Yuki

Beer (the only one that tasted okay is the one I got fresh from a micro brewery) Most cakes, cookies, muffins, and any pastries in North American supermarket and shop (usually too sweet for me) Chicken Breast (why would anyone eat it if they can get chicken legs, also leave the bones in please)

Ahhh... my whole post just got erased. I have something similar at home Spicy Scallop Chutney - cheap imitation of XO sauce - tasted like MSG (although it was not listed in the ingredients list) XO sauce - I got a huge jar in my freezer and a smaller one in the fridge. They are usually used for stir fried dishes, fried rice/rice noodles, mix in with noodles(without stock), or a dipping sauce. My sister likes to use XO sauce on Chinese turnip cakes and dumplings. I would not buy the scallop chutney again because it tastes like MSG and not as good as XO sauce.

Is it like a blended sauce or one where you can see scallop pieces? I think it is probably made with dried scallop.

Really? We always share our okonomiyaki, I thought that was the norm. So do you cook yours at the same time, or does one person go first while the other person waits? Seems strange to me... When we go to a restaurant then we cook both of them at the same time on the table in front of us. Of course when we get two okonomiyaki between two people, we always share. It is always too much food..... I never tried cooking okonomiyaki at home before.

I am relieve now............. I could use all the mayo I want on the Hiroshima Okonomiyaki when I get to try it. Nothing beats mayo on okonomiyaki and takoyaki.

Stewed Lamb Chunks with bean curd, white turnip, and water chestnut Stir fried sugar snapped beans with garlic Stir fried spinach with garlic Rice Soup - pork bones, black eye beans, dried cuttlefish, and mystery ingredients added by grandma

Is their any mayo on the Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki? All of the okonomiyaki seems rather large to be eaten by one person..... but we always order one for each person since it looks bad if two people share a normal serving of food.

We are going to rent a car and a small lodge house(with kitchen) in Furano, Hokkaido. Looking forward to shop in the market and cook. I think it would be wise to bring a kitchen knife and some basic seasonings.

In Kobe I would also eat Akashiyaki. It's different from Takoyaki in that the batter part is lighter and seems more eggy to me. You put sauce on yourself, and you dip it in dashi. For some reason, I prefer Akashiyaki to Takoyaki, though I have no particular reason why. Also, there is a great cake shop called Heidi. The main shop is in Oji, but they have branches around Kobe. I know in Sannomiya they have an outlet at Sogo Department store, but I think you can only buy the cakes there, not eat in. In Sannomiya, my favourite tea shop is Mariage Freres. Sure it's a French tea shop (the oldest in France, if I remember correctly) but I just love going there. Their tarts are OK (beautiful, but I don't think the flavour is as good as some other places) but the tea is out of this world. I love Bolero--it's my favourite iced. If you're in the Sannomiya/Motomachi area, head for the BAL building (where Virgin Records Megastore is). Mariage Freres is on the 2nd floor of that building, and my favourite akashiyaki place is just across the covered street (and a little further down, I think). I can't remember its name, but it has blue noren (those cloth hanging things--what are they called?). If you're up to the company of strangers, you can always PM me and I'd be happy to take you around! I'm not as familiar with Sannomiya as I used to be, but I can usually find a few things. Thanks for the suggestion and offer!! I will be going with my sister and she is planing most of the trip, the only input I get is where to go eat. Even if it is just take out cake, I could always use some fat in my midnight snack. Going to gain so much weight this summer. I love going to Japan department store at night to look for midnight snack.......

It seems like many of the restaurants mentioned in this thread are close on Monday...... better plan my schedule according to that. Is the legal drinking age in Japan 18? What should I eat in Kobe other than the beef? What restaurant or cafe(I love pastry) would you recommend in Kobe or Osaka.

I like juicy pear, peach, watermelon, and Top Banana. Do not eat the Sardine Jelly Beans.... they are so gross, tasted like rotten fish. All of the Harry Potter Jelly Beans are disgusting, although they are good for tricking innocent friends and families. Would like to try cantalope, mango, and Island Punch.

It turned out that we are going to both places now...... July 9 - 17 - Hokkaido Area (with parents) July 17 - 23/24 - Osaka and its surrounding (not bringing our parents, they need to work and fill up the bank account ) Thanks for all your advice!

What exactly is egg roll? Is it something like a spring roll but wrapped with thin egg crepe? Which region of China is egg roll from?

My grandma only makes around 60 each time. You can tell which joong is wrapped by me because they all ended up failing apart or have two salty egg yolks.

Yeah, we probably need to get a one week Jr Pass to travel around Hokkaido. Hokkaido seems totally different from the big city Tokyo, so it would be a good place to get a different view of Japan. I heard the seafood there is really good too. If I don't get to Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka this year, I could always go next year.

Planning a one week trip to Japan in July with my family. I've been to Tokyo twice so probably won't go there again. Our choices are Hokkaido or Osaka and its surrounding.My parents and sister like Hokkaido better because they know there will be lots of beautiful scenery and lavender fields.....I care about the food more......... Where would you pick? Would like to stay in family "hotel" or ryokan, would it be hard for us to book a room without knowing Japanese and an agent?

The one my grandmother makes is with rice, fatty pork, green bean paste, and salty egg yolk. I could only eat half of it each time before getting sick. Usually eat it plain or with a bit of soya sauce, but I used to eat it with white sugar. Also I like the little one with red bean paste fillings, they are so good with syrup. I think Joong should be simple, and fatty. Nothing is more gross than a joong made with no fat. Also no abalone, shark fin, mushroom, dry scallop, chinese sausage, chicken or whatever people find in their kitchen sink.

http://www.asiafood.org/glossary_1.cfm?alp...rtno=1&endno=25 Yuba and bean curd skins are the same thing, except that yuba is fresh and soft. Bean curd skins are dried so they need to be soaked into water before cooking, or deep fried then cooked in some kind of liquid, it depends on your recipe. They make bean curd skins by drying fresh yuba........ so if you are trying to find bean curd skins, might be worth the effort to dry them. I really need an hour of spare time and some soya milk to try fresh yuba.

Favourite Onigiri Tuna with mayo Eggplant with miso Fried Chicken with Kimchi Or just mix in some furikake with the rice and shape into onigiri.... is it still called onigiri even though it doesn't have any filling?

Yakitori is great..... you can put anything on the skewer and just sprinkle a bit of sea salt as seasoning. Favourite type Green Pepper (Not the huge kind, they are shapped like jalepino pepper.) Japanese Pumpkin (sliced thin) Lamb with Negi Chicken with soft bones Organs (probably should not serve this to your guest) If you want to do Chinese(hong kong) style bbq... there is a couple way to season the food 1.) Marinate with Soya sauce, salt, sugar, lots of minced garlic, some green onion, maybe a bit of corn starch, 2.) Get a jar of Lee Kum Kee BBQ pork sauce to marinate little cubes of pork butt and skewer them (you can find the sauce in any Chinese grocery store) 3.) Get any kind of bottled sauce and marinate (satay is always good) Any kind of meat ball (beef, chicken, lobster, pork.... you name it and they probably make it) is also popular with chinese bbq (not the kind of bbq you find in restaurant, but the kind where people go out with a huge metal fork and a camp fire)

I think in some store, they still use stone to grind up the beans. Some tofu store claims to make tofu with mountain stream water.... Also, plain soya milk taste really bad on the first try because it is totally different from the supermarket brought sweetened soya milk. I had to add one heaping teaspoon of sugar to a big bowl of soya milk to make it drinkable. Now, it is just plain soya milk. The yuba recipe seems really interesting, the only yuba that I tried was the dried kind. Is there any other recipe that use fresh yuba? It is almost summer, time to go back to Asia to eat all the soy products I want.

When I make soya milk at home, it does not taste as good as the one I find in traditional tofu store. Is it because of the beans or just the method is different? I would like to get some higher qualities soya beans here but there is only different brand of soya beans that all look the same.

Thanks for your lesson. I better dig out the soya milk machine from the garage to make some dofufa(chinese tofu dessert). Tonight dinner will be steamed tofu with salty fish and pork.

I think the color is shrek green, light brown, dark brown, white, and light skin color. http://us.mms.com/us/news/promotions/shrek/

My family makes a version with ground pork or chicken thigh, dried mushroom, bamboo shoot, green pepper, and salty fish. Everything is cut into little cube and stir fried with a splash of soya sauce, rice wine, salt, and sugar. It is good on rice or wrapped with lettuce. There is no dipping sauce for it since it is already such strong flavoured. You could also use the meat of the peking duck to make this dish too. It is similar to the one made with pigeon. Peking duck sometimes come in 3 courses 1.) the skin with some meat wrapped in pancakes with cucumber, hoisin sauce, and scallions(I am not what it is called) 2.) A dish made with the meat of the duck, duck meat stir fried with other ingredients then wrapped in lettuce, stir fried duck meat with some kind of vegetables, fried noodles with duck, or whatever they could come up with. 3.) Soup made with the carcass of the duck It could probably be made with anything you have in the fridge.