Hiroyuki

As for my family, No, just regular soy sauce. I have a question for torakris. Is your temaki always like that?

I forgot to mention that raw fish is optional in my version of temaki-zushi... Your version is full of raw fish... and uni!!

In another thread, helenjp wrote: I almost always buy fish or sashimi, and make edo-mae chirashi, or tegone-zushi, or sometimes aji-topped nigiri at home. (Note: tegone = tegome?) I like temaki-zushi. My favorite ingredients are: 1) Canned tuna mixed with mayo 2) Umeboshi paste + Yukari (aojiso furikake) + kani-kama (fake crab) 3) Atsuyaki-tamago (thick omelet) What are your favorite homemade versions of sushi?

But the problem is whether you can find a mayo tube on the table when you enter an authentic Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki shop...

Generally speaking, there is no mayo: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~sf5t-ktu/okonomi.html It's hard to see, but no mayo is used. But, no laws against the use of mayo, of course: http://member.nifty.ne.jp/f-page/hiro/face...mi/okonomi.html Look at the middle photo in step 7. You can see mayo on the top. Enjoy the site of Otafuku in English: http://www.otafuku.co.jp/us/default.htm

1. nato? You mean natto (fermented soybeans)? Natto originated in Mito, Ibaraki prefecture. 2. As for okonomiyaki, we also have Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. 3. I'm a huge fan of Sanuki udon originating in Kagawa prefecture in Shikoku.

Furano! I wish I could go there. I found a site containing a photo gallery and a slide show: http://www2e.biglobe.ne.jp/~shelty/index/ Enjoy! *** ONE MORE THING: DON'T FORGET NIIGATA, ESPECIALLY IF YOU CARE FOR SKIING http://www.snowjapan.com/ COME TO YUZAWA, THE SNOW COUNTRY!!

Thanks, skchai. Here is a site that shows some pictures of Taishoken and Kazuo Yamagishi 山岸一雄: http://www.geocities.jp/rockygiants/taishoukenike.html (You can see Yamagishi in the top two photos.)

torakris, Hamada Shuzoh is probably 浜田酒造. Website of Hamada Shuzoh: http://www.hamada-kansai.com/index.html Photos of their products: http://www.minc.ne.jp/itikisyo/hsrc/kaiin/...mada/hamada.htm

1. I simply say, どうも doumo. Some say nothing, some ありがとう, others may say ありがとうございます (which sounds too polite to me in this particular situation). 2. Difficult for me to answer. Maybe nothing. 3. It's never too late to mend. Just say, あっ、すいません。いただきますを言うのを忘れました。いただきまーす！ (Ah, sorry, I forgot to say Itadakimasu. Itadakimaasu!) 4. A likely story. Women are changing rapidly. Another word that women hesitate to use is kuu 食う (to eat). Women usually use taberu 食べる instead. My sister has a strong aversion to kuu; whenever I say kuu, she says "Stop it!" 止めて. P.S. I'm still working on your Itadakimasu and Gochisousama question. I will post my answer in two or three days.

Another excerpt from the article: Meanwhile, the popularity of more rare brands have elevated them to cult status nationwide. In particular, the Mao, Moriizo and Murao brands -- nicknamed "Kagoshima no 3M" -- have become so scarce that people have begun to call them "maboroshi no shochu (phantom shochu)," and many shops will only sell them by lottery when they do manage to get hold of a case. *** Here are some sites on Moriizo (森伊蔵): http://www.jal.co.jp/en/inflight/topic/shochu_service.html (English!) Manufacturer of Moriizo: http://www.moriizou.jp/index.htm Rakuten (Internet shopping website): http://ww21.tiki.ne.jp/~takeshima/cocktail/shop/shop2.html (Obscenely expensive!!) Are you intrigued? As for me, I'm very satisfied with koh-rui shochu.

Yes, they are! I love mushrooms, so do most Japanese. Matsutake mushrooms, which cannot be cultivated, are a very expensive delicacy in autumn. Other cultivated varieties, such as maitake (hen of the woods), buna-shimeji, nameko, and enoki mushrooms, are produced and sold all year round.

Unfortunately, I failed to find a single website that clearly states that ice was not used to keep seafood in cold storage at sushi shops in the Edo period. All I came up with are those that imply this, such as the following: http://www.iiwanet.com/shimin/2001/0009/edomae.html Title: 江戸前鮨のはなし 生は無かったすしのネタ Translation: Story of Edo-mae-zushi Sushi toppings none of which were raw http://www.nhk.or.jp/tabemono/99/susi/toku.html This site describes that with Edo-mae-zushi, "shigoto" (work) goes into every neta. This site http://www.enoteca.co.jp/club-enoteca/eye/14.html states that ice was more expensive than fish in the Edo period. These three are just example; there are a lot more others with similar statements. I can never be so enthusiastic about old-style Edo-mae-zushi as you are (it's something that all Japanese have been through), at least I can help you. Do you need any more information about other places to go?

This is the wakame I usually buy at the local store. This bag, which contains 100-g dried wakame, costs only 198 yen. Quite reasonable. That's why I like it. The bag says that the wakame will increase 15-fold. How about that!

CAUTION: Let me tell you what I would or would not say in these particular situations. 1. In this situation, I would NOT say いただきます to the waiter REGARDLESS OF WHETHER I AM ALONE OR WITH SOMEONE ELSE. 2. In this situation, I would or would not say いただきます to the itamae when he serves the first pair. Whether I would say it depends on a variety of factors. EDIT: I guess you are puzzled. I'm thinking about how best I can answer your question.

Quite interesting. I think I'll post a follow-up report some day. One of the greatest things about kaiten-zushi shops is that they don't overcharge you. They offer 明朗会計 meirou kaikei (literally, clear accounting). No jika 時価 (current market price). This is revolutionary in the sushi world.

Thank you for reminding me of Osaka dialect!

Helen, are you sure that the term edo-zushi exists? I did several google searches on "edo-zushi", considering three possibilies: 江戸ずし 江戸寿司 江戸鮨 but I failed to find any meaingful results.

>おいしかったです。ありがとうございます。 I can't think of any appropriate expressions right now, so let me just tell you how to intensify the expression you mentioned. You can put とても totemo 大変 (たいへん) taihen とても totemo とっても tottemo (emphatic and colloquial) すごく sugoku (colloquial) すっごく suggoku (emphatic and colloquial) before おいしかったです。 oishihata desu And instead of ありがとうございます, arigatou gozaimasu you can also use the past form: ありがとうございました arigatou gozaimashita if you have finished the meal. To be contined... >What other things would be appropriate in different situations? Sorry, Sleeply_Dragon, but could you be more specific? What situations? *** いただきます (itadakimasu) and ごちそうさま（でした） (gochisousama (deshita)): We usually don't say them when we eat alone, but when we eat with someone else, it is quite customary to say them. And, I usually say ごちそうさま (gochisousama) as I leave a restaurant. When you are invited to dinner, these expressions are NOT optional; they are required! *** うまい (umai) torakris has already explained it. Note that うまみ (umami) does not have such a connotation. Some people even say うめー! (umee- pronounced ooh-meh) I can continue writing, but let's call it day. EDITED by torakris to add the romaji of the Japanese for those who are unable to read Japanese.

お冷 (ohiya) means cold drinking water (in a container) or simply water. This is a shortened form of the word お冷やし (ohiyashi) used by women serving at the Court. By the way, do you say 水ください? お水（を）ください sounds politer.

According to one site, in the Edo period, in snowy regions where ice could be stored, ice was sold to ordinary people in the summer. For the ordinary people in Edo, far away from snowy regions, however, ice was very unusual (in the summer) and was a luxury that they could hardly have. http://www.junpyou.or.jp/museum/history.html (Japanese only) BUT, like you said, there were ice vendors (koori uri 氷売り in Japanese). Take a look: http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/k-jap/koori.htm But, I can assure you from various sources that ice was not used to keep seefood in cold storage in the Edo period. >He's actually had a sushi chef yell at him for requesting his sushi 'sabi-nuki' Were you with him then? Did you yell back at the chef? You know, the arrogance of some sushi chefs really gets me, and this is a topic I want to talk about some day, together with jika 時価 (current market price). >Yes, it was certainly more than kaiten-zushi, but the two shouldn't even be compared. Come on, smallworld, they should be compared! And I'm really glad that kaiten-zushi shops have revolutionalized the sushi world.

Thanks for a question, but I'm kind of busy right now. I'll answer your question within the next eight hours, OK?

Cheap ones are often mealy, and expensive ones are just too sweet. For me, that's a big problem. Quite surprisingly, though, my wife calls mealy ones "boke ringo" (senile apples) and loves them.

1. apparently keeping his fish cold on ice. In the Edo period, ice wasn't commercially available. In the summer, only the shogun could have ice brought to him all the way from Mount Fuji. 2. I thought Edo-mae-zushi was simply a term that could be used interchangable with nigiri-zushi. You are quite right. To differentiate nigiri-zushi, which was an invention in Edo, from oshi-zushi in Osaka, people used the term Edo-mae-zushi interchangeably with nigiri-zushi. Edo-mae (literally, in front of Edo), refers to Edo Bay (present Tokyo Bay), located in front of Edo. Thus, Edo-mae-zushi was sushi made with seafood caught from Edo Bay. 3. So is traditional Edo-mae-zushi still popular these days? Why have I never seen it before? Many sushi shops claim that they are Edo-mae-zushi shops, but there is certainly no consensus on how Edo-mae-zushi should be among these shops. How much "shigoto" (work) and what kind of shigoto goes into each neta (topping) before being served varies greatly from one shop to another. You happened to choose a shop that is a traditional, authentic Edo-mae-zushi shop (according to the shop's website), and they call their sushi ryoh-ri zushi 料理寿司 (literally, cooked zushi), apparently to distinguish theirs from what most Japanese now expect from the term "Edo-mae-zushi". You stated in another thread that you first came to Japan in 1996, and you also stated in this thread that "It was our first time going out for 'real'sushi together". No wonder you have not exposed to traditional Edo-mae-zushi. 4. It actually wasn't all that expensive. I saw the menu of the sushi shop you mentioned. Each item is about twice as high as that in a regular kaiten-zushi shop, or higher. That's going to be a huge difference for a family of four or five (4,000 to 5,000 yen vs. 8,000 to 10,000 yen?).

1. According to one website, the refrigerator using ice came into existence around the 30th year of Meiji (1897). It's supper time again. Sorry!