Hiroyuki

I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say about the three Shirataki brands. I was thinking of visiting this brewery (located in Yuzawa Town, Niigata Pref.) for sake tasting, when I discovered this post of yours. What a coincidence!

Personally, I don't think so. I thought about Inaniwa udon at first, which is also slippery (and less wide than kishimen), but I don't think that it can be a substitute, either. Are rice noodles so hard to come by?

No, when used to describe tea, shibui simply means astringent. In present-day Japanese, shibui can mean cool, subdued (in a good way), etc. Fo example, shibui is often used to describe cool, handsome men (but not women). You can see examples of shibui otoko (= men) by clicking here. Shibui can also have a negative meaning. For example, it can mean wry. You can see examples of shibui kao (= faces) by clicking here.

I suppose beer is a little nigai? We do have a Norwegian word (stram) that might be used the same ways as astringent, but few people are aware of the distinction. Yes, beer is described as nigai (bitter) in Japanese. It still sounds to me a little strange that English-speaking people describe green tea as bitter. I feel like saying, "Green tea isn't bitter! It's shibui!". I must add that high-quality green tea (gyokuro, for example) and high-quality matcha are not nigai at all. They taste almost sweet because of their high umami components. That being said, I don't mind having shibui green tea at all. On the contrary, I like to make my green tea very strong (thus very shibui).

We do enjoy bitterness, but in slightly a different way, I suppose. For example, towards the end of winter, we crave for young sprouts of butterbur, which are bitter. The craving for bitterness continues to June, when we have young shoots of bracken fern. We love all sorts of sansai (wild edible plants), which are usually bitter. On the other hand, let me point out that traditional Japanese cuisine is a cuisine of subraction, where harshness and bitterness is intentionally removed to offer only the umami components of ingredients. This is one very important characteristic of japanese cuisine. Harshness and bitterness are usually disliked by many. Another thing I want to point out is that whereas in English, only word, bitterness, is used to describe the bitterness of coffee, chocolate, green tea, persimmons, etc., we actually use two words in Japanese, nigami (bitterness) for coffee, chocolate, etc. and shibumi (astringency) for green tea, persimmons, etc. Nigai (bitter) and shibui (astringent) are adjective forms. Shibumi and shibui are everyday words, while astringency and astringent may be not. Okinawan people do enjoy the bitterness of bitter gourds, etc., but that's not necessarily true of mainland Japanese.

As Helen says, Japan is rich in safe water. Doburoku (unrefined sake) making is said as old as rice cultivation, as you can easily imagine. According to this webpage (Japanese only), barley was introduced into Japan towards the end of the Jomon period, about 2,500 years ago. It also says that long before green tea become widespread, barley tea was drunk by feudal warlords, among others. Sugita Genpaku, who is believed to be the first Japanese to drink beer, said one word when when he drank beer for the first time: Mazui (not good). Hop was unknown to the Japanese, I suppose. I googled and found that hop was native to only some parts of Hokkaido. Some common elements in the taste of beer and mugicha?? Beer is bitter, while mugicha isn't! I think that besides persimmon leaf tea, other teas such as sugina (fertile shoots of horse tail) tea and dokudami tea were (and still are) popular. In fact, my parents used to make both teas.

I wonder where you got that impression... Anyway, tea is usually supposed to be drunk hot anywhere, right? As I said, barley tea is the oldest tea in Japan!

In Kyushu, where tonkotsu ramen originated, many ramen shop serve non-greasy ramen, but in Kanto (Eastern Japan), tonkotsu is somewhat misunderstood, and in some shops, they serve very greasy ramen with seabura (pork back fat) sprinkled on them, like these. I understand that young people tend to go for greasy foods, but these very greasy ramen are simply not for me.

Powerplantop: Your tonkotsu ramen looks delicious, not at all greasy like many tokotsu ramen served at ramen shops in Japan. One thing I want to point out is that the noodles in your photo are not ramen noodles but udon noodles. Do you prefer udon to ramen noodles?

If you decide to use potatoes, I would suggest sandwiching the ground meat between two thin slices of potato rather than rolling, much in the same way as you would make renkon no hasami age (ground meat sandwiched between two slices of lotus root and then deep-fried). From Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji: Happily, there are some Western radish varieties that will substitute adequately for daikon, and these may be pruchased in supermarkets... (omitted) Sometimes they are simply marked as "oriental types." Do you think you can find such varieties in your area?

I agree Emily, autumn is the season of the pig. I love the concept of carnitas, never made them. I had carnitas at a friends place this summer, lots of guac, refried beans, very spicy, and she used Coca-Cola. That is interesting! In Japan, pork is often associated with the summer. Although we have it all year round, we think we need pork to survive the sweltering hot and humid summer in Japan.

I think you have to rely on online stores like this one. There is a restaurant dedicated to shirasu dishes in Enoshima, Kanagawa.

I recently bought two types of regional potato chips from Calbee. Photos can be found here (first two photos). They were both goods, especially the Kansai Ichiban Dashi flavored version.

My son and I went mushroom hunting on Monday. Some photos can be found here. We got five hanaiguchi but no honey mushrooms . Anyway, we had a very good time.

Sorry, not boburoku but doburoku. (Why do I keep making silly spelling mistakes? )

I'v never heard of this product before, and I have checked the website of the manufacturer. It seems like an excellent product. I'll post more information when I learn more about it. For now, I can say that not a lot of Japanese know of this product. By the way, the Japanese pronunciation of the product name is Akazake, not Akasake.

nuppe!? Good to see you again! As for alcoholic beverages, sake, shochu, and mirin (for women), boburoku (home-made, unrefined sake, now banned), etc. As for non-algocholic beverages, mugicha (roasted barley tea, the oldest tea in Japan), green tea, hojicha (roasted green tea), etc. Few Japanese drank milk before the Meiji period.

Yes, pickled in soy sauce.

Here is some explanation of the three types of mirin readily available in Japan.

In Japan, chestnuts are huge around this time of year, as exemplified by Mont Blanc. And, don't forget wild mushrooms! My son and I are going to go mushroom gathering on one of the five consecutive national holidays (Sep. 19 through 23), dubbed "Silver Week". Hopefully, we can get some honey mushrooms and hanaiguchi mushrooms! And, sanma (saury), as Kristin mentioned somewhere else.

I found this site, which shows all the packages of Meiji's milk chocolate since its release in 1926. I think I like this one (1955-1971) the best. I recently bought three milk chocolates from three different manufacturers, Meiji, Morinaga, and Lotte, in an attempt to determine which one was the best, as I mentioned here.

I browsed through the whole thread, and I don't think chestnuts have been mentioned. No chestnut lovers here?

Young akamutsu, commonly known as nodoguro (lit. black throat) in my area of Japan, among others.

Thanks for your replies, Helen and Blether. I know I can't do anything about the logo, but that guy's explanation sounded so stupid to me, and I wanted to know what other people would think about it. Helen, are you talking about MEGMILK?

Meiji Seika has recently changed their logo.Click here to watch a video of the Sep. 13th eidition of the TV show, Gacchiri Monday. A guy from Meiji explains the concept of the new logo (starting at around 16:45). He says the m looks like fresh cream, the e looks like someone smiling, and the j looks like a mother, with the two i's cuddling up to their mother. I find the explaination not convincing, and I think the new logo looks rather stupid. All my family are of the same opinion: The previous logo was much, much better. What do you think?