Hiroyuki

Here is a very interesting website called Gourmet Ranking: http://guriuri.com/ranking/ranking.asp?ID=16&TNO=685 The question is, "What do you eat with mayo?" The most Japanese answered tako-yaki, followed by broccoli, yaki-soba, okonomiyaki, salad and fruit (fruit?? ). The questionnaire is still open. You can send your answer.

And how much discount did you get on that day?

He-he. I watched the chahan edition of Tameshite Gatten, and I provided the link to that edition in my first post in this thread, along with other chahan-related links. Here is a copy of them: References (all Japanese only): Aru Aru Daijiten: http://www.ktv.co.jp/ARUARU/search/arutyarhan/tyarhan1.html Me Ga Ten: http://www.ntv.co.jp/megaten/library/date/01/05/0520.html Tameshite Gatten: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2000q2/20000531.html In fact, my recipe is a combination of all these three recipes.

Let me point out that the firepower of most home-use stoves is about 4,000 kcal, whereas that of professional stoves is 10,000 to 30,000 kcal. Many websites recommend that you heat cold rice in a microwave oven before adding it to the pan.

Japanese rice is sticky as you point out, and that's exactly why eggs and rice must be added to the pan almost simultaneously. The keyword is emulsification. I don't want to go into details of this, but if you just follow the step, you can prevent rice grains from sticking together.

I wonder if these links satisfy your curiosity: http://homepage.mac.com/muse_epa1/gourmand...otoAlbum66.html The middle one in the second row shows warabi-mochi, which is NOT made from mochi-gome but from some kind of starch (in the olden times, warabi-ko (starch made from warabi roots), and the right one in the same row shows kinako daifuku (daifuku dusted with soy flour). http://www.konohata.com/indexpage/shopgoods.htm In the second row are a variety of mochi sweets, to be more precise, just-pounded mochi sweets. In the third row, you can see a variety of dango. In the fourth row are regular daifuku, kusa daifuku (daifuku with mugwort leaves in it), and kinako daifuku, from left to right. http://www.ict.ne.jp/gurume/strawberry/#1 A variety of ichigo (strawberry) daifuku. This site says that Kin'eido was the first to introduce ichigo daifuku about 16 or 17 years ago, but there are other shops that claim they were the first.

That's true!! I understand that the mayo in the United States is sweet, maybe too sweet for Japanese.

Thank you, Kris, for satisfying my curiosity.

That's something I want to ask you. I made yose-dofu yesterday too (I actually bought two bottles), and I think that yose-dofu can never be like a creamy custard. The recipe for making yose-dofu is quite similar to that for making momen-dofu. You know the texture of momen-dofu, don't you? Its texture is just like that of cottage cheese. If you want creaminess in your tofu, I think that the recipe using a microwave oven is right for you.

My recipe for making egg chahan: Ingredients (1 serving): 200g plain cooked rice 2 eggs 1 tbsp oil (or lard) Pepper Salt Soy sauce Sesame seed oil How to make: 1) Heat rice in a microwave oven (if cool). 2) Beat eggs. 3) Heat the nonstick frying pan at high heat for about 1 min. (If an iron pan or wok, heat until smoking hot.) 4) Add oil and distribute it evenly. 5) Add beaten eggs first and then rice immediately. Stir constantly. 6) Add pepper and salt. 7) Add soy sauce. 8) Add sesame seed oil. Done! Perform steps 3) to 8) within 3 to 5 minutes. Notes: 1. You can mix eggs and rice together in a bowl before adding. This way, you can make what is called ougon chahan (golden chahan), like this one: http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~china/newpage52.htm 2. If you want to add additional ingredients, finely chop them beforehand and add them between steps 6) and 7). Tips: 1. Heat the pan hot enough (to 230 degrees Centigrade) before adding eggs. 2. Heat rice before adding. 3. Finely chop all ingredients, and precook them if necessary. In short, mise en place (preparatory work) is the key. References (all Japanese only): Aru Aru Daijiten: http://www.ktv.co.jp/ARUARU/search/arutyarhan/tyarhan1.html Me Ga Ten: http://www.ntv.co.jp/megaten/library/date/01/05/0520.html Tameshite Gatten: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2000q2/20000531.html Today, I made egg chahan for lunch, with the recipe I have just described. I like simple food, and I like the combination of eggs and sesame seed oil. And what's your recipe?

At this point, I'd like to ask all of you the following questions: 1. No one ordered sake? Almost all dishes seem to go well together with sake. 2. Why the foie gras offer? Because most of you were gaijin? 3. Why did the dinner take so long? Is it the shop's fault?

Just a quick note first: As I mentioned in a previous post, 3-g nigari powder for 1,000-ml soy milk. BUT, if you buy a nigari bottle, no need to worry about this; I'm sure that it specifies how much of it to use with a certain amount of soy milk. Just for reference, the bottle I bought, which contains 500-ml soy milk, comes with a 6-ml nigari pack. The hotter the soy milk (but never boil it!!) and the more the nigari, the harder the tofu. (Don't ask me more; I'm also a beginner.) More comments later.

I don't think there is any special name for that kind of spaghetti; we just call it mayonnaise spaghetti. And I don't think you need any recipe for that; you just boil spaghetti soft (not al dente ), put it in a bowl, and add some mayonnaise and precooked or raw vegetables. Don' t you agree, Kris? Anyway, here is one recipe (there are a lot more, of course): http://cookpad.com/oiko/index.cfm?Page=rec...42220&Mode=full

Do you know what day it is today (June 16)? Wagashi Day 和菓子の日! Why not shop around for some good wagashi?

I still can't believe that the combination of takana and soba miso is possible, I mean, tasty. Maybe you could take a picture of it the next time you go to that soba-ya and order the same dish... Soba miso is usually consumed in the way torakris described, and takana zuke is often eaten with plain cooked rice and used to make takana chahan (fried rice).

Let me show you my first attempt to make yose-dofu. First, the soy milk that I used, together with the nigari pack attached to it: I put the soy milk in a pan, heated up, constantly stiring, and added the nigari. I stirred two or three times. The soy milk turned to tufu almost instantly (in about five seconds). This is exactly what donjou described. I tasted the tofu, and I thought it umai (delicious). Then, I transfered the tofu in a colander with a sheet of cooking paper on top. I ate it with some soy sauce only. Yum! (Sorry, the photo is out of focus.) After all, was it a success or not? I don't know. See what's left in the bowl. Some comments later. [Hosting Team note: the images in this post are no longer available]

So, what about soba miso? Takana zuke and soba miso served separately?

I need some clarification: 1. What exactly do you mean by takana? Is it takana zuke (pickles)? Look at the photos: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/onimaru/480337/ You can see how green leaves of takana 高菜 are made into takana zuke. 2. Was is a mixture of soba miso and takana?

?? Tohoku cooking? You mean Akita and Yamagata? I know little about their regional foods. All I can think of are Akita: Kiritanpo きりたんぽ Inaniwa udon 稲庭うどん (I used to like it, but now I'm a huge fan of sanuki udon.) Tonburi (also known as hatake no (field) caviar!) とんぶり Yamagata: Tama konnyaku 玉こんにゃく Imo ni 芋煮 Dashi だし What more specific information do you need? I know little, but I can search!! EDIT: And shio natto from Yamagata, which I learned from the Natto thread this morning

I would reply: よかったですね。うらやましい。 Yokatta desu ne. Urayamashii. Good for you (lit. It was good, wasn't it?) I envy you.

Yes, they are. But I can't comment on how good fresh ones are because I've never bought packed ones before; I just can't bring myself to buy them. I can only say I was totally amazed when I first tasted them here in Shiozawa. And I don't know exactly how many types. This site says there are about 600 types: http://ww3.tiki.ne.jp/~kondou/take/take.htm But this one says there are about 70: http://www.o-e-c.net/syokuzai/takenoko.htm#syurui This site provides some photos of shoots of several kinds: http://www.minc.ne.jp/~hotei/takenoko.html The first photo shows kanzanchiku カンザンチク (寒山竹 in Kanji), which is said to taste better than mousouchiku. This one says that the three most useful bamboos are mouchouchiku, madake, and hachiku. http://www.sase.jp/migita/kusaki/4winter/1ta.htm But I have to admit that I have never seen any of them sold at stores (except mousouchiku and himetake, of course). Naeba is about forty minutes or so from my condo by car, but I've never been there for skiing, because there are other ski resorts in my town.

I was expecting someone like you could provide a definitive answer. If you can't, who else? It's true that some of pie-like snacks, such as unagi pie (click the link below to view photos), are not like real pies, but what is the exact definition of the pie or the American pie anyway? http://www.shunkado.co.jp/prod_unagipaif.htm Another related question: In Japan, we have biscuits, cookies, and crakers. My understanding is that in the United States, you call both biscuits and cookies cookies. Am I right?

I made tofu no zuke and cheese no zuke, following the recipes presented in the TV program, and I thought of starting a new thread on zuke if the results were good. Unfortunately, they were not as tasty as I had imagined; actually, I found both of them mazui (bad-tasting)!! Sorry to say this, but maybe you should limit the application of zuke to zuke don or something like that, or forget all about zuke... (I'm sure you will enjoy tuna zuke (maguro no zuke) at an Edomae-zushi shop, though.)

Chahan was introduced into Japan from Canton. People coming from Canton to Japan formed the basis for the Chinatown in Yokohama. Even today, Cantonese dishes (Note: restaurants?) account for 80% of the Chinatown. This information is from the following site: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2000q2/20000531.html (Japanese only) One of my favorites is egg chahan. As the name implies, the only ingredient other than rice is eggs. I think that chahan deserves a thread of its own, which I'm going to start in a day or two.

I like zuke don too. My mother used to make it for me because she knew I liked it. We loosely called it tekka don 鉄火丼. But the point is that the original purpose of zuke, preservation rather than seasoning, is all but forgotten today. I suppose that with zuke don, the tuna is marinated in 1) soy sauce and 2) for a very short time, as in the following recipes: http://japanesefood.about.com/cs/rice/a/magurozukedon.htm (English) Soaking time: not specified http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~wacancan/002_wakuan/003_dukedon.htm (Japanese only) Soaking time: 10 min. 1) As for edomae-zushi, tuna is soaked in a combination of soy sauce with other ingredients such as sake, mirin, and dashi. 2) Some edomae-zushi shops soak tuna for half an hour before serving, but most soak it for three to five hours.