Hiroyuki

First of all, thank you SO MUCH for taking all those pictures. I'd like to make a comment later. Today, I'd like to post this one: *** In Shiozawa town, like many other local governments throughout Japan, efforts are under way to provide school students with "safe" farm products grown locally, that is, right here in Shiozawa town, with minimum amounts of agricultural chemicals. The following lists the farm and other products used in school lunches in Shiozawa town that come from farmers and producers in Shiozawa town: Rice (Shiozawa-produced Koshihikari rice), negi (leek), spinach, komatsuna (type of green leaves), asparagus, edible wild plant (kogome, kinome, and fukinoto), potato, satoimo (aroid?), corn, soy bean, eggplant, aona (type of green leaves, 青菜), onion, daikon (Japanese radish), pumpkin, mushroom (shimeji, maitake, and enoki), namasu uri (Spaghetti squash), miso (fermented soybean paste), namban miso (spicy miso) *** Seven students??

Phew! In that case, I have to disappoint you . I think that it is just a joke or a simple misunderstanding. Even some Japanese seem to believe or suspect that apples are "injected" with "honey", but this is totally false. Click the following and look at the picture of a halved apple: http://www.janis.or.jp/users/azumino1/saik...mame/honey.html (Japanese only) The two arrows show where syrup, or "mitsu" 蜜 in Japanese, is located. This syrup is not honey but sorbitol, a type of sugar, resulting from plant photosynthesis. "Mitsu" is likely to appear in late varieties such as Fuji. To your surprise, the portion with "mitsu" is LESS sweet than other portion of the apple. Mitsu disappears overtime because sorbitol changes into fructose, which is SWEETER. Other websites describing that it is false that apples are injected with honey: http://www.yrd.or.jp/nitibeni/apple.htm http://www.uranai-fan.com/ringo/mitsuiri.htm (Both in Japanese only)

Soba, or buckwheat noodles, are very limited in use, at least in my family. We almost always eat them with cold, soy-sauce-based tsuyu (soup). We never eat them with miso-based soup, and when we want to eat noodles hot, we turn to other types of noodles such as udon. We could use buckwheat noodles in salad, but have actually done that only once. I once had deep-fried buckwheat noodles, like these: http://soba.cocolog-nifty.com/soba/2004/04/post_31.html They are not a main dish but "sake no sakana", something to be eaten with alcohol. One more thing: "Yakisoba" noodles are not made from buckwheat.

Access the site: http://www.sinanoya.com/variety28/ In the table, click Nos. 1 through 6, and the corresponding photos will appear. No. 6 is my favoriate, inaka soba, or country soba. No. 1 is called sarashina soba (更科そば).

Just the word "soba" is quite ambiguous. I like "inaka soba" (literally, country or rural soba), and I like "hegi soba" best of all. Click this: http://www.sobaland.com/sobako.htm Scroll down, the first photo shows brown "inaka soba". And click this: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/avance-etigo/437966/438008/ Hegi soba contain "funori", a type of laver: http://apti.net.pref.aomori.jp/info/04/02/040202113.html so that they look green. And, there are "juwari soba" (十割そば), made of buckwheat flour only, or "nihachi soba" (二八そば）, which are 20% wheat flour and 80% buckwheat flour. Which particular type of soba do you prefer?

I couldn't agree with smallworld more. Three years ago, an acquaintance of mine living in Kagawa prefecture, the birthplace of Sanuki udon, sent me a box of frozen Sanuki udon packs. That was the beginning of my love for this particular type of udon. In fact, I don't want to eat any other type of udon any longer.

I have just found that kogome are eaten in North America and other parts of the world. Fiddlehead (of ostrich fern)? http://www.biology.tohoku.ac.jp/lab-www/pl.../Fiddlehead.htm More photos of kogome: http://aoki2.si.gunma-u.ac.jp/BotanicalGar...usa-sotetu.html Both are in Japanese only. They are really yummy. This morning, I got a phone call from my sister-in-law, and she told me she would give us some kogome. I just can't wait!

This morning, I ate plain cooked white rice, natto (fermented soy beans), miso soup with tofu and wakame, diced tofu with men tsuyu (noodle sauce), and some leftovers. I have a feeling that I can live on rice and soy products alone for days, without complaining. Can you?

Yes, a type of ferm, or shida シダ in Japanese. http://www.sansaiya.com/sansai/kogomi.html This is a very interesting site, if you have a Japanese friend who can read it for you.

Kogome are in season here in Shiozawa! Boil them. Kogome have no "aku". Eat them with mayonnaise. http://www.shonaimai.or.jp/sansai/recipe_02.html http://www.mountaintrad.co.jp/vege/w000501.html

Last week's menu at my daughter's public nursery school (April 12 to 16): Mon: Grilled meat (pork?) with sesame seed sauce, wakame (type of sea plant) soup, vegetables marinated in Japanese style, iyokan (orange-like fruit); Oyatsu (snack served at about 3 o'clock): Corn flakes Tues: Ha-ppoh-sai (Chinese stir-fry vegetables), vegetables marinated in miso and sesame seeds, boiled beans, strawberries; Oyatsu: Hand-made jerry Weds: Pork bowl, spinach miso soup, macedoine (diced vegetable?) salad, banana; Oyatsu: Milk, jam bread Thurs: Ma bo dofu, sarusame (bean-starch vermicelli) salad, floury potatoes, strawberries; Oyatsu: Milk, ajiro-yaki (rice crackers shaped like fish, peculiar to Niigata) Fri: Hand-made satsumaage (fried fish ball), daikon soup, cabbage marinated with sesame seeds, iyokan (orange-like fruit); Oyatsu: Milk, hot cake (pan cake) I don't know the cost per meal. What do you think? *** No rice is served, except for classes for children less than three years old. Children in other classes must take a lunch box containing only rice with them.

How shall I put it? It's NOT DIFFICULT to perfect nimono. It's IMPOSSIBLE to perfect it. No point in trying to perfect it when there is no clear goal. But, torakris seems to have perfected it now that she has a clear goal, the words "really wonderful" from her loved one. I'd like to write more about this topic when I have time. *** Or, is there a clear goal?

Try this recipe (for two gyudon): - Beef (short plate, which contains fat) (You know, fat is the key.): 160 g - Onion: 40 g - White wine (or Japanese sake; I use sake): 140 ml - Soy sause: 18 ml - Sugar: 6 g - Grated ginger: 3 g - Garlic chip: 6 pcs. - Pepper - Water: 180 ml *** 1) Cut beef and soak in white wine for 20 minutes. 2) Cut onions. 4) Pour water into a pan, add white wine (but not the beef), soy sauce, sugar, grated ginger, garlic chips, and pepper. Bring it to a boil, then strain. The stock is ready! 5) Return the stock to the pan, add beef and onions, boil for 5 minutes. OK, it's done. This is a simplified version of a full Yoshinoya-style recipe. Try this and if you're not satisfied, give me a reply. OK? I myself make gyudon with this recipe, and the taste is not bad, actually fairly good. For a better result, double the quantity of each ingredient for four gyudon.

Just a quick review of this thread. Did anyone mention Shogayaki (ginger pork) Teishoku (table d'hote)? http://kagoshima.e-machi.ne.jp/201663/

Under the School Lunch Law, enacted in 1954, the government may subsidize part of the expense of the facilities required to establish a school lunch system in a public or private school for compulsory education. For example, subsidies are provided to those schools wishing to switch from a "jiko" system to a "center" system, and there was a 10% subsidy for toh-itsu-mai (統一米), literally, unified rice, until 1999, when it was abolished. School Lunch Law: http://www.houko.com/00/01/S29/160.HTM (Japanese only) Related story (2nd story): http://www.niigata-nippo.co.jp/112/sasakami.html (Japanese only) Shiozawa town stopped the use of unified rice in 1992, switching to Koshihikari rice produced in that town. Shiozawa town and the Shiozawa Agricultural Cooperative (JA Shiozawa) equally make up the difference between unified rice and Shiozawa-produced Koshihikari rice, which amounts to 6,564,710 yen in 2003. Considering the number of elementary and junior high school students, 1,333 + 659 = 1992 (in 2002), this translates into 3,295 yen per student.

Oh, yes. That's the miracle of school lunch. This happens to my son and daughter, too. Eating in a group has such a miracluous effect on most children. Yet, there are always all those picky boys and girls... Well, that's another matter. We shouldn't "force" them to eat what they don't like. They should be given freedom of choice. I really think so. This is exactly what is lacking in school lunch systems in Japan.

A good question. Yes. In April, a total of 17 meals are served, of which: Rice: 13 Udon (Japanese wheat noodles): 1 Bread: 2 Chinese noodles: 1 At my son's school, school lunch began in 1962. "Rice school lunch" (米飯給食)began in 1979. And, finally, Koshihikari rice school lunch began in April 1992. The Lunch Room was built in November 1992.

No, no. The school lunch at my son's school costs 254 yen per meal. As for Torakris's child, it is 220 yen, according to Torakris's previous post.

Well, pesticide residues are another consideration. I had run through several websites on the subject, but found that pesticide residues were not at an alarming level, so I didn't mention them. You are absolutely right. Everything in moderation. But I think there are people out there who stick to some specific foods only.

Shiozawa town elementary schools receive a total of 6 million yen as a subsidy for rice from JA (Japan Agriculture) Shiozawa and Shiozawa town. I don't know whether they receive any subsidy from the government. I'll post more specific data later.

Well, you know, a certain food has a number of functions, not just one function. Brown genmai is nutritious, and has the capability of preventing endocrine-disrupting chemicals from entering your body, but it also has the capability of preventing minerals from entering. I'm not saying that brown rice is bad for your health. It is dangerous to continue to eat only brown rice for a long time, believing that brown rice is good for your health. I guess this is true of almost all foods. Fish are a typical example. Fish are good, make your brain work better, but contain mercury. It is dangerous to continue to eat a large amount of fish every day.

In Japan, there are two types of school lunch systems: 自校方式 Jiko system (Lunch is made at the school) センター方式 Center system (Lunch is made at a "center" and delivered to the school and other schools as well) It's hard to say which is better, but I prefer the former. Shiozawa town, where I live, adopts the former system, but it may be replaced by the center system in the future. A special committee is currently discussing this matter. An explanation of school lunch systems: http://www1.jca.apc.org/kyusyoku/system/data1.html (Japanese only)

I don't eat genmai (brown rice). I know how nutritious it is, but I just can't bring myself to eat it because hakumai (white rice) is much, much more delicious. And there is another aspect of genmai: No matter how nutritious it may be, it is actually bad for your health to keep on eating genmai. It won't harm your health if you eat it just occasionally, though. An example of a website that warns against keeping on eating genmai: http://www.global-clean.com/html/akude-min...ubusoku_02.html (In Japanese only) Sorry I can't give you a genmai recipe. Do you know sprouted brown rice, or hatsuga genmai (発芽玄米)? It is gaining popularity among some Japanese. But I don't eat it, either. http://www.rakuten.co.jp/okomeshop/473628/465557/#418981

History of school lunch in Japan: In 1889, school lunch was first served for those pupils who could not take their lunches to school because of poverty in a private school in Yamagata prefecture. http://www.nikonet.or.jp/~kana55go/rekisi/nirekisi.html (Japanese only) Rice balls, broiled fish, and tsukemono (pickles) were served at that time.

Today, I asked my son what he thought about the school lunch. He says that the only thing that he dislikes about the school lunch is that the lunch period is too short for him to finish. He says he needs 30 minutes to finish his plate. He is really a slow eater, even at home. The lunch period at my son's elementary school is 45 minutes from 12:10 to 12:55, but the actual eating period is 25 minutes: - Preparations: 15 minutes from 12:10 to 12:25 - Start of eating (say "Itadakimasu") to end (say "Gochisousama"): 25 minutes from 12:25 to 12:50 - Toothbrushing and clearance: 5 minutes from 12:50 to 12:55