Hiroyuki

In step 3 of the procedure for making tofu from scratch, torakris stated: There will be a lot of foam on the top. As I mentioned in the nigari thread, many professional tofu makers use an anti-foaming agent to prevent soy milk from foaming. I don't think you want to use such a food additive when making tofu at home, although anti-foaming agents are generally believed to be safe. The following is what I have learned from several websites: A few drops of cooking oil reduces the foaming. You can also use a small amount of margarine or rice bran instead.

Yes. *** My favorites: Salmon Pickled plum Tuna with mayo (or tuna only; you know, mayo is high in calories) Furikake (Nameshi, Yukari, etc., which I mentioned in the furikake thread)

I give up. I just can't think of any!

Correction: not only in urban areas but also in rural areas such as mine. I have a low opinion of rice balls sold at convenience stores. There is one good convenience store called Orange Heart in my town, which makes rice balls from 100% Shiozawa-produced Koshihikari rice.

I'm sorry that many of you have to go to a restaurant and a market to eat and get fiddleheads. Since I live in a rural town, fiddleheads are all around me when they are in season.

?? Fiddleheads taste like dirt?? Do you wash them well??

That's what I thought too...

This is a recent low-tech strategy, called Office Glico, launched by Glico in February 1999 in Osaka, with an initial investment of 3000 yen per installation. http://www.ezaki-glico.net/officeglico/ (Japanese only) This box, called Refresh Box, is installed in a customer's office upon request. It contains about ten different kinds of Glico products (ranging in market price from 80 to 150 yen). It is not a vending machine. You pull out the drawer, take out a product you want, and put 100 yen in the frog's mouth. All items cost 100 yen each. About once a week, a sales clerk visits the office to refill products and collect money. The rate of collection is as high as 95%. As of the end of August (in 2003?), there are 16000 boxes installed in offices in Osaka and Tokyo. Source of information: http://be.asahi.com/20030913/W16/0035.html (Japanese only)

Tokyo Crokke might be revenge for Osaka-yaki. Or would that be vice versa... I didn't know anything about Tokyo corokke, either. Tokyo corroke and stall: http://hataemi.hp.infoseek.co.jp/photo/ EDIT: Click a photo to enlarge. EDIT: Osaka yaki (from the "Visiting Tokyo Markets" thread) http://www.geocities.co.jp/Bookend/1036/ennichi/osaka9.html EDIT: How ironic!

Oh, yes. torakris is right. There are such things as Japanese-style BBQ. I didn't mention it. But I can assure you that Japanese-sytle BBQ can never be simpler than the authentic American-style one. EDIT: I guess you can imagine... All those vegetables that need shreadding and meat to be dipped in a special sauce before grilling...

Wow, those are the most elaborate dishes using fiddleheads I have ever heard of. I can't even imagine what they taste like!

First of all, I'd like to say, "Thank you for your great work." I've been looking forward to this class since you mentioned it. My only question will be: Is tofu making really a simple task? I certainly do not think so. But then again, I think that it will be fun to make tofu from scratch with your children when you have a day off.

Do you believe that there are such things as Japanese BBQ? Why not serve yakitori (skewered grilled chicken), yakisoba, okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza?), and so on, instead of BBQ? Your friends will love them.

Here are two links (in Japanese) that any pocky lover may find interesting: Glico Ya (ぐりこ・や): http://www.ezaki-glico.net/glicoya/f_shop4.html There are ten Glico Ya's in Japan, which sell, among others, exclusive products, those products that you can't find anywhere else. Site showing regional pocky products: http://www.glico.co.jp/netshop/p/c7_2.htm

I have neglected this thread until now. I'm sorry many of the links are broken. If I come across an interesting (or silly) product, I'd like to post it here.

Today, I found them selling for 168 yen each, including 5% consumption tax, at a local supermarket.

There is a special type of sake, 調理酒 (choh-ri-shu) or cooking sake. You can always use regular, drinking sake instead, but cooking sake is much less expensive than regular sake. The 1000-ml one in the photo sells for about 300 yen. EDIT: It is also called 料理酒 (ryoh-ri-shu).

Amasing. Could I ask how much each one costs?

I think that origamicrane has brought up a nice topic. Here are some sites on sake: http://www.esake.com/index.html http://www.sake.nu/ http://www.japansake.or.jp/sake/english/

Thank you for your post, torakris. It didn't make me want to go to that restaurant, but did make me want to make umeboshi paste. It's probably two or three years ago that I stopped making it... Sorry about the picture (this is actually the best one; other ones are out of focus). My mother makes a lot of umeboshi every year and sends some to us. Hers are really authentic, old-fashioned ones, so I'm sure they will last for years or even decades (at room temperature, of course). At the right left corner of the photo, you will see the umeboshi paste in a container. Once you make it, you can use it for a variety of purposes. Really useful.

That's exactly what I want to know more about.

Oh, certainly. And many times, prepared in different ways. Oh, I see. I shouldn't have mentioned that.

Personally I don't think they taste anything like asparagus, maybe it's just me. They kind of taste like grass, good grass, but yeah, grass. But I like them anyway! I agree. Fiddleheads are fiddleheads. I wonder who started saying that they taste like asparagus. Asparagus has more distinct taste than fiddleheads. And I believe everyone should try fiddleheads before deciding whether they like them or not.

ｈｍｍ... I'm an all-time lover of tuna, I mean, lean tuna (akami), not fatty toro. And I don't go to sushi bars. THEY STINK. I buy tuna at a supermarket, and I make vinegared rice myself.

Have you read this article? http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/dining/26MINI.html I found this in the following thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry615564 The interesting passage in this article is: Thus one can argue that a burger of half-pork and half-beef is tops in the meat world, better than the standard all-beef version because of its enhanced taste and "chew." What do you think?