Hiroko Shimbo is a trained sushi chef, restaurant consultant, cooking instructor, and cookbook author.

She wrote The Japanese Kitchen, which was a Food & Wine magazine's “Best of the Best” winner and an IACP Julia Child Cookbook Award nominee in 2001. In 2006, she published The Sushi Experience. She has also written for Saveur, National Culinary Review, Art of Eating and other magazines.

Hiroko began her career in 1989 in Tokyo by opening Hiroko's Kitchen, where she introduced the art of Japanese and Asian cooking to the foreign community in Japan.

In 1999, Hiroko moved to New York and as well as working on her writing, she consults for the food and restaurant industries, specifially helping restaurants that want to enter the Japanese restaurant industry. She helps restaurateurs realize their concept, develops recipes and menus and helps with staff training and instruction manuels. 

Hiroko developed a exclusive line of product imports for Mutual Trading Company, which is one of the largest Japanese food and restaurant equipment importers and distributors. The line includes products researched and found by Hiroko and now available in the United States.

Hiroko travels extensively in the United States and Europe as a guest instructor. She teaches both avocational and professional students at cooking schools.

She is a frequent guest on radio and television programs. She has appeared on the Food Network, Roker on the Road series, several episodes of PBS television programs. Hiroko is also featured on devour TV, a website produced by an online video company at www.devour.tv, where she instructs viewers on the preparation of easy-to-make Japanese dishes.

Hiroko lives in New York City and her website is www.hirokoskitchen.com.