Hiroyuki

You mean Winny? Here it is: http://www.nipponham.co.jp/winny/products/ (Sorry, Japanese only) Small-size 'Vienna sausage' (so called in Japan) You need tricky knife maneuvering to cut Winny into various shapes: http://www.nipponham.co.jp/winny/kazari/ Of course, you can cut regular-size Vienna sausages into various shapes too: http://www.e-obento.com/kennkyuu/tako-cut.htm

Yep, house making is often called man's lifelong task in Japan.

Like Sencha suggests, once opened, sake should be consumed in a short period of time, say, within one month or so.

As much as I wanted to reciprocate by inviting Ms. I and Miss S to my house for dinner, I ended up serving them coffee, rare (i.e., unbaked) cheese cake (my favorite type), and apple pies at their office because they were too busy to accept my invitation. The coffee was no ordinary coffee, by the way. I made it from the coarsely ground coffee beans that I had bought from Flavor coffee, with the Matsuya paper drip method. And, I made the apple pies with my toaster oven! Both Ms. I and Miss S were impressed with my generosity.

A few months ago, an unthinkable thing happened to me. My toaster oven broke. So, I bought another one with a wattage of 1,000 watts for 1,770 yen. It doesn't have a wattage selector, but considering the price, it was a good buy. I use my toaster oven to roast corn. Recently, I made two apple pies with my toaster oven. For a description of other items in this photo, see this post: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=996114

I found this site: http://www.depart-ranking.com/kanto/geneavo/index.html Depachika ranking. The trouble is, it's all in Japanese.

It may sound strange, but I have never seen or heard of sakura gohan. http://www.umamikyo.gr.jp/recipe/recipedata/1117.html Looks interesting, but how about the taste??

I'm not qualified to answer your question; I'm not a fan of yuba and rarely eat it. Anyway, here is what I found by googling: There are two ways to rehydrate dried yuba: 1. Soak it in water for one to three minutes. 2. Spread a loosely wrung cloth, place yuba, and wrap it to soften. For deep-frying, you must use either fresh or rehydrated yuba.

I believe I understood your question. Believe it or not, there are few vegetarians in this country and it's tough being a vegetarian here. I have never met a single vegetarian in my life, and I have never heard of a problem with vegetarian children, so your question is a hypothetical one. As I said in my previous post, I think such chidren would be treated the same way as those who are allergic to certain foods or cannot eat them due to some desease or other. Parents who have such children would be requested to talk to their homeroom teachers for possible solutions, which include, as you say, bringing their own lunches and having special lunches prepared for them.

That can hardly be a problem in this country. There are few vegetarians here. If there were vegetarian children, they would be treated the same way as those who are allergic to certain foods such as eggs and buckwheat, I think. A thread on being a vegetarian in Japan in the Japan Forum: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36292&hl= Most Japanese are quite indifferent to vegetarianism.

My brother, my sister, and I got together at our parents' house in Kimitsu city, Chiba, so did most of our respective family members. Unfortunately, my mother was hospitalized two days before, and I really don't have much to talk about the foods we had at the get-together, except that I had grilled eels and tuna sashimi most of the time (both frozen in the freezer). Things are quite different here in Shiozawa. Here, children take plastic bags with them, and they are allowed to pick up the foods and sweets offered to ancestors as soon as the group or family who offer them leave the grave.

Yeah, a popular dish in Japan. See post #15 in http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...45036&hl=imaiya

You can get more information about the water from here: http://www.enagic.co.jp/english/indexm.cgi I am in no way affiliated with this company, but my brother is. He says he wants to be a distributor for the company.

Sorry to hear that, SuzySushi. This thread is quite timely for me; I learned only a few days ago that my brother (47) had developed diabetes. Now he turns to electrolyzed reduced water. He says he drinks two liters of this special water a day. http://homepage3.nifty.com/hydrogen-richwa...0ofdiseases.htm

Good job. Nothing like freshly made tofu. I would say that yours is softer-than-regular momen tofu because it was drained. What did you eat the tofu with?

An ohitsu is used to keep plain cooked rice, while a sushi oke is used to make shari (vinegard rice). A photo of an ohitsu: http://www.shimizumokuzai.jp/ohitu/ohitu_main.html A photo of a sushi oke: http://www.shimizumokuzai.jp/susioke/susioke_main.html Basically, yes, but I don't know the proper soy milk-to-nigari ratio for making silken tofu or whether the ratio is the same as that for making momen tofu. Maybe you could make some experiments and report on your findings here.

Obon starts tomorrow, August 13th, and lasts until 16th. No particular foods are associated with obon, but many people return to their hometowns and enjoy local foods.

You mean you have decided to get a stainless steel one? It will be a wise choice if you are going to be a regular maker of tofu. As for me, a colander and a sheet of paper towel served the purpose when I made my first oboro dofu. See post #45 in http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...30entry636622 That is not an issue when you make tofu, but it is when it comes to keeping cooked rice. Do you know ohitsu? http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~tomi-yasu/recipe/gohan_e.html (English) http://www.kiso2.com/imamura-o.htm (Japanese only)

I did some google search to find that any container with holes at the bottom can be used as a mold (to make momen (cotton) tofu). For example, you can use a paper milk carton; you only have to make some holes at the bottom. Stainless steel molds are the most durable and the most expensive. I think that professional tofu makers use stainless steel ones.

Mori no Tamago http://www.ise-egg.co.jp/buy/products/p01.html of Ise Shokuhin http://www.ise-egg.co.jp/index.html (both in Japanese only) is the best-selling brand of eggs in Japan. They have a bright orange yolk. They are a little more expensive than regular ones, so I only buy them when they are on sale.

I guess you know that these particular eggs are used in Takumi Juudan of Mos Burger: http://www.mos.co.jp/spotlight/050316/takumi_ju.html Is that the reason why you posted this particular question in the first place? Anyway, these eggs are produced by the variety called Boris Brown, a variety raised in your country, the United States. from here: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/yamagatamaru/631856/633277/ (Sorry, Japanese only) This is the website of the poultry farm that produces the eggs: http://www.net.sfsi.co.jp/tezukuri/index.htm (Sorry, Japanese only again) I still don't know whether this is the only farm that produces Koukiran eggs. As you may know, the color of the eggshell has nothing to do with the color of the yolk. The feed the hens are fed determines the color of the yolk. What specific information do you need? Do you want to contact the farm and place an order? I ask this question because you seem to be a business-minded person.

As for the first dinner that Ms. I gave us, this type of entertainment (settai (接待) in Japanese) is quite common for any type of business transaction. Besides, it's a 20 million+ yen project! Don't you think we deserve a small treat like that? As for the ochugen, it is quite natural for the construction company to feel obliged to give us an ochugen gift. It's that time of year again! As Miss S told me when she gave it to me, the tenobe (lit. hand-drawn) soumen is quite good. It is very thin, yet very firm. I forgot to mention that on the day of tatemae, the construction company gave us a box of canned beer to celebrate the occasion. As for the second dinner at Ms. I's house, well, it's not like the first dinner, surely reflecting the personality of Ms. I. She is friendly, talkative, and easy to get along with, and she likes to host guests. You can hear horror stories in Japan too. Remodeling is called 'reform' in Japan, and there are many, especially among the elderly, who are preyed on by dishonest 'reform companies'.

I don't hesitate to say that I'm not a serious cook. I use a considerable amount of mirin, sorry, FAKE mirin, for various uses, to make light cucumber pickles yesterday and to make pork shouga yaki this evening, for example, and I really don't think that hon mirin can have a place in my house. I don't think it's worth the price.

The restaurant must be Kujiraya: http://www.harmful.org/homedespot/newtdr/N...tores/whale.htm http://www.bento.com/rev/2167.html Whale meat is whale meat, but come to think of it, I guess you can say that it tastes like beef jerky. Whale meat smelled of blood. My mother used to soak it in milk before cooking to get rid of the smell.

Ditto for me. ← seriously? does anyone actually cook / serve / eat plain boiled okra? but why? milagai ← I used to think this too, until I saw how the Japanese treat plain boiled okra. Basically, just blanch whole pods - definitely don't overcook. Eat cold, dipping one at a time into a sauce of your choice. In Japan, my friends make this with a thick sesame sauce. It's good. ← I like mine with ponzu and topped with dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi). And a big yes from a land of nebaneba (slimy) foods http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...750&hl=nebaneba Have any of you thought about the health benefits of slimy foods?