Hiroyuki

Of course, that should be described early in the book. Staple (starch) Soup (usually miso soup) protein (shusai) and vitamins and others (fukusai) that is, ichiju sansai!

One of the memorable trips to Japan was by sizzleteeth, starting here. I thought he posted a link to the travel agency he used, but I can't find it! Maybe you should PM him to get the URL of its website.

Go ahead with your plan! Put some ideas for seasonality if you can, like "It's getting colder, so let's nabe or oden!!".

This is Uono River, which runs through the city, as seen from Maejima Bridge, just a one-minute walk from my house, against Mt. Hakkai: Opposite side, toward Yuzawa town: You can also see Mt. Kinjo (left) and Mt. Makihata (one of the 100 notable mountains in Japan, or 百名山 hyaku mei zan) Uono River is famous for sweetfish (ayu) angling. You can also fish iwana, yamame, nijimasu, and other freshwater fish.

SFG update Oct. 22 We are still getting cheery tomatoes. They are not as tasty as they were in summer, but are good enough to eat. We haven't bought tomatoes or cherry tomatoes since last summer.

We successfully cultivated oyster mushrooms! With Mori Sangyo's fully matured logs, you can never go wrong (if you just follow the instructions, of course).

I know. My sister's husband is an Osaka man. He eats tempura with "sauce". kinkistyle, you must have so much to contribute to the Kanto vs. Kansai thread.

That's the right answer. My mother has been diabetic for decades, and has eaten rice (white rice).

Which color of konnyaku do you prefer, black or white? I had assumed that was just personal preferences, but I learned today from the TV show, Me ga Ten, that there are prefectural preferences. People in Yamagata, Fukushima, and Miyagi and other northern prefectures use white konnyaku, while those in southern preferectures use black, and these preferences closely correspond to whether konnyaku potatoes can be cultivated in the prefectures. In the past, konnyaku potatoes were grated skins and all, so that the resultant konnyaku was black. Thus, people in those prefectures where konnyaku potatoes can be cultivated take it for granted that konnyaku is black. People in those prefectures where they cannot be cultivated don't know what color konnyaku should be, thus they prefer white konnyaku. As for me, I like both. Today, black konnyaku is made by adding hijiki and other seaweeds to konnyaku powder.

Sugar There is a thread on Japanese sugars in the Japan Forum. One drawback of shirozatou (白砂糖), white sugar, is that it is hard to make caramel with it because it contains invert sugar. Shirozatou is also called jouhakutou (上白糖). I also have san'ontou (三温糖) in my kitchen, which is yellowish because it contains mollasses. It's often used to make simmered dishes (nimono 煮物). Edited to add this photo:

I gave up waiting for them to show up in the store -- again, I found these online and am thinking about ordering more. They were quite good. Williams-Sonoma is also selling fresh chestnuts from their catalogue and internet if all else fails. They also have a scoring tool that I should probably invest in if I plan to keep making kuri gohan ← You mean that yours were waguri (Japanese chestnuts) not youguri (Western chestnuts)??

This is the mother water of Aoki Shuzo's sake: The board says that the soft water is ideal for tanrei umakuchi (light and tasty) that the brewery aims at. If you have any questions for the brewery, feel free to post. I will convey them to the brewery. I'm planning to visit it next week.

First the basics: Do you know what sashisuseso means in Japanese cuisine? It means the proper order of putting the five basic Japanese seasonings when making a dish: sa: sugar (sato) shi: salt (shio) su: vinegar (su) se: soy sauce (shoyu, formerly written as seiyu) so: miso Salt: I use two types of salt, refined salt (left) and more expensive nigari shio (or jio or en) (right): This 1-kg nigari shio bag was 207 yen. I use the latter whenever I feel it is called for, for example, when making shio nigiri (onigiri with salt on their surface). My seasoning containers (bought at the 100-yen shops ): Top left: Nigari shio Top right: Instant dashi powder Bottom left: Sugar (shiro zato) Bottom right: Refined salt Do you have anything to add about Japanese seasonings?

Good for you! I know how dangerous it is to peel chestnuts with a knife. I'm really glad that I now have a kurikuri bozu. YOUR NEXT MISSION: KURI OKOWA!! I think you now miss plain cooked rice, though.

Thanks everyone for their replies. Peter Green: OK, I'll ask them. AzianBrewer: You're right. No sugar added (mu tou ka in Japanse) in the brewing process. The resulting sake is refreshing, aromatic, and crispy. It's good whether chilled, at room temperature, or hot. It's relatively cheap (1.8-liter bottle: 1,694 yen including 5% consumption tax). It's a great "table sake" here in the snowy region and loved by the locals. When I give a bottle of sake to someone as a gift, however, I usually select Kakurei Honjozo. The brewery does make other types of sake, including daiginjo and junmai daiginjo: http://www.kakurei.co.jp/syohin.htm Daniel Rogov: Thanks for your comments. I browsed through the Beverages and Libations section and came to a conclusion that this forum would be the most appropriate. (I thought about posting it in the Adventures in Eating Forum too. )

I live in a snowy region in Niigata prefecture, Japan. There are two sake breweries in the former Shiozawa town (now part of a city). One is Aoki Shuzo. A famous brand of the brewery is Kakurei: Most sake produced in Niigata prefecture are described as tanrei karakuchi (light and dry), but this particular brewery aims at making sake that keep umami inherent to sake intact. Head office: Factory: An employee of the brewery is an acquaintance of mine. The other day, I asked him if I could visit the brewery, take photos, and post them to eGullet, and he replied yes. So, I think I'll visit the brewery soon. By the way, the sake of the brewery are available at Sushi Samba and Megu in New York, according to the brewery.

Now that Dotch no Ryori Show has discontinued, have you found any other TV cooking show worth watching? Here is one: Bishoku Kessha WONDER KITCHEN This show is unique in that it is broadcast first on B.S. Nippon Corporation on Sundays from 8:00 p.m. and then a Web digest version is distributed on the Web. It's worth watching if you have a command of Japanese.

Better to conserve now than to lose all bluefin forever, no? ← What I fear is that this can turn into a highly political matter rather than being discussed based on scientific evidence, as in the case of whales.

Raji, for some reason I have this image of you literally under the tap, drinking Homer Simpson-style. ← Is it the raw harami being fed to me in my avatar? I plead the 5th on that one. Shochu makes me black out, I'll be honest... nihonshu is a different high... I'm sorry I just can't get it out of me to say sake because in japan, sake is all booze, so for those of you who know me on here nihonshu = sake! ← Isn't the shochu the trend for the past few years in Japan? Yes, sake is all booze perhaps with the exception of biiru (beer). In Kagoshima the land of shochu, the waitstaffs will automatically bring you shochu if you asked for sake. The same in Okinawa; awamori will be brought to when asked for sake. ← The current shochu boom, which started around 2003, is slowly dying down. In this boom, what has become popular is not kou-rui shochu but more expensive otsu-rui shochu such as imo-jochu and mugi-jochu. In the previous shochu boom in the 1980s, kou-rui shochu became popular for use in making chu-hai. I don't go to izakaya these days, but I think beer is still the drink of choice for most Japanese when they go to izakaya and other restaurants serving alchool beverages. Have you ever heard Japanese say "Toriaezu beeru!" (hard to translate, "Beer first anyway" or something like that) when asked what to drink?. After they drink one or two glasses of beer, some will stick to beer, while others will switch to their favoriates.

The ancient cheese-like product, so (蘇 in Kanji), in the Asuka Period was made by simmering milk. This webpage says that 38 kg of milk is simmered for seven to eight hours to make about 4 kg of so.

Pretty fresh. The portions are small, like single onions, knobs of ginger or two heads of garlic, or 200g of steamed rice, etc... Just enough for people like me who live alone and don't really need to buy lots of groceries. The tofu is the cheap kind, but you get a nice heavy chunk. The frozen stuff is well... frozen. The standards for quality are much much higher here in Japan, and the stores are very busy with good chains of distribution so stock is consistently being replenished. ← I agree with kinkistyle, but I can't speak for vegetables sold at 100-yen shops because those shops here in my rural area don't sell any vegetables.

I don't think so. Such a high percentage of defective rice grains would be intolerable in present Japan, where high-performance sorters are used at rice mills. The chalky parts of grains seem due to high temperature during grain filling (kouon toujuku in Japanese), but I don't know much about it. Did you know that Hitomebore is a cross between Koshihikari and Hatsuboshi (First Star)? This information may make your mother want to buy it.

By "the former Yukijirushi's Nature", I meant MEGMILK's Megumi. Was it that good? I thought it was the same as Nature... ← No it is different tasting than nature (I also found nature bland) and it is quite pricey usually more than Bulgaria. I usually eat it for breakfast with some homemade granola so the creaminess and touch of sweetness is nice. I don't think I would care for it with savory dishes as much. ← I bought four packs of Megumi today for 138 yen per pack (it was on sale). I compared it with Bulgaria at lunchtime. You could say the Megumi is creamier and less sour, but I really don't care about which brand to buy. I'll stick to the policy: Buy the cheapest on the day. ← I later told my wife that they (Megumi and Bulgaria) were not so different, and she replied, "They're totally different!" She must be a good judge of yorgurt, and I am not.

Here is some interesting information about Shiozawa Koshihikari rice. http://www.shiozawa-green.jp/koshihikari.htm The title is: Why is Shiozawa Koshihikari rice tasty? The subtitle is: Is Shiozawa Koshihikari rice marbled? Rough translation: The rice grain is largely divided into the endosperm at the core and the outer bran layers. These bran layers contain large amounts of amino acids and are therefore sources of umami! The Prefectural Centeral Laboratory(?) found that in high quality rice, these bran layers deeply enter the endosperm just like fat marbled in beef. They also found that in such rice, the starch granules in starch cells are small and are less likely to break cell membranes when the rice is cooked. These factors cannot be expressed as numeric values with a palatability measuring instrument, and are the secrets of esoteric tastiness of Shiozawa Koshihikari. Impressed?

← As I mentioned here rice is evaluated according these factors. It should be noted that depending on what you look for in rice, you may be disappointed by what is generally considered good rice by the Japanese. It should also be noted that rice is not sweet by itself. It will become slightly sweet when you chew it in your mouth due to the reaction between starch and saliva. What I mean is that good rice is not sweet rice.