Hiroyuki

I know you have something to say about them. Any ranting will be accepted.

Today, bincho maguro (a type of tuna) was on sale, 98 yen per 100 g, so I just had to buy a pack of almost 600 g. Thus, tonight's dinner is tekka don (donburi with slices of tuna on top). I would call this light and easy.

I, for one, don't like nishin because they have so many bones. I don't like migaki nishin, either. Most of the people here in my town, including my father-in-law, love them. They often make nimono with them. Access the following and see how expensive migaki nishin are: http://www.umaimono.co.jp/umaimono/nisin.htm 5,400 yen per 1 kg ! (shipping charge and consumption tax included) Outrageous! Edit: I should have described what migaki nishin are. Migaki nishin are beheaded, gutted, and dried nishin.

I have never seen this before... post a picture next time you get them! ← Omatase shimasita (Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long)! I have to say that I made a mistake. The label says takana abura itame, not takana zuke no abura itame. Sorry for that. But I really like the taste of this particular item at this supermarket.

Chinpi (陳皮 Chen-Pi in Chinese) is one of the seven ingredients of shichimi tougarashi (七味唐辛子). According to Eijiro on the Web, chinpi is called Citrus Unshiu Peel in English. (Is that true?) Chinpi is also used in Chinese medicine (Kanpou) and Chinese cuisine. http://www.tec-tsuji.com/recipe2002/chef/c...02/index-j.html (Japanese only).

I thought you were going to comment on the yaki mikan nodo ame from Kanro: http://www.candypark.com/cp/tokimeki/2002/...yaki_mikan.html Do you know chinpi (dried mikan peelings)? http://www.agri.pref.kanagawa.jp/nosoken/n...npi/Chinpi2.htm

You mean yaki mikan? No, I haven't myself. Access the site and look at the first map: http://weekend.nikkei.co.jp/kiko/20030124s861o000_24.html

OK, I like them. The smaller the better. I also like canned mikan. Frozen ones too. Now you can trust me. Besides, I like wintertime too. You know I live in the Snow Country.

The original recipe is such that the rice, seasonings, water, and ingredients are put in in that order, but I intentionally modified the order of water and ingredients simply because I can't completely drain the mushrooms by the time I put them in. Besides, all the ingredients of this recipe are so light that they virtually float on water, and so it doesn't make any major difference if you put the ingredients first. After all, I found the resulting takikomi gohan was fairly good, so I posted my version of the recipe. Also, I intentionally added that you can omit the latter part of step 1 because I thought you might find that information useful if you had to make takikomi gohan in a hurry for some reason or other.

torakris, have you ever made ishiyaki imo with your gadget?

Udon Suki (うどんすき) is a registered trademark of Mimiu: http://www.mimiu.co.jp/mimiu/menu/udonski.html (Japanese only) I have no affiliation with Mimiu, but I have fond memories of udon suki because my wife and I exchanged engagement gifts (yuinou in Japanese) at a Tokyo branch of Mimiu, along with our parents and go-betweens.

First, the Kyoto versions of tanuki udon and tanuki soba http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~p8919ab/tesima.html The first photo in the link shows the Kyoto version of tanuki udon. In Kyoto, tanuki udon and tanuki soba are udon and soba with their soup thickened with starch and with sliced aburaage on top. In Osaka, udon and soba with tenkasu on top are called haikara (ハイカラ) udon and haikara soba, respectively, or simply tenkasu udon and tenkasu soba. In Osaka, tenkasu is served free of charge at many shops. At these shops, there is no specific name for udon or soba with tenkasu on top. In Kanto, the word kitsune refers to aburaage and tanuki refers to tenkasu. Thus, kitsune udon and kitsune soba are udon and soba with kitsune on top, respectively, and tanuki udon and tanuki soba are udon and soba with tenkasu on top, respectively. In Osaka, the word kitsune refers to udon with aburaage on top and tanuki refers to soba with aburaage. People there simply say kitsune (not kitsune udon) and tanuki (not tanuki soba). References (all in Japanese only): http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Dice/9450/kitsune.html http://weekly.freeml.com/chousa/kitutanu02.html http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AC%E3%81%8D http://osaka.yomiuri.co.jp/ajinakansai/aji...2004/040930.htm http://www.tourism.city.osaka.jp/ja/taberu...ta/taboo06.html http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~caf56560/nisshi/99_06/99_06.html And, there are some exceptions to everything, I think. So, helen, what do you say? Any comments highly appreciated.

I have learned a great deal about jouya nabe, as well as other nabe, today. Nabe similar to jouya nabe can be found in the Touhoku district, Tokyo, Shizuoka, etc. In some areas, it is called joya nabe じょや鍋 (not jouya nabe) or shouya nabe 庄屋鍋. The widely accepted theory is that the nabe started to gain popularity at dormitories of old-education-system high schools and then spread throughout the country. The shabushabu style is also called ton shabu (or buta shabu) while the simmering style is also called ton chiri (or buta chiri). from http://home3.highway.ne.jp/nabeken/nabejiten.htm (This site contains very useful information, so I have bookmarked it.) According to http://park6.wakwak.com/~fufu2/cooking/jyouya-nabe.htm Jouya nabe got its name because in the past, people assigned to fire patrol duty had this nabe to stay up all night. This site http://gogen-allguide.com/ti/chirinabe.html says that pork chiri nabe is also called jouya nabe, suggesting that jouya nabe is one type of chiri nabe. An interesting anecdote from this site is that chiri nabe seems to have been started for Westerners, who did not eat raw fish, toward the end of the Edo period through the Meiji period.

I'm terribly sorry. Pork and spinach seem to be the indispensable ingredients of jouya nabe. Jouya nabe is so called because you won't get tired of it even if you eat it either 1) every night or 2) all night long. Jouya nabe is also called tokoya nabe (tokoya is another possible pronunciation of 常夜).

Gyoja nabe (行者鍋 right?)... Quite interesting. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with it. Surprisingly, I have found that gyoja nabe is a registered trade name. http://www.yoshino.ne.jp/tatumiya/ryouri.htm (Japanese only)

Slander!!! There certainly was "tanuki udon" etc. in Osaka when I was a student there...er....25 years ago! How could I forget something so cheap and tasty! ← OK, I admit that my preceding post was much of a generalization and quite misleading, and I failed to comment on the Kyoto version of tanuki udon. I'll submit another post in a day or two.

This product is not Ougon Mamakari of Sankou but is quite similar.

Expo 2005 will be held in Aichi prefecture from 25 March through 25 September, 2005, for a total of 185 days. English version of its official website: http://www-1.expo2005.or.jp/en/ The Expo offers a food-related program called Wanpaku Treature Island: http://www-1.expo2005.or.jp/en/venue/treasure_island.html I hope to be able to visit the Expo and post more detailed information.

It's only recently that I have learned the following: 1. Udon with aburaage is called kitsune udon in both areas. 2. Soba with aburaage is called kitsune soba in Kanto and tanuki soba in Kansai. 3. In Kanto, udon with tenkasu and soba with tenkasu are called tanuki udon and tanuki soba, respectively. In Kansai, tenkasu is offered free of charge and, therefore, there is no such thing as kitsune soba or tanuki udon.

You call this light and easy... I'm speechless...

First of all, I must say thank you for trying my recipe. About the aroma: Have you ever heard of the Maillard reaction, also known as the amino-carbonyl reaction? This reaction occurs when soy sauce and mirin are heated, which gives off a good aroma. Example of an explanation of this reaction: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/...lard%20reaction

Have you ever heard of buri bunka ken (buri culture area) and sake bunka ken (salmon culture area)? Japan is divided into these two distinct areas. The former corresponds to West Japan, the latter to East Japan. http://www.pref.toyama.jp/sections/1015/ec...shu/index2.html Scroll down and look at the map of Japan under (3). You can see that the Fossa Magna divides Japan into the two areas.

Hiroyuki-san! I had no idea! There is no distinction between Pork Man and Beef Man in Kanto? Beef Man exists in Tokyo? What do you call them? In Kanto, you use pork for Nikujaga? Do you also use pork for Niku Udon? That's very interesting! I also noticed that Sukiyaki in Kanto is different from Kansai style Sukiyaki. Kanto version is darker than Kansan's. Kanto's Sukiyaki has lot more liquid or soup than Kansai version. ← I was born in Tokyo and was there until thirty, so I usually identify myself as a Kanto man. I myself has never eaten, seen, or heard of beef man. A quick google search tells me that there are such things as gyuu man (beef man) but I don't know whether they are popular in Tokyo. Of course, we DO use pork to make nikujaga and niku udon. I was surprised when I learned that Kansai people used beef to make nikujaga. I thought "Mottainai!" (lit. What a waste!). When I was a child, beef was such a luxury item. As you say, Kansai and Kanto style Sukiyaki are quite different. Kansai people first fry only beef with soy sauce and sugar in the pan and they don't use warishita (type of soup stock).

huh. total spending for niku in kanto was 41985 yen and 63528 in kansai.do people eat less vegetables (or more meat) in kansai? or maybe chicken and fish is eaten more in kanto? 20000+ yen difference in meat spending is a lot... ← Here are some of my findings: According to http://osaka.yomiuri.co.jp/kamigata/2003/031112.htm, the monthly (annual?) per-capita expenditure on ready-made food (nakashoku) in 2002 was 8,435 yen in Kansai and 8,825 yen in Kanto, and the expenditure for eating out was 13,300 yen and 16,992 yen, respectively. Kansai exceeds Kanto in staple foods such as rice and bread, meat, and sea food while Kanto exceeds Kansai in fruit and vegetables. According to http://osaka.yomiuri.co.jp/ajinakansai/aji...2004/040909.htm, the spending on chicken per household last year was the highest in Kyushu, followed by Kinki (almost the same as Kansai) at 13,051 yen and Kanto at 9,783 yen.

I found this site: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%83%B7%E5%....B2.A1.E7.9C.8C The problem is that it's in Japanese and and the links are far from perfect. But anyone can contribute to this site.