Hiroyuki

The white fish looks like tai to me. The nano hana is probably simply boiled for a few minutes, put in cold water, drain, and seasoned with some kind of sauce. Such a dish is called ohitashi.

I did some googling but found no relevant information. I think this is just a bad example of a story someone said as a joke and someone else believed it was true. The number of cases of fugu poisoning is smaller, 61 in 2004, and the number of deaths 2. My family had fugu sashimi on February 9 (Fugu Day)! For an explanation of the photos, click here.

Do you use boiling or hot water? Most recipes call for not just water but boiling (or hot) water.

Kushidango is any dango on a skewer. Kushi means skewer. Sheena, yomogi is all over Japan. Is it grassy tasting? Probably it is, but in a good way. Is moxa common in Korea? See this Wikipedia entry for details.

This has been discussed before. Making mochi from scratch has become rare even in rural areas like mine, but mochi pounding is a popular event at some fairs and festivals. ← This made me realize I have a picture of the mochi pounding taken last early winter when we went to Ilsan City for a holiday. ← How different!! I posted two photos of mochi pounding here. Scroll all the way down to the second and third photos from the last. Sheena, I have no idea, but I found one webpage that says the 3-color dango represents cherry. The pink one represents the bud, the white one the petal, and the green one the leaf. I can't be sure whether this interpretation is universal throughout Japan.

Like kintaro ame. Just in case you don't know about it, it's like this.

← Maybe it would have helped if I had thought to specify what I'm looking for. I usually buy the one (sometimes from Minamoto Kitchoan) that comes 3 on a stick, and each one's a different color, green, white and pink. Does that help? And is yomogi mugwort? And I might be crazy enough to grind sesame seeds by hand, but I'm not going to pound rice. ← So, you mean sanshoku (3-color) dango like this? I did some googling and found they are usually made with joshinko (rice flour). You can make them with shiratamako (a type of mochi rice flour), but the texture is different.

Thanks!

Could you tell me what the pickle is?

I think you can find some valuable information in English by searching with such keywords as frog and parasite.

I recommend an IH (induction heating) model. What types of rice cookers are available where you live? Microcomputer-controlled, fuzzy logic?

Talking of "zaru", does anyone know the difference between "zaru" soba and "mori" soba? The former is topped with nori stripes (thus a little pricier), while the latter is nori-less. I googled and found "zaru" and "mori" could differ in other ways, but in present-day Kanto, what I described above is true. Talking of tsukemen, Taishoken is considered the ramen shop that originated it. Like I said elsewhere, I liked the tsukemen of Tsukemen Daio (つけ麺大王) when I lived in Tokyo.

Yes, Koji Yakusho

Thanks for all the photo. I'm puzzled by this particular beel bowl. It doesn't look like a regular one. The left half looks like some kind of seafood... Natto udon? No thanks though I'm a huge natto fan.

This webpage says that all the frogs for cooking purposes are natural, not farmed.

Thanks for the photos and your interesting observation. What you described as a "tonkatsu with egg over rice dish" is actually called katsu don (tonkatsu donburi). There are other good donburi dishes like tendon (tempura donburi) and gyudon (beef bowl). I hope you enjoy your stay in Japan. And thanks again for the photos, especially the last one, which shows the faithful dog called chuken hachiko. I was born and bred in Shibuya, and that photo brings back memories.

It's kind of hard for me to answer. If I have to choose one, it's the dying wife making her last supper. The power of a mother trying to make something for her children and husband. Is it understood by non-Japanese people that the proper ramen-eating instructions given by an old man to a young man (Gun) were a joke?

OK, we had the leftover curry for supper last night. When thawed at room temp, the curry separated into a pulpy portion and a liquid portion, and I had to mix them together. My children said it was tasty, but not me. I don't think I will try this freezing technique again. What I find interesting is the difference in texture. The curry felt much lighter than it was one week ago, and it wasn't as greasy as it was. I thought, "Where has all the lard gone?"

I don't know of any that can possibly meet your criteria. As I stated elsewhere, one of my favorite coffee houses was Renoir, which has many shops in and around Tokyo. I posted your question here: Nontan's bulletin board I hope I can get some replies.

It's kind of a personal question, but do you have a daughter? The dolls look pretty... and expensive!

I haven't had chirashi zushi for years I want to make it, but my daughter prefers inari zushi , and I made 25 of them for Hina Matsuri yesterday.

I'm sure that the furikake on the rice is Sukiyaki Furikake . My children's most favoriate, too.

When it has become darker, has an off flavor, has become partially moldy...

Of course, it won't satisfy your curiosity, but I think it's unrealistic to visit Hokkaido just to have a taste of that cheese. Just to console you, I translated part of a description of that cheese from here. The snow-white, fine cheese is sour and refreshing. The cheese is topped by a salted cherry blossom and is very pretty to look at. The cheese is placed on a cherry leaf for a certain period during aging, so has a subtle distinctive aroma like that of sakura mochi. And, it has a waft of alcohol like sake lees, and somehow tastes "Japanese". Edited to make a correction.

I didn't know anything about it. Yes, it is a mochi sweet. It is one of the "yome iri dogu" (things that a bride is to bring to the broom's house). It can be found only in that area of Shikoku region. No wonder I didn't know anything about it.