Hiroyuki

By general request, I submit a photo of some surimi products: Top: Gyoniku sausage. Favoriate of almost all Japanese (but not of torakris or Helenjp ) Left: Fake crab meat. Good in salad. Right: Chikuwa. Used instead of meat in stir-fried vegetables, put in salad, etc. One of my favorite preparations is to to put a stick of cheese or cucumber in the hole of a chikuwa and cut into four. Makes a good sake no sakana (dish to eat with sake). Anyone interested to post a photo of their surimi products?

Question: Where do sake and mirin fit in the sashisuseso order? Answer: Sake usually comes first, before sa (= sugar). There are two possible answers for mirin. 1. Used together with sugar (for sweetening purposes). 2. Comes last, after miso (for glazing purposes). The sashisuseso order is merely a rough guide, but it's good to know the general order, right?

Looks delicious, ChryZ! As someone in a rice-producing district, I'm interested to hear the rice variety you used. I'd also like to know what kind of teriyaki sauce it was. Store-bought or home-made? If home-made, what are the ingredients?

I have another surprise for you, Helen. I found hakka (It's hakka, isn't it?) on Herb Doori (Street) here in Shiozawa I had learned from a website that hakka plants were planted on this street, and I found them today. Now I have to talk to some city official to get some.

Today, we harvested the oyster mushrooms: This is all we got: When I checked the three shiitake logs, I found this : Jumbo shiitake!! It was 27 x 21 cm in size! I put half of it in a pan to make clear soup. Look at the color!

I didn't know that (I don't watch much TV these days), but "banana su diet" seems to be quite popular now. You can make banana su simply by mixing vinegar, banana, and kuro zato (brown sugar).

Here is an interesing post about hangover. It's really strange: I have had few problems with pure ko-rui shochu; I haven't had a hangover after drinking it, but when I drink too much sake, I may have a hangover the next morning. But someone says that she never has a hangover from sake...

When I learned from Mr. Abe that their sake is available at Sushi Samba and Megu in the United States, this question occurred to me immediately: Is their sake used as a cocktail base by any chance?? I asked him the question, and he replied that they have two knowledgeable people in the United States, one Japanese and one American, so that won't happen. I felt relieved. You can use cheaper sake as a cocktail base, but not Kakurei and other elaborate brands.

Drink water, lie down, and hope that alcohol goes away soon. (Take a bath if you feel up to.) I googled and found miso soup with wakame (a type of seeweed) or shijimi (very small clams), umeboshi, sports drink, and even curry were suggested, but all in all, I think the suggestion above works the best.

Good for you! But don't forget about all the different levels of Japanese cuisine: kaiseki, top-class sushi, "class A" gourmet restaurants down to "class C". And the Cuisine of Subtraction thread here in the Japan Forum.

I know, I know. Kansai dishes are more subtle. Even though I prefer Kanto flavors in general (because I'm a Kanto man), I have developed quite a liking for flavorful sanuki udon. I don't think I can ever go back to Kanto-style, dark and salty soba (and udon) broth. *** Here's a statement that almost all Japanese will agree: The essence of Japanese cuisine is to use seasonal foods and bring out the flavors of the individual foods themselves. Are you satisfied, nuppe? I'm bored.

I have a fryer and I put oil so it's about 6 cm (2 inches) deep. I still need to flip, not once but several times. Recommendations? Why not make some menchi too? And some cream korokke if you have the skills. Coerced? Really??

Some info about some of my wife's and my favoriates: Sasa kama (short for sasa kamaboko): Sasa means bamboo leaf. It's a bamboo leaf-shaped kamaboko, and it's a specialty of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. It was also called "tenohira (palm) kamaboko", "bero (tongue) kamaboko", and "kinoha (tree leaf) kamaboko" but now it's usually called sasa kamaboko. According to one site, it got its name because the family emblem of the Date family was "take ni suzume" (sparrows on bamboos). Saiku ("worked") kamaboko (not our favoriate) In Toyama prefecture, kamaboko are often given as "hikidemono" (gifts given at wedding ceremonies). These lucky items are shaped like sea bream, cranes, tortoises, and so on. http://www2.hokurikutei.or.jp/backnum/05ma...kaku/index.html Satsuma age: Satsuma age is so called because it originated in Satsuma, the western part of Kagoshima prefecture. But the people in Kagoshima more often call it tsuke age, just like they call satsuma imo kara imo (kara = China). One of my favoriate types of satsuma age is yasai (vegetable) age. As its name suggests, it contains cut or sliced vegetables. I especially like small ones with edamame in them; they go very well with beer! I also like naruto. http://www.tokai.or.jp/yaizu-city/suisan/p06-2.htm (First photo) When I was small, a thin slice of naruto was almost a required ingredient of a ramen, along with some nori, menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), and boiled spinatch. The surimi product that my wife and I buy the most often is gyoniku (fishmeat) sausage.

I don't think there are any particular "kotteri regions", but the youth tend to prefer kotteri dishes like tonkotsu ramen, as well as gekikara (super hot) dishes. But most of them will eventually return to "normal" as they get older. Soy sauce is pervasive. It can be used for almost everything ranging from fish, meat, vegetables, soy products, and seeweeds. It's more than ketchup in the United States and olive oil in Italy. And it's often combined with mirin and/or sugar (and sake) to create an amakara (lit. sweet and salty) flavor. The Japanese can never get tired of amakara. Just think of gyudon, sukiyaki, teriyaki, oyakodon, and what have you.

Let me show you October's lunch menu of my children's elementary school: Today (25th) was a special day for the pupils, especially the fifth graders, because it was the day when they had the Koshihikari rice that the fifth graders had planted and harvested. The menu for the day was made by the fifth graders. Reverse side of the paper: Close-up of the illustration of how to combine dishes:

Actually, this festival is part of the campaign that is running in the Shiozawa area (from October 1 to November 3). The name of the campaign: Shiozawa Shinmai Campaign. Here is the cover of the guide to the campaign: Map inside the guide: I'm planning to go to one of the twenty restaurants in the Shiozawa area that participate in the campaign and report back. If you want to see the guide in more detail, here is the web version of it: http://shiozawa.interwindow.net/ Scroll down and click the photo of the cover of the guide. ← Of the twenty restaurants participating in the campaign, I selected Matsui Shokudo because they offer this special menu: From the menu, I selected the tempura and sashimi set meal. The waitress brought this special kama, called kaori gama (fragrance kama): and set the timer to 30 minutes. Later, she handed me this leaflet: Much later, after checking the timer, she brought the rest of the meal: The timer beeped and I opened the lid! Nothing like piping hot rice, especially when it comes straight from a kama! The twenty restaurants in the Shiozawa area that participate in this Shinmai Campaign have this flag at the front: Four of the twenty offer a menu featuring this special kama. REPEAT: IT'S 100% SHIOZAWA KOSHIHIKARI RICE, AND IT'S SHINMAI! (Sorry for shouting. ) Edited to add: The rice is 1 gou (= 180 ml = approx. 140 to 150 g).

A photo of another Niitaka nashi (Japanese pear). I personally like this variety very much because of its mild (not acute) sweetness. This particular one, produced in Shirone city in Niigata, has a sugar content of 12. I measured the diameter, it was 10.5 cm.

Warning: This is my personal opinion. There can be as many answers to your question as there are Japanese. Assari. There is no exact equivalent for this word in English. Light, savory, bland, plain, simple, non-fatty, etc., etc. Most Japanese prefer assari to kotteri (opposite of assari). Soy sauce. Soy sauce has delayed the development of Japanese cuisine. Stated in another way, since it encountered soy sauce, Japanese cuisine has refused to develop. Suppose we have a fresh fish. Why bother to cook it when we can just cut it and eat as sashimi with soy sauce? It's the best way to savor the taste of the fish. Edit: Corrected simply to simple.

I don't know if the Japanese eat tuna brains, but I'm quite sure that the flesh in the head is eaten. The flesh in the head, especially at the rear of the eyes, contains the most DHA. A link

You seem to have made a wonderful trip. I have just finished browsing through your blog although I don't understand your native language. It's full of wonderful pictures! You and your husband are great photographers. Thanks for sharing all of these photos here. By the way, I'm curious about the sembei you mentioned in another thread. Did you get them?

I was just making a similar reply. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moutai

If you wish to view the inside of Aoki Shuzo (Brewery), please go to this thread in the Wine Forum.

A better photo of the warehouse:

As I mentioned upthread, they use Yamada Nishiki and Miyama Nishiki for expensive sake and Gohyaku Man Goku for less expensive ones. As for koji, Mr. Abe said that they invest large amounts of money on koji as well as on machines and equipment, but since that's their trade secrets, he didn't give me a detailed explanation.

I went to the brewery today (Oct. 23). It's about a 5-minute bicycle ride from my house. On my way there, I took a photo of the brewery's warehouse, located on Route 17. It was cloudy, and the red board was hard to see. It says: Sake associated with Suzuki Bokushi. Founded in 1717. Kakurei Suzuki Bokushi was a writer who wrote "Hokuetsu Seppu" (Snow Country Tales: Life in the Other Japan Amazon webpage He was born in the former Shiozawa town in the Edo Period, and his second son took over the business as the eighth head of the brewery. Inside the Head Office, where my acquaintance, Mr. Abe, greeted me: Groundwater pumped from a 80-meter depth: It is medium soft water. Rice used to make sake: Variety of sake used: Yamada Nishiki (often called the king of sake rice), Miyama Nishiki, Gohyaku Man Goku (used to make less expensive sake) Goyaku Man Goku sake rice, produced locally in Urasa in Minami Uonuma city, milled to a milling rate of 60% (Sorry, blurry) This is a new, very expensive, custom-made rice washing machine! After washed, the rice is drained then transferred here and then to this large pot for steaming: Room for making koji: Needless to say, different koji are used to make different brands. I asked for details, but they are trade secrets! Containers in the shubo room: Shubo is literally the mother of sake, translated into yeast mash, yeast starter, fermentation starter, etc. Inside one container: It takes two weeks to make shubo. Moromi, day 1: With the cover removed: It is transferred to a tank. This photo shows moromi after the end of sandan jikomi (triple brewing) All other tanks were empty. The brewery is at the very first stage of its kan zukuri (brewing in a cold season). Kan zukuri is said to produce good sake, and this brewery sticks to it, which means they make sake in the winter only. In two months, the moromi is filtered and the sake is stored in these tanks. I asked my acquaintance about the selling points of the brewery. He replied that they invest large amounts of money on things for making good sake, not on things for mass-producing it. This machine is one example: It is used to control the water to the same temperature as rice. The rice washing machine, shown earlier, is another. Again, it was custom-made and was very expensive, as detailed in the brewery's blog blog entry on Oct. 19 (sorry, Japanese only).