Hiroyuki

In Kanto, the word niku (meat) is associated with pork; in Kansai, beef. Thus, in Kanto, niku man means pork manju; in Kansai, the same manju is called buta man; niku man would mean beef manju. In Kanto, the meat in niku jaga is pork, while in Kansai, it is beef. Average household spending for beef and pork (2000) Kanto: 19,776 yen for beef and 22,209 yen for pork Kansai: 43,418 yen for beef and 20,110 yen for pork from here http://ku0811.hp.infoseek.co.jp/framepagekansai.html (Japanese only)

You can also make kaki su (persimmon vinegar) and kaki no ha cha (persimmon leaf tea), if you have the time... and will. http://www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/prefg/13030...akou/kakisu.htm http://www.pref.ehime.jp/ecc/q&a/howto/ahowto17.htm (Both in Japanese only)

First the definitions: There is no clear definition of Kanto or Kansai. Generally speaking, Kanto includes Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Gunma, Ibaraki, and Tochigi, while Kansai includes Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Shiga, Nara, and Wakayama. The point is that the center of Kanto is Tokyo and that of Kansai is Osaka. As you may know, there are great cultural differences between these two areas. Let me give you some examples. 1. In Kanto, MacDonald's is abbreviated as Makku (マック in Katakana); in Kansai, Makudo (マクド in Katakana). Access the site and see the map of Japan: http://weekly.freeml.com/chousa/hamburger.html See how each prefecture is colored. Orange: Prefecture where they say Makudo Green: Prefecture where they say Makku Yellow: Prefecture where they say both Makudo and Makku 2. Access the site and scroll down to see the last two photos placed side by side: http://www.geocities.jp/tamasaburoh/kikaku/donbei/donbei.htm The left one shows the soup of the Kansai version of the instant udon called Don Bei; the right one the Kanto version. You can see that the soup of the Kanto version is darker. In Kanto, strong (koikuchi) soy sauce is mainly used and bonito is mainly used to make soup stock. In Kansai, light (usukuchi) soy sauce is mainly used and kelp is mainly used to make soup stock.

Mine is like this. My wife said it was very good. The combination of kaki and yuzu turned out to be surprisingly good. I don't have to put it in a sterilized jar because I'm pretty sure my wife can finish it off in a day or two. (My wife isn't fat.)

In Kansai (area including Osaka and Kyoto), nikuman are called butaman (buta = pig).

Since torakris submitted a full recipe, I'll provide some links to simpler ones in which ready-made bread is used, with simple explanations. (All sites are in Japanese only). http://mbs.jp/emi-go/recipe/recipe33.html Put some curry on one slice of crustless bread. Place another slice on top, pasting them together using beaten egg. Coat with beaten egg and then bread crumbs. Deep-fry slowly at 160 deg. centigrade. http://www.siraisi.co.jp/cooking/cooking2.html (Scroll down and look at the last photo but one.) Butter rolls are used. A pastry bag is used to fill each roll with curry. http://allabout.co.jp/gourmet/cookingabc/c...up/CU20040118a/ Similar to the first recipe. The bread is soaked in tempura batter, coated with bread crumbs, and pan-fried. *** Can you get Japanese curry roux in your area?

No idea! Sakura miso is a type of aka (red) miso, less salty than Haccho miso, which you can easily find, and is sweet and soft. You can get it from a large supermarket and from the miso section at a department store. from here: http://www.women-life.net/contents/tokuhisa/toku004.html

Saturday Night Chubaw's webpage: http://www.tbs.co.jp/chubaw/index.html

In Japan, there are two categories of shouchuu, kou-rui and otsu-rui. Kou-rui shouchuu is quite similar to what melonpan described. Otsu-rui shouchuu is much more expensive and is touted as the "authentic" (honkaku) shouchuu. For more, visit http://www.sake-world.com/html/shochu-awamori.html. We are in the third shouchuu boom since World War II. For a description, visit http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getart...n20040720f2.htm

I felt somewhat guilty for not making persimmon jam myself first, so I decided to make some this afternoon. I used two fuyu gaki, about 30 to 40 grams of sugar, and a yuzu (instead of a lemon). It turned out to be fairly good. But my problem is what to do with the well over fifty fuyu gaki that my parents sent us. I just don't want to let them rot away. I did a search through eGullet and found, among others, the following three threads: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...t=12466&hl=kaki http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...65&hl=persimmon http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...90&hl=persimmon I don't like the idea of sweetening persimmons because they are already sweet enough, so I'm thinking of peeling them, cutting them into small cubes, and freezing them. Any suggestions?

unless the nori itself is significantly different, that isnt mimicing korean nori, it is korean style nori. ← I understand that Korean nori is iwa nori 岩海苔 (don't know the English word for it). How do you eat Korean nori? Like these? http://www.hct.zaq.ne.jp/agarikusu/nori/tabekata.htm

These are the simple sauces that I sometimes make to eat nori with rice. Left: I mix equal amounts of soy sauce and mirin-like seasoning and heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds. This results in a simple yet savory sauce. I often pour this sauce over the rice rather than dipping pieces of nori in the sauce one at a time. Right: I just mix some salt with some sesame oil. I spread this sauce on a piece of nori with a spoon to mimic Korean nori. What are your favorite ways of eating nori?

Anyone care to make persimmon jam? 1 persimmon 4 tbsp (60 cc) sugar 5 cc lemon juice from http://blogs.dion.ne.jp/samemama/archives/195208.html or 1 persimmon (fuyu gaki) 200 g sugar 50 cc lemon juice from http://www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/prefg/13030...b/kakou/jam.htm Me? Well, will you try first?

Sozai is the correct spelling just like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto are the correct spellings, but I would prefer souzai because this is how it is written in Japanese phonetic characters and because sozai can be taken for another word meaning material. (Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto are written as Toukyou, Oosaka, and Kyouto in Japanese phonetic characters.) Souzai can mean both home-made and store-bought okazu (side dishes), but the word has come to mean store-bought ones specifically. >perhaps onigiri, that type of thing. I guess sashimi would be included in this category? Onigiri (rice balls) are usually not considered souzai. In Japan, rice is regarded as the staple food, and souzai and okazu are considered something to eat rice with. Sashimi is usually not considered a souzai, either, because it is not prepared in such a way as to be called a dish. In the souzai industry, however, the term souzai has been broadly interpreted to mean dishes containing rice, bread, and noodles. From here http://www.souzai.or.jp/2.html (Japanese only) If you decide to stick around the Japan Forum for a while, why don't you install a Japanese character set? The following link may provide useful information: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...825&hl=Japanese

Hm... Simply commercial tea or tea bags, I suppose. I have a couple of questions: Is it really green tea? Where are you located?

Thanks! This one works! I am getting hungry too!

Just a quick reply. http://www.jekai.org/entries/aa/00/np/aa00np62.htm I'll provide more info later.

Oh, I love this stuff! I never knew what it was called before.... I couldn't find a very good picture, but: http://www.himajin.net/diary/images/c503/59.jpg nanohana is broccoli rabe (rape) in English. now I am getting hungry.... ← Thanks for the English lesson. I wonder why I am not authorized to access the link you provided.

In her second foodblog http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=52858, torakris wrote: The raw eggs add a lot of flavor and texture to sukiyaki. I was just talking to my neighbor the other day about how our kids don't like raw eggs and we can't understand how they can eat sukiyaki without it, the taste just isn't the same. As for raw eggs with rice for breakfast, I am not a huge fan of it, but will eat it if there is nothing else, but it is a very popular dish here. As well as adding raw eggs (usually yolks only) to various dishes. We eat a lot of raw or just barely cooked eggs in our house.... (End of quote) My two children (8 and 5) love tamago kake gohan (rice with a raw egg). And I used to love it too when I was a child.

Ougon Mamakari. This is a product of Sankou http://www.kk-sanko.com/sanko_syouhin/syohin/new_page_1.htm. (Japanese only) Mamakari (lit. rice borrowing) are small sardine-like fish. They got their funny name because they are so tasty that you would go to a neighbor and ask for rice. They are also called sappa. Here is a description of mamakari: http://www.infocreate.co.jp/hometown/kurashik/dentoh-e.html (Scroll down and see the last topic.) Ougon (Golden) Mamakari is the name of a product of filleted mamakari vinegared with fish roe, carrots, gingers, and nanohana (green leaves). I'll post a picture of Ougon Mamakari when I get a pack.

But, whose trees are they anyway??

Do any of you know of Pea Sen (sp?) of Edo Ichi? Obviously, Pea Sen is short for Peanut Sembei. Edo Ichi seems to have gone bankrupt years ago, so you can't taste the authentic Pea Sen of Edo Ichi any longer. But there are a lot of Pea Sen-like sembei available, like this: http://www.aoisenbei.com/items.cgi?act=items&no=123 A single Pea Sen is very small, measuring about 1 x 3 cm, if I remember right. My father, who usually doesn't eat any sweets, once said that he liked Pea Sen.

I learned only two days ago that nori maki sembei/arare are also called shinagawa maki sembei/area (or simply shinagawa maki). Shinagawa is the name of a place in Tokyo where larva was once cultivated.

Damakko mochi dango sound like kiritanpo in texture, don't you think? Kiritanpo are also made with regular rice, although some people add mochi gome.

anyone care to describe the technical differences between chazuke, zosui and kayu? ← Here is a copy of a previous post: QUOTE (Jason Perlow @ Apr 28 2004, 11:14 AM) How is Okayu different from Zousui? I like Zousui a lot. We have three very similar terms: おかゆ okayu 雑炊 zosui おじや ojiya Most Japanese use these terms in their own way, including me. They are used almost interchangeably. I searched for the exact definitions of these terms (which means that I didn't know anything about their difference!) okayu: Made by boiling uncooked rice zosui: A dish made by mixing previously cooked rice and other ingredients with broth ojiya: Made by adding previously cooked rice to what is left of a nabe (Japanese dish using a pot) But, there is another theory: According to one source, ojiya has the same meaning as zosui, but was used by a certain type of women called nyobo (女房) at royal court. *** Making o-chazuke is simple: You just put some rice in an o-chawan (rice bowl), put whatever you like on top of the rice, and pour some tea.