Hiroyuki

Do you suppose that melon pans are actually melon-flavored. As you can confirm with this Wikipedia page, many melon pans are not melon-flavored. Some are melon-flavored and still others contain real melon flesh.

You got it right. Miso shiru. Any type of miso, red like Shinshu miso or white like Kyo miso. I prefer red to white because white miso is too sweet for my taste. Haccho miso, a specialty of Aichi prefecture, is especially suitable for long-time simmering, but it's an acquired taste for me because of its distinctive flavor. *** Instant dashi powder! I can use it for recipes that call for chicken stock.

I think that's a product of Sun Lavieen (Japanese only). According to their site, the "omelet" is made with fresh eggs, and contains cream filled with strawberry flesh. Actually, it's quite similar to what we call "mushi pan" (steamed bun).

I think that avocado is the only sushi ingredient that is considered American in origin by the Japanese. I looked at the menu of one sushi restaurant, and found "califonia roll" was listed under the category "kawari zushi" (different, strange sushi).

I can't think of any. The Japanese are not as creative about such traditional dishes like nigiri zushi as you might think. We are creative about foreign foods like pizza and spaghetti, though. I googled "youfuu (= Western style) nigiri" (洋風握り in Japanese), and got only ten results. I was unable to determine what they were like. The Japanese are creative about home made versions of sushi like temaki (hand-rolled) and chirashi. I googled "youfuu temaki" in Japanese, and got 421 results like this one. I googled "youfuu chirashi" in Japanese, and got 620 results like this one.

Who' that guy? When you have gyudon, don't forget to top it with beni shoga (pickled red ginger).

Forgot to post about this very important news: Starting on Dec. 1, Yoshinoya serves gyudon every day, but in a limited time band only - 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Regular: 380 yen Large: 480 yen Sometimes I wish I lived in a big city where there is a Yoshinoya.

I know this is off-topic, but here is some information on yellowtails: 1. Adult yellowtails are called buri in any regin, by any person, by any fish shop, etc. 2. The term hamachi is now often used to mean cultured young yellowtails. 3. Buri are best in winter. Buri caught in winter are called kan buri. They are good as teriyaki and buri daikon. I like buri teriyaki! 4. Inada (same as hamachi) are best in summer. They are good as sashimi. Edited to add: Here is a nice webpage on buri by a Japanese in English, if anyone is interested.

I have, but I didn't know that it was run by Family Mart and the name was Famima!! .

This is great! It may look like rice but it's coarsely grated daikon. Less watery than finely grated daikon. My wife and I had tempura with it (and ten tsuyu, of course).

Sorry for "rewarming" the seasoned/unseasoned-rice discussion, but I was wondering about barachirashi「ばらちらし」. Is that dish a donburi? If yes, then it's one of the few with seasoned rice. ← I myself wouldn't call that a donburi dish. The bowl is rather shallow. Besides, whenever I hear the word "xx don", I instinctively think that the rice is hot rather than lukuwarm or cool.

Unlike o-chawan (rice bowl), o-wan (soup bowl), and o-hashi (chopsticks), which receive everyday use, the Japanese don't have much attachment to donburi. The Japanese usually have their own personal o-chawan, o-wan, and o-hashi, but not personal donburi. I have plastic donburi coated with resin, and they are for everybody's use. Donburi dishes are usually considered rather vulgar, and there are still many Japanese females who hesitate to step into Yoshinoya and other restaurants specializing in donburi dishes. Donburi dishes with lids on top of them look less vulgar, and many restaurants, especially high-end ones, adopt this style of serving. Note the honorific affix o-. We can say chawan, wan, and hashi, but we more often put an o- before them. Personally, I usually say o-chawan, o-wan, and hashi. We don't say o-donburi. That would sound quite silly.

Hamchi is a shusse uo.

Sorry to butt in, but what exactly is hamachi tuna? Or, is it hamachi (yellowtail) and maguro (tuna)?

This theory is mentioned in the book titled Hokuetsu Seppu, written by Bokushi Suzuki, who was born in former Shiozawa town in the Edo period. Let me provide some more details. There was a man who ran away with her lover from Osaka to Edo. One day, he said to Santo Kyoden, "In Edo, there are a lot of peddlers of goma age (foods deep-fried in sesame seed oil). In Osaka, they are called tsuke age, and fish meat tsuke age are tasty. In Edo, there are no one selling fish meat tsuke age at night stalls yet. I think of selling them. What do you think?" Kyoden agreed with his idea. Then the man asked him to name fish meat goma age. Kyoden thought for a while and then wrote the characters 天麩羅. When asked what that meant, Koyden replied as follows: You are now a drifter (天竺浪人, tenjiku ronin, literally, master-less samurai from India). You "strolled" (burarito (= furarito) kitarite) into Edo, and you will start selling them. The reason why I used 麩羅 for fura is that 麩 fu (wheat gluten) is made from wheat flour and 羅 ra means something thin. ten + fura = tenpura.

I've seen those natto stirrers in Tokyu Hands and in Loft. I almost bought one, just for the novelty of it (and so that I could post a picture of it! ) but then figured that it probably couldn't do anything any better than my chopsticks. What exactly is the point of the bowl? ← The handle is directing slightly downward, providing just the right angle when you stir. The natto won't spill over no matter how hard you stir. Now you want to buy one?

I had it for supper, it wasn't bad, but I was a little disappointed in it. I didn't like the brandy flavor very much, and it was less drinkable than that sake-based one.

Today's purchase: Oni oroshi This type of grater is usually quite expensive. For example, this one, made of bamboo, is 1,680 yen. I will report back after I use it for the first time.

That umeshu was gone days ago, and I bought another one today. This one is from Choya. This one, called Excellent, is one of the top brands of the company. It is brandy-based, and has an alcohol content of 14%. I bought this 750-ml bottle for 1,365 yen. I'll report on it later.

Come to think of it, are you talking about kaisen don (fresh seafood donburi) 海鮮丼, like this, with un-vinegared rice?

Nothing. Just eat it without any seasoning. It's already seasoned enough. If you make karaage yourself and you find it bland, eat it with soy sauce. I once had it with yuzu koshou. It was good. Here is a lineup of their product. Scroll down and click any of the eight blue items. ← No, I didnt mean seasonings, I meant accompanying side dishes. Like is it more traditional to eat Karaage with rice or with noodles? Any veggies that compliment Karaage? I had mine with lemon and veggies with shira-ae and rice. Yummy. ← Oh, anything. Salad, atsuyaki tamago, pickles, and what have you. Karaage is usually considered a "shusai" (main dish), and karaage bento is quite popular at bento shops and conbini. Karaage is usually eaten with rice, not noodles. In contrast, tempura is probably more often eaten with soba than rice. Other fries such as tonkatsu, korokke, and menchi are usually eaten with rice and sometimes with bread, as sandwiches. At restaurants, karaage is sometimes served on lettuce leaves. P.S. When I first read your post, I thought about accompanying side dishes.

Sushi flavoring? You mean vinegared rice (shari) with toppings? Why not visit the chirashi sushi (to be more precious chirashi zushi) thread? At Yoshinoya and most other donburi restaurants, they use blended rice 50 to 70% of which is Kirara 397 from Hokkaido. In fact, Kirara 397 made it possible to reduce the price of regular gyudon from 400 yen to 280 yen (before the beef imports were banned).

Although I am a huge fan of natto, I've never thought of mixing it with rice! In Hanamaru Market (famous TV show in Japan), they introduced a man in Fukuoka, who runs a shop specializing in natto-based products. He says that the three items that go well with natto are eggs, cheese, and chocolate . Access the site and scroll down until the rightmost marker is positioned in the middle, and you will see two photos of natto gateux chocolat. *** I found two interesting items while searching: Natto bowl and natto stirrer

Nothing. Just eat it without any seasoning. It's already seasoned enough. If you make karaage yourself and you find it bland, eat it with soy sauce. I once had it with yuzu koshou. It was good. Here is a lineup of their product. Scroll down and click any of the eight blue items.

Don't be confused, s_sevilla. I just described how tempura should be made at home not at a tempura restaurant. The protein in seafood tends to deteriorate the oil, and that's why seafood should be fried last.