Hiroyuki

I never felt the milk served at school lunch to be disgusting. It was our understanding that the milk was watered down. I'm not sure whether it was really watered down. Proccessed milk tastes different, doesn't it?

Oh, yes. くじら竜田揚 (whale tatsuta age). They were served at school lunch when I was in an elementary school in the late 60s and the early 70s. I loved them then. I don't want to go into details of the history of whaling in Japan or "cultural imperialism" because that's very boring to me. All I want to say is this: I could hardly eat any meat if I had to slaughter an animal myself, because of remorse. But I do eat various types of meat every day. Here is one Japanese sentence that I want everyone to know; not just the sentence itself but also the very philosophy underlying that sentence: Itadakimasu. And, here is a copy of part of a post by a member of this forum, which I think is of great value: In order to sustain your life you must take other life, the lives of plants and animals and it is thought to be absurd to think that you simply have the "right" to do this. 2 of many reasons one might bow is to either show gratitude for a good deed or to show shame for something done wrong - though obviously it is also a sign of respect. Saying Itadakimasu is the spirit of both feeling grateful and sorry at the same time. Grateful for the sacrifice made, showing respect for those who have sacrificed and being sorry for being so selfish as to sacrifice the life of another to sustain your own. Though to live there is no other choice.

The issue with mercury in fish was unheard of when my wife gave birth to daughter in 1999. It was quite recently that we heard news about it. In 2003, the Ministry of Health and Welfare released a document on this issue: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/2003/06/tp0613-1.html (Japanese only)

What I like the best of all soy products next to Tofu and Natto is atsuage. For those of you who don't know what atsuage is: http://store.yahoo.co.jp/oisix/00019928.html http://www.recipe.nestle.co.jp/from1/cook/word/atuage.html

I loved whale cutlets. How much I miss them! Good old days are gone... *** A mistake, again. It's one of those days. Not whale cutlets but whale kara-age, tatsuta-age, or something like that. I wonder if non-Japanese people like whale meat and if they have ever eaten it in the first place... I don't want to raise political issues, though.

100 to 150 cc of water will be enough. So, start with 100 cc, check the taste, and add more if it is too strong for you. My ochazuke packets do not indicate the proper amount of water, either! How come?

Oh, yes. Helenjp has a point. Temari fu is often used in Kyo Ryori, cuisine peculiar to Kyoto. On the other hand, kuruma fu, which I mentioned, is very practical. You can use it instead of meat. I would recommend it to vegetarians.

Today, I'd like to introduce another soy product (farm product) peculiar to Niigata prefecture: 1) Cha-ma-me (literally, brown beans) 茶豆 I guess many of you already know edamame (young soy beans). Chamame are a variety of edamame, and more delicious than other varieties of edamame, and they have a good flavor. Their pods are green like other varieties but their thin skins are brown. That's how they got their name. I didn't know chamame until I came to Niigata. I think frozen chamame are available even at supermarkets in the Tokyo area. http://www.rakuten.co.jp/ysf/528737/507134/ http://food.digicata.com/data/pn0043224/20031225155550.htm (Sorry, I searched for a closeup photo of chamame, but failed.)

I know of temari fu, but I have never tasted it before. I guess it's used as an ornament or decoration on a special day. I found two sites that may interest you: Temari fu used in school lunch on 3/3 (March 3), which is Doll Festical day: http://www.nakahara-e.kashiwa.ed.jp/kyuu/15gatu/ Temari fu used on top of a Japanese confection, together with gold foil (2nd photo) http://www.zenkaren.net/oshirase/shohin.html

Let me introduce a very useful wheat product peculiar to Niigata: Ku-ru-ma-fu (車麩). As the Chinese character 車 (wheel) suggests, this "fu" (麩) looks like a "wheel". If you need an explanation of "fu" (or "o-fu"), Fu 麩: dried bread-like pieces of wheat gluten (From eijiro on the web) Access the site: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/ajituu/611887/627616/ Look at the 4th and 5th photos. This type, "cut fu", is what I usually buy because it is less expensive than the "whole" type. This fu has various uses just like uchimame. You can use it to make risotto, curry, stew, sukiyaki, oden, miso soup, salad, fries, etc., etc. All the following sites are in Japanese only: Kurumafu cutlet: http://hirorocooking.com/recepie/1158-07-01/ Kurumafu egg soup: http://www2.tomato.ne.jp/~koborij/cooking/recipes/J005.htm Kurumafu piccata: http://ptop.lomo.jp/page044.html Kurumafu no tatsuta yaki: http://hirorocooking.com/recepie/1088-05-01/ Sukiyaki and others: (Scroll down) http://www.indus.jp/ippinkan/kago/index11.html It is useful, isn't it?

Pirate: I think you have three options: 1) Go to a rice store run by a knowledgeable proprietor, such as Suzunobu, and get a 2-kg bag of Uonuma-san Koshihikari rice. I guess it will cost up to 2,400 yen (up to 1,200 per kilogram). 2) Forget about Koshihikari rice and switch to another variety or type, such as Sasanishiki rice and organic rice. Uonuma-san Koshihikari rice is not the only brand with a toku A (特A) rating. Ask a sales clerk for more information. 3) Forget about buying Japanese rice. Just enjoy eating sushi and other Japanese foods while you are in Japan. *** 1) Rice starts to oxidize as soon as it is milled. Preferably, therefore, the bag of rice you are going to buy should be nitrogen-filled to keep the rice fresh. But I wonder if there is a rice store that offers such a service. 2) Once you buy a bag of rice, then you have to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for turning it into nice and hot gohan (cooked rice). Do you know everything you need to do that? I wonder if you have a rice cooker. Good rice is like a good wine. It's something to be savored, not just to be eaten. Put a mouthful of rice into your mouth with your chopsticks and munch without any other food. Enjoy the taste. And then, you can put other food into your month and enjoy the harmony. You may want to make rice balls, putting some salt on their surface. They are called shi-o-mu-su-bi (塩むすび), rice balls with salt only. They are very yummy, and you can tell the difference in taste when you eat rice this way. I think it's early to say this, but let me say Bon Voyage!!

Thank you very much for your comment. I think I can love your father for loving ketchup.

You did it!! That's an 青大豆 (blue (green) soy bean) type, isn't it. That's wonderfull. Now, use your imagination!! Rinse them in water, drain, and put them in whatever you like. Boil for five minutes. They will open up your eyes!!

In another thread, a member wrote: *** Hiroyuki, Since you valiantly defended ketchupy omu-raisu, I wonder what you think about Napolitan spaghetti? *** I defended myself. I wrote that I had been just curious to know why so many people hated omuraisu. And, today, I accidently found a very interesting signature: *** Nobody - I mean nobody puts ketchup on a hot dog! *** That brings me back to the same old question. I've never heard of Japanese who hate soy sauce and miso (fermented soy paste). BUT, NOW I understand that not all Americans like ketchup although it is a great American invention, just like peanut butter. Some Americans hate it and others like it, and some of those who like it hate a combination of ketchup and rice and/or a combination of ketchup and a hot dog. It's as simple as that. AM I RIGHT?? I need some clarification.

Today, I sent an email message to 米・食味鑑定士協会 Kome Shokumi Kanteishi Kyokai (The Rice-based Diet Taste Surveyor Society) http://www.syokumikanteisi.gr.jp/index.htm about this thread of this international forum on food. I hope that they will think twice about the use of the word "sommelier" and make me feel better.

Oh, thanks, Torakris. That makes me feel better. This particular product seems to contain some 青大豆 (literally blue (actually, green) soy beans. I'm sure you'll like them!

Even a website specializing in soy beans, apparently run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, http://www.maff.go.jp/soshiki/nousan/hatashin/daizu/#mokuji seems to have no description of uchimame. http://www.maff.go.jp/soshiki/nousan/hatas...siki/kakou.html (Scroll down, and you'll see a chart showing soy products. Uchimame is not included in the chart.) So, today, I sent the website manager an email message asking to include uchimame in the chart although it may be a local soy product.

"Fresh" pasta, or "nama" (literally, "raw") pasta has gained popularity in Japan recently. http://www.horenso.com/shop/pasta_set.html http://www.rakuten.co.jp/seimen/ http://x68k.net/futagami/pasta/pasta.shtml The point is, spaghetti has been so easy to assimilate into Japanese noodle culture, which includes soba (buckwheat noodles), udon (Japanese wheat noodles), ramen (Chinese noodles), and other types of noodles. It is no wonder that Japanese use spaghetti in just the same way as other types of noodles.

I searched for kinako recipes myself: Kinako pound cake, kinako cookies, kinako scone,　kinako cup cake, ... All are confections. http://www.cookpad.com/main.cfm?Go=recipe&...eme&ThemeID=118 (in Japanese) I have a feeling that kinako can have other uses... Don't you think so?

Let me show you two interesting examples of spaghetti made in Japan: http://www.himawarinet.com/ss_co/goods.cgi?m_id=69 This product contains glucomannan derived from "konnyaku". Glucomannan: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/ametsu/437314/494812/ And the other one: http://www.sunshop.co.jp//shopping/cgi-bin...0300g&tid=list3 This one is made from domestically grown wheat. No indication that it is durum wheat. *** Spaghetti has been TOTALLY adapted to Japanese preferences. Cold spaghetti dishes are examples. But I heard that cold spaghetti is an invention of an Intalian cook inspired by Japanese cold buckwheat noodles. I don't know whether this is true.

Kinako (soy bean flour) and other soy products My kinako recipes are rather limited: 1) Kinako milk: Add kinako and sugar to milk and shake well. 2) Kinako paste: Add sugar and a small amount of milk to kinako and mix well. My family use it instead of peanut butter. (My children dislike peanut butter.) Do you know of any recipes for kinako that you can recommend? For those of you who don't know what kinako is, click the following: http://www.eat-japan.com/food/glossary/beans.html (Scroll down) http://eat.epicurious.com/dictionary/food/...ID=3976&ISWINE= Other soy products: Let me introduce u-chi-ma-me (打ち豆), literally, "beaten beans". Uchimame are made by first soaking soy beans in water to make them soft and then beating them flat with a machine (in olden times, with a wooden mallet, one bean at a time). One of the advantages of uchimame is that they boil in a very short time, say, five minutes. Photo of uchimame: http://www.misoya.com/shop/uchimameorder.html They have a variety of uses. You can boil them with kiriboshi daikon Photos of kiriboshi daikon http://www.kiriboshi.com/syurui/syurui.htm and with hijiki http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/hijiki.htm http://www.rakuten.co.jp/m-kan/476109/476802/#440431 You can put them in miso soup, curry, stew, etc., etc. I'm sure you will find them very useful. BUT, I wonder if they are available in the Tokyo area. I knew uchimame after I came to Niigata prefecture.

1) Not everyone, I suppose. I think every farmer eats their own Koshihikari rice. Some people other than farmers get Koshihikari rice from relatives, friends, acquaintances, and so on. Others buy rice at supermarkets, rice stores, and so on. It's not much of a luxury, but obviously we all know that our Koshihikari rice is expensive, even to us. 2) Oh, yes. Just the normal way. But I always use utmost care, because, you know, it's almost twice as expensive as normal Japanese rice.

1) The kukicha brand I drink is はつくら (Hatsukura), which is 480 yen per 100 grams. Most of our guests mistake it for 1,000+ yen, regular-type green tea. 2) I'm surprised that you still use that type. I used to hate teabags, but I started to use them after I learned that I could get the same flavor and taste from teabags simply by boiling the water first and then putting a teabag. Do you have any special reasons why you stick to that type?

A great reply. Okaka. Let's see... There is a local dish called "Ki-ri-za-i" here in this Uonuma district. The ingrediants are: Natto Katsuo bushi Nozawana (野沢菜), finely chopped Sesame seeds and whatever you like, chirimenjako, shirasu, etc., etc. I like it. It's sometimes served at school lunch here in Shiozawa. One of my latest discoveries is that nozawana, when finely chopped, tastes just like the "daikon no nukazuke" that my mother used to make when I was a child. I'm very happy about this. *** Correction: Not "daikon no nukazuke" but "daikon leaves no nukazuke"

Here I come! You didn't call me, though. There are just too many of them for me to report on all of them. So, just a brief description. In Shibuya, there is a lot of competition among sushi-go-round restraurants. That's exactly why you should go there. (Let me say this: I've never been to any of these restraurants except Bikkuri Zushi. It's more than a decade ago that I left Tokyo. You know, Tokyo is NO place to live, at least for me.) The list is in order of preference ("my" preference): 1) 回転寿司築地本店 Ka-i-ten-zu-shi Tsu-ki-ji Hon-ten Every item 100 yen per plate; always a long line of people waiting. http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/restaur...0013005692.html 2) 江戸一鮨 E-do-i-chi-zushi Worthy of mention. Operated as a conventional sushi bar for 45 years, changed their directions to start a sushi-go-round restraurant. http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/restaur...O-7RAYC001.html 3) 回転寿司寅ちゃん Ka-i-ten-zu-shi To-ra-chan Hon maguro (blue-fin tuna) (a plate contains 3 pcs): 200 yen http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/restaur...0013005676.html 4) びっくり寿司 Bi-kku-ri Zu-shi Mackerel: 130 yen http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/restaur...O-7RAFL001.html Others: 5) Cafe Sushi Calfornia-roll-like roll:400 yen http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/restaur...06/P020832.html 6) CafeSushi宮益坂 Cafe Sushi Mi-ya-ma-su-zaka Western-style sushi bar. http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/restaur...0013010979.html Have fun!! If you need more specific information, feel free to ask. Don't foreget tonkatsu and tempura!!