Foodie_Penguin

When I was in Japan in '99 (based in Yamate in Yokohama funnily enough), I was there until just before Halloween. I thought the Japanese were getting into Halloween back then because just like in the US, there were Halloween cookies and stores were adorned in orange and black. I left the country before Halloween itself so I don't know if kids go around trick or treating. Foodie Penguin

Sheesh. Takayuki sounds like a very mollycoddled young adult. He needs to be directed to a Chinese grocery store or Asian store so he can pick up some familiar foods like "larmen" (Japanese instant noodles). Maybe he can buy a small rice cooker there and some Japanese rice too. Foodie Penguin

Personally, I don't return to restaurants that serve me entrees that I consider too large. Maggiano's is a good example. This chain offers half size portions but even that's too big for me. The prospect of having a doggy bag of leftover food for another meal is not an incentive to dine at any particular establishment. Value for money to me is not how much food I can get for my money. I'm more interested in the quality of the ingredients more than the quantity. Even set meals don't appeal to me that much either. I've been known to deconstruct meals when there's too much food. This especially true of overstuffed sandwiches, too much bread, and too much meat. Just my 5 cents. Foodie Penguin

I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year and I would really like to get my hands on a locally bred hormone and antibiotic free turkey for the meal. I live in Durham so I'd prefer to pick it up myself from a farm (1st choice) or store (2nd choice) in Durham, Wake or Orange counties. Anyone have any ideas? I looked on the web but NC based turkey producers seemed to be in the West of the state. Foodie Penguin

I don't know if this would be frowned upon in restaurants and eateries but when I was growing up (not in the US), my Mum would never choose anything off the "children's menu" for us to eat. Instead, she would order food from the adult menu and portion the food appropriately to our age. So, we never ate crap that passes off as kid's meals. Foodie Penguin

the history of moonpies and the legend Moon Pies originated in Tennessee back in the early nineteen hundreds and were supposed to have been made for the coal miners there to make their times under ground more bearable. They are still sold and eaten in the South and have a loyal following even today ... My questions: have you ever had the experience of eating Moon Pies and, if you live outside the South, is there something comparable? I've eaten the regular flavored Moon Pies and I didn't like them (didn't like them enough to want to eat them again. If I didn't eat another in my life, it wouldn't be a big deal to me). They reminded me of a British snack called a Wagon Wheel (made by Burtons if I recall correctly) except these only come in one flavor. I prefer the taste of the Wagon Wheel over a Moon Pie any time. Foodie Penguin

I make a tofu based sandwich filling that contains peanut butter. The ingredients are tofu, peanut butter (smooth), fish sauce, carrots, celery, paprika, scallions. I think it's delicious in a sandwich but my other half is not so keen on it. Foodie Penguin

My Mum makes anko from scratch in the UK and I've only ever seen her make it with azuki beans and sugar, nothing else. She soaks the dried azuki beans overnight and then cooks them in a pressure cooker. (with sugar?) To get the smooth paste, she puts the cooked beans into a food pressure and purees (?) them. I remember using an uchiwa (fan) to cool the finished anko as my Mum stirred it to thicken it. The finished anko is used to make daifuku and kuriman. She also made the daifuku "dough" and kurmian "pastry" from scratch. Note: the anko spoils quickly but it does freeze well. Foodie Penguin

It may not be an ingredient per se that creates such a unique flavor of chocolate. It could be the milk from Japanese? cows. That's assuming the milk is from cows living in Japan. I know the source of milk creates a different flavor of chocolate. Cadburys, a British candy manufacturer manufactures in different countries and the same product can taste different. e.g. Cadburys Dairy Milk made in Ireland, made in the UK. Not sure about Cadburys chocs made in Australia. I've not eaten any yet.

In theory, your idea for a Japanese curry restaurant is good but it depends on your geographic location in the US. First of all, are you aiming to get Asian customers or Westerners? I really don't think that Japanese are going to pay money in an overseas country to eat Japanese curry when they can buy the boxes of curry roux from Asian stores anyway. So, there's greater potential in attracting Westerners. However, curry is generally associated with Indian (East Asian) cuisine so you'd have some hurdles trying to establish the identity of Japanese curry to an audience who may not even be aware of the curry variant. BTW, making roux isn't difficult, at least not in my experience. I haven't made it for Japanese curry (I much prefer Indian curries anyway, Indian style, not American style). Also, if you're making Japanese style curry, I hope you will only be serving Japanese rice with it (that's what's served with the curry in Japan, isn't it?). Just some thoughts on the topic...

I have never used a teppan, I alwyas make it in a frying pan, I usually have two going at once! From my experience of flipping pancakes (mostly crepes) in frying pans, I think it would be easier to turn over an okonomiyaki on something completely flat without deep sides, like a teppan. Especially since the okonomiyaki is thicker than a crepe.

My Mum, who lives in England, has had success growing burdock (gobo) in her garden. Since the burdock root is long, she grew them in stacked up old tires and dug them up easily. I'm sure I've seen burdock root sold in regular grocery stores in NC. As for substitutes if you can't find it, I'm afraid I dont' know. Their might be an East Indian vegetable that's similar. Foodie Penguin

I can only answer the last part of your post. Yes, some (maybe all?) of the businesses do sell retail 'cos the last time I was in Japan (1999), my Mum (a Japanese speaker) and I popped over there and bought some wonderful replica pieces of sushi and some miso soup (we provided the bowl). As someone else pointed out, items aren't cheap but they're a unique Japanese souvenir. It's really a marvel to see the replica food, identical in size and color to the real thing and made with such detail. Truly fascinating. If non-natives want to go over to Kappabashi, I would strongly recommend going with a native Japanese speaker to assist. Foodie Penguin

I prefer Osaka style okonomiyaki but I may be slightly biased because my father is from Osaka. I think I must have seen monjya style okonomiyaki last time I was in Japan. I was taken to a little okonomiyaki joint in an underground shopping center next to a subway station in Tokyo (thi was nearly five years ago) and I saw diners close by eating what I considered very runny okonomiyaki. It didn't look too appetizing to me. Also, there is (was?) an okonomiyaki restaurant in central London. I used to go there and take my non-Japanese friends there for some Japanese cuisine. It was very close to the British Museum. I've no idea if it's still there. I'd like to make okonomiyaki at home but I don't have a flat griddle (teppan) Foodie Penguin

Anyone find this to be true? Is it your perception that produce is far too pricey today? Or is this merely a covenient excuse not to buy good foodstuffs? Might these same people buy a bag of chips and soda for what they might otherwise be willing to spend for produce?? Your opinion ... I find that fresh produce in the US is expensive especially taking into account that much of it is grown within the US (especially CA). One could argue that the cost of transporting fresh produce in refrigerated trucks could contribute to the high price but back in the UK (where I lived until 2002), most fresh produce is also imported but it is not as expensive (as I recall). Also, I find the quality of produce to be inferior (to European grown produce) so that makes it even more expensive in my eyes. Especially produce grown in CA- it's lacking in flavor and texture. So, I try to buy produce grown in the SE US instead. If I'm not mistaken, the bell peppers in my local grocery store fluctuate. e.g. one week they're sold per piece and on other weeks by the pound.

I recently roasted a batch of red peppers (they're now sitting in olive oil). I love anchovies too (fresh or tinned). I like your suggestion and will have to try it out! Sounds great- sweet roasted peppers with salty anchovies.

I have eaten and even like many of items that are disliked by others in the thread (love rabbit, enjoy grasshoppers, fish eyeballs were my favorite as a youngster, miss kidneys and eat liver from time to time, made my own raw egg in shell pickled in vinegar concoction). I don't have a problem eating dog but I'm waiting to try it in its proper context. i.e. in Korea. I will get my Korean friend to take me to a place where there is good dog. Ditto for brains. I'd eat them and I have a friend who ate them in Belgium. I just haven't had the opportunity/found a restaurant that features this ingredient. Fugu sounds a bit iffy but again, I'd check with folks I know in Japan for pointers to the safest place to eat this. I have an egg allergy so eating raw/soft boiled/scrambled/poached egg/meringue/egg custard is out of the question. Egg as an ingredient within a dish is usually fine (e.g. cake, quiche) as is hard boiled egg. My Mum is the source for the reason that I can eat almost anything. As a youngster, she cooked and served us a variety of odd foods. e.g. escargot, chicken feet, haggis, kimchi, etc. So, I am not so encultured to one cuisine. Another thing, if there's something I don't think I'd like, I'm game to eating it once in order to have an informed opinion (even if it means I'll throw up). At least I tried. Living in the South, I'm looking forward to eating chittlings and pigs feet, preferably in someone's home but at a push, at a restaurant.

I live in Durham and work only about 5 mins from Gulghhupf. I'm originally from the UK and so am accustomed to European style bread. Guglhupf is definitely a gem of a place and their breads, cakes and patisserie are spot on for authenticity. Last time I was there (I go every other week), I ran into a German lady. The bread freezes well too so if you are ordering by mail, you should order as much as your freezer can manage. It will be worth it! Foodie Penguin

I don't know the complete answer but I saw bags of key limes for sale in June (I live in NC).

I live in SW Durham and have just discovered Tiny Farms, on the southern edge of Durham County. I placed my first order last week and visited the farm to pick up the produce. I was given a tour of the farm by the owner, Mark Hockney. Part of my order were heirloom tomatoes. I asked for some Mortgage Lifters but Mark also suggested I try the lemon tomato, Brandywine tomatoes too. The Mortgage Lifters were out of this world (compared to store bought or even homegrown non-heirlooms). I wasn't so keen on the yellow lemon tomato- a little too tart for me. I also enjoyed eating Sungold tomatoes again. Mark was picking those straight off the bush for me to try. In fact, Mark picked my order only about an hour before arrived. Can't get much fresher than that! Tiny Farm also has a lot of other fresh, farm grown produce but the tomatoes are porbably my favorite.

I have a 1L jug of No. 1 MediumGrade A in my fridge at the moment (which is almost gone). It's my standby. And I've discovered that in the UK, it marks my nationality more than anything else. Almost all of my British friends had never had real maple syrup until I forced it upon them, thereby ruining their pleasure in anything served with "maple syrup" in restaurants here. The only time I've ever had No. 1 Extra Light was in Lac Megantic, PQ. It's such delicate, almost floral stuff I think I'd want to save it for very particular applications. Such as drinking it as shots, for example. I'm British and I've been consuming Canadian maple syrup for donkeys years. However, I've never asked any British friends if they like it or have consumed maple syrup. I put it in my porridge!

I would buy salad in a jar. I loathe making them but several of my household eaters demand them. I like to eat them, and find them interesting, but take little pleasure in making them. After I cleaned my plate I could have this delicious treat. We have some Ranch (carrot dipping and so forth, now that I think about it I have never seen one of my family actually put it on a salad). A couple of kinds of vinegarettes concocted by my wife. A big honking mason jar full of poppyseed dressing for adding to my favorite salad:Butter Lettuce, Grapefruit, and Avacado with a little thin, not too sweet poppyseed dressing. Usually I don't put any kind of salad dressing on my salads (I always make them from scratch), but when I do, I make a dressing from any of the following: red chilli flakes EVOO red wine vinegar capers chopped garlic garlic salt dried herbs I do have Heinz Salad Cream (one of Heinz's 57 varieties in the UK) in the fridge but it's main use is for making tuna salad or potato salad...

As the previous poster mentioned, you're probably referring to "gyoza" but they're not big. They should be no longer than 3" and they're crescent shaped. I know about gyoza 'cos my Mum makes them, dozens of them at a time. Real gyoza should be cooked part fried, part steamed. Some Japanese and Asian restaurants take short cuts and the dumplings are simply fried but that's not correct.

Electric kettles are standard in the UK and virtually no-one (I've never met or heard of anyone who doesn't) boils water for a drink using a stovetop. When my then-to-be sister-in-law visited me in the UK, she saw the efficiency of electric kettles and immediately bought one for her household back in the US. The first thing I bought when I moved to the US was an electric kettle, even before we found somewhere to live (i.e. we were using it in the hotel we stayed at for the days before finding an apartment). I do notice that water does take longer to boil in an electric kettle in the US but that's because the voltage is lower here. A plus point for me is the element in the kettle doesn't get all fuzzy and nasty from limescale like mine did in London. Foodie Penguin

Update on the NC and SC boiled peanuts. In my opinion, the SC boiled peanuts are much tastier than the NC ones (bought in Lumberton Farmers Market). The shells of the nuts were still pretty hard and once I got to the nut, it was way too salty for me. It may be verging on sacriligous (sp?) to do so but I boiled some water and poured the whol bag of NC boiled peanuts into a pan to cook them further as well as remove the excess salt. I simmered them for about 30 mins, drained them and let them cool a bit. I haven't tried any yet but I think the taste and texture will be closer to the SC boiled peanuts now.