Hiroyuki

Thanks, torakris. How forgetful I am... I even made a reply to their pronunciation question! But, what about sukiyaki? Carolyn Tille, if you are confident about making sukiyaki, why don't you make gyudon for a change?

Just out of curiosity, have you ever posted the recipes of your versions of okonomiyaki and sukiyaki and/or any photos of them? I tried to search for them myself, but you have already made 1555 posts!..., so I quit.

Fiddleheads (of ostrich fern) are great! I love them. Unfortunately, they are already out of season in my area in Japan. Unlike most other types of fern eaten in Japan, fiddleheads of ostrich fern (kogomi or kogome in Japanese) have no "aku" (Japanese word for harshness or bitterness), so they can be used just like other regular vegetables. I, for one, like to eat them simply with mayo or pon-zu. Visit the Japan Forum for a discussion on edible wild plants (sansai in Japanese): http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=19952&st=0

You probably mean this one, don't you? http://www.tbs.co.jp/mlc/ (Sorry, entirely in Japanese!) The Japanese title is the same, My Little Chef. In Japan, it was aired two years ago.

smallworld, I've been stunned at your bravery. I just didn't have the guts to be so blunt. jrufusj, I'd love to, but considering where I am, I don't think I can make it. All of you three, I hope you post a report here if you make it.

I am an all-time green-tea lover, but somehow I am not thrilled by hardly any green-tea dishes. I remember I once made green tea tsukudani with used tea leaves (leaves left after the drawing of tea), but it tasted awful and I just had to throw it away. The only dish I'd like to try if I can get fresh green tea leaves is green tea tempura.

The only words I can think of are: 温製 (on-sei) for hot ones 冷製　(re-i-se-i) for cold ones Look at the menu: http://www.gyouza-h.com/tenpo.html I guess 水餃子 on the menu is served hot, while 冷製水餃子 is definitely cold. As for gyoza skins, I guess you already know that you can use the same ones as those for yaki-gyoza, but some websites recommend that you make thicker ones by yourself.

Exactly. I could'nt agree with you more. I'd like to add one more thing: I have nothing against vegetarians and I do not want to raise any commotion here, but I sometimes (just sometimes) think that vegetarianism is akin to discrimination againt plant life.

I don't discern any difference between animal and plant life. All I teach my children is that we must kill the lives of other animals and plants to sustain our own and that we must be thankful for them.

Are you sure that they are always served cold? I like them hot. I know that in China, gyoza are sui-gyoza, but I prefer yaki-gyoza.

My wife does!! She eats fukujinzuke with plain cooked rice! She says she likes its sweetness. And that's the problem. The container is often empty when I want to eat it with curry and rice.

Let me show you another saikyozuke, salmon saikyozuke. Some people just wipe the miso paste off before grilling while others (like me) wash it off with running water.

Question: Do you eat fukujin-zuke with curry and rice? I think that the combination of curry and fukujin-zuke is superb.

Talking of leaves, may I suggest young leaves of mugwort. They are delicious!

I don't want to disappoint many of you, but I can assure you that you can't make Japanese curry from scratch, without using ready-made curry roux. I have tried several times in my life, but the result has been disappointing.

Another tip is the temperature. For sea foods, the appropriate temperature is 190 to 200 degrees (centigrade). For vegetables, it is lower, 160 to 170 degrees. *** torakris, do you use egg yolk only, not whole egg?

Different furikake products have different shelf lives: Some six months and others one year. I would recommend that you put them in the freezer.

According to several sites, it has medical uses.

My favoriates are squashes and "kaki-age". There are a lot of variations of kaki-age. My wife usually uses onions, carrots, and dried shrimp.

Hoping that someone else posts a shio-zuke (salt dipping) recipe, here I post beer zuke and sugared-vinegar zuke: 1. Beer zuke Radish: 1 kg Beer: 1 large bottle Salt: 300 g Sugar: 700 to 800 g (You can use this dipping sauce several times.) 2. Sugared vinegar zuke Radish: 1 kg Sugar: 140 g Vinegar: 50 cc Salt: 30 g These two recipes I have never tried. I have just found them on the net. I usually don't use radishes (hatsuka daikon in Japanese; hatsuka = twenty days) for pickles.

I have just learned that coltsfoot is called "fuki" tanpopo (tanpopo = dandelion) in Japanese. http://aoki2.si.gunma-u.ac.jp/BotanicalGar...ki-tanpopo.html Fuki is this: http://www2.odn.ne.jp/shokuzai/Fuki.htm fuki-no-toh refers to the flower stalk of fuki: http://www2.odn.ne.jp/shokuzai/Fukinotou.htm The second right photo reveals the difference between the "leaves" and "flower stalks" of fuki: http://www.kobe-c.ed.jp/shimin/shiraiwa/column/hukinoto.html Astingent... Is it astringent? As you imply, ash is used to remove aku. Since ash is hard to get these days, baking soda is more popular now.

I have checked the link, but no clue. EDIT: Is there anybody who reads Chinese? How do you say food additive in Chinese??

A good point! This has also been on my mind this year. The combination of Koshihikari rice and curry just doesn't seem right. The umami of the rice just doesn't go together with spicy curry. I'd like to try jasmine rice, but I can't get any in this rural town. Anyway, this is what I had for lunch today. A pack of instant curry udon of Maru-Chan and some leftovers (niku-jaga and fish sausage).

Today, a birthday party is given at my daughter's nursery school. They will have curry and rice, a shrimp fry, Japanese-style salad, and melon for lunch and ice cream for oyatsu (3-o'clock snack). Sushi, curry and rice, and hamburg steak are three of the most popular items among Japanese children.

In Niigata and other prefectures including Yamagata, the word "kinome" 木の芽 refers to young leaves of akebi, not those of sansho. Young leaves of akebi: http://www.sansaiya.com/sansai/akebi.html Sansho: http://www.ja-aizu.jp/foods/sansho/ Years ago, I talked about kinome with my father, who was born in Shinshu (Nagano). I said, "Have you ever eaten kinome?" He said bluntly, "What are talking about? You can't eat them!" I later learned that the kinome grown in snowy regions have less aku (harshness) and are good to eat. In Shinshu, they have snow in winter, but not as much as we have here in Shiozawa.