Hiroyuki

mochi-ko, which Sleepy_Dragon mentioned, is also known as shiratama-ko (and also gyuhi-ko). According to a site, gyuhi-ko is the same as mochi-ko, but shiratama-ko is slightly different from them in manufacturing process and particle size. All these are made from mochi gome (glutinous rice). Note that certain sweets such as kuzu-mochi (arrowroot mochi) and warabi-mochi (bracken mochi) are not made from mochi-ko but from other types of starch, usually potato starch. (As their names suggest, kuzu-mochi and warabi-mochi used to be made from arrowroot starch and bracken root starch, respectively, which are now very expensive.) Mochi used to make daifuku and other sweets contains sugar, which keeps mochi from hardening. EDIT: I wonder if ichigo daifuku (strawberry daifuku) are sold in the US. They were invented 16 to 17 years ago in Japan, and are now very popular.

>The first time I tried the toasted rice kind, it was such a revelation. Never knew tea could be like that. Oh, was it? I guess you mean genmai-cha 玄米茶. I do like genmai-cha, but I usually drink kuki-cha (stalk tea). Have you read this thread?: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20288

I guess you mean kari-kari ume, not karikari "umeboshi". My mother is good at making umeboshi and ume-shu, but not kari-kari ume. I once made kari-kari ume for her more than a decade ago, but I failed; they were not kari-kari (crispy) but rather soft.

Now is the time to make the switch to low-salt diet, don't you think?

I have never heard of non-sugar ume-shu. But I have found this site: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/komachi/tsubo/ts361301.htm The site says that the recipe is the same except the absence of sugar, and you have to use liquor with an alcohol content of 35% or greater and fill the jar with liquor to the brim to remove excess air. The non-sugar umeshu tastes better than normal umeshu in one year, says the site. *** I used to make ume-gatsuo (gatuso = katsuo or bonito) paste quite often. Recipe: Umeboshi: 2 Katsuo-bushi: 5 g Mirin: tbsp 1 (15 ml) Dashi no moto (powder): tbsp 2 (30 ml) Soy sauce: tbsp 1 (15 ml) I liked this paste very much because it was less sour than umeboshi.

All I can think of is just to eat it raw or make "asazuke" 浅漬け, or light pickles. Let me tell you how I make my version of asazuke--I usually use cucumbers, but you can make good asazuke with cabbage too. Put shredded cabbage in a container. (I use a plastic bag called "ai wrap" アイラップ instead of a container). Pour equal amounts of mirin-fu chomiryo (みりん風調味料) and vinegar, and add some salt. Remember, not mirin but mirin-fu chomiryo. Put the container in the refrigerator, asazuke is ready to serve the next morning. Sprinkle some ajinomoto if you like.

torakris, >I am not even sure if there is a collective Japanese term. I think that you can call these people 物売り mono-uri. >This was really an incredible show and I have at times tried to find more information on this on the web, but to no luck.... I think these women are usually called 行商のおばさん gyoshou-no-obasan. Here I post only one link (in Japanese). There are several others, though. http://www.nhk.or.jp/a-room/kotoba/37chiba/37episode05.html >We have "medicine" vendors in our neighborhood, Oh, yes. 富山の薬売り Toyama-no-kusuriuri! smallworld, >Sweet potatoes are one of my all-time favourite Japanese treats, and they are far from bland. I agree. I think the writer should see a doctor for calling yaki-imo bland. >as well as yatai vendors, are usually organized into yakuza-like groups Such people are called 的屋 tekiya. For example, 寅次郎 Torajiroh, the leading character in a series of famous Japanese movies, is a tekiya. >A great many cultures do, out of necessity, eat insects, My father is from 信州 Shinshu. Shinshu people are known for being 悪食 akujiki (those who eat bizzare foods). They eat inago, as you mentioned, 蜂の子 hachi-no-ko (bee larvae), 蚕のさなぎ kaiko-no-sanagi (silkworm chrysalises), and others. helenjp, >Boro-jiisan, boro-baasan, gofuyou to narimashita okusama, ugokanakunatta furui dannasama, gozaimashitara, koukyuu toiretto tissue to koukan itashimasu... I have never heard of the first phrase, "Boro-jiisan, boro-baasan". A common phrase is "Furu-shimbun, furu-zasshi" (old newspapars, old magazines). I can laugh at the phrase, but I don't know what real boro-jiisan and boro-baasan have to say...

Wow, thank you for such a full report, jrufusj, and congratulations to the recent addition to your family. I have just learned from several websites that sulfites are not used in sake production. I have also learned that no antioxidants are added to sake. I'm glad to know that. Thank you again for your information. I was silly enough to believe (just from my experience) that wine is less likely to give me a hangover than sake. Now I know I was wrong. Or, maybe this is true especially for me.

now lunch is a salad.. I know.. how boring!! I was asking folks to reminisce.. but today's lunch boxes are welcome too!! Thank you for your reply, Monica. I'm currently working on the school lunch system issue here in my little town in Japan. That's why I just couldn't stop asking that question. For a discussion of the school lunch system in Japan, please go to: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...20entry599615

I found your remarks interesting for two reasons: 1) I have never heard of anyone allergic to alcohol. I suppose that you simple mean you can't hold your liquor, which means that your liver cannot decompose acetaldehyde fast enough. You can become allergic to pollen, house dust, buckwheat, eggs, and other substances, but not to alcohol. Or, am I wrong? 2) In Japan, sake is said to be more likely to give you a hangover than other types of alcohol such as shochu. After running through several websites, however, I have found that this is not necessarily true. All types of alcohol give you a hangover if you drink too much of it. *** Addition: A message to torakris: Oh, women! My wife, my sister, and my mother all love ume-shu. And you too.

No news is good news?

I'm afraid that the expression "plum wine" is misleading, since ume-shu is made by putting plums and then rock sugar in a jar and then pouring white liquor in it. I'm blaming dictionaries not you, torakris.

I'm curious to know what your school lunch boxes contain NOW. By "Go back in time", how long ago do you mean?

I used to drink regular beer in my 20s, except on those very Japanese festive occasions such as New Year's Day that made me want to drink sake. I made the switch to low-malt beer (happoh-shu 発泡酒) in my mid-30s partly because it was cheaper and partly because it was improved to have almost the same flavor and taste as regular beer. And, finally, last year, I made the switch to shochu BECAUSE it is the cheapest. I mean koh-rui 甲類 shochu, similar to white liquor, not otsu-rui 乙類 shochu, which has gained popularity recently, such as imo-jochu. As I already mentioned in another thread, I'm a heavy green-tea drinker. I can drink 2 liters of green tea or more. I rarely drink juice except tomato juice.

I understand you like Japanese food. Why not bring rice balls with umeboshi (pickled plums) inside? They won't go bad. In fact, umeboshi is said to protect you from food poisoning. Enjoy the zoo!

Spring: All sorts of edible wild plants (sansai in Japanese) such as butterbur sprouts, which foretell the coming of spring, and bracken shoots, which are now in season. Summer: Edamame (young soybeans); I prefer not just edamame but a variety called chamame (literally, brown beans), which are incredibly yummy. Fall: All kinds of mushrooms, especially matsutake, the king of mushrooms.

I just can't help responding. Sounds so splended. My family live in a condo, to be more precise, a resort condo. It's too small for a family of four. We want to move to a larger house within two years, but I just can't bring myself to spend my money on something that will turn to industrial waste in 20 to 30 years. I have explained this and other housing proublems in Japan to my wife so many times before, together with the housing situation in England--how wonderful the old houses there are, but she just can't understand; she still believes that a house IS an asset, like most Japanese. Sorry, this is really completely off-topic, but something I wanted to tell you about. As for the main issue, my understanding is that the low water pressure is the main cause of the "wash but not rinse" practice in England.

It is the very Japapanese in me that makes me think that I can eat chicken sashimi when it is served, but it's not something I'm willing to eat. I have eaten basahi 馬刺し (raw horsemeat), but it was served for dinner at a Japanese inn.

A reply from Japan: Although I have never had this before, I want you to take a look at this: http://www9.ocn.ne.jp/~ktorisin/ Besides chicken, some Japanese eat horse meat, canard (kamo in Japanese), ostrich meat, beef, venison, and other types of meat raw: http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kinako24/6001

Some results of a quick Google search: 1. Okonomiyaki no moto お好み焼きの素 (flour with special ingredients, used to make Japanese pizza) and sauce 2. Sweets such as chocolate and Glico グリコ candies 3. Yakiniku no moto 焼肉の素 (sauce used to grill meat) You can get them from any supermarket and 100-yen shop. 4. Pokemon cards (not food)

In Japan, Daiso ダイソー is the first to start 100-yen shops, and is the largest in this category of business: http://www.ghost.co.jp/daiso/ (Japanese only. The site is not very interesting.) Other 100-yen shop companies: Can Do: http://www.cando-web.co.jp/ (Japanese only) Oh Three: http://www2.ohthree.co.jp/english/index.htm (English!) Kitchenware page of Hyaku-emon (on Rakuten, Japan's largest web shopping site): http://www.rakuten.co.jp/hyakuemon/430111/ (Japanese only) Hyaku-en-ya (on Rakuten) http://www.rakuten.co.jp/emuemu/ (Japanese only) Enjoy! *** I forgot to tell you: 100-yen shop is pronounced "hyaku-en shoppu" in Japanese.

I'm terribly sorry about my misinformation, but believe me, I was born in Tokyo and was there until 1992, but things must have changed since then. They used to offer me more than you could imagine, trying to sell their products, which I used to find rather irritating. Af for food gifts, I guess you have already visited one or two supermarkets and 100-yen shops. Haven't you find any interesting items there? In Japan, we say, "Miyagemono ni umai mono nashi", 土産物にうまいものなし, which literally means, "There are no delicious things among souveniers".

I still feel this thread fascinating, but some members seem to take some of the posts here as an insult to the culture of England or to Englishmen in general. I would not mind if this thread were moved to another section of the forum that the moderators consider appropriate, for example, General Food Topics. But I would mind if this thread were shut down altogether.

I'm not sure if I have understood your comment right, but let me tell you about shin-mai, ko-mai, ko-ko-mai, and on. The rice harvested in the fall of a particular year is called the shin-mai (literally, new rice) of that year. The rice harvested in the fall of the previous year is then regarded as ko-mai (old rice), the rice harvested in the fall of the year before the previous is regarded as ko-ko-mai (old, old rice), and so on. Most Japanese usually eat shin-mai, which is not a gourmet delicacy. This particular year, because of last year's poor crop, shin-mai is 20-30% higher than usual in price. Bichiku-mai (government-controlled, stockpiled price) is sold at supermarkets and other stores, unlike in other years, as well as shin-mai and blend mai (which refers to a blend of different varieties of rice, which may include ko-mai).

You are right. But believe me, kome dokoro wa sake dokoro. I said, 米所は酒所. Translation: A (good) rice-producing district is a (good) sake-producing district. That's why I recommend the brands produced in Niigata prefecture, especially the ones produced in Shiozawa!! The best brands in Japan!! *** Take it with a grain of salt, of course.