Hiroyuki

This is BON's site! BON was a former member, and now he's a legacy participant...

I should have been more specific. This and other similar snacks are called oshiruko. Images of oshiruko can be found here. It's a red bean soup with some mochi in it. "Tsubu an" refers to an or anko (red bean jam) with skins un-removed, as opposed to "koshi an", which is an with skins removed.

You have already had it? I'd say it's a snack. It's a favoriate of women's, and I'm not a fan of it.

Some of the letters of the instructions are illegible, so I'm not 100% sure of the proper instructions. Anyway, here's how. 1. Put the an (red bean paste) in the cup, take out mochi from the packets??, and put them on top of an. 2. Don't put the lid on the cup, put the cup in a microwave, and heat according to the table below. 500 W: approx. 2 min. 600 W: approx. 1 min. 40 seconds 1000 W: approx. 1 min. 1500 W: approx. 40 seconds The product's name is "Tsubu an oshiruko". It says it contains two pieces of mochi.

Thanks, Fat Guy! Here's one questionnaire: http://kotonoha.cc/no/33252 Do you slurp up noodles? Yes: o No: x So far, more young Japanese have said yes (37 vs. 27). Here's another: http://kotonoha.cc/no/22493/2#comments When eating ramen, do you put some on your renge and blow on it? So far, more young Japanese have said no. Caution: Both questionnnaires are in Japanese only.

You are absolutely right about naruto!! It's more like a garnish or ornament than an ingredient. But my feeling is that a bowl of ramen without a slice of naruto is sooo wrong! This is from a native Japanese in his forties. I'm not sure what younger people think of naruto. Sorry I can't read or listen to the article upthread. Can someone copy and paste any important passages from the article?

You put it well, raji, as usual. I don't think it's true. If you ever think it is, it's probably because some Japanese like to say that slurping is bad manners in Western countries. In Japan, slurping is the way to go when you eat noodles, not just ramen noodles but also udon, soba, and somen and even spaghetti. I'm not saying that slurping is totally acceptable; slurping loudly isn't pleasing to anyone in any country, but you sure can slurp and eat elegantly.

Let me contribute to this thread with some ramen-related terms: (seasoned) bamboo shoot: menma or shinachiku a slice of fish cake: probably naruto Naruto images or perhaps kamaboko? Kamaboko images ra yu or la yu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayu Personally, I hate ra yu because it irritates my lips. When I have gyoza, I usually make a dipping sauce by mixing one part vinegar and one part soy sauce together. One of the most important terms will be nobiru (lit. to lengthen): to get soft Once cooked, noodles get soft! You must finish off a bowl of ramen in a short time, say, within ten minutes. I, for one, am a fast eater, and capable of finishing off a bowl of ramen in five minutes. Finally, you must slurp up noodles. "Zuru-zuru" (slurp, slurp)! That's probably the most difficult part of ramen eating for non-Japanese people.

On his way home from school yesterday, my son found some honey mushrooms (naratake) on the grass. So, I made kinoko miso soup for supper tonight. Right: Wild honey mushrooms (about half of what he collected) Top: Cultured white buna shimeji Bottom: Cultured nameko Besides the mushrooms, the soup contains: daikon, carrots, gobo (burdock root), satoimo (taro), and pork. For this kind of miso soup, the more the ingredients the better! Other dishes: Sanma mirin boshi (dried, mirin-flavored saury) Boiled green vegetable (which I forgot the name of)

I know this is practiced in Kansai (Osaka?) only. In Kanto, you have to order "tanuki" udon or soba if you want tenkasu on your udon or soba.

What was the kamaboko simmered in? A simple broth, probably a dashi, soy sauce, and mirin mixture of a 15 to 20, 1, 1 ratio (same as oden broth)?

I think I missed this question of yours. Why not send an inquiry to Suisan Times? http://www.suisantimes.co.jp/english/headline.shtml There is an inquiry email address at the bottom.

I got it, thanks! This one! Mirin-fu not hon mirin

OK, so why not post a photo of the mirin of your choice?

While searching, I incidentally found an answer. Dried abalone is one of the tawara mono (items in straw bags) in the Edo period. Dried abalone, braised(?) and dried sea cucumber, and shark's fin, which were exported from Japan to Qing (former China) in the Edo period, were called "tarara mono san hin" (three items of straw bags). http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BF%B5%E7%89%A9 (Sorry, Japanese only)

We did not buy knives, but did buy some other cooking utensils (these metal spear like chop-stick things, among other things). We were tempted to buy some knives, but when we got to a good shop they were all upwards of $1000, which we weren't particularly interested in, but seeing all the knives there was cool! The purpose was a food-focused trip for pleasure. I loved pretty much every food there (see my response above). ← Sorry to hear about knives. I'm also thinking about buying a deba and a sashimi slicer. I still cannot decide whether to go for Global (> 7,000 yen) or Kaijizushi (2,000 to 3,000 yen). $1000?? You mean $100?

Thanks for sharing all those terrific photos! My questions are: Did you buy any knives while you were in Japan? What was your pourpose of your sivit to Japan? Do you remember any particular food items you like or hated? And, finally, which of the three men is orangeman747?

Thanks, Helen, but do you make kuri kinton using only mirin as a sweetener? Isn't mirin something that you add in small quantities toward the end of the making? Have you ever tried mizu ame or other sweeteners and compared the difference?

I don't know what to say. I've never heard of brown rice koji. Mirin making sounds so simple and straightforward, at least according to this guy (Japanese only), who likes to make anything by himself. The main ingredients are: 600 cc 35-proof shochu 200 to 300 g rice malt 360 cc (or approx. 320 g) mochi gome (glutinous rice) This guy spent six months to make his. In Japan, authentic, traditional mirin is not exhorbitantly expensive, around 1,000 yen per 500 ml, which is about 10 times more expensive as my current mirin-fu. So, my best bet will be to keep buying cheap mirin-fu and save some money to get a bottle of 3-year or even 10-year mirin some day. At this point, my only fear is that when I get one, I will probably want to drink it as an aperitif rather than in cooking. I have a question to egullet members living/stantioned in Japan: What is the mirin (or mirin-like seasoning) of your choice, and why?

Oh how interesting. You mean they're dried solely for export to China/Hong Kong? ← I have no idea, but I found this passage here: Roughly, Dried abalones produced in Japan are of highest quality, with Iwate and Aomori being two major producing districts. Every year, dealers in Hong Kong buy almost all of them, and they are hard to come by in Japan.

gautam wrote some interesting questions and comments about mirin, but they were quite wordy, so I reduced them to the following: Other than the traditional mirin (Kristin talks about her 3-year-old mirin in the mirin thread), we have in Japan: 1. Hon mirin Alcohol content: 13% or greater Sugar content: 40 to 50% 40-60 days to make it. 2. Hakko chomiryo (fermented seasoning) Alcohol content: 1% or greater (The one shown in the photo has 8.5% alcohol.) Sugar content: 30 to 40% Salt content: Approx 2% 3. Mirin-fu chomiryo (mirin-like seasoning) Alcohol content: Less than 1% Sugar content: 60% or greater (55% or greater from another source) Right: Hon mirin, 14% alcohol content. Middle: Hakko chomiryo, 8.5% alcohol content, approx. 2% salt content. This particular product says it's a jozo chomiryo (brewed chomiryo). Left: Mirin-fu chomiryo, less than 1% alcohol content. Judging from that fact that hon mirin has a sugar content of 40 to 50% and mirin-fu 55 to 60% or greater, the answer to Q1 should be yes, (but I really didn't notice any difference when I used hon mirin.) The answer to Q2 is as described above. I usually use mirin-fu chomiryo, which is the cheapest of the four types and is probably the easiest to use because it doesn't contain any alcohol. Response to comment 1: I've never said that my mirin-fu chomiryo is of good quality, but recently I found this sentence on the label: This product has been developed for professional use. Respose to comment 2: Needless to say, when you simply boil off the alcohol of mirin and then combine it with other ingredients, you can't get the benefits of using mirin, but mirin has some very useful effects like masking odor and preventing ingredients from disintegrating (because of its alcohol) and glazing (because of its sugar). I must admit that the more I learn about mirin, the more inclined I am to buy a bottle of traditional mirin. The only obstacle is, of course, the price.

It is an ingredient for Chinese cuisine, and it's simply that Japan produces high-quality dried abalones and exports them. Shark's fins are another example. Abalones in Japanese cuisine... I think fresh abalones are more often used in Japanese cuisine, as sashimi, simmered, grilled, etc.

You did it, thanks! Kanda Yabu, really famous one, but I've never been there. There are three major soba shop groups in Japan, Yabu, Sunaba, and Sarashina.

#31 was with the herring--a local specialty according to our waitress. Here are some more photos from #16. ← Thank you for posting the photos here, but I have already looked at them in your album, and I can't still identify the soba shop.

Thanks for the follow-up. As for the noodle shop in post #16, I think I can identify the shop if you post a photo of the interior or exterior of it or a photo of the entire menu. As for the noodle dishes in post #31, the first one is probably cha soba (buckwheat noodles with tea powder in them) with nishin (=herring), and the second one is tempura udon.