Hiroyuki

I told the chef about your questions while he was preparing take-out sushi, stressing that they were not my questions. Ikura: In his shop, he buys sujiko (salmon roe still in the sac) and turn it into ikura. Fresh sujiko is vivid orangish red and is firm in texture. Some shops use frozen ikura. Kohada: Kohada are fishy, so you must get rid of the odor by sprinkling salt on them first. Then, you rinse with water and put them in vinegar so that the small bones can dissolve in it. (So, I think you can imagine what badly prepared kohada will taste and feel like.) Anago: (Like I mentioned upthread) Simmered for a short time -> tough, simmered for a long time -> Loses fat and flavor. You have to learn from experience when to stop the simmering. *** Notes on kan-buri: Kan-buri are still very expensive. I learned from a TV news program near the end of last year that they were about 4,000 yen per kilogram somewhere in the Sea of Japan (Fukui?). Thus, I have now almost given up having kan-buri this season. (The chef told me yesterday that he used only one 7.8-kg kan-buri near the end of last year.) If I am lucky, I may be able to have it this reason. Otherwise, I will have to wait until next December. I know I can probably have it if I go to an expensive sushi shop in Yuzawa or elsewhere or to a cheap conveyor sushi restaurant nearby. The thing is, I simply don't want to eat it there.

So, you basically mean that your tempura is fritter-like? Tempura is NOT fritters. The texture is very different. And, as I mentioned way upthread (on page 1?), my wife likes to make sweet potato tempura with egg-less batter with some salt in it so that the tempura can be eaten without dipping sauce. Her tempura does not differ considerably in texture from normal tempura. So, I think that your procedure for making batter is somewhat different from the proper one. Not overmixing is one key. Besides, sesame oil is not used to make tempura batter in Japan. As for flour, hakurikiko (lit. weak flour) with a gluten content of 6.5 to 9.0% is used. Judging from what they say in the Japan Forum, cake flour is similar to hakurikiko. AP flour has a content of 7.5 to 10.5% (right?).

I'd like to stress that all those stories about offending sushi chefs and customers around you are very often exaggerated, and I'd like to encourage everyone to enjoy having sushi the way they want.

I was going to say the same thing about the purple beans (murasaki hana mame). As for wasabi, I can get it for similar prices (less than 400 yen) at a local supermarket here. Wasabi ranges greatly in price depending on the quality. Edited to add: Maybe it's only me, but I have never seem that type of millefeuille... I only know the multi-layered type. Is that a popular one?

Shelby: Shirako age (deep-fried sperm sac) should be less obnoxious. Shirako is also a popular ingredient of nabe. Shirako age images Shirako nabe images I forgot to include the price of the shirako ponzu. I'm not sure but I think it was 600 yen (the whiteboard said so although it wasn't updated for this day). Prasantrin: I think you can find unagi hone sembei like this easily in liquor shops, supermarkets, and department stores. Price for regulars... Hm... Well, I think so. As I mentioned elsewhere, the food cost percentage is about 30% for normal restaurants and about 40 to 50% for traditional sushi shops. Given the quality of the sashimi, I would not have complained at all if he had charged me 3,000 or even 3,500 yen for it. Edited to add: Engawa! I didn't ask for it or mention it. He kindly offered it.

My daughter and I had another incredible dinner at the sushi shop this evening. I ordered two items that I had long wanted to order: Anago hone sembei (deep-fried conger eel bones) and kaisen sarada (seafood salad). First I ordered the anago hone sembei: 315 yen Nice and crispy. My daughter wanted to have the Okosama (Child) Set: 840 yen I asked the chef if he had anything special. He recommended ma-dara shirako ponzu (pacific cod sperm sac with ponzu). I know it may look gross to you 'cause it does look gross to me. But it was surprisingly good and was not smelly at all. The chef told me that he took out the shirako (sperm sac) while it was still fresh. He added that the type of shirako you can get at a supermarket is often blanched. Okamisan (chef's wife) brought me this: Buri daikon (yellowtail simmered with daikon). I think she offered it to me instead of the usual miso soup. I liked it though it was rather heavily seasoned with soy sauce. We entered the sushi shop at five o'clock in the evening (reached there four minutes before five and spent some time outside), and the chef still hadn't updated the whiteboard with today's recommendations. So, I ordered some sashimi in an omakase style. The chef offered me this incredible assortment: Top from left to right: Sakura masu (cherry salmon), shime saba (horse mackerel pickled in vinegar), ma-dara (pacific cod) Bottom from left to right: Chu-toro, o-toro, botan ebi (botan shrimp, Pandalus nipponensis), kohada (gizzard shad) with shiso inside The chef stressed that sakura masu was really rare around this time of the year. It's usually available in spring. I later asked how much he charged for this. 2,400 yen! Incredibly low price! Closeup of the ma-dara and kohada: I then ordered kaisen sarada: 630 yen The amount and the variety of seafood were just incredible. I asked the chef how many types of seafood he put in this salad. He laughed and said he didn't know. I guess he knew the answer but avoided saying it explicitly because the amount and the variety vary depending on the availability of seafood in his shop on that day. I finally ordered two pieces of hirame (left-eye flounder), kijihata (red-spotted grouper), and anago (conger eel) nigiri each. Hirame: 300 yen each Kijihata: 300 yen each Anago: 250 yen each The chef said that one of the hirame (right one) was (expensive) engawa (fin muscle) . Closeup of the hirame nigiri The engawa one is on the left in this photo.

Today, I watched two very interesting TV programs. The one is "Kyo-Ryori, Ugoku" (Kyoto Cuisine, Moving) on channel 6 (TBS), from 8:00 a.m., which featured Yoshihiro Murata, the chef-and-owner of Kikunoi. The other is "Bi no Tsubo" (Point of Beauty?) on channel 1 (NHK) from 11:00 a.m. which featured sushi. If you missed the latter and want to watch it, you can watch a rerun tomorrow (Jan. 4) from 10:00 p.m. A reproduction of edomae zushi in the Edo period, much bigger than the contemporary one, was impressive. The big news is that the Jan. 8th edition of "Professional Shigoto no Ryugi", to be aired from 22:00 to 22:45, features Jiro Ono, the chef and owner of a three-star sushi shop. Joel Robuchon eats his sushi. Don't miss it! http://www.nhk.or.jp/professional/schedule/index.html You can view a preview by clicking 次回予告・MOVIEはこちら>>> in red letters.

I must say I'm impressed with the sheer variety of your osechi, but quite frankly, the first question that came into my head was, "What was the total expenditure??" The second question was, "Which osechi did your customers like the best?" This year, I bought only a pack of three items (red and white kamaboko and datemaki) and a pack of black beans for osechi.

Thanks for your compliment. Feel free to post photos of your monkfish!

I appreciate any comment or question on sushi. As for ikura, I really don't know what to answer because I don't think I have ever had ikura that isn't fresh. As you can easily imagine, I think it will smell and taste bad when it gets old. It should be noted that fully grown ikura has a thick and tough membrane, which leaves an unpleasant feeling in the mouth. You can see an example of such ikura here (third photo). My daughter said it was tasty, but also said the skin (membrane) was tough. Note also that in most conveyor sushi restaurants in Japan, they serve artificial ikura. It's very difficult to tell a real one from a fake one. An easy way to tell a real one is to put it in hot water; a real one will turn white because of its high protein content, while a fake one will not. It's not that a fake one is bad. A fake one is as good as a real one, but in traditional sushi shops, they don't use a fake one. I think that when well prepared, kohada is pleasantly sour but not overly so. But, again, I have never had kohada that isn't properly prepared. I think when badly prepared, kohada would be fishy and almost inedible. According to the blog of the chef's wife, it's very difficult to simmer anago properly. If simmered for a short time, it will be tough, and if simmered for a long time, it will lose fat and taste bad. I like the anago the chef makes. It's very soft and is almost creamy! According to her blog, the chef is very good at preparing kohada and anago. I'll ask him your questions the next time I go there. One correction: I mentioned previously that kohada was relatively cheap, but the chef told me that it wasn't cheap but was as expensive as tai (sea bream).

Just wanted to put this thread back on page 1. On Dec. 29, I made satoimo no nikkorogashi (or nikorogashi), using a dashi, mirin, and soy sauce ratio of 8:1:1. I made it as a kind of osechi ryori. It's still good to eat today (Jan. 1).

Wow, I envy you! That's one of the reasons why the Japanese government wanted to send what the U.S. media described as "sushi police" throughout the world. Fortunately, the government dropped that idea and downgraded the "certification" system to a "recommendation" system. I'm sorry about what you experienced in that restaurant, but I think that in general, the United States, as well as other countries, should develop their own sushi culture. That's true! I've never had unagi nigiri, only anago nigiri. When I hear unagi zushi (= sushi), I associate it with other types of sushi such as chirashi zushi and oshi zushi. Images of unagi sushi

Tsunahachi in Shinjuku! What a nice start! I like Tsunahachi. (That one in Shinjuku may be the one my sister worked at part time when she was young.) I'm terribly sorry about what happened to you at the sushi place. I hope your anger has subsided a little by now. I don't want to defend her, but from my point of view as a native Japanese, I really don't think she is a racist. She just wanted to warn you that the place served raw fish, didn't she? Maybe someone who lives or is stationed in Japan can confirm that. Edited to add: Can anyone come up with some handy words and phrases that can help ease tense situations like: Sushi (sashimi) daisuki. (I like sushi (sashimi) a lot.)

Some of the fish shown and mentioned here are available at any supermarket in Japan, even in mountainous areas like mine, while others are not. For example, you can find monkfish in any supermarket, often cut and prepared for use in nabe (one-pot dish). I have seen small filefish (probably less than 20 cm in length) sold at one supermarket. They were rather expensive, 600 yen each. Akami (lean part of tuna) and chu-toro (medium fatty tuna) are available at any supermarket almost all year round. O-toro is rather hard to come by here. I have never seen ara (Nuphon spinosus Cuvieror) or kijihata (red-spotted groupers) sold at a supermarket here. Things will be much different in costal areas and in big cities in Japan. I'd like to add that monkfish is highly valued in Japan, especially its liver, which is often called the sea's foie gras because of its high fat content of 42%. I posted a photo of monkfish liver here. It should also be noted that almost all parts of a monkfish is eaten in Japan. These parts are called anko no nanatsu dogu (monkfish's seven tools). They are: 1. Flesh 2. Skin 3. Stomach 4. Liver 5. Ovaries 6. Gills 7. Fins Monkfish are often cut and filleted by hanging them on a bar, as I mentioned here with photos. They may be ugly to look at, so I found some nice photos here. Etiquette... Here is a thread on sushi etiquette on eGullet. There may be more. I really don't think there are any proper etiquette and manners in the Western sense, and I'd like to encourage you to enjoy sushi the way you want. And, I hope you don't fall prey to sushi snobs!

Only shin-shoga (freshly harvested ginger) turns pink when pickled. Like John and other members mentioned, pickled ginger (gari) is usually eaten to reset your taste buds. In conveyor sushi restaurants, where containers of gari are placed at the counter and you can have as much of it as you want, I tend to have a lot of gari.

I have no idea. This recipe calls for 100 g kurozato and 50 g water, and the related recipe for shiro (white) karinto calls for the same weights (100 g shiro zato (white sugar) and 50 g water). Both recipes simply say to "karameru" (dress, coat) the mixture of kurozato/shiro zato and water. They don't specify when. Another recipe doesn't specify when to coat the kurozato, either. Are you going to make karinto by yourself?

The TV show Iron Chef was a memorable one. I'm sure many of you will agree. You can now watch many of the episodes on YouTube. Some of my favoriates: Sakai's lecture on salmon Sushi Battle New York Battle

Here in Niigata, they use Kanto-sytle rectangular (not round) mochi, and simmer it in hot water until soft (Kansai style?), which is something I can never get used to. I like mine grilled on a grid or in a toaster oven.

What I want to know is your and your mother's usual food preferences. Do you two usually go for Italian food? What kind of food do you usually have back home?

Thanks for the explanation. Two things I didn't know about kushikatsu: 1. You can have as much cabbage as you want in kushikatsu restaurants in Osaka. In other words, キャベツ食べ放題! 2. The kushikatsu sauce is much thinner than I thought. You can make kushikatsu sauce by mixing Worcester sauce and 20-30% broth (such as instant consomme powder). from here (Japanese only)

Thanks for sharing your wonderful trip to Osaka. I don't know much about Osaka, so I had to google to find out what German Christmas Market. You have to pay to go to the "Floating Garden Observatory", right? According to their official site, the admission fee is 700 yen for adults and 500 yen for seniors. Did you actually pay 1000 yen? And, thanks for posting a photo of yourself!

For supper tonight, my children and I bought these: Gokoku mai (five-cereal rice?) bento (498 yen) for my son, takoyaki (8 pieces for 298 yen) for my daugher, and nigiri (8 pieces for 950 yen) for me. I removed all the neta from the shari, except the ikura and ama ebi, and put the shari in the microwave to reheat for 40 seconds. The resultant sushi tasted much better. I gave the salmon nigiri to my daughter and got one takoyaki in return. The takoyaki was delicious! Next time, I will buy the cheap takoyaki instead of the expensive nigiri! Edit: Not 40 min. but 40 seconds.

No explanation of the sign "Nido zuke kinshi OK!!!" for the international audience? Sounds interesting, but I don't want to join in! So, tell me, who paid all the expenses?

Oh, sorry, I misread your question. It's simply because some shops prefer that style of tamagoyaki aka gyoku. I'll see if I can come with a better answer. Edited to add: I did some googling but was unable to find any useful information. Again, it's simply because those shops prefer that style. Personally, I don't like it because of its sweetness and texture. A recipe for this type of tamagoyaki can be found here if you are interested.

The first photo you showed is gyoku (egg) as tsumami (appetizer) not as nigiri, right? Ryosuke orders gyoku as tsumami in the kuitan episode here, at about 0:59. Some shops simply place a piece of gyoku on top of shari (vinegared rice), while others prefer other styles such as the one you showed in the second photo. Here is a cross section of the gyoku nigiri: As you may know, gyoku can be served and ordered as tsumami (without shari) and is often served and ordered as the last piece of nigiri (with shari) like a dessert because it's sweet.