Hiroyuki

People overseas may not be familiar with this, but rice is classified as below according to how it is milled. Genmai 玄米, unmilled, brown rice san-bu zuki 三分づき, milled until 30% of the bran is removed go-bu zuki 五分づき, milled until 50% of the bran is removed shichi-bu zuki 七分づき, milled until 70% of the bran is removed haku mai 白米, white rice haiga mai 胚芽米, milled, but germ intact I have had all of them before, except san-bu zuki, and I think haku mai is the best. Have any of you had any of these??

I'm curious, I'm not familiar with green tobiko. Do you have orange tobiko in the United States, as we do in Japan? Is green tobiko wasabi-flavored?

Seishu (清酒) is synonymous with nihon shu (日本酒) and sake (酒), but sake can mean any alcoholic drink besides seishu. Cooking sake is ryouri shu (料理酒) or chouri shu (調理酒). The greatest difference between seishu and cooking sake is that the latter usually contains salt so it doesn't fall under the sake category under Japan's Liqour Tax Law. I checked the cooking sake in the kitchen and found it contains 2.3% salt.

Yoshinoya has decided to do the same thing on September 18, but this time, one million bowls at 1,000 shops, and the price is slightly higher, around 300 yen kouhan, which means 350-400 yen? ← Yoshinoya will do this again, from Nov. 1 through 5, this time. For more, visit their webpage (Japanese only).

For 2006, October 6th? Is that right? ← That's right. Thank you for reminding me.

Cultivated maitake mushrooms in my yard! I'll make takikomi gohan and other dishes for supper and post pictures in the Takikomi gohan thread!

Helen's post reminded me of how my mother used to cook rice before the advent of electric rice cookers. She used to use an aluminum "bunka nabe" (lit. culture pot). If I remember correctly, she once used a gas rice cooker, but returned to her bunka nabe, and continued to use it until the late 1970, when I finally bought her an electric cooker. I remember we were surprised at how the flavor of rice enhanced when it was cooked in the electric cooker. For those who don't know what a bunka nabe looks like, here is a link: http://www.furaipan.com/shouhin/13arumi/bu...uraipan228.html Because of the special shape of the rim of the pot, water won't boil over.

I'm surprised to hear that -- I just thought it was something that a lot of restaurants did here to "suit the American palate." I sent some of this morning's onigiri (via my husband) to a coworker who was appreciative, but unwittingly placed them in the refridgerator. When he told me about this, I groaned. Hubby didn't know that that was a bad thing to do with such well-bred onigiris. I hope they survived the few hours and I hope she didn't put them in the microwave... ← Don't worry, Cheeko. Hot or cool, good rice will be always good, but it won't be good when chilled. If the onigiri were put in the fridge, they should be reheated in a microwave before eaten. I can't confirm Helen's comments about mushy rice. Does Helen think so because electric rice cookers have become more sophisticated?

Cheeko: I'm glad that you seemed to like it despite its exorbitant price. As local people here often say, you can tell good rice when it cools. But "al dente"? It may have been due to less water than necessary. You are such a great onigiri maker! I can't make such beautifully shaped, triangular onigiri. My wife is as good as you are, though. Now I'm interested to hear what your husband has to say about the onigiri, expecially its price.

Here is a photo gallery in the Snow Japan website. You can see some photos showing tenkuu mai, which I described upthread. You can also see dozens of photos showing how snowy Snow Country is.

This is the kome bitsu (rice stocker) to store rice in my house. I must admit it's one of the cheapest plastic rice stocker. There are fancy, more expensive rice stockers made of paulownia these days, and my mother used a tin stocker when I was little. This is a bag of Koshiibuki rice. You can see the word 新米 (new rice or new crop) printed at the upper left corner and another on the sticker in the middle. I highly recommend Koshiibuki because it's as good as Koshihikari and is cheaper. But as Helen once pointed out, it may be hard to come by outside of Niigata.

Strictly speaking, in 2005 and after, almost all rice cultivated in Niigata prefecture is Koshihikari BL (Blast resistance Lines), not Koshihikari. Koshihikari BL derives from Koshihikari and has almost the same quality as Koshihikari. Niigata prefecture and JA decided to switch the Koshihikari rice to be cultivated throughout the prefecture to Koshihikari BL, partly because the latter is more resistant to blast and thus requires less pesticides and mainly because they thought the change would eliminate mislabeling scandals altogether. Any mislabeled rice can now easily be identified as such through DNA testing. There are some farmers who are resistant to such a sweeping change, claming that Koshihikari BL is not Koshihikari, but most farmers have followed the decision of Niigata prefecture and JA.

Hm.... I really have to talk to some knowledgeable local people...

Shishito probably.

Helen, I did it. I found it! This is where I picked some mint plants. I thought that all of them were destroyed for construction. But today, I found one plant flowering! Could you identify this plant? The leaves have a distinctive, strong menthol smell.

← Check out the thread on Types of Japanese Rice - I didn't find it until yesterday, but it has a lot of great information on rice in general as well as Koshi-Hikari rice. Hiroyuki-thanks for posting those pictures of the monument and especially of the rice crop that looks like its almost ready... ← As I stated elsewhere, Koshihikari rice produced in former Shiozawa town (now a part of Minami Uonuma city) and some neighboring areas is the very best. Google 塩沢産コシヒカリ (Shiozawa-produced Koshihikari), and you will get sites selling Shiozawa Koshihikari rice. I provide only one link below: JA Shiozawa Komegura Minami Uonuma 南魚沼 Koshihikari is the second best, followed by Uonuma 魚沼, and Niigata 新潟 Koshihikari. Again, as I stated elsewhere, Koshihikari is a rice variety, and its quality varies depending on where it is grown. That being said, the difference between these brands are so subtle you could hardly tell the difference. I used to eat Koshihikari rice produced by my father in Chiba prefecture until about a decade ago, and now I usually eat Koshiibuki rice produced in Niigata prefecture. From my experience, I can say that I can hardly tell the difference between Chiba Koshihikari, Niigata Koshihikari, Shiozawa Koshihikari, and Niigata Koshiibuki. You must pay attention to the milling date. Once milled, rice will deteriorate quickly, and should be consumed within two weeks or so. Unless you are a regular consumer of rice, I would recommend buying smaller bags, say, five 2-kilogram bags rather than one 10-kilogram bag. I would also recommend buying rice in nitrogen-filled bags so it keeps fresh for long, but unfortunately, I can't find any rice shops selling rice that way. Those of you who live in and around Tokyo, do you know of such rice shop? Finally, you don't necessarily have to buy Koshihikari rice in Niigata. You can get decent Koshihikari rice in Tokyo although it may be slightly more expensive. Because the milling date is of great concern, you may want to buy it in Tokyo if the time from your trip to Niigata to your departure to the United States is considerably long.

And, what are you going to do with it?? I would eat it with some pickle or something and then make onigiri with salt only. I think that's the best way to appreciate the flavor of Koshihikari. In Japan, a shinmai (新米 in Kanji) label is affixed to a bag only around this time of year to clearly differentiate it from komai. Afterwards, all rice sold is shinmai unless specified as komai, until the next havest season.

This is the flyer received from my children's nursery school years ago that we use to teach them how to eat a well-balanced meal. You can see Red Man, Yellow Man, and Green Man, which represent sources of protein, carbohydrate, and vitamins, respectively. We make sure that our everyday meals contain all of these Man and ask my children, "Have you had all of the three Man?"

For my family, miso soup (sometimes clear soup) is required, not optional, for breakfast and supper. It's only optional for lunch. We make it a point to make substantial miso soup, full of vegetables. My children, especially my son, tend to have whatever in miso soup. For example, he doesn't like onions in stir-fried vegetables, but he can happily eat onions in miso soup. For my family, planning an everday supper meal starts with which to have for a staple, rice or noodles (soba, udon, somen, hiyamugi, ramen, spaghetti, etc.). If it's rice, then which to have for a shusai, fish, pork, minced meat, beef, etc. Then, we decide which fukusai to make (salad, simmered kabocha, simmered hijiki, etc.). All this procedure is kind of automatic...

Thanks for the link, Helen, but I belive that the beauty of ichijuu sansai is that it can provide variations, and I think that an ichijuu sansai meal looks rather bare. I usually associate ichijuu sansai with the elderly, who can't have as many dishes as younger people.

Looks good! I must say, however, that I prefer bigger onigiri with lots of nori. Just curious, do you use Japanese short-grain rice to make onigiri??

Rice harvesting continues this week and it will probably end next week. Yesterday, my family went to city Imaizumi Museum to see my daugher's picture of my wife, displayed along with those of all other first graders in the Shiozawa area. On the premises of the museum stands this big momument: It says You are in Uonuma. Shiozawa Koshihikari Minami Uonuma city Soon-to-be-harvested rice paddies near the meseum: Momument against Ishiuchi Maruyama Ski Resort:

It was from a sayori and it must be a sayori yadorimushi (irona melanosticta). http://www.cty-net.ne.jp/~noro-m/page053.html 6th photo from the top. It's harmless to humans, like most other parasites.

Rice harvesting continues this week here in my rice-producing district in Niigata, but the rice plants in buckets that my son is growing are little late due to some difficulties that we have experienced (simply put, due to our lack of experience). Last night, my son asked me to put up a net to keep off birds. I thought about this and decided to use the gold-and-silver tape that I had bought previously to protect watermelons from birds instead of a net because I didn't want to spend money on a net. Here is the result: It's tough being the father of a boy who wants to do everything by himself (with a little help from his father).

We got a lot of halfbeaks (sayori in Japanese) and some small horse mackerel (aji in Japanses) from a brother-in-law. While degutting, I found one parasite (shown in the middle of the photo). I just dusted them with potato starch (no seasonings) and deep-fried them. Quite tasty. Went well with sake. My children (10 and 7) liked them too.