Hiroyuki

I work at home, sitting at the desk during the day, and I feel as if I nibbled on eGullet while doing my work. Sounds silly, but it's true. I often drink green tea and sometimes coffee while at work.

Note that they are otona no furikake (furikake for adults)! No, no, don't get the wrong idea. Furikake is often associated with children, and these products of Nagatanien are meant to dispel such a silly idea. A wasabi flavored version is also available: http://www.katagiri.com/ctlg/jpgf/i/i0201.htm The mini versions (two types) offer more flavors: http://www.katagiri.com/ctlg/jpgf/i/i0204.htm Hope you can get them at your favorite supermarket. Nagatanien's page on furikake: http://www.nagatanien.co.jp/shouhin/index.html

This year, I'm serious about doing some online shopping to get some matsutake. How about this site: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanyodo/546642/ Any recommendations?

Here is one recipe for dashi (Japanes only): http://allabout.co.jp/gourmet/cookingabc/c...704a/index2.htm The term dashi, as used here, refers to this particular local dish in Yamagata prefecture, not soup stock. Edit to add a personal message to torakris: When are you going to start the Niigata prefecture thread??

I made an inquiry to the winery about this issue. Here's a rough translation of their reply: In this snowy district called Uonuma, a great deal of snow falls in the winter, so that the grape trees are under the snow in the wintertime. Because of this, however, the temperature will not go below 0 degrees C (32 deg. F) under the snow, so the land surface will not freeze, nor do the grape trees freeze to death. Snow also protects them from frost damage. We at this winery plant grape trees at an angle so that they will not break under the weight of the snow. Besides, we use (vertical) fences, which are resistant to snow, not (horizontal) trellises.

Hm... I'm not sure, but you are talking about myouga? Click the links and see the photos: http://www2.odn.ne.jp/shokuzai/Myouga.htm http://www.shufu2.jp/dic/hinto/0065.html http://www.hana300.com/myouga.html I often put myouga in miso soup.

Oh, boy! I don't believe this... I have to post my question there... Thanks, Pan.

Call me a fool and answer my question. How do you pronounce eGullet? I joined this forum six months ago and I still don't know for sure how to pronouce it. Thanks.

For no particular reasons, I always thought you were male... If you happen to be familiar with soju, why not contribute to this thread? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...1&st=&p=entry Sorry for getting off topic. Edit to add: And okususu-cha http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...30entry651375

phaelon56: Thank you for your reply. I need to ask a favor of you. Nakagawa says he doesn't understand English. (He says he immediately deletes any email he thinks irrelevant.) So, could you send the other necessary information including your address to me by PM? I'll translate all the necessary information and send it to Nakagawa. torakris: Have you decided whether to accept Yankee mama's offer? I really hope you accept it. Like I told phaelon56, Nakagawa doesn't understand English, so could you send all the necessary information including your address to me by PM? To you both: I promise to keep your personal information strictly confidential and delete it from my PC as soon as the offer is completed. Thank you in advance.

Hm... But I still insist that I do not want agar-agar cubes in my mitsumame... You know the texture... That's the whole point of kanten.

Even in Japan, where glutamate was first discovered and commercially produced, there is no consensus about the health hazards of MSG. All I can say about it is that too much of a good thing is bad. See also: http://www.ajinomoto.com/amino/index.html

You can get dozens of such recipes by doing a Google search with 粕漬け. Let me post one example: http://www.ajiwai.com/otoko/make/kasuduke.htm Ingredients: 4 slices of fish such as salmon, gin-mutsu, or sawara Salt (2% of the fish (probably by weight)) 300 g sake kasu (sheet) 50 cc mirin 50 cc sake *** Sorry, I made some corrections.

You can see a photo of the same omuraisu as that that appeared in the movie tampopo: http://www.geocities.jp/backen_records/tra...kyo/taimei.html Position the cursor on the photo and see what happens. At 1850 yen, it's obscenely expensive even by the Japanese standard. Anyway, you can order it at Taimeiken if you like. http://www.omurice.com/omurice/nihonbashi.html (Japanese only)

Kanten and agar-agar are made from different types of seaweeds. Kanten: Tengusa and ogonori Agar-agar: Suginori and minomata Source (Japanese only): http://www.kantenpp.co.jp/info/faq01.php?faq_catcode=6 See under Q09. Kanten is made by purifying tokoroten by exposing it to the cold. Me ga ten library (Japanese only): http://www.ntv.co.jp/megaten/library/date/03/02/0202.html See also: http://www.cuoca.com/library/contents/cont..._gyoukozai.html This site discusses the difference in texture between gelatin, kanten, and agar-agar. I, for one, like the hard texture of kanten.

Silly but interesting question, origamicrane This site http://www.kinjirushi.co.jp/dictionary/karami/karami.html says Why is wasabi hot? This is the means that wasabi uses to protect itself from being eaten by insects and animals and from invasion by bacteria. (quick translation by me)

I need one clarification, origamicrane. Agar-agar is NOT kanten. Do you mean you can buy kanten in your area? My father comes from Nagano prefecture, an ideal place for making kanten, and I used to eat it a lot as a child. My mother did not add sugar or lemon juice.

You can freeze it. When using it, DO NOT THAW but just grate it while it is still frozen. I use the same method with gingers. I found a site telling you that wasabi lasts for one year if frozen in a glass bottle in a freezer. http://www.alles.or.jp/~ohshin1/wasabi/wasabi.html (Japanese only)

Right. To be more precise, however, judging from several online sources available, I think that the word 'omelette' comes from French not English. Want to try omuraisu?

I don’t have much to contribute to this thread, Helen, because my wife and I don’t have lunch boxes of our own; I work at home and my wife is a homemaker. For outings, we usually make rice balls and put them in ‘I-wrap’ bags, and we put side dishes in plastic Tupperware containers. My children have theirs, though. I took a picture of them together with oshibori holders and Tupperware containers.

torakris is absolutely right!! Here's a thread (which I started): http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=42203&hl=

And Del Monte. Kogome and Del Monte ketchups come in plastic squeeze bottles, which I like very much, while Heinz in hard plastic bottles . Edit to add: Anyway, welcome to this wonderful thread, esvobada . I'm really glad that you have brought up this old topic again.

I live in one of the snowiest regions in the world, which is often called the Snow Country, with three meters (ten feet) of snow falling each winter. There is a winery in this snowy region, Echigo Winery. It looks just like any other in appearance, but it has a yuki himuro (literally, snow icehouse; let me simply call it a snow house), which is capable of holding 250 tons of snow to keep the storage tanks at about 5 degrees C (41 degrees F) all year round http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~ewine75/newpage.html The photo on the left shows how snow is accumulated in the snow house; part of the roofs is movable so that snow can get in. The photo on the right shows the snow in the snow house in mid-October. You can see a considerable amount of snow still remaining in the house. What is fascinating about the cold storage system using the snow house is that it emits little carbon dioxide. Vineyard in four seasons: http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~ewine75/sub2.html Inside the winery (5th and 6th photos show the snow house) http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~ewine75/sub3.html Home page of Echigo Winery (Japanese only) http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~ewine75/index.html Do you know of any winery that has a similar system?

Let me elaborate a little bit on this. At Flavor coffee, green beans are circulated through an electronic sorter to remove defects. (One pass through the sorter is not enough. Nakagawa developed a system that enables green beans to circulate through the sorter.) After roasted, the beans are circulated through the sorter again. Then, all defects are hand-picked, as shown in the photo below.

Did you watch Tameshite Gatten?: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2001q2/20010606.html First frying: 1 min. 30 sec. Rest: 4 min. Second frying: 40 sec. In both fryings, the temperature should be 180C (356F). My recipe is as follows: 500g chicken 30 cc shoyu 15 cc sake 7.5 cc mirin Grated ginger Optional: Garlic Equal amounts of katakuriko (not cornstarch) and flour Refer also to: http://www.ktv.co.jp/ARUARU/search/arukaraage/kara_1.html (I wonder if you read Japanese, though) Good luck!