Hiroyuki

Deleted.

Got it! I went back and reread Amy's post on her husband making mazake and then remembered it. Truth was, I was so full of sympathy for him, his wife sneaking a picture of him cooking onto the internet, that I didn't twig to what was being done. Wait a minute....don't I do that to my family? P.S. - Hiroyuki, what's the word for quail? It sounded close. I'm curious, as I remember reading somewhere about the Japanese fondness for small birds, and I wonder if they're all grouped together. ← Sorry, I was drunk and I made two mistakes! It was smallworld's husband who made amazake (not mazake). ama = sweet, zake = sake Quail is uzura in Japanese, and sparrow is suzume. Tanuki are very popular animals in Japan! My mother likes tanuki figures very much, especially their big "balls".

Did you watch Tameshite Gatten?: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2001q2/20010606.html First frying: 1 min. 30 sec. Rest: 4 min. Second frying: 40 sec. In both fryings, the temperature should be 180C (356F). My recipe is as follows: 500g chicken 30 cc shoyu 15 cc sake 7.5 cc mirin Grated ginger Optional: Garlic Equal amounts of katakuriko (not cornstarch) and flour Refer also to: http://www.ktv.co.jp/ARUARU/search/arukaraage/kara_1.html (I wonder if you read Japanese, though) Good luck! ← Today, I followed the double frying method exactly: 25-g cubes (not specified in my post above), 1.5 minutes first and then 40 seconds. (I usually cut the chicken into smaller pieces for my children.) I succeeded in making the best (still moist inside, not overcooked) chicken breast kara-age ever. I think I'll stick with this method although it's rather cumbersome to scoop up all the pieces after the first frying.

Just one correction: Is it suzume? Sake lees: I think you remember that smallworld made amazake from sake lees. Correction: amazake not mazake.

In Akihabara in Tokyo, you can see a lot of interesting items in vending machines, like oden, ramen, and bread. http://portal.nifty.com/2007/06/25/c/ The red bottle may be ichimi (single-flavor) togarashi. Or, is it shichimi (seven-flavor)? Goku uma of Asahi! It's a third beer. I prefer Nodogoshi nama. I like real beers the best, but tend to buy them on special days. One more thing: Haven't you ever been to konbini in Japan? They sell beers and other alcholic beverages at lower prices than vending machines.

Happou shu is beer-like beverage with low malt content. For more info, click here. There is another category of beer-like beverage: dai-san no beer (third beer or third-category beer), which is also described in the linked webpage. I usually have Nodogoshi nama (third beer) of Kirin (for no particular reasons).

But, Zero Nama isn't even a beer! It's a happou shu!

I have seen one of these videos before. If anyone is interested who the chef is, visit this site (Japanese only): http://wasyoku18.com/ Official site of Kazuya, located in Nagoya.

I'm glad you had the real one! Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside!

Onion and minced meat, with salt and pepper. So says the narrator. When I was small, my mother used to tell me that korokke were meat-less and menchi katsu (or menchi for short) had meat in them. I must say I can get nostalgic for those korokke that seemingly contained only mashed potatoes...

Thanks again for interesting photos. I'm glad that I can now see photos of nigiri. They look more like temari than nigiri. I was amazed at the thickness of the ramen noodles. Aren't they thicker than the udon noodles?? Anko on the top of mochi pieces is imaginative!

Thanks for the photos and all the funny descriptions! So, you ordered one dish at a time... I just checked the website of Zuboraya, and found they offer some great set meals for 3,000-3,800 yen. I would definately try one of them. http://www.zuboraya.co.jp/menu04.html As for plastic food, each item is called a shokuhin (food) sanpuru (= sample) 食品サンプル Looking forward to your next post!

The six korokke are of different sizes! I don't think any of them are particularly big. What size do you think is right for korokke? I have seen bigger menchi katsu. "Cream korokke" are usually smaller in size and cylindrical in shape, though.

But why not? The kind-looking individual clad in suit and tie who stands next to you may be a yakuza. The italics in my former post meant that I whispered. As for Pocky, do you mean that in Canada, you open a box and find bare Pocky? OK, don't waste your time in answering. Spend time posting photos!

Welcome to Japan! Congee is okayu おかゆ お粥. Tatoos are closely associated with yakuza. Bowing good manners? You can see people bowing everywhere in Japan.

I like store-bought, soy-and-butter flavored pop corns!

Hi Hiroyuki I can read a hiragana and a bit of a katagana and very little kanji (took japanese in high school) and what does the sticker on the corner say? All I can read is nihon no osusume? Thanks ← Not "nihon no (Japan's) osusume" but "honjitsu no osusume" (today's recommendation) The subsequent lines are: Produced in Shimane prefecture Marinated fish, etc. Storage temp: 5C or less Use-by date: Date of processing: Price per 100g (1 kg?): Price: 480 yen etc.

I wonder what kind of egg do you buy. And, what brand and which size? I usually buy regular, cheap ones. Often, a pack of 10 L-size eggs for 98 yen on every Thursday (eggs' day here in my area). When my children were smaller, I often bought more expensive ones, like these DHA-enriched ones: Pack of 10 eggs for 238 yen when on sale. It is close to 300 yen on normal days. Comparison: Left: Regular, cheap egg Right: DHA-enriched one

I bought one pack of nodoguro (aka akamutsu) the other day. Nodoguro is called shiromi zakana no toro (fatty white fish), but these particular ones were not so fatty, because of the price. I simply grilled them.

Thanks for the report. Very interesting. Sorry I can't see the nigiri. The oyako donburi was hilarious!

No, I haven't. As for kombu, niboshi, and shiitake, cold brewing is nothing new, as described here (Japanese only). In the Kaiseki thread that I started, I posted about a non-boil, non-squeeze method of brewing. Have you checked it out? I wonder if you use tap water directly without boiling it first. As I become more serious about cooking, I can't help thinking that water is one of the most important ingredients of a dish. Fortunately, I found that the water in my area is very soft (average hardness of 16). As I mentioned in the thread above, you can't extract umami components from kombu if the water is hard. Do you know how soft your water is?

Sorry, I know little about brining. The first step (sprinkling with salt) is supposed to get rid of the bad smell. I think the longer you let it stand, the more the salt penetrates it. The resulting kama is really tasty, making me think that salt is the best seasoning of all. As for white fish, however, it is genrally said that you should sprinkle it with salt immediately before grilling, otherwise, the fish will get firm.

March 12 used to be, and is still is, a very special day for the people of Shiozawa and surrounding areas because this is the day when a festival called Nougu Ichi (Farm Tool Market) is held at Ichinomiya Jinja (Shrine). This festival is known to herald the coming of spring in this snowy region. There used to be a line of people from the shrine to the nearest station, Shiozawa Station, on Joetsu Line (so says my father-in-law). Today, I went to that festival. It's only about 1 km from my house, but because I was a little tired, I decided to go there by car. Man selling just before the entrance of the shrine: Millet: Lanterns hanging on the torii (gate of the shrine): On the premises of the shrine: They are hand-made and are rather expensive. Ichinomiya Jinja (Shrine): On the road to the shrine: Torii manufacturer showing torii samples: Korean women selling chijimi (sp?), among others: They spoke Japanese in Korean accent. Dried fruits: I sampled most of them. They were all very good. I especially liked the Puchi-puchi tomatoes (orange ones at the center of the photo), but I didn't buy any. My daughter bought one of the toys hanging on the rope at another festival last year, from the same man. Beautiful bonsai and flowers: More bonsai and flowers: Kinkan plants: Jumbo abura-age, a specialty of Tochio city, Niigata: Sanjo cutlery: Sanjo city, Niigata, is called a town of cutlery. Shichimi tougarashi vendor: He blends the seven ingredients according to your preferences. Yaki imo 'baked sweet potatoes): Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki: I bought three of them. Vegetables and fruit: I bought one bowl of strawberries (shown on the left) for 500 yen. Osaka yaki: It's okonomiyaki in oban-yaki form. Interestingly, you can't find Osaka yaki in Osaka. Sunny day! Snow on the ground: I had one okonomiyaki for lunch: Phew, I'm tired again.

Right! Nanao. http://www.nanaoseika.co.jp/cracker.html As for me, I like all sorts of senbei (sembei), except sweet and sugar-coated ones. As for "snap", I had assumed that it was short for "snap my fingers"... Someone actually used that expression in the Japan Forum, regarding the sushi dinner I had. Learning new things every day! I'd like to see you both in that thread in the Japan Forum, smallworld and nuppe!

Thanks for the wonderful foodblog. Great! I'm looking forward to your second one.