they nourish the body, delight the eye, and foster a sense of care and gratitude around the meal. Containing 80 recipes organized by category, including mains, side dishes, salads and soups, this cookbook celebrates both time-honoured favourites and contemporary dishes inspired by the author’s family table and café. Through careful preparation and attention to detail, the recipes reveal how everyday ingredients can be transformed into dishes of considerable depth and flavour.

Tanaka Meg is the co-founder and food director of CIBI, a lifestyle brand connecting food, design and everyday living across Australia and Japan, founded with her husband and creative director, Tanaka Zenta. Raised in a multi-generational family in Okayama, she developed a deep appreciation for Japanese home cooking and the role of food in bringing people together. Her work celebrates considered cooking and the simple joy of sharing food with others.