Japanese taste inspires this American chef

California native Eric Gower recently returned after a decade or so in Japan exploring aspects of Japanese cooking — using shiso, ginger, sake and tofu, and fresh produce, fish and meats.

Now he’s put the results of his own experiments in fusion cooking into a book, "The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen: Inspired New Tastes," full of easy recipes for American home cooks to try.

Most of them take very little time to prepare — including the two sampled here.

With the "bacon" recipe, Gower says, the idea is to slice the lean pork very thinly so it doesn’t need much cooking; the sugars in the marmalade brown very quickly under a hot broiler. The "bacon" is good with rice, some pickles, and perhaps a salad or other vegetable side dish.

Another thought: This would be great with poached eggs and a mimosa on a Sunday morning.

Grilled marmalade "bacon" with <

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lemon and ginger

Curried apple pilaf