Hiroyuki

I can't think of any neta (topping) that is exotic (to me)... Maybe ikura (salmon roe) and uni (sea urchin) are exotic to you. If you want to go for something weird, how about natto (fermented soybean) rolls? As for me, I'm an all-time lover of akami (lean tuna). Most people go for toro (fatty tuna), and I think it quite absurd. I'm also a fan of buri (yellowtail) sashimi! Have you checked out this thread? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=52518&st=30 See post #36; you can see some great photos of sushi.

Tomatoes are in season right now. Yesterday, I bought a box of momotaro tomatoes at a local supermarket for 680 yen. Momotaro is the predominant variety in Japan, accounting for 80 (according to one source) to 85 (according to another) percent of the domestic market. The variety was released by Takii in 1984, and was so named because it was pinkish (momo) and the grandson of the chairperson of Takii was Taro. To be more precise, momotaro has developed into about ten varieties. A brief description of momotaro can be found here: http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/vegetables/...taro_tomato.htm

Do you know this visual search engine? http://www.marsflag.com/ Just click on the tenth item, 料理レシピ, below the black-and-white dog, and you will get numerous sites on recipes. Caution: Children under the age of 15 are requested to use this search engine under the guidance and supervision of guardians.

I never tried this tip, but placing a sheet of aluminum foil, putting some green tea grounds on it, and turning on the toaster oven will eliminate the odor.

Thanks, everyone. I think I'll convey your messages to the third graders and/or their home room teachers.

I know there is no exact equivalent for itadakimasu or gochisousama, but suppose you are a teacher of English for third graders at an elementary school and you are asked, "How do you say itadakimasu and gochisousama in English?", what will your answer be? All I can think of at the moment is "Let's eat!" and "Thank you. It was delicious."

Thank you for your report, Kiem Hwa. Some comments from me: Gohei mochi is not a specialty of Niigata. It's a specialty of the Hida/Takayama (parts of Nagano and Gifu prefectures) and other regions. If the bag is a 10-lb. one, I don't think it's expensive at all by Japanese standards, so it may be a 5-lb. bag.

On June 28, members of Ambassadors in Sports came to one of the elementary schools in Shiozawa (not my son's ). They gave the 5th and 6th graders a soccer lesson in the morning and had kyushoku with the pupils in their classrooms. (The school does not have a lunch room.) In the third-grade classroom, five members had it with 17 third graders. (I was there as an interpreter.) The menu was curry and rice, pork fillet cutlet, boiled vegetables, and milk. One member said to me, "This is the best meal I've ever had." I asked the others. Their responses were the same. I thought their comments were complimentary. Or, do they really mean it? Suppose you are a boy at the age between 9 and 18, what will you say about the kyushoku they had?

Are you going there?

This is the first time that I have ever learned that okara can be spelled 雪花菜. I did some google search and found that this word can also be pronounced kirazu (meaning 'no cut', which refers to the fact that you don't need to cut okara before use). Another name for okara is 卯の花 (u-no-hana). You can freeze okara before use. Some people seem to recommend parching it until dry before freezing, but I don't think this is necessary. Can it be frozen after use? I think so, with no clear confirmation. Sorry to say, I have never made okara dishes in my entire life!

Draft One is a breakthrough in that it is made from peas. I've never been fascinated by its flavor, but its price is appealing.

now I am very jealous! I have definitely been in Japan too long, I can only figure out how big things are in terms of jou and tsubo.... ← Yes, you have! For those who are not familar with the housing conditions in Japan, houses with total floor areas of 30 to 50 tsubo (1067 to 1779 sft) are average, and house with 60 tsubo (3558 sft) or greater are rare. In urban areas such as Tokyo, houses with total floor areas of about 15 to 20 tsubo (533.7 to 711.7 sft) are not uncommon. These small houses are now called kyosho jutaku (狭小住宅), literally narrow and small houses. I think that the Japanese are adept at turning a cramped space into a cozy little space. Kris, will you still be jealous when I say that the 45-tsubo post-and-beam house plus 4.5-tsubo garage costs about 20 million yen to build?

how many jou is that? ← About 4.5 jou. One broken-line square is equivalent to half a jou. The total floor area of our house is 45 tsubo (90 jou), or 1,601 sft, plus a 4.5-tsubo (160.1-sft) garage.

How about this one http://www.tec-tsuji.com/recipe2002/ A site of Tsuji Academy

That is not an under-floor storage unit. It's just an under-floor inspection door. We discussed under-floor storage units in the Pantry thread. I know what they are. My parents' house had one. We don't want to have one installed in our kitchen.

Cookpad is a site of recipes of ordinary people for ordinary people.

How about COOKPAD, Japan's largest cooking site http://cookpad.com/ Sorry, I don't know whether this site meets your criteria.

I sent an inquiry to Takara last night, and I got a phone call this morning. They don't export their products directly overseas. If someone overseas wants their products, they will need to ship them through a trading company.

Yep, just one picture of the package will solve your (our?) problem.

3 あえもの類 Aemono rui (marinated products) Marinated uni products, products pickled in vinegar, etc. Products resulting from seasoning and blending ingredients, some of which are aged. We often see them as otooshi at inns and ko-ryoriya (type of Japanese restaurant). They are yummy! 4 漬物類 Tsukemono rui (pickled products) Fish pickled in sake lees, rice bran, and miso; products seasoned, pickled in any of them (sake lees, rice bran, and miso), and aged. Main attraction on the table, indispensable for Japanese. Sorry for a belated post, but the Japanese is so clumsy to translate.

Mine is an LCD monitor, which is said to generate less electromagnetic radiation. I don't own a cellular phone. (Almost everyone I know has at least one.) This is getting off-topic. I think I'll start a new thread later.

Sorry to say but we won't have any of those hi-tech gadgets in our kitchen. Our kitchen has a built-in fish grill and a built-in dishwasher (but no built-in oven ). We have no plans to buy any new appliances. We've never been extravagant, and we have be more frugal from now on. We will bring our 15+ year-old refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, IH rice cooker, and thermos (not electric) to our new home.

Sorry, I know this is quite off-topic. This is mamakari sembei. It's not a specialty of Niigata, I suppose. My wife bought a pack this evening. It's mamakari's bones (probably deep-fried and seasoned with mirin and other condiments). It went very well with my shochu (distilled spirit). My children loved it too.

The reason why we fell in love with Takara's is that the enameled kitchen is virtually indestructible, very, very, very easy to clean (you can use wire wool to clean it!), and will keep its beauty for a very long time (for ten to twenty years or longer!). This is the color that my wife chose: floral ivory (leftmost one, with a red circle on it, on the top row in the right-hand side of the sheet). It almost looks like pink. She chose stainless steel for the countertop because it is more stain-resistant and less expensive than artificial marble. The greatest thing about the kitchen is that we are going to have a dishwasher at last!

This fall, we are moving from the resort condo that I call heaven to a new custom-built house, and I'd like to talk a little bit about our kitchen. Our kitchen measures 3,640 mm x 2,275 mm (approx. 11.9 ft x 7.5 ft), and we also have a separate storage space, shown at the lower left corner of the photo below. Here are perspective views of our kitchen: My wife and I fell in love with the enameled system kitchen of Takara standard. http://www.takara-standard.co.jp/ENG/index.html Our kitchen costs about 560,000 yen, including the installation fee. As is the case with most Japanese houses, our kitchen does not have a built-in large-sized oven.