Hiroyuki

Wow, your husband is an okonomiyaki expert! Grated yamaimo! I think your husband can find a job in Canada, as an authentic okonomiyaki chef!

Thanks for the lovely photos! Very clever. I never expected that you'd show us ume blossoms instead of cherry blossoms. I was amused to see the bamboo shamoji in the rice cooker. I use a plastic one that came with the rice cooker. I want to buy a non-stick one some day. I wonder how the fuki was seasoned. No mayo for the broccoli? Edited to add: It sure was a sunny day today, even in my snowy area. I took two walks today, skipping the weeky house-cleaning. Correction: Shamoji not shomoji (blush)

I'm kind of addicted to kanpachi kama. I bought one pack for 250 yen today. Sprinkled with salt again, ready for grilling: Grilled: I used the salt shown upthread (Sasanagare no shio). The kama turned out to be a little salty. Too much of a good thing. Yet very tasty.

I bought this today: Another product of the manufacturer of Sasanagare no shio, shown upthread. It contains hondawara (a type of seaweed). The manufacturer says its good for tempura, fish shio-yaki (grilled with salt), and onigiri. I will report back when I use it. Price: 1,050 yen (350 g)!

Okame (female) and hyottoko (male) As for France Pan Kobo, I learned how it was developed from a TV show, "Gacchiri Monday" a few months ago. The manufacturer that makes Baby Star Ramen wanted to make another hit, and tried pressing just about everything that could be pressed, and they found that french bread was good when pressed. The manufacturer even constructed a factory for the sole purpose of making french bread.

Thanks for your description of that sushi restaurant. I remember the thread on the restaurant that you started in the Japan Forum years ago. I want to say something about hirame and other white fish and ama ebi. No offense intended to the chef. I think it's more appropriate to say that you can enjoy the chewy texture of white fish and ama ebi when they are fresh and then you can enjoy their taste the next day, when the protein is decomposed into amino acids. And, I hear that Korean people prefer the chewy texture of hirame (correct me if I'm wrong).

I wonder if the yunomi (tea cup) on the right of the photo (the one with a female face) is one of meoto jawan (tea cups for a married couple). I think I used to have the same one as you have. As for deep-fried natto, I think she meant natto tempura. My son liked it (probably still likes it), and my wife used to make it for him. I like natto, but not the smell that filled the whole condo unit when natto was deep-fried!

Good question! I wish I could! Unfortunately, the answer is no, because I have to go there by car, and I feel so stupid having those wonderful platters of sashimi without having a single sip of sake. I have already made a plan: Going to that sushi shop by train, which may sound very easy to you city dwellers but is actually not so easy in a rural area like mine. I have to take a 17:26 train at Shiozawa Station, which reaches Urasa Station at 17:42, and take a 20:18 train at Urasa Station, which reaches Shiozawa Station at 20:33. Pity me, city dwellers! Edited to add: Silly me. I forgot to answer your question. I like to have sake, I mean, nihon shu, with sushi. The chef and his wife say they like imo jochu.

I thought you you were going to show us some junk food. Your shabushabu still looks healthy. I like udo, too, but I like real, wild ones much better.

But it's only 30 g! When I was a kid, 90 g packs were standard, and now 45 g (or 40 g) packs are more popular. I usually have two 45-g packs for breakfast. One more thing: When chilled well, natto isn't so stinky, in my opinion.

On my way to the hospital today, I dropped in at the sushi shop to have lunch. I ordered the nigiri set. I had decided to refrain from taking photos today, but the sight of hotaru ika (firefry squids) changed my mind. Closeup: According to the chef's wife's blog, she removes the back bone, beak (?), and eyeballs from each and every one of these tiny squids, using a bone puller. This is time-consuming, but gives a better texture. She says that hotaru ika herald the coming of spring. Note that hotaru ika cannot be eaten raw (because they may have parasites in them) and are usually boiled. I also had these: Left to right: Madai (red seabream), mebaru (rockfish), kohada (gizzard shad) I printed out this whole thread (more than 140 pages long when printed), wrote some comments in Japanese so the chef and his wife could understand, and gave the printout to the chef, which resulted in this complimentary nigiri from the chef: Tara no shirako (cod sperm sac) with momiji oroshi, shredded green onion, and ponzu Momiji oroshi refers to 1) Grated daikon and carrot 2) Grated daikon and red pepper. Momiji oroshi in the photo is the latter. Properly prepared, fresh shirako, such as the one shown here, is creamy and not fishy or smelly at all.

Forgot to add: The other day, I used the same technique and this expensive salt. The resultant grilled kanpachi kama was even better!

In my case, I put it in the fridge. I think putting it on the countertop for hours is dangerous even in winter.

　Why not tell the international audience about warmlets and washlets - Japanese sophisticated toilets? (Just kidding)

My former kitchen in a resort condo unit was even smaller, but I managed to use the dining table as an "island". Anyone would feel that they were confined in your kitchen. I'm interested in how you make onsen tamago. Are you going to make them in your blogging week?

Great! I hope you show us your knives, too. I think I have seen only one knife so far here in your blog.

Thanks for your reply. I'm also interested in what you call dashimaki tamago (Kansai style). Is yours less sweet than atsuyaki tamago in Kanto? My Osaka-born brother-in-law used to complain that all the dishes that my Tokyo-born sister made were salty. I wonder if your husband was born and bred in Osaka.

Is it only me who want to shout, "Watch out! You may spill your drink (and ruin your PC)!"? I like the way you get get fruit into your daily diet. It's something that the Japanese can never be adept at. For many, including me, fruit is just an afterthought...

How interesting. Why is that? Let me guess: instead of filling up on rice, let's make more room for the alcohol? ← Hiroyuki can probably explain that one better than I can! ← I'll just provide links to threads in the Japan Forum, because this is smallworld's foodblog. If sake first, then rice last http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1026437 Eggs http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=943711 Sankaku tabe... http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=91881 Edited to add: No photos of you and your husband?

The home-made ponzu is interesting, especially because you also have a store-bought one - Ajipon. The dinner photo is interesting too, because of the lack of miso soup and the presence of alcohol together with rice. I am capable of having rice and alcohol at the same time, but many Japanese aren't. You know what I mean?

I'VE NEVER THOUGHT OF PUTTING RAW FISH IN A BENTO!

I agree with Kyo no Ryori. It's one of the best TV cooking programs, especially when the instructor is a celebrity like Chen Kenichi (one of the Iron Chefs), Yoshihiro Murata, and Hidemi Sugino. I can get other tips from Hanamaru Market on Channel 6, Tameshite Gatten on NHK, and even from Me Ga Ten on Channel 4. How about you?

Since you say so, I must ask: Is your seasoning more like Kansai (Western Japan) style than Kanto (Eastern Japan)? Thanks for showing us a very typical Japanese meal, by the way.

How exciting! Can't wait to read more! It's spring in Tokyo already? OK, now I remember it - How the weather is like in Tokyo around this time of the year. (I'm still in the middle of winter!)

This year, we celerated Hina maturi today (March 2), mainly because it was Sunday today. My daughter still doesn't care for chirashi, so I made inari zushi instead again, using this premade inari age: I make it a point to buy this particular brand of Misuzu Corporation. Other brands are not as good as this one. I also made hamaguri clear soup.