prasantrin

I'm very late in this, but I have a question...do you poach it with the skin on or off? Fried chicken is just not fried chicken without the skin, but I can't imagine it would be as crispy if poached first. I could just take the skin off before poaching and fry it separately, though. Yum!

Just today, I read that Saskatoon is Canada's largest city (highest percentage of overweight/obese people). Poor prairie people! We get all the bad stuff! But at least we have the friendliest people in Canada (says me!) .

Peanut butter!! Interesting! We usually get their salted fish and chicken fried rice. It's one of the few places we've been able to find it. I love salted fish (commonly called, "stinky fish" in my family) but it's so smelly when you cook it. By going to Sun Fortune, we get the pleasure of eating it without our house smelling so much. They'll also do steamed (poached?) chicken with ginger and scallions if you ask for it. We tried to order it at North Garden once and got something completely different. But Sun Fortune always does it right! It's not the best version I've had, but when you want to satisfy a craving, it does the trick.

When was it sold? Haven't been there in a couple of years, so I should give it a second chance. No harm in trying--except maybe to my waistline! When Kum Koon first opened after they renovated, we had a very bad experience, as well--foodwise and servicewise. My mother complained to Jeff's daughter and I think, since Mom has known the family for about as long as Kum Koon has been open (our store was at one time almost next door to the KK on Main), they may have actually listened to her. We only do dim sum there, but normally go to North Garden or Sun Fortune for Chinese meals--closer to home. If you can convince one of the North Garden staff to translate the Chinese menu for you, there are some great dishes on it. I can only read some of it, but the owner will often help us out (it's best to narrow down what you might want to try, though. For example, if you want fish, chicken, or beef). There's a whole steamed fish (very bony, though) that is served with ginger and scallions in a soy sauce/oil/vinegar?? sauce. It's fabulous! Edited to add: On one night a week, North Garden also gives free single servings of soup to their Chinese customers. I think it's on Tuesdays. They don't offer it to non-Chinese customers because it's usually made with things they think non-Chinese will balk at eating (chicken feet, for example). If you're ever there on a Tuesday, no harm in asking about it! (off topic, but I'm just thrilled that I've finally figured out how to intersperse quotations with responses!)

Note that Victoria Seafood is on St. Mary's Road while Mitzi's is on St. Mary Ave. Completely different parts of the city. Victoria is not bad, but Kum Koon actually has better quality dim sum (though many non-Chinese friends do prefer Victoria). If you're in the south end of the city, I would go for Siam Thai or if you're craving Chinese (but not dim sum), North Garden on University Cres. or Sun Fortune on Pembina. Sun Fortune is a better choice, and many of our friends (Hong Kong Chinese) drive from across the city to eat there.

Nice to see another Winnipeger here! There are so few...I'll be back in YWG for the summer--I'm looking forward to eating at my favourite places! (Bistro Dansk, Kum Koon, bubble tea from Asia City, etc). There's no cookbook forum, but there are a lot of threads on cookbooks out there--you might also want to take a look at the Site Tips, User Guides, Netiquette forum for tips on how to post--particularly how to use quotations. For some reason your quotations are coming up as your own words--I think perhaps some of the tags are being deleted (they need to stay in if you're quoting).

I think children are much slimmer in Japan (than the US) because of the reasons you mention. Mothers seem to have more control over what their children eat in the home, as well as more influence over what they eat outside the home (I'm thinking of the about 12-year old boy who ordered the salad instead of the fries with his set meal and McD's). Children are also much more active here--they often go out to play with their friends instead of staying inside. That being said, teenagers are a different story. Since my first stay in Japan ('93- 95) I have found that teenagers have become, and are becoming, much larger (both taller and heavier). I would say that they've gone up, on average, at least one clothing size since the early '90's. While they're probably still more active than US teens (PE is mandatory all throughout high school), they're becoming less active than in the past. This is, in part, because they're busier--club, juku, homework, etc, but also because they eat more fattening foods, less healthful foods while they're on the go. I would be interested to see Japanese children 10 years from now. I would guess that they, too, will be getting bigger--especially with more and more mothers working outside the home and fewer and fewer grandparents (also a big influence on children's eating habits) inside the home.

I've been lucky enough to have dryers in two of the three places I've lived (very generous employers in both cases). I love my dryer--especially during rainy season and those hot humid summers. However, Japanese dryers are very, very weak. Mine is something like 1800W (compare with the more than 5000W of dryers back home) and it usually takes 2-3 hours to dry a load of laundry. I think I had a hair dryer that was about as powerful . They also have very small capacities compared to North American dryers. Are you going to show pictures of the insides of the boxes, too? I want to see the coconut one! I've been tempted, but have not given in--I'm afraid I'll like it too much!

According to the publisher's website, in Manitoba it is exclusively available at MLC stores.

How did you decide on on the knives you purchased? Was your decision based on brand, first, feel second? In Japan, amongst my friends who really cook, it seems they pay a lot of attention to artisanship (and, therefore, name). A couple of my friends have custom-made knives, but from where I don't remember. They would be out of my budget-range, unfortunately. I would like to purchase a knife or two while I'm here again, but don't know where to start. I have to consider maintenance once I've returned to Canada, though. Have you ever been to Seki in Gifu? I've been wanting to go for the Cutlery Festival--on the second Saturday and Sunday in October. I thought it would be as good a place as any to take a look at Japanese knives . Edited to add: Japanese Chef's Knife seems to be a very good commercial site--they claim their prices are less than Japanese retail. They offer a wide variety of Japanese knives. They do seem to have good prices, but I've not done much comparison shopping as of yet (I did check to see if the site had been posted to e-Gullet, yet, but my search skills on e-Gullet suck--or the search function on e-Gullet sucks). Any opinions? They also have a section on how to sharpen your Japanese knife.

Beautiful kanji! Going way off topic (but I'll bring it back in a sec), does Hide have a Japanese first name because he's the eldest son? Back on topic...I'm so glad you reported on Fran's offerings. I love Matcha Mousse Pocky and I had been wondering about Fran's version, and also their blueberry one. Now I won't have to try them--I'll just stick to my beloved Matcha Mousse! I very recently tried Caramel Pocky. Much much too sweet for me--I was quite surprised at how sweet it was, especially for a Japanese product.

Is it my imagination or is this thread the result of a merged thread? I swear I had posted under a different title...

My favourites are green tea, macadamia nut, apple pie, and coffee, not necessarily in that order. Thankfully I live in Japan, so I can get all of those. I'd hate to be without my green tea ice cream! I noticed that another difference between the US and Japanese sites is the frozen treats--has the US ever had the crispy treats or parfaits? And poor Canada! It's got the fewest products of all ! I haven't found the mango coconut at any of my local Haagen-Dazs stores, yet but I did try the Chai. Not bad, but a bit medicinal tasting. And I really like chai (the beverage--homemade, none of that instant crap).

I love celery. When I was a child, I even used to like the strings. But now that I'm in Japan, I rarely have it. I just can't justify spending Y158 (about US$1.70) on a single stalk of celery. Sure, it's a huge stalk, but it's just one!

Wouldn't you know it, but that was one of the first pages I checked out, too! I really want to go, but since the site is so spread out, one would really need three or four days (at least) to appreciate the whole thing. I thought of going now, since I'm on holidays, but I read that many of the pavilions' openings were either delayed or their displays were incomplete--not the most organized World's Fair! That it's in Aichi, not Tokyo, makes it a wee bit more accessible to me, though.

In Japan, one popular cocktail is pink grapefruit juice with creme de cassis. I don't know what proportions they use, but you could have a good time experimenting . Edited to add: I just found a site where you choose which ingredients you want to use and it comes up with cocktail recipes. I selected pink grapefruit juice and creme de cassis, but came up with nothing--it did display similar recipes, though. It's a fun site, if nothing else!

Those tiny containers are a pain the butt! Sometimes I can find a container that's about twice the size of the tiny ones, but that's rarely. I think sour cream might be expensive because it seems to be real soured cream, as opposed to the stuff in Canada which is some kind of doctored-up milk product. Heavy cream here is very expensive, so it follows that sour cream would be more expensive. A couple of weeks ago, I left out a little carton of heavy cream by accident, and after a week-ish it had turned into a big clump--not unlike what is sold as sour cream here. I still used it, and it tasted fine--it didn't taste spoiled at all. In the past, I've always used yoghurt that has been drained a little, instead of sour cream. But that's only for things like dips or with pirohy. I'll get a teeny tiny container of sour cream and add some milk, then if I still don't have enough, I'll add a bit of yoghurt, too. Hopefully my cupcakes will turn out just fine!

For any of you who have used Japanese sour cream, how do you use it for Western cake recipes? Japanese sour cream is much, much thicker than US/Canadian sour cream and I fear if I use it as is, it will not blend so well. I'm thinking of using either yoghurt or milk (or maybe cream?) to loosen it up a bit. Is this an unnecessary step? Any ideas of proportions of yoghurt/milk to sour cream?

Agreed. I use my credit cards all the time in Japan--Costco, department stores, etc. I also have many of my monthly payments charged to my card (credit card points=presents). Even some of my small neighbourhood restaurants take credit cards. During my first stay in Japan (93-95) I couldn't get a credit card, either. During my second stay (96-99) I managed to get an American Express card. However, I'm happy to report that it seems foreigners have a much easier time getting a bank-issued Visa/Mastercard! I still have Amex (great perks with that card), but for all those places that don't take it, I have a trusty SMBC Visa card. Should one decide not to use a credit card or debit card in Japan, it should also be noted that some large banks have money changing services that are open on holidays and weekends. This likely applies only to large cities (I know for certain SMBC has offices open weekends/holidays in Kobe and Osaka) but it's worth noting for those times when you find yourself short on cash, and you just have to buy that tacky "kimono" for someone back home.

I saw a very small bit of the show--not enough to answer any of your questions, but which one won? I wanted the mince katsu. It looked so yummy!

I just read in the paper yesterday, that Dotchi no Ryori is changing its format. It will only have one host (the older man, I think), and three tarento. The remaining judges will be made up of some lucky audience members. I'm not too happy with the change--I love the relationship between the two hosts. However, maybe I'll have a chance to be one of those lucky audience judges! Edited to add...I made a mistake--it's not lucky audience members (those present for the taping), it's members of the public who get to be on the show! Check out their website for more information on how you, too can participate!

Interesting, yet simplistic, in my opinion. I think Japanese people are also much more active and this may be as much (or more) of a contributing factor to their long life spans than their diet. At my gym, there are many, many seniors who take aerobics, dance, etc. classes as well as use the treadmill, elliptical machines, bikes, and weights. There is one woman I talk with sometimes who is often there for hours everyday, just taking back-to-back classes. She's in her 70's. In the first article, exercise was mentioned only briefly. As an aside (yet related to the topic), one thing that I find interesting is that happiness is supposed to increase one's lifespan, yet according to a recent issue of Time magazine, Japanese people are amongst the least happy in the world.

According to the Daily Yomiuri, "The eight stores will retain the Carrefour name for the time being...Aeon will have the exclusive right to use the Carrefour brand in Japan and to utilize Carrefour's global network to procure such items as European foods". Seems like not much will change, for now. Even the current employees will still be working at the stores (should they want to). Will have to wait and see what happens

It's official...I just heard it on the news. Carrefour is pulling out of the Japanese market. Aeon is taking over their stores--I'm not sure if that means they'll be operating the stores under the Carrefour name, or if the stores will be changing their names. All I have to say is...Crap! I love Carrefour. Well, maybe they'll have a good sale and I'll be able to pick up some cheap wine or something.

Sadly, most Thai restaurants which do not cater to ex-pats cater to the general public. That means pad Thai, 4 different curries, and satay. One restaurant I used to frequent had yum pla dook foo, but it did so poorly (I think my family and a friend I introduced the dish to were the only ones who ordered it) that it was taken off the menu. The owners will still make it for me when they know I'm coming, but no more spur of the moment catfish salad for me! Another problem with Thai restaurants outside of Thailand--a lot of them don't make very good Thai food. I've seen too many liberties taken with some of my favourite dishes--broccoli florets and carrots in curries (and I still stand by my past claim that Thai people, in general, don't particularly like carrots), ketchup in choochee...I could go on and on. How can people get to know Thai food if what they're eating could barely even pass as Thai?