Hiroyuki

Fish names are confusing, but the following site cleared up some of my confusion: http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2003/feb28-03.html So, the answer is: Black cod, or sablefish, are called gin dara (lit. silver cod) in Japanese. Japanese butterfish, which are NOT black cod, are called ibodai or ebodai. ('Ibo' means 'wart', and some people hate to call them ibodai.) Another confusion here. Mana gatsuo are also called butterfish: http://www.coara.or.jp/~sueyoshi/data01/managatuo.html

Manten batake. 畑 is pronounced hatake (or hata or pata in some cases), meaning field, patch, or plantation, but is pronounced batake when preceded by certain words, as in 茶/麦/苺畑 cha/mugi/ichigo (tea/barley/strawberry) batake.

Have you checked this out? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...41885&hl=salmon

I think that the reason why the people in the TV program found deep-fried coffee beans good-tasting was that the deep-frying process was done by the chef of a very famous tempura restaurant, Mikawa. According to the site I provided above, deep-frying was mentioned under "Other roasting methods" on page 128 of the book titled "Coffee Baisen No Kagaku to Gijutsu" (Chemistry and Technology of Coffee Roasting), as follows: "a technique of roasting coffee beans by bringing them into contact with vegetable oil heated at 180 to 260 degrees for a given length of time and removing the oil with a centrifugal machine after cooling" (translation by me). That man, which I mentioned in my previous post, is quite interesting. He is the first to succeed in roasting coffee beans in a direct-heat, superheated steam roasting system. Do you know what 'superheated steam' is? I think I'll report on his unique system if I think it worth mentioning, in a new thread.

I can never be sure what exactly you mean by that statement, but anyway, I did a quick google search and found three recipes: http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/sunezou/R...apollo_jam.html http://cmp.meiji.co.jp/milk/rcp/118.html http://cmp.meiji.co.jp/milk/rcp/003.html I must admit they are far from innovative, though.

Chev, I wonder if the link you provided is broken.

Sorry about my 'misinformation'! I hope you haven't tried that yet. I finally found additional information about deep-frying coffee beans. A man who runs a coffee shop has tried deep-frying coffee beans twice, first at 180 degrees centigrade and then at 225 degrees. He says that he felt that both the taste and flavor were clearly weaker than those of beans roasted with a regular roaster. http://www.flavorcoffee.co.jp/fla-52.html (Japanese only)

The Takoyaki Dome is so called because it's shaped like an an octopus ball. http://homepage2.nifty.com/raipachi/studium/o-dome.html See the last photo but one. Osaka is a place where almost every household has a takoyaki grill.

I think so. At one ballpark, a can of 500-ml beer costs 600 yen, about twice higher than at regular liquor shops. http://web.poporo.net/home/npb89/compare.html (Japanes only)

It's hard for me to answer that question. According to the site below, pork cutlet sandwiches, Pizza Hut pizza, and Jojoen (restaurant name) grilled meat bento seem to be popular at the Tokyo Dome; at the Osaka Dome, which Jason mentioned, hot dogs called itemae dogs, curry (and rice?), and pop corn. http://web.poporo.net/home/npb89/ (Japanese only) At Kokugi-kan, where sumo tournaments are held, makunouchi bento seem to be still popular. http://kawama.jp/General/Diary/040120093029/disp (Japanese only) The 4th photo shows a makunouchi bento. I think it's mediocre considering the price - 1,050 yen.

Great post. We DO need chilled barley tea (and watermelons) to survive the hot and humid summer in Japan. It's been so hot and humid for these couple of days. The rainy season seems to have gone somewhere!

Have you every deep-fried green coffee beans instead of roasting? If not, won't you try that? Me? No. I don't want to try that. According to the following site, deep-drying green coffee beans in oil at 180 degrees centigrade allows them to be heated uniformly, resulting in good-tasting coffee. The oil in coffee beans will not dissolve in water, so the coffee will not contain any oil. http://www.ntv.co.jp/megaten/library/date/01/02/0218.html (Japanese only. This is the website of a Japanese TV program.) EDIT: Sorry, not 'young' but 'green' coffee beans.

I guess so since it is usually available even at local supermarkets in my small town.

Pan, 口 is the Chinese character meaning 'mouth'.

Are they mozuku and tororo konbu? Mozuku: http://www.okimozuku.com/ Tororo konbu: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/isekanbutsu/480101/709299/ You can put tororo konbu in soup, wrap it around a rice ball, for example.

Japan is not the country to let a good tax opportunity go! All wines and beers *are* taxed, but the rates are different, and the criteria are different too. Let me say a few words about this: The present high tax rate on beer was established in the Meiji Period, about one hundred years ago, when beer was regarded as a luxury item. Beer is no longer a luxury item, but the government does not want to lower the high rate. Instead, it raised the tax rates on happoushu last year. Not to be outdone, breweries have developed new types of beer-like beverage, like this one: http://www.suntory.co.jp/news/2004/8778.html This product, made by adding barley shochu to happoushu, is classified as liqueur and is subject to a lower tax rate under the Liquor Tax Law. As for me, I have already said good-bye to both beer and happoushu; I usually drink kou-rui shochu mixed with barley tea.

I forgot to respond to this. I think that if you dilute your barley tea with water (I wonder if you can do this at a restaurant, though), it won't taste like that. I have something to confess - I often dilute kou-rui shouchu (pure, odorless distilled spirit) with barley tea. This, I think, is one of the cheapest way to get drunk - 50 yen per 300-ml cup. Don't call me stingy.

This is the barley tea that I made this morning. I use a wide-mouthed kettle specifically for making barely tea because it's very easy to wash out. If I want to let the tea cool quickly, I put the kettle in a tub full of water, as shown in the photo. Note that the tea is half as strong as the one made according to the manufacturer's instructions. The second photo shows what's inside the teabag after use, together with a bag before use (sorry about the photo; I'm not a good photographer). I can't answer alejita's question. torakris, could you answer that question?

There was an udon (Japanese wheat noodle) shop on the approach to Hondoji temple. I can't recall that name (ichi...(市...)?). There was a coffee shop called Fukinotou (蕗) at Kogane Kiyoshigaoka, run by a wonderful woman. She served delicious handmade dishes. Sorry to say, I received a New Year's card from her several years ago, saying that she had closed down her shop. About the buckwheat noodle: You mean sarashina 更科 soba, don't you? I prefer brown, wilder soba called inaka soba.

Sorry to hear that--I was hooked on wakegi, a type of naga-negi, for some time while I was living there.

You are THAT close to the temple? I was living on the temple' side, at Koude 幸田.

There is a local dish called binta ryouri in Makurazaki in Kagoshima prefecture. http://www.myufm.jp/program/ikeike/040514_21.html Scroll down, and you can see a photo of binta ryouri at the bottom. Binta means head in Kagoshima dialect. Makurazaki: http://www.st.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/~phot...ht/emakura.html

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. What you don't drink can't hurt you. One of the biggest advantages of barley tea is its low cost. In Japan, a pack of 50 bags is available at around 200 yen, which translates into 4 yen a pack, which makes 1 liter of barley tea. Does anyone know of any cheaper tea?

I browsed through lots of websites on this product. What I found is that some people highly praise it as an all-purpose seasoning for Chinese cuisine, while others just dismiss it as another source of SMG. I am one of the latter. Discussion on weipar: http://natto.2ch.net/cook/kako/1010/10101/1010164138.html (Japanese only) This is a product of this company, Kouki Shoukou, based in the Chinatown in Kobe: http://www.koukishoko.co.jp/main.html (Japanese only) It is not powder but in paste form: http://www5c.biglobe.ne.jp/~naporin/gohan1/weipa.htm

My vinegar mixture is similar to Helen's, and I don't bring it to a boil. I found two movies showing how to 'loose' just-cooked, piping hot rice (first movie) and 'slice' the rice after adding the vinegar mixture (second): http://www.sushinavi.com/wagaya/shari.html Click either photo and the movie starts. A fan is not shown in the movies, but you need an electric fan to cool the rice while you are 'slicing' the rice or have another person do the job with a paper fan. And two movies showing how to make a roll: http://www.sushinavi.com/wagaya/mk.html