Hiroyuki

If I had to do the same, I would give a ramen party for 8+ people. Actually, I've been thinking about giving such a party for years.

Didn't the waiter/waitress say something about what was written on the paper containing the chopsticks? It roughly says that when they use natural eels, the liver in clear soup and grilled liver may have hooks in them. Please take care. Natural eels are used in April through December. *** Moving bowls: Very funny you mentioned them. That can happen when the bowl contains hot liquid and the bottom of the bowl is wet; the air in the cavity at the bottom of the bowl expands. Fruit at the end of an expensive meal: It's traditional. It's called mizu gashi (watery confection). As I mentioned somewhere else, some people mistakenly think that mizu gashi can mean yokan, kanten, and other watery confections. Mizu gashi means fruit.

I bought one pack of ama ebi (sweet shrimp) heads for 50 yen today, and put them in miso soup for supper tonight. A photo of the heads can be found here.

Here is a brief description of that object, "Saw, Sawing".

Here's my post on Koshihikari, and here's the entry of Koshihikari in Wikipedia. Koshihikari is the rice variety that has remained the most popular among the Japanese for decades, which is unprecedented in this country, where the people love to hear the words shin hatsubai (new release) and shin shouhin (new product). The Koshihikari rice produced in the Shiozawa area of the Minami Uonuma region is the very best, and the most expensive (7,000 to 9,000 yen or even higher per 10 kg as opposed to the 5,000 to 6,000 yen for Koshihikari rice produced in other areas of Japan).

I found an error. No ripening but grain-filling.

I have to ask this before I go to bed: Is this koshihikari by any chance?? It's a specialty of my former town!

I made ramen for supper tonight. I combined broth with soy sauce at a ratio of 18:1 (900 ml : 50 ml). This lightly flavored ramen soup has been inspired from the concept of the soup served in a kaiseki meal: Making you satisfied when you finish it off (rather than making your tongue numb by the time you finish it off). The broth is a combination of instant dashi and instant chicken broth. Here is a better version, which I made with real dashi: This photo was previously posted here.

Just as I thought, it's not okura but okara, what's left of soy beans after soy milk is produced to make tofu. I found a blog showing photos of a dinner at that restaurant. Again, I hope Peter doesn't mind.

Tokyo Tower is a TV tower. Without it, we could not watch TV!

If Lucil is referring to instant dashi in powder form that is made in Japan, the answer is probably one heaped teaspoon of powder per 600 ml of water. That is the proper ratio indicated on the packages of the instant dashi powder products that I have used. Despite the manufacturers' recommendations, I usually put one teaspoon (not heaped) per 600 ml of water, and sometimes less than one teaspoon.

Shijimi! People will tell you that you don't have to eat the flesh, but as for me, I usually eat the flesh from each and every one of these small shells.

Thanks for the information. Yoro-keikoku is near my parents' house, and I've been there once. Do you remember the type of bamboo you were served? I think madake (真竹) are more popular there than mousouchiku (孟宗竹). I was once given a lot of madake, which I found very good.

I failed to understand what you intended to do. Is it understood that different parts of a daikon are suitable for different types of dish? Kristin explains this here. You can also use daikon leaves. Some poeple say that the leaves should not be eaten because of possible pesticide residue, but I think that boiling them first reduces the risk.

Today, the last day of the Golden Week, my children and I went to OKKY, the largest pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Japan, which is located in Yuzawa town, about 40 to 50-minute ride from my house. We've been to this place more than ten times so far. I posted photos here. We dropped by Orange Heart, a local conbini chain whose stores can be found in Niigata and other few prefectures. I like this conbini chain because they sell home-made bento, onigiri, and bread. As you can see, the rice in the bento and the onigiri are Koshihikari rice produced in the Shiozawa area, Japan's very best rice, and the most expensive.

As for me, I used the same ratio as that for my takikomi gohan: Soy sauce:sake:mirin = 1:0.75:0.5 Thus, for gohan (cooked rice) made from 3 go (3 x 180 ml) kome (uncooked rice), I used: 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 1/2 sake 1 tbsp mirin Takikomi gohan recipes vary greatly in the dashi/soy sauce/sake/mirin ratio. I think that if you prefer sweeter takikomi (and maze) gohan, the 1:1 ratio for soy sauce and mirin should be good.

Thanks everyone for their kind words about my wife. Sakura masu: It's a new fish to me, although I am familiar with masu zushi. I like it! Salmon is not a traditional edomae style nigiri due to parasite problems.

I'm not sure if freezing kills all the bacteria in the miso. I did a quick google search, but didn't come up with any answer. Freezing does, however, stop or slow down the fermentation, which is good for the miso. Most miso these days have less salt than they used to, and tend to get moldy. Another problem is that miso deteriorates due to oxidization if exposed to air.

This evening, my wife finally made it to this sushi shop. We reached there 15 minutes before 5:00 p.m., when it opens. The chef kindly let us in. We sat on a raised, tatami (straw mat) floor for the very first time in this sushi shop. I ordered one of today's specials, shiromi sashimi (white fish sashimi): Left to right: Mebaru (rockfish), hirame (left-eye flounder), tai (sea bream) 900 yen The mebaru had a distinctive firm (kori-kori) texture. White board listing today's specials: Kaisen sarada (seafood salad): 630 yen. I think it's really economical. Sazae no tsuboyaki (turban shell cooked in its own shell): 400 yen each. My son had one, while three of us shared the other. My son selected nami: 1,050 yen. Cheapest of the four nigiri set meals that this sushi shop offers. Closeup of kanpyo (dried gourd shavings) maki: My wife likes them. My son gave her most of his kanpyo maki. My daughter selected Okosama Sushi Set, as usual: 840 yen. Everyone received a complimentary miso soup: which contained two ama ebi heads. I ordered today's nigiri: Hon maguro chu-toro (medium fatty bluefin tuna), tai (sea bream), sakura masu (cherry salmon), bai gai (Balylonia japonica), tako (octopus), and nanban ebi (ama ebi) 1,200 yen Closeup of chu-toro: My wife ordered chu: 1,470 yen. Second cheapest of the four nigiri set meals (nami, chu, jo, and toku-jo). Additionally, I ordered two sakura masu nigiri and two ma-soi (also known as ma-zoi, kitsune mebaru, etc.; Sebastes vulpes) 200 yen each. I really liked sakura masu. Asari no saka (not sake) mushi (short-neck clams cooked in sake): 525 yen. It's a very popular dish in Japan. Simple yet very tasty. Finally, my daughter got this kuro goma aisu (black sesame seed ice cream): She said it was super-tasty (cho-umai). The bill came to 7,455 yen. Another satisfying meal. I never know when I'll get tired of eating sushi.

I'm not sure if maze gohan deserves its own thread, so I post this here. I made maze gohan with leftover grilled salmon trouts. I posted some photos here. It was good!

Sugoi! Once again, Hiroyuki, you are my personal culinary hero. I have two tubs of miso taking up valuable space in my bar-sized refrigerator. My freezer? Virtually empty - except for a small bag of edamame for bento. I'm getting up right now to go rearrange things. ← I think I have written the same freezer recommendation at least twice here on eGullet... I have two bags of additive-free miso made by my father in the freezer. Edited to add: I erroneoulsy used the term use-by date, 消費期限 (shouhi kigen) in Japanese. I should have used the correct term, 賞味期限 (shoumi kigen). The former is used for perishable foods like tofu and milk, while the latter is used for foods that can keep long such as miso and soy sauce.

In Japan, the use-by date is clearly indicated on the package, which is usually 2 to 6 months after manufacture, depending on the type of miso (shiro (white), aka (red), or haccho). Unless you are a regular user of miso, I recommend keeping your miso in the freezer. (It won't become hard.)

I posted a photo of the three dishes that I made for supper tonight here. Are you talking about cultered, white udo? I have never bought culured, white ones.

Like I said in the Japan Forum, my son is into wild herbs these days. He said he wanted to gather some hahako gusa and have it as tempura. (He also said he wanted to make kusa mochi, using hahako gusa, but this is another story.) This is hahako gusa, also known as gogyo, which is one of the seven herbs of spring (haru no nana kusa in Japanese): My son also gathered some yomogi (mugwort): And, I got some udo from a relative: For information on udo, click here. For information on hahako gusa, click here. Hahako gusa tempura'ed: Yomogi tempura'ed: Udo tempura'ed: Finally, I made sweet potato tempura: No kaki-age or shrimp tempura this time. I liked the udo tempura the best, followed by yomogi tempura. Hahako gusa tempura was OK, but was a little stringy.

Yes, perfect. I feel as if I went back to the Showa period.