351 replies to this topic

[helenjp]

Leeks are hard to find in Japan. If you do spot one, it will be calling itself a poronegi or a riiki/riiku.

Ordinary naganegi don't soften enough on cooking to substitute - they are a slightly different plant, actually. Best bet would be the short, stubby Shimonita negi.

[Blether]

It's soup time around these parts, and I want to try my hand at leek and potato soup!

Just use your normal supermarket negi. You can leave out the coarse leaf tops if it bugs you - I started out being that fussy, but these days I just use the whole thing.

With due respect to Helen, I find they soften up fine, gently sweated in oil for 10 or 15 minutes before I bung in the stock & spuds.

[torakris]

I have only seen leeks in International supermarkets in Tokyo and they are usually about 700 to 800yen for 1! Normally they are labeled in katakana as riiki but I have seen them once or twice as poronegi.

I make potato-leek soup quite a bit (both hot and cold versions) and I always use the plain old supermarket naganegi with no problem.

[prasantrin]

Thanks! I'll pass on the leeks (Y700! I need to save that money for Thai rice!), and look for shimonita negi first, and if that fails, I'll go for the naganegi and just sweat them a bit longer. I wish I had a nice little farm nearby that would sell cheap vegetables--they've all sold out to build apartment buildings.

When researching shimonita negi, I found http://washokufood.b...anegi-leek.html . It'll give me some options for other leek substitutes if I ever decide to look past naganegi.

[I8U8]

Or what is sold in supermarkets around me as エシャロット?  (Which I thought were shallots, but they look more like large green onions than the shallots I know, so I thought they might be leeks).

For what it's worth,

In the 1950s エシャロット was given to ラッキョウ for marketing purposes. Scientific name, Allium chinense.

Leeks (Allium porrum) are sold under the names of ニラネギ, リーキ, せいようねぎ and in some cases, alluding to the scientific name, ポロねぎ (Porro is also the Italian name).

[prasantrin]

Are むきごま just untoasted sesame seeds? Or are they different somehow that regular goma? (In the pictures, they just look untoasted, but otherwise look the same.)

[Hiroyuki]

Are むきごま just untoasted sesame seeds? Or are they different somehow that regular goma? (In the pictures, they just look untoasted, but otherwise look the same.)

Untosted? In the pictures? What pictures? むきごま = Dehulled sesame seeds, right?

[prasantrin]

Are むきごま just untoasted sesame seeds? Or are they different somehow that regular goma? (In the pictures, they just look untoasted, but otherwise look the same.)

Untosted? In the pictures? What pictures? むきごま = Dehulled sesame seeds, right?

Ah--no hulls? I was going to get these むきごま to make sesame paste. The other kind they sell are just labelled 白ごま and they looked a little more browned, so I thought they might be toasted while むきごま might be untoasted.

I guess I'll have to get my sesame seeds elsewhere. I don't need 1 kg of sesame seeds, and the 白ごま only comes in 1 kg packages!

[Hiroyuki]

Thanks for the links. It's now clear what mukigoma are.
White sesame seeds with their hypodermis removed.

I usually buy a 1-kg bag because it's economical and I like sesame seeds!

[GlorifiedRice]

Hi I ordered a product from Rakuten, does the following mean they arent sending it due they dont ship internationally?

-----------------
'このたびお買上げありがとうございます。
記載しています通り国際便は準備中のためお届けができませんのでご了承下さい。
来年度より予定しておりますのでご了承下さい。
美と健康のバイタミンワールド
URL: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/k-vitamin/
お問い合わせ osanai.akira@rouge.plala.or.jp
　　　　TEL 078-252-0250　/　FAX 078-252-0251
　　　　WEB SHOP店長：長内　章

-----------------------

TY

[Blether]

Hi I ordered a product from Rakuten, does the following mean they arent sending it due they dont ship internationally?

Yes, but it also says they are preparing to start international shipments from next year.

[GlorifiedRice]

http://en.item.rakut...-bafa/10007637/

Can anyone please tell me which flavor is which color?

TYIA

Edited by GlorifiedRice, 14 November 2009 - 03:49 PM.

[prasantrin]

Purple is sesame, yellow is okara, and orange is konnyaku.

All the flavours are listed in hiragana, which is pretty easy to learn to read. That and katakana would help you a lot if you're going to continue purchasing from Japanese websites. (Learning the meanings of basic kanji in addition to those would help even more. You don't even have to learn the readings, just basic recognition.)

[GlorifiedRice]

Prasantrin?
I wish I could get anything to stick in my brain nowadays, but unfortunately my brains far too spent from stress and anxiety to even read a book.
:(

[GlorifiedRice]

Can someone please tell me the directions here?

Thanks in advance

[Hiroyuki]

Mannanhikari gohan with calories reduced by 33%

- For 2 go of cooked rice

1. Wash 1 go of rice.
1 go of rice = approx. 150 g of rice

Do not wash Mannanhikari.

2. Drain rice, and add 1 bag (75 g) of this product.

3. Add water to the pot up to the 2-go level, stir slightly, and cook in a normal way.

Note: If you cook in a pot not a rice cooker
Amount of water: 480 cc

- For 3 go of cooked rice

1.5 go of uncooked rice + 1.5 bag (113 g) of this product + water up to the 3 go level

Note: If you cook in a pot not a rice cooker
Amount of water: 720 cc

Mannanhikari gohan wth calories reduced by 25%

- For 3 go of cooked rice

2 go of uncooked rice + 1 bag (75 g) of this product + water up to the 3 go level

Note: If you cook in a pot not a rice cooker
Amount of water: 690 cc

[GlorifiedRice]

Thank You Hiroyuki!

[GlorifiedRice]

How do I make these shakes? Are the directions the same for both?

Thanks,

Preesi

[Hiroyuki]

Yes, the directions are exactly the same:

Put one bag (25 g) in a large cup, add 150 to 200 ml of water or milk, and stir well.

[GlorifiedRice]

TY TY TY Hiroyuki...

[STP]

As you may already be aware, I was deciding about buying a Kezuriki (see my post in the forum) and I finally settled for the e-dashi one which should be in my hands quite soon :)

I looked at the following two web pages which describe the use and maintenance of the Kazuriki:
http://www.e-dashi.c...i/kezuriki.html
http://www.e-dashi.c...kezurikata.html

From the confusing Japanese – English translation of Google Chrome (by the way, are you aware of a better alternative?) what I got regarding the usage is:

1 wipe with a dry (absolutely not wet) cloth the dry bonito to remove excess mould

2 start cutting using an angle of approximately 45 degrees

3 if cuts are too thin or too thick adjust the blade (here the translation suggests that pieces of blade may fall into the bonito flakes if cut is too thick, I really hope it's a translation issue!!! :P)

Regarding the maintenance:

1 after use remove the oil and fat from the plane and remove the flakes from the blade (I may add, possibly without cutting my finger :P)

I would really appreciate if someone with a better knowledge of Japanese could verify whether I am missing some fundamental aspects of the cutting of the bonito and of the maintenance of this precious item :)

Thank you in advance for any help!

Cheers

[STP]

Just in case anyone is interested I actually paid a translator for these two web-pages. I am more than happy to give the English translation to anyone who want them.