Hiroyuki

It was such a hot day today that I didn't want to do much cooking. So, I decided to make hiyamugi (wheat noodles thicker than somen) for supper tonight. Left to right: Udon, hiyamugi, which I used today, somen, another somen, and soba. I bought some tuna sashimi and squid cutlets. Instead of making dipping sauce for hiyamugi, I used men tsuyu (noodle soup) concentrate. Pan-fried maitake mushroom was the only dish I made for supper. Closeup of hiyamugi: I know that the photos are not worthy of posting here, but I just wanted to show you how hiyamugi is eaten in an ordinary Japanese home. Edited to add a bit of noodle consumption in Japan. While udon (thickest wheat noodles) and soba are consumed all year around, hiyamugi and somen are mainly consumed in the summer. In Japan, all these types of noodles are regarded as shushoku (staple food), like rice and bread, not as a side dish. Hiyamugi vs. somen I much prefer hiyamugi to somen, because it is what I grew up with. (My father prefers hiyamugi). Unfortunately for me, my wife and children all prefer somen, so I haven't had much hiyamugi since I got married. I once googled and found that more Japanese prefer somen to hiyamugi... I just can't believe this! Hiyamugi is thicker and therefore more substantial and tasty, while somen is too thin to savor its texture or flavor, in my opinion.

Mixing with your hands?! Another approach is to keep the noodles and the sauce separate and let each diner do the mixing job on their plate.

I use my toaster oven to cook corn on the cob. A photo is here. Heat for 4-5 min., turn the corn by 90 degrees. Heat for another 4-5 min. Done!

I'm not sure if this is the right thread to post this, but I can't find any other good one, so here it is. Yesterday, I went shopping and bought some Yaki Chicken. I cooked two packages for lunch for my children. Here is a pic. I wasn't sure what Yaki Chicken was, so I googled and found that it was released only last week, July 17. Here are related webpages, both in Japanese only: http://www.nissinfoods.co.jp/com/news/news...e.html?nid=1167 http://www.chikinramen.com/present/yaki_pre/yaki_pre.html Basically, it's a yakisoba version of Chicken Ramen, but I found it wasn't seasoned with yakisoba sauce. It's chicken ramen-flavored yakisoba, with oyster sauce used as a secret ingredient. Overall, it wasn't bad, but I don't know if I will buy it again.

One more thing: I always season the hiyashi chuka (i.e., add the sauce to the noodles) after serving on the table. Anyway, I don't want to have hiyashi chuka that is seasoned tens of minutes before serving because the noodles will already be "stale" by then, absorbing all the sauce. Probably the Japanese are more particular about the quality of noodle dishes than other nations.

Hiyashi chuka noodles , which are the same as ramen noodles (wheat flour plus kansui (brine water)). In Japan, hiyashi chuka (lit. chilled Chinese) is served in most ramen shops in the summer only, although some shops put it on their menu all year round. As Chufi says, rinsing throughly immediately after boiling is a required step in making a cold noodle dish, or the intended texture (pleasant chewiness) will be lost. I rub the noodles against each other with my both hands to remove the slime from the surface in cold water and repeat this step at least three times until the slime is gone and the noodles are cooled enough. I forgot to mention the tare (sauce). I used the soy-based sauce that came with the hiyashi chuka noodles. Ground sesame seed-based sauce is also popular. If you are an adventurous eater and wish to try umeboshi sauce, here is a recipe by Shinju: Ume tsuyu for hiyashi chuka or salad dressing - 2 umeboshi (minced), 2 T sugar, 2 T rice vinegar, 3 T shoyu, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1/2 C water - combined. Also, you can find some information from here. Edited to add: Hiyashi chuka should look something like these. Please forget my poorly presented version.

A description of perilla leaves can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perilla They are refreshing! But I must add that they are usually not used in hiyashi chuka. I added them simply because I like them and I can get plenty of them from my tiny vegetable garden at this time of the year.

I changed my mind and made hiyashi chuka instead. Ingredients: Fake crab meat Kinshi tamago (made by first making a thin sheet of fried egg and then shredding it) Tomatoes Boiled enoki mushroom Wakame seaweed Shredded green shiso (perilla leaves) Shredded cucumbers It took me almost an hour to make this single dish! I asked my children to assemble all the ingredients together to make theirs. Mine: Sorry for the very poor presentation. We also had cold tofu and edamame (young soy beans). I had beer too (to be more precise, cheaper, third-category (malt-free) beer ).

Hi Anne, I would separate pasta and 'Asian' noodles because they are quite different. Pasta and noodles have different textures (eg 'al dente' is desirable in pasta, but not necessarily so in noodles) and different cooking methods (eg noodles can be fried in its sauce or cooked in broth whereas pasta and its sauce tend to be cooked separately). Also different parts of Asia has different types of noodles - my observation has been that rice noodles tend to dominate in SE Asia whereas wheat noodles features a lot in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. That said, there are many possibilities in the kitchen, and 'fusion' dishes are not uncommon these days. ← I think jean_genie put it really well. I wouldn't say they are entirely different, but they differ considerably in texture and flavor because of the difference in material (wheat, buckwheat, rice, etc. for Asian noodles and durum wheat for pasta). On the question of whether they are interchangeable, I personally say no, because they usually require different preparations and seasonings. One big difference in preparation is that Japanese noodles do not require salt when cooked in boiling water while pasta does. Another difference is that cookin al dente is not at all necessary for Japanese noodles. I think I'll make reisei (cold) spaghetti for supper tomorrow and report back.

Thanks, Anne, for adopting my suggestion. I'd like to contribute to this thread with not only somen but also other Japanese cold noodles like hiyamugi and udon, as well as hiyashi chuka and reisei (cold) spaghetti. I'll get to them one by one.

If you live in Japan and have children attending to elementary school, this is something you have to do as their gurdian after it is their turn to serve lunches for one week. Washing and ironing the kyushoku gi (garments), hats, and bags. (I have two children, so I sometimes have to wash and iron two of them.) Children bring the kyushoku gi from school on Friday and their guardians wash and iron them, and the children take them back to school on Monday.

I don't think so. There are things called "shirataki ramen" and even "shirataki diet" in Japan, and take a look at all the recipes using shirataki (Japanese only) that COOKPAD offers, 887 in total.

How interesting. My parents call each other Kent's mom/dad, though this is not common in China. ← I wonder why they do that? I think they may do the same in japan, but I am not really sure ← We don't. Calling a woman any of her children's names + no (= 's) + mama or okaasan is quite common, though. ← so it's not necessarily the oldest? ← No, it's not. Is it because of Confucianism that a mom is called that way in Korea? No Japanese hates you for using shirataki for noodles, but we simply don't call your version soba because soba means buckwheat.

How interesting. My parents call each other Kent's mom/dad, though this is not common in China. ← I wonder why they do that? I think they may do the same in japan, but I am not really sure ← We don't. Calling a woman any of her children's names + no (= 's) + mama or okaasan is quite common, though.

Looks very much like azuki jam (an or anko in Japanese) to me.

How about dengaku for konnyaku and salad for shirataki?

Tsuke men is said to be invented by Yamagishi Kazuo, who used to run Taishoken. Here is some description of Taishoken: http://www.rameniac.com/resource/comments/...ings_must_pass/ Images of various tsukemen can be found here. I haven't had tsukemen at Taishoken, but I was a fan of tsuke men at Daio (ramen shop chain specializing in tsuke men) when I lived in Tokyo. As you pointed out, the broth is stronger and the noodles are thicker.

I made atsuyaki tamago for the first time in my twenties, soon after I learned a recipe from Doi Masaru's cooking program on NHK, which was similar to Bigfoot's except the use of chopsticks instead of a turner to roll the tamago. Soon I got tired of following the recipe exactly, and now I have simplified the recipe considerably. Up until ten years ago, I used to make it almost every weekday for my wife's bento, partly because I was better at making it than my wife. Just in case you are wondering, as I mentioned upthread, atsuyaki tamago is mainly eaten in Kanto, while dashimaki tamago (less sweet than the former) is mainly eaten in Kansai.

Sorry, I don't. Someone else (maybe SheenaGreena) may know. You can only use young leaves around May and June. ← SheenaGreena says that the Korean word for yomogi is souk.

Take it easy, Sheena. That smiley was meant to be a joke. Besides, I was a little sleepy then. Thanks for the Korean word for yomogi. You were wanted on the Tempura Cook-Off thread. I'm looking forward to what you are going to do with your konnyaku and shirataki.

I thought it was a wonderful travelogue until I noticed this. The product name is plain stupid: Ohmori (Large Portion) Kikaku (Plans). Very roughly, the second photo says: Plan 1: Appetizers for beer and sake. Joyfully with everybody, many times by yourself Plan 2: Snacks for kids. Something to nibble at when they are hungry. Plan 3: In a family, in a group, companions for a trip. The third photo is simply full of sales talk. Not worthy of translation! Edited to add: Do you happened to know how to call yomogi (mugwort) in Korean?

Chamame happens to be a specialty of Niigata, and has been a favorite of mine since I moved here (although it's a little bit expensive than other varieties). Just try any supermarket (the bigger the better) and department store basement.

I personally hate that one, and I don't think it's instructive. I much prefer this Kuitan (Japanese TV drama) episode: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=iB7fxqlywiI

Got a PM from a member asking if I was OK after the large earthquake that took place in Niigata yesterday. I'm OK, as well as all my family members. No damage to my house. But I feel sorry for all the victims in Kashiwazaki and other cities in Niigata and Nagano prefectures. Nine people have died due to the earthquake as of this morning.

At a local festival here in the Shiozawa area, I had Fujinomiya yakisoba for the very first time. Thick and firm noodles, lightly seasoned. I think I prefer regular yakisoba. http://www.umya-yakisoba.com/eindex2.html