prasantrin

Yes, it was you . Glad to know you weren't there at the time, though I still grieve for all those who were.

Another frequent contributor and e-Gullet cooking school teacher was planning a holiday in the south of Thailand, with Krabi as the starting point. Anyone know if she's OK, or if she is even there at this time (I don't think she mentioned exactly when she was going)?

Sorry for the delayed reply, but I am in Thailand right now . I think the first post of Kristen's pretty much summed up the recipe--simple as it is! Thanks! I'll have to play around with proportions till I get just the right flavour. I prefer sweet to salty and I find the commercially available chirimen jako I buy leaves me quite parched. My mother doesn't find it to be salty at all, though. And the picture of chirimen that Hiroyuki linked to looks like what I buy. Except I think the description had the kanji for spicy or chili (I'm not sure which) and the one I get isn't spicy at all. It just has the sweetness of mirin/sugar and the saltiness of soy. When I get back to Japan I'm going to have the try the recipe Kristen posted, too. I think my mother would love it! Thanks!

I love chirimen-jako--the kind that has been is a bit sweet--almost caramelized (not the saltier or the more vinegary-versions) and is most often eaten with your rice in the morning (sort of like furikake, but it's not). It seems to be one of those things all Japanese women know how to make, so I'm not having much luck finding a recipe for it on the web or in a cookbook. I'm guessing there is soy sauce, mirin, sugar...anything else? And does anyone have an idea of what proportions I should start experimenting with?

Sounds pretty reasonable to me. The next time I'm in TO, I'll give it a try (or maybe Susur's, depending on my budget for the trip )

May I ask about the cost of the food? Just wondering what the difference in price is between Lee's and Susur's.

I have yet to find a decent bagel in Japan. Most places, from what I can tell, don't even boil their bagels. Costco in Japan is one of the worst culprits of selling round buns with holes in the middle as bagels (that being said, Costco bagels are hugely popular with the ex-pat community in my area). One of the problems with bagels here is that they tend to favour sweet bagels--blueberry, cinnamon, etc. That's almost as bad as not boiling them.

I go to the Amagasaki one, too. If she's taking the train, there's a shuttle bus to Carrefour (which is right next to Costco) from Hankyu Tsukaguchi Station (the bus also goes to a couple of other stations--JR Amagasaki and I can't remember the other). Tsukaguchi is just 4 or 5 stops from Hankyu Umeda. Or if she misses the shuttle and wants to walk, she'd be better off getting of at Sonoda station, which is one stop before Tsukaguchi. It's just a 15-minute (or less, depending on how fast you walk) from there. If she wants company, I'd be happy to show her the way! I bought 4 lbs of sweet red seedless grapes a week ago for just Y1000. Very cheap by Japanese standards!

Earlier this week (or late last week) there was another article in the Yomiuri. In this one, they stressed their commitment to Japan, but they refused to comment on whether they had spoken with other companies about selling. Well, it sounds they'll be here for the time being, at least! Yay for us!

I'm in Japan. Sorry! I haven't seen strawberry, but I don't often eat kit kat so I may have missed it. I have seen different flavours of Hershey's Cookies 'n Creme candies, though, including strawberry. The strawberry one was quite popular with my students, though I thought they smelled disgustingly fake (very strong strawberry scent) and tasted as they smelled.

I thought it might have been mentioned already, but oddly, a forum search (before posting) turned up nothing! Have I mentioned how much I dislike the new search engine thing? It definitely makes white chocolate much more edible. But I can still taste the white chocolate pretty clearly. However, because of the matcha I can still eat it--only I eat one of the packs (for those not in the know, in each box there are two packs of two sticks, rather than one wrapped set of four sticks) per day, instead of the whole pack in 5 minutes. Good for my figure, I guess!

I think it's the southern part of Luzon. The food of Bicol is much more South-east Asian-ish than the rest of Filipino food--they use more coconut milk and the food tends to be spicier. An example of a dish from Bicol is here . Talisay is just outside Bacolod. That's where Katabla is (the family sugar cane farm). Actually, I lived in Bacolod for a year when I was 10--way back in '79. I was at St. Scholastica's. I remember those women, too (though probably not the same ones!)! We bought a lot of fish from them! I also remember buying Chippy's and Eucalyptus candies from those stores. Your mother's family aren't, by chance, related to the Kilayko family, are they?

Has anyone tried the (I think) new Matcha Kit Kat? It tastes like matcha-flavoured white chocolate--it's pretty good if you like white chocolate (which I don't, really, but the matcha flavour helps a lot).

There's a place, somewhere in Toronto, called Sarah's Falafel and Schwarma. Or maybe Sarah's Schwarma and Falafel. I can't remember now. It has been almost 5 years since I ate there, but I still remember it as the best I had ever had. Their baklava is simply wonderful, as well. Not too sweet, and the phyllo is still in crispy flakes rather than a soggy mess.

I'm not Soba, but my mother (Visayan, from Talisay) said she had never heard of Adobo sa Gata until she moved to Winnipeg (where most of the Flips are Tagalogs). Where in the Visayas was your grandmother from? It's a pretty big area, so I'm wondering if there are regional variations even within the region. To me, it sounds more Bicol--I always associate the use of coconut milk in Filipino food with Bicol.

thanks, all, for the replies! I might have to try the salt/water floating trick with all my potatoes from now on. I had been having a lot of trouble with potatoes, lately. It seemed that one day, one kind would be great for boiling and one week later, the same type (but from a different batch) would just disintegrate. Same goes for baking--one week I'd get fabulous baked potatoes and the next week they'd be crappy. Although I don't eat potatoes very often, I long for the variety available in Canada--perhaps we don't have quite as many as the US, but at least it's better than this!

For some reason, I suck at using the current search function of this site. Is it just me, or do others have the same problem? Regardless...I've been trying to determine which potatoes can be used for what kinds of dishes. For example, May Queen (meiquiin). Best for boiling, or for mashing and baking? And the standard Hokkaido potato--I assume it's best for boiling? I just can't figure it out! Help!

I was just thinking of Botan candy--they are a favourite from my childhood and I hadn't realized they were Japanese until a friend brought me some from the US (I'm in Japan now) and I saw the "made in Japan" on the box." I asked a co-worker about them and found that they are called Bontan (note the extra n) in Japan, and they are very old candies--well over 100 years old, so I've been told. The Japanese version has a different box (no cute little boy, but a picture of bontan--a type of Japanese citrus) and NO STICKERS!!! When I was a child, however, Botan ame came with toys... Botan and Bontan candies are made by the same company, and I was told that Tomoe Ame is the copy, not Botan. Not that it matters...I'm sure they're just as yummy!

I still don't have computer access at home, so my participation has been limited of late, but I was wondering if anyone else read about Carrefour's possibly closing. According the an article in the Daily Yomiuri last week, Carrefour is looking to sell its Japanese stores--with Tesco and AEON leading the way as bidders. I love Carrefour, so I would be sad to see it go (even though I only get there once every other month or so). sorry if this is a repeat of already discussed material, but I didn't see anything about it during the (albeit brief) search I did.

In just two weeks I will be lucky enough to spend one full day and two half days in the wonderful world of Seoul. While I'm game for anything, my companion is less than adventurous when it comes to food. So, I come here begging for suggestions of restaurants that might serve perfect (or at least very good) bibimbap and/or bulgogi. Any ideas? We're sort of on a budget, and can only spend US$30-40 each for the bulgogi..is there such a thing as good bulgogi for less than that? I did read the other threads on Seoul, but didn't find much in terms of restaurant names for these particular foods. We'll be staying at the Hamilton in Itaewon if that helps any. Help me eat good Korean food, please!

Quite honestly, I found the Moroccan food in restaurants (the type that the average Moroccan would/could go to) to be pretty bad. I did not even realize how delicious Moroccan food was until I was invited to a home-cooked meal. Until then, I had thought it was over-rated and over-cooked. In Rabat, the best restaurant food was generally found in Italian restaurants (also, the German Cultural centre had a good restaurant). I would savour the Moroccan food you'll be getting at the wedding, as nothing you will get in most restaurants will even remotely compare in terms of flavour or quality.

I'm glad you enjoyed your stay! Yes, Winnipegers are very humble and somewhat self-deprecating about their city, but I did say that one thing Winnipeg does have is good food . In fact, when visitors would come to Winnipeg I could never take them to sight-seeing spots--just food spots because that's all I knew! I've never been to Red Top though I've always wanted to. It looks like the perfect place for burgers. In that area is another burger place called Mrs. Mike's or something similar that also looks like a perfect burger place. It's not as "fancy" as Red Top--just a little shack only open during the summer--but I've always thought it looked perfect. I'm sorry you didnt' make it to Juvian's, though. Filipino breakfasts are the best--cheap and plentiful! And I've been craving Tocino (Mama Sita's just doesn't cut it) so I was hoping for a vicarious tocino experience. Winnipeg is, generally speaking, much safer than other cities but since I grew up there, I know how much less safe is it now compared to 20 or 30 years ago (all cities are like that, I suppose). There is one area, in particular (not too far from Gunn's), where random beatings would occur on a regular basis--more than one resulting in the death of the victim. I think for me, the beating of a wheel-chair bound man who was merely trying to get across a bridge is what gave me the impression that Winnipeg was no longer a "safe" city. If you do go back to Kenora and do another stop in Winnipeg, I have more suggestions for you...I forgot about a few great places you would need to know about

So, my first cake (baked as per instructions at 160C for 60 minutes turned out like this Obviously overbaked with huge cracks that were quite deep. Plus I took it out of the pan a bit too soon and it fell apart (though because the cracks were so deep, it may have fallen apart anyway). Then I baked another one following Kristen's advice of lowering the temperature and reducing the time. This one was baked at 150C for 55 minutes As you can see, it is much improved and is worthy of bringing to someone's house as dessert (which is why I was baking it). Now if only I can find some eggs that don't have quite so day-glo orange-like yolks . I will also check the Osaka Gas company for more recipes. I hadn't even thought of that though I have used their website before. They had some good recipes in English there. And even though I haven't quite gotten used to my oven, I love it and wouldn't give it up for the world!! My apartment is pretty great, but my oven puts it over the top! So smallworld, sorry but I'm never letting it go !

While my lemon souffle cheesecake is in the oven as I type, I'm wondering if I've done my poor cheesecake any damage. The recipe I use is from a Japanese cookbook (for children--though perhaps for younger teens) and it calls for a temperature of 160C. When I lived in Japan before, I had a small electric convection oven and my cheesecake turned out wonderfully. But now that I have a gas convection oven, should I have adjusted the temperature? I suppose I will see the results in roughly 29 minutes, but I was just curious for future baking attempts (my first baking attempt with this oven resulted in slightly dry banana bread, but that was probably due to my over-baking it).

I've only been to Bound'ry of the three places you mentioned, and I thought it was overrated and rather pretentious. I had lobster ravioli--the sauce of which was wonderful but it was so strong in flavour that it completely overwhelmed any flavour the lobster might have had. I also tried two types of pizza, the calamari sandwich, and some kind of Tex-Mex type melted cheese dip. None were anything to write home about. My two favourite food places were, and I've mentioned this here before, Wilma Kaye's and Parco Cafe. I don't think either would qualify as "New Southern" but they were both wonderful. Wilma Kaye's is only open weekdays for lunch while Parco Cafe (I'm assuming) is only open when the Farmer's Market is open. If I were to go back to Nashville, I would definitely go back to those places. Aside from Bound'ry, other places I would not return would be Jack's and the Pancake Pantry. Again, overrated--both of them.