Muriel Miura and I are longtime lunch buddies, with most of those long dining sessions spent planning cookbooks.

We’ve worked together on eight, starting with “What Hawaii Likes to Eat” in 2007. Our ongoing project is the “Hawai‘i Cooks” series, a partnership of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Mutual Publishing Co. to collect home-style recipes that reflect Hawaii’s mixed plate of cuisines.

We’ve worked with writers to complete a number of these cookbooks, and now it’s time for Muriel’s specialty, Japanese cooking.

”A Japanese Kitchen: Traditional Recipes With an Island Twist” is a collection of what Muriel calls “old standbys,” recipes and techniques that she learned from her parents, Minoru and Rose Miura, and those that she developed over a career as a home economist with The Gas Co., teaching others to cook.

Remember the TV show “Cook Japanese” in the 1970s? That was her. Remember the classic “Cook Japanese: Hawaiian Style” in 1974? Her, too.

Muriel says she’d like this book to contribute “in my small way” to the legacy of the Japanese in Hawaii, and to pass on family traditions to her grandchildren.

“I thought about it on my 80th birthday, which was two years ago, because No. 1, I really didn’t think I would be alive to this time,” she says.

In 2006, Mutual published Muriel’s “Japanese Cooking Hawaii Style,” which updated her 1974 book with color photos and new recipes. “A Japanese Kitchen” completes the trilogy, adding an essay on the evolution of the cuisine in Hawaii by food historian Arnold Hiura, several personal stories about the Miura family and more recipes.

“Here I am trying to tie it all up,” is how she puts it.

She also includes sections on types of rice, tea and sake, and one on carving garnishes, illustrated with charming line drawings by her friend, artist Paul Konishi, that date to “Cook Japanese.”

The dishes in the book are nothing fancy, but rather no-nonsense, straightforward cooking.

“You really don’t get to see a lot of these dishes in a restaurant anymore,” Muriel says. “Nobody does this kind of home cooking that we used to love.”

This is her wish: that you will cook from her book with your own two hands and then sit down with your family to eat together, unplugged, the way she remembers sharing meals and conversation with her family.

“These days everybody has got their cellphones or whatever. Nobody really talks at the dinner table. I miss that.”

START COOKING

“Good Japanese cooking requires a spirit of adventure, an artistic eye and imagination,” Muriel Miura writes in “A Japanese Kitchen.”

Dishes can be beautiful but need not be fussy, she maintains. At best they are “neat, simple, artistic.”

These three from her cookbook illustrate her point:

SWISS CHARD SALAD WITH TOFU DRESSING

This dressing is a good basic one to know as it can be used with other vegetables in salads or hot dishes.

• 2 bunches Swiss chard (fudanso)
• 8 cups water
• >> Tofu Dressing
• 1 20-ounce block soft or firm tofu
• 1/2 cup miso
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon dashi no moto (powdered soup stock, optional)

Break and separate chard stems from leafy sections. Bring water to a boil. Add stems and cook 5 minutes, until transparent.

Add leafy sections; cook 3-4 minutes more, until tender.

Drain in colander and rinse in cold water. Tear stems lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips. Cut stems and leaves into 1-inch pieces; squeeze out excess liquid.

To prepare dressing: Wrap tofu in double thickness of cheesecloth and squeeze out excess liquid. Mix tofu thoroughly with miso, sesame seeds, sugar and dashi, if using. Combine with greens; toss lightly and refrigerate 30 minutes or more. Serves 20 to 25 as an appetizer.

‘THORNY’ TEMPURA

Broken pieces of dry somen noodles form the “thorns” in this dish, making a whimsical appetizer or side dish.

• 1/2 pound raw seasoned fish cake
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 ounces dry somen (Japanese wheat flour noodles), broken into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 quart canola oil, for deep-frying
• >> Batter
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch

Form fish cake into walnut-sized balls. Dredge in flour; set aside.

To make batter: Beat egg into water, then add flour and cornstarch. Stir until blended.

Heat oil to 365 degrees. Dip fish cake balls in batter; roll in somen. Deep-fry in oil until golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot. Makes 2 dozen.

Variations:Substitute fish cake with whole shrimp or scallops, chicken pieces or fish fillets.

CUCUMBER WITH MISO SAUCE

This side dish is an example of sunomono, vegetables flavored with a tangy vinegar dressing.

Sunomono is related to tsukemono, which refers to pickled dishes. Sunomono dishes are generally lighter and quickly executed, whereas tsukemono recipes involve soaking in a pickling solution for several hours.

• 2 medium Japanese cucumbers
• >> Miso sauce
• 3 tablespoons miso
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced green onion
• 1 (10-ounce) can baby clams, sliced; reserve 1 teaspoon clam juice
• 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, ground

Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise. Remove seeds, if desired. Cut in thin diagonal slices; set aside.

Combine sauce ingredients, including reserved clam juice; mix well. Chill.

Just before serving, add cucumbers to sauce and toss gently. Serves 6.

Nutritional information unavailable.

“A Japanese Kitchen” is available for $22.95, but a discounted price of $15 is good through Dec. 31 for books picked up at Mutual Publishing Co. in Kaimuki. Online orders begin Oct. 4 at mutualpublishing.com. For other books in the “Hawai‘i Cooks” series — on Korean, Okinawan, Chinese and Filipino cooking — go to the website or call 732-1709. A Portuguese cookbook is out of print but available at public libraries.