Hiroyuki

After reading all these posts, I still don't understand. Rice goes together well with vinegar, so it does with ketchup. For those of you who have never tried it, try it, and tell me your honest opinion.

I accessed Rakuten, the largest Internet shopping site in Japan. Such goods are there, but cannot be shipped overseas. I made an inquiry to Sankyo, the manufacturer of Regain. They say there are no dealers that provide international shipping service. You don't have similar products in France?

I know how you feel; I had a similar experience last fall. When it comes to komai (old rice; rice produced the previous year), there seems to be nothing you can do. I tried honey, Japanese sake, and mirin, but to no avail. The odor just didn't go away.

Thank you again, sizzleteeth, for your info. Your remarks are inspiring, and I am preparing a full report on the subject. But it's going to take some time, maybe a whole week, till I can get it done. In the meatime, I'd like you to see two pictures of Hon Shimeji: http://www.cx.sakura.ne.jp/~kinoko/00jap/honsimeji01.htm http://www.cx.sakura.ne.jp/~kinoko/00jap/honsimeji02.htm I guess the Hon Shimeji you have eaten look like this: http://www.theproducehunter.com/productdisplay.asp?ID=2093

I've finally come to a conclusion. I can't find a single rice store anywhere in Japan that I can recommend. Even the store below, Suzunobu, located in Meguro ward, Tokyo, falls short of my expectations in terms of price. If it's the real thing that you're looking for, then look no further. Get the real thing from a farmer in Shiozawa. If you are serious about getting some, say 2, 5, or 10 kg, or even 30 kg, I'll see what I can do -- talk to one or two farmers that I know of. What do you say? Rice store Suzunobu: http://www.suzunobu.com/ Price of Uonuma-san Koshihikari rice at that store: http://www.suzunobu.com/shop15/nigata/uonuma.htm Knowledgeable proprietor of the store: http://www.aiueoffice.com/main.cfm?PID=Nic...D=3559&Person=0

Just to confirm my credibility, I ran through several websites on the subject, and I ended up proving yours too. Sorry, I should have been more carefull before I posted. Let me show you some of the sites (all in Japanese). They tell you that kiritampo is made of uruchigome, but some people add mochigome. http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~UZ2A-KDM/akita/kiritanpo.html http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/komachi/kitchen/ki011801.htm http://www.sirakaba.co.jp/s17a.html and this site shows you how to make kiritampo http://www.city.odate.akita.jp/kiritanpo/howto.htm The other subject: The reason is simple: Hon Shimeji cannot be cultivated because they cohabit with (live in a symbiotic relationship with) living trees only. This is true to Matsutake, too.

"Hen of the Woods"! What an interesting name! It's good to know that. Thank you for the information. Maitake: "mai" comes from the verb mau, or to dance; "take" means mushroom. There are two possible origins of that word, 1) It (its petals?) looks as if it were dancing and 2) It's so hard to find that you'll start dancing if you do. Two corrections: 1) Hon Shimeji: You probably mean Buna Shimeji. Hon Shimeji cannot still be artificially cultivated. Hon Shimeji is harder to find in the woods than Matsutake. In Japan, Buna Shimeji and even Hiratake have been, and still are, sold under the false name of Hon Shimeji. 2) Kiritampo is mochigome ...: Kiritampo is made from uruchi-gome (ordinary rice), not mochigome.

I hope that mushrooms, I mean, all kinds of mushrooms, shiitake, maitake, shimeji, enoki, nameko, and what have you, prevail throughout the world. I wonder if maitake has made its way into the United States. http://www.yukigunimaitake.com/

Despite strict regulations, there still seem to be a considerable number of mislabeling cases. http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/INET/CHOUSA/2002/10/60CAT400.HTM which says that 22 out of 45 bags of rice contained varieties not indicated on their lables. My current solution to this problem is to buy directly from a reliable farmer.

I don't have any picture of it available at the moment. And I failed to find one on the Internet, either. The label looks like this (table in the middle). http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/INET/CHOUSA/2003/11/60dbc105.htm When I take a picture of it, I'll post it. As helenjp suggested, I guess department store basements are the surest and easiest places to get 100% Uonuma-san Koshihikari rice, since you are a visitor to Tokyo, but I can't give you any specific information as to where to buy it because I've been out of Tokyo for more than a decade; I don't even know how much Uonumasan-Koshihikari actually costs in the Tokyo area. Won't somebody based in Tokyo help me with this question?

This particular year, I buy a bag of 10-kg 100% Shiozawa-san Koshihikari for 7,000 yen. Unforfunately, the price is 20-30% higher than usual because of the poor crop last year. Sometimes I wish I could pay less for rice and more for meat, vegetables, fruit, and sake. Poor Japanese.

I almost started a new thread about mushrooms. I'm kind of disappointed to find out that there is already one, because I love the Japanese word kinoko, which is, quite literally, children of trees, and I wanted to start a new thread "Kinoko-Chidlren of Trees" - What an Adorable Name for Something So Delicious!. The word mushroom is just that, mushroom, at least for me. For starters, I'd like you to enjoy the following website. Just love the music. http://www.hokto-kinoko.co.jp/chokusoubin/song.html and this site. Just love the photos. http://www.cx.sakura.ne.jp/~kinoko/01eng/0e_home.htm I'd like to talk about maitake and other kinokos later.

You got me. I don't live in the mountains, but I do live in the country, so it's always a pleasure to pick up some sansai at this time of the year. Sansai in the Snow Country is known to be delicious because of its less "aku" (I don't know the exact equivalent for that word in English. Dictionaries tell you it's "harshness".). I've already had the first taste of fukinoto this year: My son and I went out to pick tens of them and my wife deep-fried them. This is my favorite way of cooking fukinoto, but my wife likes fuki miso, too. I'm looking forward to eating ohitashi of tsukushi (horsetails) soon. (Spring is late in coming in the Snow Country.) A word of caution: Eating too much fukinoto makes you itchy all over! Eat it sparelingly.

As I read the posts, I'm beginning to wonder what makes many of you hate omuraisu so much. Is it the combination of ketchup and rice? Do you hate Napolitan spaghetti of the Japanese style, too? http://www.rakuten.co.jp/reito/457250/494801/ Do you eat a hot dog without ketchup? I'm curious to know.

This is my very first post. Let me get to the point first: Koshihikari is a variety of rice born in 1944 in Niigata prefecture as a cross between other varieties Norin Nos. 1 and 22. The cross was later named Etsunan No. 17 in Fukui prefecture. And, finally, in 1956, it was registered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as Norin No. 100. The name Koshihikari comes from the phrase "Koshi no kuni ni hikari kagayaku" (brilliant in the countries of Koshi (i.e., Niigata and Fukui)). Koshihikari is grown not only in Niigata prefecture but also in other parts of the country such as Chiba prefecture, and even in the United States. http://www.isbellfarms.com/ Koshihikari is so good that it now accounts for one-third of the total rice acreage in Japan. The quality of Koshihikari (and any other variety) considerably depends on the district in which it is grown. The Uonuma district in Niigata prefecture is famous for producing Koshihikari of top quality, and this is why Koshihikari produced in this district, or Uonuma-san Koshihikari ("san" meaning "produce"), is called "burando mai" (brand rice). Every year, Japan Grain Inspection Association releases its "Kome no shokumi ranking" (rice palatability ranking). http://www.kokken.or.jp/html/kok03100000.html Uonuma-san Koshihikari is ranked as Toku A. (Toku means Special.) http://www.kokken.or.jp/html/kok03110100.html In short, Koshihikari is a variety of rice, while Uonuma-san Koshihikari may be called a "brand rice". I live in Shiozawa town in the Uonuma district, which I just mentioned. I'd like to tell you a little bit about my town. Shiozawa town is renowned for producing Koshihikari of the very finest quality. In fact, the town is the perfect place for growing Koshihikari (or any other variety of rice) because of its 1) crystal-clear water from melting snow (Shiozawa is in one of the snowiest regions in the world, along with Yuzawa town, a neighboring town, which is famous as the locale of "Snow Country" by Kawabata Yasunari, a Novel Prize-winning novelist), 2) large temperature difference between day and night in the ripening period of rice due to its location in Uonuma Basin (very hot during the day but cool during the night), and 3) superb agricultural techniques, which are absolutely necessary. A few years ago, Kaisei JAS Law (Revised JAS Law) was enacted, which requires all rice dealers, including farmers wishing to sell their rice directly to customers, to have their rice inspected by a Shokuryo Jimusho (Local Food Agency Office) for grading and put a label on the bags of rice they sell to indicate the area of production, the variety, the year of production, and other necessary information. So, the next time you buy a bag of rice, take a closer look at the label. This has been a rather lengthly, maybe boring, description. In my next post, I'd like to write about something more interesting.