Hiroyuki

I also found this: http://www2.plala.or.jp/kamkamkam/gimon/no17/daihuku2.htm which says that store-bought daifuku contains food additives to keep it from hardening and increase the shelf life.

First of all, refrain from putting daifuku in the refrigerator! It's quite natural that daifuku will get hard that way. As you may know, sugar keeps the mochi from hardening. I found this: http://www.surugaya.co.jp/fureai/answer/ans_0105.html A summary: It is possible to make daifuku dough that will stay soft for a long time by increasing the ratio of sugar to mochi ko. The ratio may be in the range of 0:100 to 230:100. With no sugar added, the dough will start to harden in two or three hours. At the ratio of 230:100, the dough will stay soft for five to six days. As for daifuku, the ratio should be 50:100 to 100:100. Mix mochi ko with water and steam it for 30 to 40 minutes and then mix sugar in four or five portions. Caution: Add sugar after steaming the mochi ko. Do not add it all at once.

There is really no single salt suitable for yakitori. Every yakitori-ya (yakitori shop) uses the one that they think the best for them. For example, this yakitori-ya (Japanese only) uses salt from Fujian, China, and this one (Japanese only) uses salt from South Australia. After all, any salt will be accepted as long as it's not table salt. There are basically two types of yakitori, shio (salt) and tare (sauce). To make shio yakitori, you sprinkle salt on yakitori immediately before grilling and sprinkle additional salt while grilling as needed. To make tare yakitori, you need not sprinkle salt.

You can use store-bought hikiwari natto instead of mincing natto by yourself if it is available in your area. Any way, ventilate your kitchen well when making the tempura.

The name of the shopping mall that both sizzleteeth and Palladion visited is Kuromon Ichiba (Black Gate Market). Official site of Kuromon Ichiba: http://www.kuromon.com/ (Japanese only) Photo gallery (photos of summer festival 2003) in this site: http://www.kuromon.com/_gallery/index.phtml (Click a photo to enlarge.) Webpages describing the shopping mall in English: http://www.ofix.or.jp/travel/shopping/mall...omonMarket.html http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/market/market035.htm http://www.tourism.city.osaka.jp/en/enjoy_...g/food/kuromon/ http://www.wingedseedmusic.com/weblog/archives/004980.html I'll post some information about the takoyaki Palladion ate later.

BTW, this is the inn that sizzleteeth stayed at in Takayama, if anyone is interested: http://www.yado-asunaro.com/english/index.htm

Make the chef drunk and ask him point-blank, Kakushi aji wa nan desu ka? 隠し味は何ですか？ (What is the secret ingredient?)

Shredded (not grated) ginger and soy sauce only. My all-time favorite.

According to this webpage, you can substitute gelatin for kanten to make mizu youkan (although I am sure that the texture will be quite different). Rough translation: According to the instructions on the box, make gelatin solution. Mix equal amounts of gelatin solution and anko. Check the taste and add sugar to your taste.

Yankee mama suggested that I mention hitsumabushi here. So, here it is. An excerpt from torakris's daily nihongo thread: Some more links: http://www.shio.org/diary/2004/0804u/ http://epicureandebauchery.blogspot.com/20...tsumabushi.html http://www1.kcn.ne.jp/~katonoid/gourmet/na...gourmet_12.html I like grilled eels, but I've never had hitsumabushi...

So, this is the first Furaibo shop. http://www.furaibou.com/furaibo/tenpo/aichi/hibino.htm

No reply from that shop. I posted a question to Nontan's Bulletin Board, and yankee mama kindly replied: *** ついに 投稿日 5月31日(火)19時40分 投稿者 ヤンキーｍａｍａ 削除 Hiroyukiさんもなごやへしんしゅつかな。 みそかつはたべたかな。 >"風来坊"創業者・大坪健庫会長である。1963年、名古屋市熱田区比々野町に店を構えたのが「風来坊」のはじまり。 *** Part of her reply: Kenko? (sorry, I can't read the first name!) Otsubo, the founder of Furaibo (now the company's chairman), set up shop at Hibino cho (or machi?), Atsuta ku, Nagoya city in 1963.

I have just sent an inquiry to one of the shops. I'll post a reply as soon as I receive it.

Before I can answer your question, I have to ask what you mean by "the original Furaibo in Nagoya". I checked their website and found there are thirty-one Furaibo shops in Nagoya alone.

A nice description of Japanese kyushoku: http://www.tjf.or.jp/shogakusei/kentaro/de11good.htm

My wife made yomogi (mugwort) tempura (right), together with kakiage (left), for today's supper. It's yummy.

I'm not familiar with ayu zake, and I'm not much of a sake drinker, but I think there are many Japanese who like hire zake (grilled fugu fin + sake), surume zake (grilled surume (dried squid)), and kotsu zake 骨酒 (grilled iwana + sake). Hire zake (Japanese only) http://www.tec-tsuji.com/recipe2002/chef/j...5/hiresake.html Surume zake (Japanese only) http://blog.so-net.ne.jp/bubu/2004-12-15 (2nd photo) Kotsu zake http://www.nhk-chubu-brains.co.jp/DDT-E/gi...tori/iwana.html http://www.shio.org/diary/970302-04/ http://www.geocities.jp/wakabayashi3990701/ekeiryu1.html

Thank you for such a wonderful post. I've never expected to hear such favorable comments about Japanese rice. I don't think there is a ban on the export of Japanese rice; the question is who wants to buy expensive Japanese rice. One webpage says that Japanese rice is exported to Thailand, Malaysia, and Europe. Another says that it is also exported to Taiwan, where it is popular among Japanese living there and the high income group despite the fact that it is three to six times more expensive than local rice. To your second question, I'd say yes, but not 'vastly different'. The difference is so subtle that you can tell the difference by carefully eating rice only, without any okazu (side dishes). Here is something I wrote in another thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry584532

This is a bag of koshiibuki rice that I purchased the other day: And, this is the label of that bag: A brief description of the label: 名称 精米 Description Milled rice 原料玄米 県内産 Brown rice as raw material Produced within the prefecture 産地 品種 産年 使用割合 Area of production Variey Year of production Percentage 新潟県産こしいぶき　16年度産　100% Koshiibuki produced in Niigata prefecture 16th year of Heisei (2004) 100% 内容量　10 kg Content 10 kg 精米年月日　2005.4.29 Date of milling April 29, 2005 販売者　(omitted) Seller

Some more information about decoy fishing (tomozuri): http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/lens/lens014.htm http://www31.ocn.ne.jp/~ayudoraku/ENGLISH.htm http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowHtml/N...00621_NEWS.HTML (7th story)

1 oosaji = 15 ml 1 kosaji = 5 ml

Some people maintain that tenkasu is different from agedama. They say that the former is a byproduct of tempura making (and is therefore served free of charge in Kansai) while the latter is made intentionally (and is therefore sold at a store). I don't think that's true. The reason why agedama sounds more feminine to torakris is, I think, that tenkasu is short for tempura no kasu and kasu means scum.

You simply mean 鉄鍋 tetsu nabe (iron pot)? More specifically, you can call it 一人用の小さな(or 小さい）鉄鍋 Hitori you no chiisana (or chiisai) tetsu nabe (small iron pot for one person).

Here are the details: At my son's elementary school, they have a special food-related program called ozora chushoku 大空昼食 (lunch under the great sky); once a month (except the wintertime), students must bring a lunch with them, which they eat at lunchtime instead of a regular school lunch. According to the interviews conducted by members of the kenshu bu (training division) of the PTA (I am the head of that division this school year), 75 to 80 percent of the students prefer ozora chushoku mainly because they can have a lunch they like with friends they like at a place they like. Others prefer a regular school lunch mainly because it is hot and tastes better. I have been busy preparing for the workshop to be held on June 25. The main theme of the workshop is tanoshiku taberu (eat joyfully). I hope I can report on it when it's over. Lunch boxes of four third-graders:

Today, I bought the following items at the 100-yen shop: (Starting from top left to bottom right) Harusame, fukujinzuke, shio kombu, and tororo kombu. Am I the only one who regularly buys foodstuffs at a 100-yen shop??