Hiroyuki

OK, since you ask, I don't think tenkasu is impolite. I found this map. http://weekend.nikkei.co.jp/kiko/map/tenkasu/map.html Quite surprisingly, tenkasu (shown light blue) is predominant over Japan.

May 5th is Tango no Sekku (Boys' Day). Store-bought chimaki (75 yen per piece) A thread on Boys' Day: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20512&hl=tango

I went shopping today and found kogomi sold for 198 yen per pack at the nearby 'home center'. I just had to buy it. I boiled it for about five minutes. I'm going to have it with mayo and ponzu for lunch.

Hachiju hachiya. I am an avid green-tea drinker, drinking more than two liters of green tea every day. Why not drink green tea on this particular day? http://web-jpn.org/kidsweb/calendar/may/88.html *** Forgot to tell you that hachiju hachiya falls on today, May 2nd, this year.

Marinated in miso? I'm not familiar with that version. If you are interested in marinating in soy sauce, I think I can provide some info. Take a look at this: http://waka22.web.infoseek.co.jp/ikura.html (Japanese only)

This webpage http://www.ajiwai.com/otoko/make/yuzu_fr.htm describes how to make yuzu kosho, with some photos, but IN JAPANESE. The ingredients are: 1 large yuzu 6 green chilies (togarashi) Moderate amount of salt

My wife got up early enough this morning, so she made a bento for my son. I managed to take a picture of this okazu (side dish) box only. There are two other boxes, one for plain cooked Koshiibuki (not pricey Koshihikari) rice and another for fruit (apple). The details later.

I've never been fascinated by yamabushi take. It has little flavor, and it has little appeal to me. But my son always asks me to buy it whenever he finds it at a supermarket. So, here it is. I made miso soup with it because that's what my son always asks me to. Some info on yamabushi take: http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/fungi/Hericium_erinaceum/ http://www.mikawatk.com/zyamabushi.htm

Yesterday, I bought 400 g of domestic asari (short-necked clams) for 100 yen per 100 g (400 yen in total). I made asari miso soup. Do you know how to increase the umami of asari? Just leave them in a colander without water for three hours after you do 'suna nuki'. (Suna nuki refers to causing the clams to spit out the sand inside by soaking them in water with a salt content of about 3% (salt concentration of seawater) for five to six hours or overnight.) The main umami component of asari is kohaku san (succinate?), and putting stress on asari causes them to develop more kohaku san. I want to try this method, but always fail to do so. This morning, I left them without water for only half an hour. Does anyone care to try it? One caution: If you spot any dead clams (open ones) after leaving them for three hours, remove them. Don't eat!

Today, I bought two packs of ayu, six of them in total, for 380 yen per pack (760 yen in total). I skewered them, salted them, then I grilled three of them at a time in the toaster oven for 12 to 13 minutes . (I should have grilled them in the fish grill for much longer. ) I found this interesting webpage: http://www2.jyose.pref.okayama.jp/cec/syok...x0918133640.htm Click a photo above 動画, and a motion picture appears.

I bought two packs of matsutake takikomi gohan mix today (product and company names suppressed), 418 yen per pack (836 yen in total). It wasn't very good, and I really thought I wasted my money this time.

Sorry, merrybaker, I must have confused you. It's hard to make out from the picture, but the label on the miso pack says "Shiro miso". That's right! It's shiro miso. But it is Echigo miso and it's not sweet, unlike other regular shiro misos. The taste is just like that of red miso. I usually buy a darker Echigo miso, but it happened to be sold out when I when shopping the other day.

I hate what you refer to as light yellow miso (shiro miso) because it's too sweet for me. I only have Echigo miso (red type) in my house. I used to be a great lover of Shinshu miso (red type too) because that's what I grew up with; my father comes from Shinshu and my grandmother used to make a tub of Shinshu miso for us every year. I don't use much kombu except shio kombu (see picture below), tororo kombu (put in clear soup) and kiri kombu (simmered with other ingredients). I think people in Kansai (western Japan) make more use of kombu to make dashi than Kanto (eastern Japan) people. I usually simmer hijiki with aburaage, carrots, and uchi mame (beaten soy beans), and I also put it in salad. As for wakame, I usually put dry wakame in miso soup, together with tofu, and I also rehydrate and put it in salad. The dish in the photo is a leftover from last night's dinner. It's boiled cabbage mixed with shio kombu. The miso shown is the Echigo miso that I currently use.

I'd like to introduce two Japanese phrases, saya kiri and shio momi. Saya kiri (lit. hull cutting) refers to cutting both (or one end) of each hull, and shio-momi refers to rubbing hulls with salt in a bowl to remove the fuzz. Saya kiri is too cumbersome for me to practice, but I always do shio momi. The most important thing to remember is to boil them in a salt solution of about 4 percent. For example, to boil 250 gram of edamame, first use 10 g of salt for shio-momi (don't rinse off the salt), put 1 liter of water and 30 gram of salt in a pan, and boil edamame for 3 to 5 minutes. I learned this tip from the famous TV show, Tameshite Gatten http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2004q3/20040714.html (Japanese only)

Yamagawa-zuke. This is a specialty of Yamagawa town in Kagoshima prefecture. For more information on Yamagawa-zuke, visit this webpage. Sorry to say, the one in the photo is NOT authentic Yamagawa-zuke because it is pickled in soy sauce.

That's a distinctive characteristic of the Japanese - We like to absorb and assimilate foreign cultures, first from China and Korea, later from Europe and the United States, and now from all over the world. As for sauces, the Japanese always go for bland diets rather than greasy ones.

"Fresh" pasta, or "nama" (literally, "raw") pasta has gained popularity in Japan recently. http://www.horenso.com/shop/pasta_set.html http://www.rakuten.co.jp/seimen/ http://x68k.net/futagami/pasta/pasta.shtml The point is, spaghetti has been so easy to assimilate into Japanese noodle culture, which includes soba (buckwheat noodles), udon (Japanese wheat noodles), ramen (Chinese noodles), and other types of noodles. It is no wonder that Japanese use spaghetti in just the same way as other types of noodles. ← I suppose my question would be if other kinds of semolina wheat based pastas have appeared as well. Or is "spaghetti" just being used as some kind of shorthand for all of them? The Italians seems to have a very strong belief that the different shapes convey very different eating experiences. Then again, I think the Italians tend to use thicker sauces than the Japanese--so the way in which the noodle holds the sauce might mean more to them. They also place on premium on the mouthfeel of different noodles. I mean restricting things JUST to strand pasta, there are still probably as many as 20 different types. Any thoughts? Is all "Japanese spagetti" basically the same noodle type because of lack of availability, or lack of interest? ← Generally speaking, except for some pasta enthusiasts, the interest of the Japanese in pasta is limited to macaroni and spaghetti only. And, many just don't care about the proper texture of pasta. Many know what al dente is, but just don't cook pasta that way. Most pasta is overcooked in Japan, even at Italian restaurants.

Sorry, as a native (male) Japanese, I can never be imaginative about the uses of edamame - For me, they have always been something to go with cold beer on a hot summer day. Only one suggestion: If you care for sweets, you can make zundamochi. http://www.shejapan.com/jtyeholder/jtye/li...i/wagashi4.html

Hiroyuki, it's funny that you would bring that up. Funny because it's embarrassing to read my first post again. And funny because our favorite tea so far has been YamaMotoYama brand of brown rice tea (genmai-cha). I love the toasty flavor of the rice! So maybe while you were drinking your tea, your thought-waves went around the world. Anyhow, thanks for showing a picture. I'll print it out and take it to the store as a new brand to try. Oh, one more thing... Is genmai-cha suitable for making ochazuke? It would seem a natural, but I get the feeling that plain green tea is always used. -Mary ← Yamamotoyama is a big nori (laver) and ocha (tea) company in Japan. Your genmai-cha must be much more expensive than mine! I usually drink this kuki cha (stalk tea) of Ichikawaen https://www.ichikawaen.co.jp/shopping/detai...4&search_page=1 I can't get kuki cha of this quality at 500 yen per 100 g anywhere else. Is genmai-cha suitable for making ochazuke? Of course! No laws against using genmai-cha! You can use plain hot water and other types of tea as well, such as bancha (coarse green tea), houjicha (roasted green tea), barley tea, and even oolong tea! Explore the wonderful world of ochazuke! That being said, I seldom make ochazuke from scratch. I almost always use instant ochazuke mix. I usually pour plain hot water, but some people (like my mother) prefer to pour green tea for additional green tea flavor.

Shiro-taki? Shira-taki, しらたき, 白滝, right? Or, is it called shiro-taki in Chinese?

I don't know whether enzymes are used, but many kaiten zushi (conveyor-belt sushi) restaurants seem to add various additives to both shari (sushi rice) and neta (toppings). But, one kaiten zushi chain called Kura Corporation, Ltd. (Japanese only) has developed additive-free sushi. This webpage makes mention of Kura Corporation, Ltd. (but no mention of additive-free sushi). According to one blog, Kura's kaiten zuzhi restaurants are by far better than others.

It's really nothing, but whenever I drink this tea, I remember this particular post, so here it is: One of the cheapest kinds of genmai (brown rice) tea. This particular product, which contains 60 teabags, was 198 yen if I remember right.

I made hanetsuki gyoza today, too. Yum, yum! I can't help singing, It's time to spread our wings and fly Don't let another day go by, my love...

Since no one has responded... I have never seen a sheet of agar in my country. I guess you can get more response in the Cooking or Pastry & Baking Forum.

my family would never let me!! ← You have a point, pinkpau. I'd like to see your oven in action, torakris...