prasantrin

Sure. It's called "omakase." Of course, if you're in a restaurant where you can do that, you most likely know you'll be getting some kind of seafood, probably raw.

I like it! It's not fork-tender, but I sliced it very thinly so it's tender enough. My only problem is that it's too garlicky. I know many of you are probably thinking, "How can anything be too garlicky?" but let me assure you, using 1 1/2 heads of garlic for a 600g brisket is too much. The biggest problem is that I cannot use the very garlicky yet delicious sauce produced since I'm afraid of reeking of garlic the next day. I'm a teacher, you see, and I don't want my poor students to suffer from garlic odor oozing from my pores (they're very vocal about these things--they told another teacher that she smelled like curry!)! Now I know better...I'll wait till summer holidays to make this one again...or use less garlic (and a lower temperature--I want that fork-tenderness!).

Old Dutch b-b-q potato chips. I used to hide my O'Ryan's sour cream and onion chips, too, but they're not made anymore (at least not in Canada), so I just hide my OD b-b-q ones. I'm already thinking about how many bags/boxes to bring back with me after my trip to Canada this summer. You can bet I won't be sharing those with anyone!

I don't know a single Japanese person who likes cilantro. Of course, I don't know the entire population of Japan, but none of those I've met seem to care for it--even those who have lived abroad in cilantro-loving places. It's quite difficult to find at grocery stores, and I remember having to go to Tokyo (from about 3 hours north) to get some. But the recipe looks good!

My favourite okonomiyaki place in Kyoto closed many years ago, and I have not yet found one to replace it--in Kyoto, that is. If you can travel a bit further (about 90 minutes by Hankyu, less than 60 by JR) I would suggest heading out to Kobe. I know of one okonimiyaki place that has some of that great gyuu-suji okonomiyaki that Kris mentioned, though I don't know for certain that it is made with wagyuu. It's located across from the BAL building--be careful, though. There are two right across from the BAL building--the one that has lighter coloured wood is the one I like. My favourite there is pork with mochi and cheese toppings.

I just poured maple syrup over it and ate it, nothing else was added. It was during a particularly hot summer in Kyoto, so I don't know that I would find it as tasty now as I did then. But I liked it at the time . That being said, the brand of tofu really makes a difference in something like that. One from a small artisinal-type tofu maker--kinu-style that is especially creamy--would be best.

It's quite good doused with some maple syrup!

I found the box of onion soup mix, only it turned out to be concentrated liquid onion soup. Oops. But luckily, my mother sent me one (single) packet of onion soup mix so my brisket is in the oven as I type! However...I'm not so sure about how it's going to turn out. I slathered it with the paste, wrapped it in two layers of foil, and put it in at 140C. The internal temperature at the thickest end is already 190F after only 90 minutes, and it's not fork-tender. In fact, it's not tender at all. This brisket is only 600-ish grams, and it's quite thin--at it's thickest end, it's 2-inches thick at the most. It's not very fatty, either (I chose the one with the most fat running through it, but it was still pretty lean and the covering fat had already been heavily trimmed. Anyway, I decided to lower the oven temp (to 120C) and try cooking it a little longer--to 210F. Hopefully it'll help with the tenderness...If not, well, I'm sure it'll be tasty, anyway! There appears to be a lot of sauce, so perhaps I can use that to help offset the potential toughness...

Filipinos and balut. I don't know any non-Filipino who loves balut. Oddly, my father, who was Thai, loved haggis, fried okra, and gefilte fish.

I've had some and I didn't like it. Very artificial in flavour, and there was some other funky aftertaste. I agree with you on white chocolate-based Pocky--though for me pretty much any white-chocolate based anything is bad. The exceptions would be Matcha Mousse Pocky and Cafe Latte KitKat. Those rock! Oh, and original Clodhoppers--much better than the chocolate ones.

I don't know where you're located, but I would suggest finding a good shoemaker. The prices are not as high as one would think--especially if you consider the workmanship and that you're getting a custom-fit. For hard-to-fit feet, custom-made shoes are really worth the money.

Here's the recipe for a 17cm chiffon cake (the cardboard baking tube pan was about 4-5 inches high)--this is for an Early Grey Chiffon Cake: 3 egg yolks 30g sugar 30cc salad oil 35cc water 5g Earl Grey tea (finely ground) 75g flour For the meringue 130g egg white 35g sugar Note: These recipes all call for medium-sized Japanese eggs. These are, on average, 52g eggs. Someone told me that a 52g egg in Canada is a large egg--I don't know what US egg sizes are. As for the directions...They're in Japanese and my Japanese is...well...less than perfect (much much less). The basics are: Beat egg yolks and 30g sugar until very thick. Add the oil, and beat till a mayonnaise-like consistency. Fold in the tea leaves and water (use a whisk), then sift in the flour and fold (again with the whisk) until blended. The batter will be thick--like melted chocolate. So that if you lift the whisk about 12" straight up from the batter, you'll get a very nice stream of batter (you should be able to see some whisk tine marks at the top of the stream). Beat egg whites until fluffy, then add sugar and beat until stiff peaks--very stiff and thick. Fold in about 1/3 of mixture into batter to lighten. Then add remaining meringue in two more additions. Before each addition, hand beat the meringue again to make it a little stiffer. Bake in a gas oven at 170C 25min, or electric oven at 180C 25min. Note about temp/times--these are for small Japanese-style convection ovens. You may have to play around a bit with them if using a large US oven.

I think the recipe you may be looking for is more similar to a Filipino chiffon cake. The texture is, in my opinion, different from most Western chiffon cakes. Very light, and almost sponge-cake like. I con't have a recipe for one here (my recipe is in Canada), but I have one for a Japanese-style chiffon cake, which is even lighter than Filipino chiffons (or maybe about the same). I'm just off to work, but if you're interested I'll post the recipe (warning--it's for a small chiffon cake--Japanese baking recipes are usually for very small servings).

In some thread somewhere in e-Gullet, someone mentioned finding Maple Syrup Pretz in Canada. It's now available in Japan! It's a limited edition, and for some reason came out at the same time as Potato Cheese. People I've offered it to have liked it. I must admit, I find it a bit artificial-tasting. I'd rather dip some pretz into real maple syrup. Mmmmm...

Could you tell me where in Shinsaibashi it is? When I checked their website, they only mentioned their places in Tokyo--no mention of an Osaka shop at all. Is the Osaka Shunju run by the same company?

I thought of another one. I had never tried pate until I was in my early 30's. It looked like really bad cat food--who would want to eat that? But after I had started on a culinary self-improvement program, I decided I should give it a try. Yum! I'm sure it depends on the pate, but I've had pretty good luck so far! Looking over the things others have mentioned, I used to hate olives, too. Then I spent three months in Morocco, and now I have a new appreciation of them. A good olive is a wonderful thing. A bad olive, however, is enough to turn you off them for life!

This has probably been covered already, but I did not find it in my search, so here I go...feel free to move this wherever it belongs... When I was a child, the idea of maple syrup with sausages repulsed me. I had never tried it, but I knew I wouldn't like it so I never bothered. However, just last month my breakfast sausages accidentally landed in my maple syrup. I was at a friend's place for breakfast, so I could not refuse to eat them. I tried a little bite and...Wow! What a flavour combination! I now have cravings for sausage and maple syrup. Were American-style bacon not so expensive in Japan, I might even try bacon and maple syrup! And I'm wondering what other great foods of food combinations I've missed out on. Any foods you were convinced you'd hate, but were forced to try, and loved?

Thanks, everyone, for the help! I've decided to try finding the Japanese onion soup (not consomme) and tasting it. Now if only I could remember what store it was at (most stores only carry onion consomme, not onion soup). If I should decide it passes the taste test, I'll use that. If it doesn't, then I'll make my own using the recipe Toliver linked to--but use fried onions (deep fried kind) that Scott suggested. And I'll skip the celery salt--I hate celery salt! If that still doesn't taste right, then I'll go with the vegetable soup mix. Whew! So much work for a teeny tiny brisket! I just hope my brisket doesn't come out too dry--they really trim the fat off here!

Last weekend I splurged on 650 gram brisket (for the bargain price of Y1100--about US$10). I wanted to try Pam R's brisket method but it calls for onion soup mix. I cannot find good onion soup mix anywhere--and the one foreign food store I visited that carries Lipton soup mixes carries every flavour of but onion!! So, until I can find a reasonably priced source of onion soup mix, what can I use instead? Here's what I've found... 1. Onion Confit--seems to be little packages of caramelized onions (or something similar). No flavouring from what I can tell, except perhaps a bit of salt. 2. Knorr beef boullion cubes 3. Campbells onion soup (in a can) 4. Fried onions 5. Lots of different types of Good Seasonings salad dressing mixes. 6. Japanese brand of onion consomme (no onion pieces) 7. Japanese brand of onion soup mix with a little bit of onion (have not tried it, so I don't know if the flavour is similar to American onion soup mix) Would any of these, or some combination, make a good substitute to use for brisket?

Were the KitKats in a gold box? And are they bite-sized? I had some of those recently and really liked them. The chocolate is of slightly better quality than usual KitKats--more melt-in-the-mouth-like.

Cafe Latte KitKat is my absolute favourite!!! I hope it's not a seasonal thing, because I want to eat it all year long! And I don't even like chocolate that much!

I'll definitely remember that for next time. My mother is just in the area till tomorrow and didn't let me know she might be going till yesterday! I, however, I'm trying to find a way to get out to Portland sometime this summer. I love the farmer's market! Now my mother's really going to be disappointed about missing that! She loves chicken livers!

How about that old Filipino standby, dinuguan? Not one of my favourites, for sure, but I remember a party or two where it was served. If nothing else, the recipe can be used as a guide for using pork blood in a stew...

I checked out your website (the link is missing a 'w' from 'www', by the way) and darn it! You won't be at the market this weekend! I was going to ask my mother to pick me up some salt...just to try

Things my mother taught me It's OK to love food--even foods that other people make fun of (sardines--yum!) Driving across town (or even to another city) just to get that one perfect doughnut (or other food) is a perfectly normal thing to do. You can find pleasure not just in a 5-star meal, but also in a bag of unshelled roasted peanuts and a can of Hires root beer.