prasantrin

If it had come with food, I'd have bought it! (They were dishes from L2O...I'd like to get there eventually for the food--do you think they'd notice if a few plates went missing? )

I think Hiroyuki is right. If you look at one of the akebi on the left side, it's split just like the akebi in one of the google search pics. I don't think I've ever seen akebi in Canada, at least not at a regular supermarket.

Do you mean Gifu-ken? There is no Hida-ken in Japan, as far as I know... I think, but am not sure, that they're just purple potatoes. Not like ube/murasaki imo, but regular potatoes that just happen to be purple (or blue). Grilled meringue??? I have to try that! Takayama has been on my "to-go" list for many years, but I never get there for some reason. Now that I've been to Kurashiki (awesome little place, by the way), I have to try to get to Takayama!

Is it like these? http://masak-masak.blogspot.com/2005/08/cr...ut-pancake.html If so, there's a recipe at http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2007/05/apam-balik.html but there's no coconut milk in it. It kind of sounds like kanom krok to me, though, except kanom krok doesn't have paper-thin sides.

Ah, Bauscher Silhouette. I can't find any prices, but perhaps that's a good thing. The last time I coveted dishes I saw on eG, they were almost 200 euro per plate!

Samples are good, but I wouldn't even show them to people. Keep them under the table, then when people seem really interested in your product, take out your tray of goodies and offer them a taste--a small spoonful if you do the ganache route, or a little piece if you decide to give them a taste of a completed chocolate. In Japan, one chocolate will often be cut up into 4 or more pieces, depending on the size (2 pieces if it's really small), and I find that's enough to whet my appetite. Of course you'd still have samples of boxes filled with chocolates, so they can see what they're getting, but those would not be for sampling, just for looking. And fly swatters, if used lightly, really aren't that painful to the grabbing hands...

Did he happen to mention where he got those cool dishes that he uses for his mise? I love them!

Did you see the one with the interchangeable screens? That would be a good choice, though also an expensive one! (Though not so expensive if you consider how much it would cost if you got individual ones.)

Ditto with iainpb on the sausage roll characteristics. I would also, however, add that there should be no filler in the sausage. I've had some sausage rolls that I swear have some kind of filler in them, like bread crumbs, or flour, or some kind of ground rice. Ick! I can't answer about the pork pie, because I haven't had a really good one, yet. At least not a really good British-style pork pie, but I have had a really good French pork pie, which was similar to what iainpb described, except I don't remember any jelly at all. And my sausage roll is really just ground pork, penzey's breakfast sausage seasoning, lots of freshly ground pepper, and finely chopped shallots (or onions if I can't get shallots). I use some very good frozen puff pastry. Put a line of sausage (raw) down the middle of the puff pastry, roll, and bake somewhere around 400-450F. The pork juices that stick to the pastry and caramelize (I know they don't really caramelize, but I don't know what else to call it) are the best part!

Thanks! Who would have thought of wine and fish sauce together! Now I have to try to get my hands on some lemongrass. It's a bit difficult around these parts! (Does it matter if you use white or red wine? I'm thinking white because I don't want my pork to turn red, but would red taste better?)

I posted this in the eG Preserving Q&A, but thought I'd try here, too. My meat grinder has since arrived and I'm anxious to get started making andiesenji's fruit and nut balls! I decided to try drying my own fruit using my oven (I don't have the space for a dehydrator, nor the room for it). I thought I'd start with nashi (Asian pears) and apples. But I have a couple of questions... I'm going to oven dry my fruit--the course says to use a temperature of 60C, but says to go as low as your oven will go. My oven goes down to 35C (or maybe 40C), so I was thinking of trying that. However, I cannot prop my oven door open as the course says to do. If I try to prop it open, the oven will stop working (it's a gas convection oven, large by Japanese standards but pretty small) In this situation, is it better to go with a higher temperature? My oven goes from 40C to 45C, then straight to 100C, so it's either a low temperature, or 100C. I'm assuming propping the door open is to help any steam escape (which I read elsewhere), so maybe a higher temperature will help deal with the steam? Or should I just open the door once every 15 or 30 minutes? Next question--for hard fruits, is 5mm still a good thickness, or would thicker or thinner be better? I'm only going to be grinding them, so I wonder if cutting them into eighths wouldn't be good enough...what do you think? Final question--it's actually quite humid in my area of Japan right now, so are there any precautions I need to take when drying my fruit? Should I leave it in the oven to cool so the humidity doesn't cause it to soften again? Will it mould more quickly because of the humidity? If so, should I keep it in the fridge? (Yes, I know that was more than one final question, but they're all related so they should count as one!) Someone please help me! I want fruit and nut balls!

For those thinking of dining at RyuGin in the near future, they no longer offer the cheapest course during regular dining hours. Until 9:30pm, they only offer the Y21 000 and Y26 250 courses. If you want to order a la carte or the Y15 750 course, you must call on the same day you are dining, and you must be dining after 9:30pm. A la carte and the Y15 750 course are subject to availability.

Come over to my house. I make a damn fine sausage roll. I can't, however, make pork pie. I may finally get around to it this winter, though. As soon as it cools down a bit more...

yes, thanks ← It looks like a neti pot to me.

I love Yasuda's yogurt. I used to buy it a lot, but now I'm poor so I have to buy the stuff at Costco (4 500ml containers for about Y500).

Some may think it's heresy, but I have a special fondness for whipped shortbread. I like its melt-in-your-mouth-ness, and it's especially yummy with coloured sugar sprinkles .

You're so kind. I was too lazy to look for it myself, and was going to let the op find it herself!

I've never made macaron, so I have nothing to contribute technique-wise, but... I just had a sansho macaron and it was awesome! Sansho-infused chocolate ganache filling with some ground sansho in the shells. Mmmmm.... I bet a Szechuan peppercorn one would be even better! So if anyone wants to try a new and interesting flavour, I'd vote for that! And I'd even be willing to be your taste tester! But they'd have to be served at the end of a meal, because they'd pretty much kill your tastebuds for anything else...

I wonder if you could do something like this "candy apple" from RyuGin. I can't remember much about how it's made, but if you google "candy apple" and Ryugin, you might be able to find more information.

My meat grinder is arriving today and before making andiesenji's fruit and nut balls, I thought I'd start by drying my own fruit to use in them! I thought I'd start with nashi (Asian pears) and apples. But I have a couple of questions... I'm going to oven dry my fruit--the course begins with a temperature of 60C, but says to go as low as your oven will go. My oven goes down to 35C (or maybe 40C), so I was thinking of trying that. However, I cannot prop my oven door open as the course says to do. If I try to prop it open, the oven will stop working (it's a gas convection oven, large by Japanese standards but pretty small) In this situation, is it better to go with a higher temperature? My oven goes from 40C to 45C, then straight to 100C, so it's either a low temperature, or 100C. I'm assuming propping the door open is to help any steam escape (which I read elsewhere), so maybe a higher temperature will help deal with the steam? Or should I just open the door once every 15 or 30 minutes? Next question--for hard fruits, is 5mm still a good thickness, or would thicker or thinner be better? Final question--it's actually quite humid in my area of Japan right now, so are there any precautions I need to take when drying my fruit? Should I leave it in the oven to cool so the humidity doesn't cause it to soften again? Will it mould more quickly because of the humidity? If so, should I keep it in the fridge? (Yes, I know that was more than one final question, but they're all related so they should count as one!)

I think you should post your fruitcake recipe!

Thanks elfin, for looking, and thanks Helen, for finding the website! When I looked I realized I had been to Baikal before...way back when I first lived in Japan. I'll have to put it on my list of places to re-visit. Today in Kyoto I visited Patisserie Kanae. She has a lot of interesting macaron flavours--kurogoma, sansho, bamboo charcoal (I can never remember the Japanese word). I bought six--caramel sale, kinako, foret noir (I'm a sucker for black forest anything), sansho, kurogoma, and one more...tarte tatin! And of course, for comparison's sake I bought a caramel sale from Henri Charpentier (my favourite caramel sale in the Kansai area). I have pics, but they're on my cell phone. I've only eaten the caramel ones (so I could get a good comparison), but the Patisserie Kanae ones suck! The shells are practically hollow (no chew, just empty crunch), and the filling is very skimpy! Plus the caramel sale tastes just like burnt caramel--not necessarily a bad thing, but there's no salt flavour at all! And it's more expensive!! OK, it's only Y1 more expensive (Y180 to HC's Y179), but still...

Well, if you're paying for my plane ticket, I'll be glad to get some kitty lovin'! I hope you post some pictures of your adventure--on eG or on your blog! Italy is one of the only European countries on my list of places to visit. It's all about the food, doncha know!

I don't know if you've done a search on eG, yet, but the baking powder in Europe thing has definitely been covered, and the proper equivalent was found. I think it was someone in Switzerland who was looking for it, so if you do a search in the "elsewhere in Europe" forum, you should be able to find it.

I just saw the commercial! The filet-o-fish will be Y100 from Sept. 19-28, but only after 5pm!! I see many trips to McD's after the gym in my near future... But how come it looks so much better on the commercial than in real life? The new cinnamon twist thing looks kind of good, too!