Hiroyuki

My sister's husband is an Osaka man. They live in Wakayama prefecture now. I think I have to talk to them about all the differences between Kanto and Kansai... Correction: Sorry, they live in Osaka, not Wakayama.

I didn't eat that triangular one (didn't have the time to eat all the dishes). My wife told me it was a kind of youkan. The sekihan was wrapped so that we could take it home along with all the other foods we couldn't eat at the restaurant.

Here is another interesting description: As for gyuu no tataki, which is beef seared in a similar way as with katsuo no tataki, beef is not pounded at all. 牛のたたきは、カツオのたたきを真似して肉の表面を焼いたもので、まったくたたかれていません。 from here: http://backno.mag2.com/reader/BackBody?id=...000000131917000

OK, I was wrong. In the Kanto area, tenpura means a food item coated in batter and then deep-fried, whereas in the Kansai area, tenpura can mean deep-fried fish paste as well.

From http://home.earthlink.net/~marutama/aboutus.htm Today they produce dozens of different Kamaboko products including, Tenpura (fried Kamaboko, also known as Satsuma Age), and Chikuwa (broiled Kamaboko shaped like a cylinder and made to resemble bamboo). Judging from this passage, I assume that the company mistakenly use the term tenpura to mean satsuma age.

This is a typical dish with kakinomoto (edible kiku flowers) Soy sause-based soup and bonito flakes on top This is one of the dishes served at a Japanese restaurant here in Shiozawa. Other dishes:

For me, dagashi are the things of the past - I cherish them together with all of my childhood memories, but I am not very keen on buying or eating them now. For those of you who wish to buy and eat dagashi, here are two links: Dime shop in Shinyokohama Raumen Meseum: http://www.raumen.co.jp/english/shops.html Ebisu Dagashi Bar: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g485002/ This is a shot bar. At a charge of 500 yen, you can have as many dagashi as you can eat.

I can tell you that it's impossible to stir the beans in a skillet as constantly and violently as in a can roaster.

I started to hear the sound of first crack as early as six minutes after I started roasting, so I had to keep the can away from the heat for some time. I don't think I heard the sound of second crack. I thought right at the beginning that I would stop roasting in fifteen minutes. I think you are right – the beans were under-roasted. Next time I think I will keep roasting until I hear second crack.

Although the beans looked good in color, I found the resulting coffee lacking in aroma and flavor. This is due to my lack of experience in roasting rather than the characteristics of the milk powder can roaster. On Flavor coffee's website, Nakagawa says that the roaster can make roasted beans comparable to those made with a commercial roaster. I know I have to improve my roasting skills.

Gobo is an ingredient essential for making pork soup (ton jiru). Note that some Japanese, especially those living in West Japan, call pork soup buta jiru rather than ton jiru.

Give me chikuwabu (not chikuwa) and eggs only! Hanpen? No thanks!

I just don't know how to describe your cafe – chic is the word? I really like the wooden furniture. One question: Is smoking permitted in your cafe? I would also like to ask you to visit the kissaten (coffeehouse) thread in the Japan Forum when you have time. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=52345

It is a dagashi, but unfortunately, it was popular in the Kansai area and I have never eaten it before. In the Kanto area, rice choco (rice chocolate) was popular. Tirol choco: http://www.okashi.co.jp/dagasi/da_ti005.html Rice choco: http://www.okashi.co.jp/dagasi/da_ra001.html http://homepage1.nifty.com/nekocame/60s70s...5.htm#ricechoco

I really liked the anzu ame (apricot candy), which was a sheet just like a stick of chewing gum, but much bigger, measuring about 10 cm by 3 cm (about 4 by 1 in inches). I once did an extensive google search for it, but did not come up with anything. Maybe the manufacturer discontinued it long ago. Other apricot dagashi include Mitsu anzu http://www.carayoko.com/window/item/1227.html Anzu bou http://www.carayoko.com/window/item/1221.html

I can assure you that it keeps for ten days or longer, but I am not sure whether it keeps for two weeks or longer, as we always finish it off by that time!

Thanks, smallworld. As you say, 'firm' sounds more appropriate than 'hard'. I found an interesting passage from a page of Tameshite Gatten's website: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/1999q1/19990106.html Q3: How the Yamanashi specialty "houtou" differs from "udon"? A3: In making "houtou" noodles, no salt is added to the flour. When flour is kneaded with water, adding salt makes the koshi of the noodles stronger. On the other hand, houtou is made by simmering raw houtou noodles in dashi (soup stock), so it would become too salty if salt were added to the flour. Sanuki udon, which is known for having strong koshi, has more salt content than udon in other regions. Definition of "koshi": One feels that noodles "have koshi" (koshi ga aru) if they have a moisture content gradient of about 80% on the periphery and 50% near the center.

Has anyone tried Fujinomiya Yakisoba? http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~saromiya/yakisoba/eindex2.html

I like the Izu area of Shizuoka prefecture. It's more than twenty years ago that I tasted inoshishi nabe (also known as botan nabe) at a restaurant in this area for the first time in my life. I have to admit that I just can't tell the difference between inoshishi (wild boar) meat and pork. The website of Inoshishi Mura http://www3.tokai.or.jp/ino-cc/ (Japanese only)

Today, I made my third attempt outdoors. I carefully watched the beans while constantly shaking the can so as not to overheat them. In fourteen minutes, I stopped roasting. It looked like a success.

What amazes me the most is the very fact that your husband still calls you a foreigner (maybe gaijin). I must admit that I was not a very big fan of sumomo. I was and still am an apricot dagashi lover.

Thank you for trying my recipe, melonpan. This furikake is one of my favorite breakfast okazu (side dishes). Why don't you modify my recipe to suit your Korean taste and post it here? I always keep the furikake in the refrigerator:

I'm glad that there are people like you who actually know what dagashi were. Cocoa cigarettes (not chololate cigarettes) were one of my favorites.

It was only yesterday that I realized what you meant by wrapper - oblate (オブラート)!! You don't have oblate in the United States? We use oblate to wrap bitter powder medicine.

I absolutely recommend frozen ones, although I have never tried dried ones. How do you say 'koshi ga tsuyoi' コシが強い in English? Just 'hard' is OK? torakris, helen, or anyone?