Hiroyuki

Miso soup with tofu and nameko mushrooms, as I mentioned in the Takikomi gohan Day thread. For some time during our marriage, my wife and I decided to take only one bowl of miso soup a day for breakfast for fear of high intake of salt, but we soon returned to our normal eating habit of two bowls a day, one for breakfast and one for supper. We need some soup or other and miso soup is the best! We will soon get tired of other soups, but we will never get tired of miso soup. I don't know why. Another mystery is that my son eats anything he usually dislikes if it is in miso soup. For example, he doesn't care for hiyayakko (cold tofu) and yasai itame (stir-fried vegetables), but is willing to eat miso soup with tofu and vegetables.

You will be amazed to see just how many of your daily food items actually contain MSG. Ajinomoto is a registered trademark of Ajinomoto Co., Inc., so this term is not used on the food label. When you see any of these terms on the label, the food contains MSG (and other chemical seasonings): 調味料（アミノ酸） = Seasoning (amino acid) 調味料（アミノ酸等） = Seasoning (amino acid, etc.) 調味料（核酸）、調味料（核酸等） 調味料（有機酸）、調味料（有機酸等） 調味料（無機塩）、調味料（無機塩等）

I made bamboo shoot takikomi gohan. Domestic bamboo shoots, about twice as expensive as those imported from China! I am of the opinion, "the less ingredients, the better". So, I added bamboo shoots and aburaage only. Bamboo shoot takikomi gohan along with some leaftovers and miso soup with tofu and nameko mushroom. Cool, huh?

I usually cut a kabocha into chunks measuring about 1 x 1 in. (2 to 3 cm). 5 minutes is too short for me. *** I forgot to mention that guragura can also mean 'shaky' or 'wobbly' as in Jishin de manshon ga gatagata yureta. (The condo jolted because of the earthquake.)

Has anyone tried ago dashi before? Ago is a local name for tobi uo (flying fish). Ago dashi is made from dried ago like these: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/g-manten/479658/ Last year, I bought a bottle of ago dashi men tsuyu (noodle soup) for the first time. It was MSG-free. But when I tasted it, I didn't find it particularly good. I think I had been too accustomed to the acute taste of instant dashi to enjoy the subtle taste of ago dashi. I have tried to lead an MSG-free life several times in the past, but to no avail.

This is exactly how my mother used to make miso soup. I guess my mother ate most of them.

Sardines used to be typical taishuu-gyo (大衆魚) or common fish, but now some say that they are koukyuu-gyo (高級魚) or high-class fish because they can be quite expensive due to drastic decreases in catch. You talk about sardines reminds me of niboshi (dried sardines used for making dashi (soup stock)). When I was small (about 8 or 9), my mother still used niboshi to make miso soup. But, instant dashi revolutionalized home dashi making. In 1964, Shimaya released the first instant dashi called Dashi no Moto. http://www.mcmfg.jp/shimaya.html

コトコト Kotokoto クツクツ Kutsukutsu (similar to kotokoto) グツグツ Gutsugutsu (stronger than kotokoto and kutsukutsu) These words are often followed by niru (boil/simmer) and nikomu (boil/simmer thoroughly). When I make 'kabocha no nimono' (simmered squash), I simmer kabocha 'kotokoto' for ten minutes or so. If I simmer it 'gutsugutsu', it tends to disintegrate 'boroboro'. I try to make sure that my kabocha no nimono is 'hokuhoku' (not soggy), but sometimes fail (depending on the variety of kabocha used). グラグラ Guragura This word is often followed by niru, nikomu, nitatsu (come to a (rolling) boil), and nitataseru (bring ... to a (rolling) boil). When making miso soup, I never bring the soup to a 'guragura' boil once I add miso.

Hiroyuki, I'm shocked! I'm actually more shocked by that than by the idea of making a hole in an anpan and squeezing mayonnaise into it, but that's a whole nother story. ← I myself have never sweetened my barely tea, but I do hear of people who do. But, exactly how many people add sugar to their barely tea? You can find an answer by clicking this. First, you will see a map of Japan where each prefecture is colored. Color legend: Dark brown: A considerable number of people add sugar. Brown: A few people. Light brown: Few people. White: Absolutely no people. You can also see the percentage of those people in a specific prefecture: First click the area containing the prefecture of interest, and a map of the area appears. Then, click that prefecture, and a pie chart appears indicating the percentage of people who add sugar (brown sector) and that of people who do not (white sector).

While searching, I found this book. I think I'll buy it and post some interesting stories here. http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~qpc/eosaka/book_tokyo_osaka.html

The term takikomi gohan is used in Kanto while kayaku gohan is used in Kansai. When I first heard kayaku gohan, I thought that kayaku meant gunpowder. In reality, kayaku means added condiment. If I remember right, my mother roughly used the term maze gohan to mean takikomi gohan. *** Made a minor correction: not gunpower but gunpowder.

Today, o-yuugi kai (a kind of show) was held at my daughter's nursery school. At the end of the o-yuugi kai, each child was given a Christmas cake.

First of all, congratulations on your victory! montrachet kindly started a new thread about this topic in the Japan Forum the other day: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=56789 Sorry for my belated post here, but I had to do some catching-up before I could make any appropriate comments. Quite frankly, when I first noticed this thread, SAVE OUR SUSHI, in this forum in September, I thought it was just another case of Japan-bashing or something and I dismissed it. Besides, I had no say in a decision by a ministry of a foreign government and frozen fish and sushi taste not so bad as you might think. As I learned some more about this issue, I found that I was completely wrong. The message is clear even from the title, SAVE OUR SUSHI. You have set a good example for all of us - We can fight against a government and win.

Great job. Now I wonder what you have done (or what you will do) about the ramen noodles. Found a good recipe?

Generally speaking, takikomi gohan is made by boiling rice, ingredients, and seasonings together in a single pot (usually in a rice cooker). Sekihan is usually made by steaming, but my wife and I usually make it in a rice cooker.

Here is what torakris, the host of the Japan Forum, wrote about Okonomiyaki Day here. (For more, see post #81.) I guess this applies to Takikomi Gohan Day.

Prime Minister Jun'ichiro Koizumi publishes the Koizumi Cabinet E-mail Magazine every week. The following is an excerpt from this week's issue, No. 167 (December 9, 2004): ***Quote*** I hear that in Beijing apples grown in Aomori Prefecture are sold at 2,000 yen each. Some time ago, I heard a story that in Shanghai, Japanese strawberries are sold not in cases or boxes, but by the berry: one strawberry for 300 yen. Out of curiosity, I asked a Chinese person who was visiting my office whether this was true, and to my surprise he confirmed this to be the case and also that the price in Beijing for Japanese apples was 150 yuan each. Stunned by this piece of information, I looked into the matter a bit further to find out that apples grown in Aomori Prefecture are sold in department stores in Beijing for 150 yuan. With the exchange rate at approximately 15 yen to the yuan, simple arithmetic gives us a price of a little over 2,000 yen per fruit. I was flabbergasted. ***End of quote*** You will be able to see the entire text sometime soon by following the link below: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/m-magazine...mber/index.html As of today (Dec. 10), the issue is not yet listed. You can send comments on this e-mail magazine directly to Koizumi Cabinet by following the link below: http://www.mmz.kantei.go.jp/inq/inq_top_e....NQCD=CO041209ka

My first post is a very, very brief summary of about 20 different webpages. It should be noted that this topic is highly controversial and may be provocative to some Japanese, especially the residents of Nagoya, Aichi prefecture, many of whom think that their city is an independent state. One of my interesting findings thus far is that some Nagoya people use chicken instead of beef or pork in their niku-jaga.

ひたひた Hitahita What would you do if you were asked to put ingredients in a pot and add water until it becomes 'hitahita'? Don't add enough water to cover the ingredients, but in such a way that only a fraction of the ingredients is above the water level, like in the illustration in the following link: http://www.recipe.nestle.co.jp/from1/cook/...hitahitano.html This link shows three photos, along with an explanation of hitahita (left photo), kaburu kurai (middle), and tappuri (left). Kaburu kurai = Just enough (water) to cover (something) Tappuri = Plenty

What a detailed account of regional differences in zouni, and it's in English! I was born in Tokyo, which is in Kanto, but my family's zouni was more like miso soup with lots of vegetables of different types plus grilled kaku (rectanguluar) mochi. There are of course personal differences as well.

In April 1, 2002, the Revised JAS Law was enforced, and a new standard for organic food labeling was established. Foods certified as organic have this label on them: Below the label is the name the certification body. For a better view of the label, see the one in the following link: http://www.pref.ehime.jp/ecc/mark/food/food16.htm *** Added another photo.

Daiso. A Daiso 100-yen shop is the only 100-yen shop we have here in Shiozawa... ← only Daiso?? In less than 10 minutes I can drive to between 10 and 15 100yen shops and none are the same company.... ← Did I tell you that Shiozawa is a small town with a population of 20,000? But how about those even smaller towns and villages that are without any 100-yen shops?

I have tried several organic products thus far. I bought organic miso this fall. It tasted just like any other non-organic miso and it discolored more quickly probably because of no food additive. It may be safe, but I won't buy it again. Edit to add: quick discoloration may be due to the fact that the yeast is still alive.

Geographically, the Fossa Magna divides Japan into two parts, West Japan (Nishi Nihon) and East Japan (Higashi Nihon). Culturally speaking, however, the border between the two Japans is not that simple. It differs from one cultural item to another, as follows: 1. Niku-jaga (meat and potato stew): Beef or pork? W: Beef E: Pork Border: Toyohashi city, Aichi prefecture 2. Eels: Hara-biraki (belly-opened) or se-biraki (back-opened)? W: Belly-opened E: Back-opened Border: Same as above 3. Sukiyaki: Made with sugar and soy sauce or with warishita (special soup stock) W: Sugar and soy sauce E: Warishita Border: Same as above 4. Udon soup: Kelp-based, light soy sauce or bonito-based, strong soy sauce W: Kelp-based, light soy sauce E: Bonito-based, strong soy sauce Border: Sekigahara, Shiga prefecture 5. Oden soup: Light or strong W: Light E: Strong Border: Tenryu city, Shizuoka prefecture All of the places mentioned above are on the Pacific side of Japan. How about the Sea of Japan side? In Toyama prefecture, there is a mountain called Kureha-yama (呉羽山), which divides the prefecture into two areas, Gosei (呉西) and Gotou (呉東). Interestingly, these two areas greatly differ from each other in climate, dialect, and food culture. Generally speaking, Gosei is considered part of West Japan while Gotou is considered part of East Japan. I will post more information as soon as I find it.

This is a problem. This increases the risks of getting cancer of the gullet. But it's so hard to get rid of the old habit...