Hiroyuki

Unfortunately, I don't know of any crackers by the name of goshiki no mai. Are they rice crackers? Goshiki no mai is probably spelled 五色の舞 in Japanese, which is literally 'five-colored dance'. go = five shiki = color no = 's mai = dance

小さじ = 5 cc = 1/6 ounce 大さじ = 15 cc = 1/2 ounce Right, Kris?

My parents, who now live in a rural area of Kimitsu city, Chiba prefecture, make miso from scratch, but I'm sure that such people are now rare. I lived in Matsudo city for one and a half years from 1990 to 1992 before moving to Shiozawa. I highly recommend the pickle shops, Kuromon-ya and Akamon-ya, near Hondoji Temple. Daikon "tamari" pickles of Kuromon-ya were superb. Hondoji Temple: http://www.geocities.co.jp/SilkRoad-Ocean/...ou/hondoji.html Kuromon-ya: http://www.yomiuri.gr.jp/features0206/page8_1.html Have you ever been to Hondoji Temple, Helen?

Do you make miso? Really? From scratch?

I'm curious to know, is that really 100% ground beef? No pork added? I wish I could buy a pack to make 100% ground beef hamburgers!

Like Helen said, it's not viscous. But when it goes bad, it is! Some people add sugar and others add salt! I've never add either myself. http://oshiete1.goo.ne.jp/kotaeru.php3?q=902482 (Japanese only. It's for those who read Japanese.) By the way, many Japanese sprinckle some salt to watermelons when they eat. Salt is believed to accentuate sweetness. Some say you can make a drink similar to "coffee milk" (coffee gyunyu in Japanese) by mixing barley tea and milk together. You can make barley tea jelly: http://cookpad.com/aloha/index.cfm?Page=re...01324&Mode=full (Japanese only)

According to this site (sorry, Japanese only), 40 to 50 g of barley should be enough for 2 liters of water. http://www.sanei-web.com/chakko/catalog/item/file-m04.html I hope you succeed!

According to one site, almost all frozen edamame come from China and Taiwan. I bought fresh chamame (a type of edamame) grown in Taiwan the other day. They tasted much better than I thought.

Besides a kama, you can also hang a tetsu bin (iron kettle) and a tetsu nabe (iron pot) from the jizai kagi (pot hook). http://www.rakuten.co.jp/yumekousha/438868/ Photo 1 shows a tetsu bin, and photo 2 a tetsu nabe. This site says that the tools shown are the same as those used in the movie, The Last Samurai. While conventional irori are sunken fireplaces, floor-type irori are now more popular. My father really wanted to have a conventional irori installed when he had his new house built more than ten years ago, but he gave it up because of the certain risks involved with irori such as burns, fires, and carbon monoxide poisoning.

I searched for information about roasting barley, but sorry to say, I could not find any useful information. If you know how to roast coffee beans, that may be of some help to you. I like mine weak. According to the manufacturer's instructions, one teabag makes 1 liter of barley tea, but I make 2 liters from one bag.

For those who are not familiar with barley tea: http://www.healthygourmetstore.com/index.h...gichacatal.html http://www.basedonatruestory.com/ldk/archi...barley_tea.html

Although barley tea is regarded as a summer beverage by many Japanese, I drink it regularly all year round, after a bath. Barley tea is the oldest tea in Japan. It contains no caffein, so even children can drink it. And it contains starch, so it goes bad rather quickly in hot weather. Have you ever drunk barley tea?

Are chamame available in countries other than Japan? They are the best variety of edamame. For those of you who are not familiar with them, visit the following sites: http://ytoshi.cool.ne.jp/best_friends32/st...me/chamame1.htm http://www.pref.niigata.jp/sougouseisaku/k...ricultural.html As you can see, chamame are a specialty of Niigata prefecture.

About the HTST process: HTST refers to one type of retort sterilization that considerably reduces heating time by applying a blast of air hotter than in conventional processes to coffee-containing cans, thereby keeping coffee aroma from thermal degradation. The unique waist-wave shape of the can contributes to improved thermal efficiency of this process.

Quite interesting, especially the fish sausage (chikuwa?) in the miso soup! I'm looking forward to your pickles. One question: Do you use mugicha teabags? EDIT to add: HTST stands for hot temperature short time.

Have you checked this thread in the Japan Forum? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=43533&hl= Cooking with green tea.

I don't know anything about Chinese green tea, but I do drink a quite a lot of Japanese green tea every day--two liters or more. That's simply because I like it. I sometimes drink green tea after I drink coffee. Health effects of Japanese green tea: http://www.japanesegreenteaonline.com/health.htm

I have no idea about the vegetable--maybe vegetable extract or powder. I don't know the food labeling system in the United States, but in Japan, the term "amino acids" is used to refer to not only MSG but also any other amino acid-based seasoning. http://www.navi21.jp/dron/food/food-3.htm (Sorry, Japanese only) It's hard to imagine what the cause of the strong flavor is, but if I were you I would make a complaint directly to the manufacturer.

They are not particularly oily because salad oil is sprayed first and then salt is sprinckled.

And salad refers to salad oil.

Talking of edamame, http://www.emiko.com/combini/snack4.html The 27th photo shows an edamame snack (if I counted the number of photos right). Don't you think this one cute (4th photo)? http://www.ne.jp/asahi/gifu/takayama16/omiyage.html Hello Kitty edamame snack, sold in Gifu prefecture only *** torakris, are you obsessed with edamame products? First zunda mochi and then this pop corn...

As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, I am not a vegetarian. I know I can never be a conscientious vegetarian. But I think I could be a vegetarian for other reasons--environmental reasons. I believe that the 21th century has to be an environmental one, and if I had to be a vegetarian to that end, I would be willing to be one. I think you know what I am talking about--methane emissions from cattle: http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/agriculture/f...fs_feedlot.html

Unfortunately, I haven't. I didn't know it could be eaten that way. I only drink dokudami tea. I found several interesting sites, though. I might try dokudami tempura! http://www.shishiclub.co.jp/uenoya/yakuzen_dokudami.html An excerpt from this site: －食べれるんですよ－ 独特の臭みも高熱により消失する。 ◆若い芽の天ぷら ◆塩湯でゆでて、水でさらし、味噌とみりんで和える。 こんな食べ方もあるんですよ。 Partial translation: High heat destroys the distinctive ordor. - Tempura of young sprouts (young leaves?) - Boil (leaves?) in salty water, soak them in water, and dress with miso and mirin) http://www.yozan-foods.com/user/index.php?...e7abb7b78b4f63f Photo of dokudami leaf tempura http://www.overlandclub.jp/ryouri/foods/rauthom.html According to this site, doudami is eaten raw in Viet Nam. The dokudami there has thinner leaves and tastes less awful.

Dokudami are in full bloom! For a description of dokudami, visit: http://www.planetbotanic.ca/fact_sheets/ja...dokudami_fs.htm

Here is a Japanese version, if anyone is interested: http://www.asahi.com/science/update/0609/003.html