Hiroyuki

I don't know why you think so in the first place. Some (Japanese) say they prefer Mercian, and Choya and Mercian are not the only companies that make umeshu. I found this blog, where the blogger says she likes to try other umeshu, not just Choya. Look at all the photos there, and you may feel a little relieved.

nuppe, I found this table. Get a good translator to translate it!

I think unused katsuobushi is used to make okaka, and I also think only soy sauce is added to katsuobushi to make okaka. You can make tsukudani and furikake with used katsuobushi, as described here (Japanese only). Edited to add: This person uses used katsuobushi to make okaka. She puts it in a small pot to dry it, adds soy souce, and then adds white sesame seeds. http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~k-bajil/A5_23.htm

You probably mean red peas, like these (first photo). I vaguely thought that the type of mitsumame you described was available from Eitaro (one of the biggest wagashi manufacturers in Japan), but it seems that I was wrong. So, I must ask you one again: Was it a Japanese product?

Are you sure that the other one was a red bean syrup, not red bean jam (an or anko in Japanese)?

Why don't you post your question here?

Thank you very much for putting some professionalism to my thread, gautam. I created this thread so that we could share our experiences in vegetable gardening, but unfortunately, it has been much of my monologue, except for avid replies from Helen. I am a novice, and I am open to opinions (and critisms). I think I'll try to follow your "rice straw" suggestions in the next season.

Hayashi on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayashi_rice There are two theories as to how hayashi got its name: 1. It derives from hashed rice. 2. A cook named Hayashi first made the dish.

You didn't know about Hayashi (not Hiyashi, right?) and you bought it?? It's basically demi-glass sauce with some tomato sauce added. It's quite tasty. You won't regret you bought it. The Japanese often have it with rice (thus, hayashi rice).

Wow, your 10,000th post!!!! Cool! I think that deserves a congratulations! ← After I read your post, I thought about conguratulating Kritin too, but I had to check first if that post of hers was really her 10,000th post (Detective Hiroyuki ), and I found that it was actually this post in the takikomi gohan thread. Congratulations, Kris, anyway! Why not celebrate this with Shiozawa Koshihikari rice?!

So, it seems that rice plantation is the job of the fifth graders throughout Japan. That makes sense, because the sixth graders are busy with other matters. I had the Koshihikarice rice this morning. I found it really tasty. I had two and a half bowls (o-chawan) of it with little okazu (side dish).

NO IDEA. I have never thought of making konnyaku jelly. Here is one recipe: Ingredients (for approx. 250 cc of finished product) 210 cc water 40 cc juice 5 to 10 g gelatin powder 4 gram konnyaku powder 60 g sugar Mix juice and water together. Moisten gelatin with the juice-water mixture at a ratio to 1:5. Put the remaining juice-water mixture and sugar in a pot and put it on the stove. When the sugar has melted, add gelatin and dissolve it well. When the liquid has cooled to about 70C, put konnyaku powder and mix well, let it sit for 5 minutes. Put it in a mold and cool it the fridge. * 5g gelatin results in soft jelly, while 10 g result in hard. from here: http://www.zeitaku.jp/htm/g_tanpin/moto.htm (Japanese only)

Honestly, I don't know. They didn't look like American chestnuts and since my memory fails me I can't really tell you about the flavors other than "they were tasty" They were also cheaper per pound than the Williams Sonoma offerings. Perhaps a domestic hybrid? ← Today's Me Ga Ten (TV show) featured waguri (Japanese chestnuts), which I found fairly interesting. One of the features of waguri is that they contain much more of two fragrance components than youguri (Western chestnuts). One of the greatest disadvantages of waguri is that their shibukawa 渋皮(astringent skins) are hard to peel. (The outer, hard shell is called onikawa 鬼皮, by the way.) But here is big news! According to the show, a new variety called porotan (ポロタン), whose astringent skins are easy to peel, has been developed, and it will be marketed in... five years . I found this webpage describing this new variety (Japanese only). Made some corrections and additions.

John, what do you mean by hanpen? Is it a white, rectangular one made of surimi and egg white? Or, is it what we Kanto people call satsuma age? Gyusuji is a Kansai thing. I don't think I have ever had it. Cooking daikon separately is kind of a norm. My wife does the mentori (chamfering), too. Me? No. I'm not a serious cook.

Have any of you had shika no fun (deer dung), a specialty of Nara? http://www.naraken.jp/eshop/kubota_syouten/index.html It's a chocolate snack.

Traditionally, it's the job of the fifth graders to take care of the school rice paddies at the seven elementary schools here in the Shiozawa area.

Slightly off-topic, but I have to post a picture of the Shiozawa Koshihikari rice made by the fifth graders: They had a cultural festival today at my children's elementary school, and the fifth graders sold one hundred 3-gou bags for 300 yen per bag. They literally sold like hot cakes. The leaflet says Made by the fifth graders!! World's best, Uonuma Koshihikari Edit: Corrected some silly errors.

I envy you. Here in Japan, the mushroom gathering season is usually from September through November. My son and I weren't very lucky with mushroom gathering this fall. One of the greatest advantages of cultivated mushrooms is that they are almost pest-free. When you find wild mushrooms, they usually have little worms in them. I put those mushrooms in very dense salt water to get rid of the worms. In that process, much of the flavor and texture is gone. With cultivated mushrooms, this problem rarely happens.

There are regional variations to oden. In Kansai, oden is called Kanto daki (not Kantou daki), 関東炊き or 関東煮 in Kanji. (煮 is usually pronounced ni, but in this case, pronounced daki ). Those of you living in Osaka, do you have anything to add to this thread??

If you simply say, "Yatsuhashi, please" (not nama yatsuhashi), you will get dried, hard ones.

Cost: When you consider the cost, you just don't want to start mushroom cultivation. Store-bought mushrooms are much cheaper. First, very roughtly, 100 yen = 1 dollar. The three maitake logs and three oyster logs cost me 4,725 yen in total. The three shiitake logs cost me 1,000 yen. I bought them at a local industrial fair. They usually cost more (about twice as much). The shading sheet needed to protect these logs from direct sunlight cost me about 2,300 yen. You have to make sure that the logs are moist, which means you have to water them occassionally. These logs are usually good for two or three years. Flavor: The maitake mushrooms were denser and more aromatic than store-bought. I liked them! Store-bought ones are usually more spongy. I was disappointed by the oyster mushrooms. They were quite like store-bought ones. The jumbo shiitake mushroom. It was great. The tastiest shiitake I've ever had!

This kind of snack is usually a "sake no sakana" (food to eat with sake) for men. But it's also good for children and pregnant women (so says the pack shown upthread).

Musubi konbu (結び昆布). My mother can make a similar nimono, too.

Let me update this old thread with these photos: Maitake: Oyster mushrooms: Shiitake mushrooms (jumbo!): My son and I successfully cultivated these mushrooms from premade logs this fall.

Thanks! Hm, the rice variety? I can't remember the brand. It's japanese short grain rice. I've bought it at a local japanese supermarket. It came in a white 10kg bag, I moved it to some other kind of container and discarded the bag. Here is a bigger pic, you might be able to spot more details. To be honest the teriyaki sauce was from kikkoman. I've used home-made (soy,sake,mirin,sugar) before, but gone back to store-bought for convenience. ← Thanks for a bigger photo, but even a rice sommelier couldn't tell the variety from that picture. But a 10-kg bag?? Do you eat rice regularly?? Just for your reference, my family of four uses up a 10-kg bag in about two weeks, and we are regular eaters of rice (except for lunch sometimes).