Hiroyuki

I tried to find a clue to "pear-infused sake" on the Internet in Japanese, but failed. Maybe it is a pure invention of that sushi bar. Or, was it just white liquor or shochu, not sake? What Jason Perlow described is called hire-zake in Japan (hire = fin, zake = sake). http://www.tec-tsuji.com/recipe2002/chef/j...5/hiresake.html (Japanese only)

Non-stick frying pans are called tehuron (= Teflon) kakoh no furai pan. Small-size non-stick pans are available at 100-yen shops if you don't care for quality. If you cannot decide which one to buy at a store, the following sentence may come in handy: すいませんが、手頃な値段で、長持ちするテフロン加工のフライパンはありますか？ Meaning: Execuse me, but do you have any non-stick frying pans at moderate prices that last a long time? All you have to do is to copy the Japanese, print it, and show it to a sales clerk.

I'm not 100% sure but I think that when it comes to obsession with sanitation, Japanese are second to none. There are all sorts of anti-bacterial products sold here in Japan. I think that most of them are quite silly; they only weaken the body's immune system.

Strange as it may sound, only 11.6% of the households in Japan have a dishwasher as of March 2003, according to one source, partly because of the limited kitchen space in most Japanese houses and partly because of the different shapes and sizes of bowls, dishes, and plates used in normal Japanese houses. With the advent of more sophisticated and less bulky dishwaters in recent years, however, dishwashers have become more popular these days. Strange as it may sound again, some Japanese wives feel somewhat guilty or shameful about using a dishwater. I wonder if anyone can understand their feeling.

One of my favoriate foods using mayonnaise is a slice of bread toasted with natural cheese, onion slices, and a small amount of mayonnaise on top. I sometimes make one for lunch and have it with coffee. *** By the way, Min, your foodblog is fantastic. I wish I could eat every dish you make. I envy your husband.

Chimaki are made from mochi gome (glutinous rice), and are eaten with a mixture of soy flour (kinako) and sugar. To my surprise, my wife bought some (actually, ten) chimachi yesterday. (Oh, please don't!) She served them for supper. (It's the same old scene.) She doesn't mind serving sweet things for a meal. (I do.) My son ate three of them. (I ate none, natually.) My daughter didn't care for chimaki and ate inari zushi (leaftovers from last night's supper). Thus ends the story of my family's supper on Children's Day. *** My son told us that chimaki were served at school lunch today (May 6).

You are speaking in riddles. What is it?

That should be "Osaka-yaki"! Thanks, smallworld. http://www.geocities.co.jp/Bookend/1036/ennichi/osaka9.html According to several sites, it is a specialty of Tokyo, and in Osaka, there are no such things as Osaka-yaki.

You are absolutely right. I'm all for slow food. It's just that I don't want to pay extra money for what is touted as slow food. The commitment you mentioned is really compatible with jisan jisho, or local production for local consumption, which I consider fantastic.

And I admit that I have eaten yuba only once during a trip to Kyoto. I've always thought that yuba is a speciality of Kyoto. I also admit that I don't care for yuba.

I'd like to make my intention clear. I just wanted to know whether Englishmen rinse dishes in water after washing them with detergent. I have never asked whether Englishmen are dirty, unclean, or unsanitary. Let me add one more thing although it is completely off-topic: I love the culture of England. What admires me most is the old houses there. Do you know that the houses in Japan are scrapped in an average of 26 years?

I know what slow food is, but I've always wondered if it is something to fight for. I guess we usually eat slow food, except when we actually eat fast food. I'd rather go for simple food, and I have to take the cost of food into consideration. Slow food is OK, but doesn't interest me very much, expecially if it is costly.

Tokoro ten is made from several types of seaweed that are collectively called tengusa 天草. It is almost always eaten with either vinegar-based sauce called san-bai-zu 三杯酢 or kuro-mitu 黒蜜, syrup made from brown sugar. I found two interesting sites on tokoro ten. Tokoroten coffee: http://www.ryouri.co.jp/cmail/data/2002/02...2/0207p2m6.html Tokoroten salad: http://www.ryouri.co.jp/cmail/data/2002/02...2/0206p2m5.html Sorry, that is about all I can give you in this thread. If you want to know more about it, I'd like you to start a new thread on it. I hope you will please her with your tokoro ten dish.

Who told you that? Japanese mayonnaise manufacturers do use eggs and all recipes for home-made mayonnaise contain eggs. And mayonnaise has to be put in the refrigerator once the cap is opened and the aluminum seal is peeled off. Mind-boggling question! One more thing. There is mayonnaise without eggs--it contains tofu instead of eggs. It's mainly for those who are allergic to eggs.

I'm not a mayoraa myself, but I don't think mayoraa are something to make a fuss over. Japanese cuisine has depended too much on soy sauce, and mayoraa just want to taste something else. Others go for gekikara (激辛), or super-hot, foods, and others go for ketchup. And I think time will tell. I guess that a minority of mayoraa will continue to be that way, while most others will return to normal. Mayonnaise is high in calories, about 100 kilocalories per tablespoon. Most young people will find themselves unable to take that much of mayonnaise as they grow older.

There are recipes for making mayonnaise. Ingredients of one recipe are: Egg yolk: 1 Salad oil: 150 cc Vinegar: 15 cc

Besides tuna cans, I also buy spaghetti (600 g), buckwheet noodles (400 g?), cocoa, and several types of sweets. I think a 100-yen shop is a good place to find souveniers such as folding fans, lanterns, and masks.

I guess most people buy them at supermarkets. Some families, especially those in rural areas, make them at home. I also guess that the grandmother is the main maker of chimaki at every home.

It's a simple matter. There was a day for boys and another for girls, and the day for boys was selected as the national holiday for children, that's all. Since my family live in a condo, we can never put up carp streamers, but we bought kashiwa mochi yeasterday, and my wife made inari zushi today.

In Japan, we've been in recession and deflation for more than a decade now. 100-yen shops are hailed by many Japanese as money savers. I usually buy tuna cans at a 100-yen shop nearby. So far, I have bought cutting boards, plates, bowls, and chopsticks, just to name a few. What do you buy at 100-yen shops?

OK, so I think it is safe to say that we have several distinct groups who prefer: 1) Chicken soup 2) Rice porridge 3) Spicy food 4) Fruit 5) Other (tomato, yogurt, etc.) Isn't it interesting to know which group you belong to? Any other comments?

There is a tip: Wakame turns to green as soon as you put it in boiling hot water. Then, you have to put it in cold water immediately. This way, wakeme retains its vidid green.

warabi (bracken) I wonder how many of you have actually removed aku (harshness) from warabi. Ash used to be used for that purpose, but now, baking soda is more common. I use a product specific for that purpose, called sansai no akunuki 山菜のあくぬき. photos of wrabi and warabi soaked in baking soda water to get rid of aku: http://www.ic-net.or.jp/home/ds-chizu/tokuswarabi.htm I also wonder if different peoples have different ways to remove aku from sansai (wild plants).

One more thing. doujou mentioned tohfu fah. The following recipe uses a steamer, and the ratio of nigari to soy milk is the same as that I described in my previous post, 1:100. http://allabout.co.jp/gourmet/chinesetea/c...up/CU20031123A/

Yesterday, I went to a supermarket to buy some soy milk, but all brands sold there were seibun-chosei 成分調整 type, not suitable for making tofu. I have to find a tofu maker I can get soy milk from. In the meantime, let me describe the recipe I'm going to try, although it is half-finished. This recipe is based on the one described on the following site: http://www.fujimuraya.com/shopping/shop/manmi/tounyu.html Ingredients: 1. Soy milk: 1000 ml. Must be WHOLE soy milk with a protein content of 5% or greater. 11.5% or greater recommended. The higher the content the better. (Tofu makers use milk with a protein content of about 14%.) 2. Nigari or magnesium chloride: 3 g (powder). Dissolve in lukewarm water. The above site does not specify how much water to use to dissolve it. Quite ridiculous. Judging from other sites, 20 to 100 ml water should be enough. I think I'll try my luck on 50 ml. In the case of liquid nigari, the amount should be 1/100 of the soy milk by volume, i.e., 10 ml for 1000-ml milk, provided that the nigari is of an undiluted type. For a diluted type, follow the instructions supplied with that nigari product. I guess the liquid nigari should also be diluted into a 20 to 100 ml solution. (Comment: The protein content of soy milk should have to do with the proper amount of nigari, but there is no clear description of this in any of the sites I have checked.) Tools: Thermometer, wooden spatula, etc. How to make: 1. Heat soy milk to about 75 degrees centigrade. The above site says 80 degrees. Judging from other sites, the permissible range should be 70 to 80 degrees. The hotter the milk, the harder the tofu. I think I'll choose 75 degrees. WARNING: NEVER BOIL. 2. Add nigari solution. DO NOT STIR VIOLENTLY OR EXCESSIVELY, or the tofu will be harder. This step seems to be critical. But the description of adding and stirring differs considerably from site to site. I think I'll add the half, stir once or twice, then the rest and stir once or twice again. You may find the following description of adding and stirring useful: http://www.soymilkmaker.com/making_tofu.html 3. Leave for 10 to 15 minutes, and yose-dofu is ready to be served. (Donjou and smallworld described that the milk congealed instantly. But all of the sites I have checked indicate that it takes 10 to 15 minutes. WHY the difference?) Anyone who knows of a good recipe, please post it here.