Sobaicecream
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Posts posted by Sobaicecream
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I just received a very fragrant karin (かりん) from my in-laws and was advised to chop it up and submerge the thing in honey, after which I...can't remember what I was supposed to do. But it eventually becomes a hot beveage.
First of all, what exactly is a karin?
Second, is there a more economical treatment for karin? As anyone living in Japan knows, honey in *so* expensive (but maybe this is the case all over the world?), and the amount of honey I'll need to submerge my karin will be considerable.
Any info would be very welcome!
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and just another note on ekisu, somethings that we call extracts in English like vanilla or almond extracts aren't ekisu in Japanese they are called エッセンス (essensu)
Just another note on ekisu from me too:
Ekisu is sometimes preceded by ten'nen (natural), thus 天然エキス (ten'nen ekisu).
Artificial is jinkou 人工 in Japanese, as in 人工甘味料 jinkou kanmiryou (artificial sweetener).
Hmm, I've never seen 天然エキス (ten'nen ekisu) before. Does that mean any other "ekisu" mentioned might be artificial?
I'm not a health nut or anything, but I guess I do get worried when everything I eat these days seems to have "amino" and something-"ekisu" in the ingredients list. And I really do love my hon dashi
--I use it for *everything*. -
Thank you to everyone for clearing up the MSG question. I've had my suspicions about amino san, but was a bit thrown when a health drink came out proudly proclaiming that it contained amino san.
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Sheesh, been living in Japan for almost four years and only now am I asking about "ekisu."
I notice that in the ingredients list of things like hon dashi, sometimes it will say "kombu" and sometimes "kombu ekisu," for example. I've always sort of assumed that ekisu is Japanese for extract. Is it? Or is kombu ekisu merely artificial kombu flavoring?
Another thing: what is MSG (monosodium glutumate) in Japanese? I've always tried to avoid buying foods with MSG, but since I've been in Japan, I get the feeling I've been unknowingly and happily consuming vast quantities of food with MSG. Can anyone help me?
Thanks!
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I'm bringing my caramels (which, AHEM, look great, don't they, people?) to my in-laws today, and the remainder I'll bring to work tomorrow.
SethG, your caramels look very pretty too.
Admittedly, I really liked the look of Patrick S's earlier caramel shots cause they reminded me of the fresh caramel sold at Grandville Island (anyone from Vancouver??) that I adored when I was a kid--and then I saw a later post explaining that the lighting had made the caramels appear much lighter than they really were...
But of course the darker ones look yummy too, in a different, less nostalgic way.
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Patrick S, your caramels look so beautiful *and* scrumptious. I wish I could join in this very fun thread! Am thoroughly enjoying the pictures as well as everyone's enthusiasm.
My question to all of you is: what do you do with all this stuff you're baking?! Do you have nightly dinner parties or something, during which you unload all these baked goodies on your lucky friends?
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For a standard marble cake, as you inquired about originally, I wouldn't hesitate to use the light brown sugar. There is a bit of trade-off . . . a bit taller with white than brown, but the brown gives you a moister cake. Your eggs will effect this as well as the sugar.
Okay, Judith, will take your advice and use brown. Thanks again!
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Sounds like a resounding, "Yes, brown sugar is good" I'm glad cause I never buy white sugar except for baking, and I do prefer the taste of brown.
I just wondered, since brown sugar seems to melt quicker, whether white sugar would make for a fluffier, taller cake?
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I'd like to make just a regular marble swirl cake but only have light brown sugar at hand. I'm curious as to why most cake recipes ask for white sugar, and would it be so bad to use brown instead, since I often find myself with only brown sugar in the house.
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- brown bread
- gingersnap
- coconut and dark brown sugar (in Singapore, this sugar is called gula melaka--really gorgeous aroma)
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Some basic facts about eggs in Japan:
1. Japan's annual egg consumption is the highest in the world – 340 eggs per person.
2. In Japan, eggs are often referred to as "bukka no yuutousei" (literally, honor student in price), which refers to the fact that the price of eggs has changed only slightly for decades. In 1955, for example, an egg cost 12 yen while tofu cost 14 yen per pack and rice 850 yen per 10 kg.
3. Some people may be worried about the cholesterol in eggs. With the Japanese-style diet involving rice, miso soup, oshinko (pickles), fish, and natto, however, 1 to 3 eggs a day have a positive impact.
from here:
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~who/syoku/tamago.html
(Japanese only)
Thanks for all the great info on eggs. I must admit, I've lived in a bunch of different places but I've never eaten eggs so frequently as I do now, living in Japan. I remember one of my first nights in Japan, at my homestay family's home, each of us was served an enormous omu-rice, and each omelet must have required at least 3 or 4 eggs to make. I was rather astounded--and concerned about my cholesterol level, since eggs made an almost daily appearance at the dinner table. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to discover that Japan is the number-one consumer of eggs, but I am!
Unfortunately, I haven't seen 100-yen packs of eggs in a long time either.
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Do you have any product you have found on the shelves of a Japanese store (in Japan or elsewhere) that you just can't live with out?
Good thread!
Here are a few of my indispensables:
1) Tsuyu -- if something is lacking umami, I've always got my trusty bottle of tsuyu (a little splash works nicely in things like stir-fried veggies)
2) Wakame, both dried and...the not dried kind (covered in salt) -- this stuff is incredible. If I haven't gone out to get my fresh vegetables for the day, I can always fall back on wakame to add color and nutrients to a bowl of ramen or soup, for example. And it's kind of fun to watch the dried/salted wakame magically blossom into these billowing green sheafs.
3) Those plastic cylindrical cases of very thinly sliced dried nori -- I *love* a big cloud of shredded nori on top of anything: rice, noodles, salad. But I once tried scissoring up my own and almost went crazy. This is so much better (and suprisingly not that expensive).
4) Frozen pumpkin chunks -- pumpkin is one vegetable that I only began eating in savory foods after coming to Japan, and I really like it. But whenever I buy the fresh kind, it takes me an entire week to finish off one little gourd, and by the end I'm completely pumpkined out. Frozen pumpkin pieces defrost and soften in only three minutes in the microwave, and I don't think they taste too bad.
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Oh dear, and I was going to work this morning...
Oh dear, and I was going to sleep tonight...
Seth, thank you so much for writing up such thorough reviews. Having learned bread baking solely from Internet resources, I think I'm badly in need of at least one book. But which one?--was the question. Now at least I'll have a good starting point. Thank you!
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"A dark, mysterious cherry-chestnut color. Flavors of dried dark fruit, chocolate, toffee, and caramel lend to the overall port-like aroma. A soft malt center gives way to a dry, warm wine-like finish. The strength and complexity of thei ale make it a good candidate for aging gracefully, as spicy sherry and port notes should intensify."
Hmmm, I'm not a beer fan but that description sounds so good! How about a dark moist gingerbread made with your beer, maybe studded with plumped up dried cherries?
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That's very scary. And with all the rains, I notice wild mushrooms have been popping up like crazy in my neighborhood park. I'm always so worried some children, or my own dog, might accidentally eat some out of curiosity.
Speaking of all this rain--and since I sense the presence of some real mushroom experts
on this thread-- would you agree that the recent weather would actually be favorable for the commercial mushroom growing industry as well? I ask because in another thread, there was discussion about how expensive lettuce has become, due to typhoons destroying crops. Conversely, should mushroom prices in our supermarkets be getting cheaper then? I have never paid great attention to the prices before, so I can't tell if they've really changed. Maybe I'm being overly hopeful. But I thought that since it seems we'll be suffering a bit from lack of leafy greens, perhaps we could cheer ourselves by indulging in more mushrooms instead!
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I have used it for cooking many times. The packet says it can be used for other purposes such as cooking.
Oh good!
But how about baking? Does anyone know if its fast-melting quality would affect the final product?
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I never use those packets of sugar that come with the big tubs of plain yogurt, and I now have a mini mountain of them just sitting there.
It looks kind of like icing sugar, but I think the packaging says it's granulated...except that something has been done to it.
The only time I ever use sugar is in baking. Does anyone know if this sugar can be used for that sort of thing?
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This is something that I would never have thought that Cook's Illustrated would be doing. Macaroni and cheese over and over, but not this.
In case you try looking for it, McDuff, CI refers to it as sea foam candy, but I believe it's the same thing.
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Reading this thread is giving me withdrawal symptoms as I haven't had any Grasmere gingerbread in years! My parents used to live near enough to the Lake District that we could visit Grasmere at least three or four times a year...
If you *really really* want some, it seems you can mail order at the shop's website.
For anyone curious, there are little pictures of the actual gingerbread. They really do look more like biscuits.
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Cook's Illustrated's website actually did a whole study on recreating honeycomb, but I just checked and it's not on the freebie part anymore. If you're a registered member though, go check it out!
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Has anyone a recipe how to make a rye sourdough starter and recipes for artisnal rye breads?
TIA
Yoshka
Hey Yoshka, if you want a very detailed description of how to make a rye starter, check out this page. The best thing about this site is that there are lots and lots of pictures all along the way.
I just made a starter this year myself, and I think the most important thing I learned is that sometimes it's more important to make sure your starter is the right consistency, rather than just following the amounts a starter recipe gives you. What I mean is that the recipe might say: "mix xxx-grams of flour and xxx-grams of water together," but the mixture you end up with might be too dry or too watery. And if you've never made a starter before, how would you know right?
So if you can roughly compare (of course your starter won't be doing the exact same thing as this guy's starter, hour for hour) your starter's development with this one, you might feel a little more sure.
Good luck!
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It sounds like you are dialing it in which is truly baking nirvana. I wonder, are you keeping a journal? This is one of the most helpful tools for dialing it in and continually improving your bread.
Yup, I tell my oven what temperature I want, and it sings a little song when it's there (it's a Japanese thing). I remember before I came to Japan though and I had an old oven with a floaty kind of knob that shifted very happily all on its own--you never knew what temperature exactly that thing was at. Looking back, it's a miracle that anything ever turned out.
I am keeping a journal, but I have to be a bit more disciplined about perfecting one loaf before moving on to a new kind.
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You need a burst of superhot steam at the very beginning of the bake - pour a cup or two of water into a hot preheated cast iron pan, for example (care!).
After a few minutes it will have evaporated. After that anymore is pointless.
Commercial ovens have a vent to let out the steam towards the end of the bake.
Maybe you are not baking for long enough, or too hot for the size of loaf. I bake a boule for about 40 minutes at 220C..
Hi Jackal,
I do do the hot water into hot pan thing, but I also spritz cause my oven is a little too efficient about quickly getting rid of any steam I create. Perhaps I am baking too hot (usu. 'bout 230'C/440'F for 45 min). I thought the best indicator was the internal temperature of the finished loaf (about 98'C/210'F). And my most recent loaf was more like 100'C. My bread always does tend to brown quite extremely though,even when there's no fat/sugar, so maybe I should be baking at about 210'C for longer...?
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Too much steam can close the cuts made while scoring and penalize crumb quality and volume as a result. Any steam after that is redundant.
Thank you so much for your help, boulak. The only steam my bread gets is from hot water poured into a pan on the floor of my oven, at the very beginning, and then some water spritzing at 30-second intervals the first few minutes after the bread goes into the oven. When you say "any steam after that," do you mean that I should be pulling out that pan of water after a specific amount of time? I usually do that about 10 minutes before the bread's done baking. Is that too late?
Are you venting the oven during the latter stages of the bake? ... When the color is good -- and I mean good -- try leaving it in the oven for up to five minutes with the door cracked. That will assist in the final stages of baking without burning the crust. That might help your gummy situation, Sobaicecream. Wet doughs can require a long finish with the vent open and the door cracked.Also, what does "venting during the latter stages of the bake" mean? While the dough is still baking, the door of the oven should be open a bit?
I did wonder if my dough was overproofed because the finished bread sometimes has a...um...semi-digested quality. A recent bread of mine was so moist, it made audible squishing noisings when I chewed!Another issue to examine about cuts not opening is that your breads might possibly be overproofed. ... If you are not getting good crust color, that could be another indication that your loaves are overproofed.I've been following the cool retardation method, where I bulk ferment for about four hours and then put the dough in the fridge overnight (about 12 hours). Can a dough overproof in the fridge?
buying and preparing fish/seafood
in Japan: Cooking & Baking
Posted
We just had an extremely delicious gift of live kuruma ebi (type of prawn) shipped by a friend from Okinawa. The ebi were packed in a box of...sawdust? Okay, more like little pine wood chips.
Although they'd probably been in the sawdust for quite a few hours, the ebi were extremely genki, and there were quite a few escapees that leapt straight out of the sawdust, so that we had ebi all over the floor at one point.
What I want to know is: why sawdust (as opposed to, say, ice water)? Why didn't the ebi suffocate? There was a little pamphlet that came with the ebi, and it said that the ebi sort of "sleep" when placed in the sawdust, but it never explained why.
Am very curious about the whole thing.
Also, does anyone know, is Japan the only country where one can post live, er, things (like ebi), as well as chilled gifts, like seafood? For some reason, I don't remember there being such things as "cold" delivery vans when I was living in the U.S.