melonpan

theyre baked or deep fried bready things with meat and or fruit. for a reference think calzone. but theyre not.i have had sweet ones. theyre okay, but i like the savouries better. i like them baked and i like them with beef with eggs and raisins and spices... the one off of sawtelle is nice and clean and friendly.

*raises another hand*me too! made july 19, 2004 using <a href="http://www.shiokadelicious.com/shiokadelicious/2004/07/imbb_6_char_sie.html">renee's char siew recipe</a>. used boneless pork shoulder (not tenderloin), maltose (not honey) and did not use food coloring. (did not cook for charred bits.) very tasty! not obnoxiously sweet, nor too salty. <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/temp/charSiew.jpg"> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/temp/charSiew2.jpg"><p></center> i have made it twice more since then. i have not tried the ribs version, but that may be next up. yums! id like to add that im a huge fan of <a href="http://www.shiokadelicious.com/shiokadelicious/">renees blog</a>. great schtuff.

i dont what iwa nori is. i guess this is a type of seaweed?my statement was based on the fact that you used salt and sesame seed oil. as i understand it, japanese people dont usually season seaweed in this manner. (note: following is slightly off topic...) i am looking into a different kind of seaweed, called doljaban parae (돌자반파래), or parae for short, which is something similar to the everyday kim that you see, but it is a little thicker and when it is processed for selling, it is sold in very large packets consisting of a single large chunk of the parae. one single piece is typically 4 cm x 35 cm x 50 cm. i have not had the time to research what kind of seaweed this (anything interesting seems to be in difficult-for-me korean.) is but back in october i did take some photos of parae that i bought. i have not processed the raw photos and will not burden people with them but here are links: <a href="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/temp/p.jpg">photo 1</a>, an image of a typical package and <a href="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/temp/p2.jpg">photo 2</a>, a close up of a small chunk pulled off. you cannot see it in the photo, but that chunk was quite tall, maybe a couple centimeters. definitely not a flat. the reason i bring up parae is because it seems like it might be regular kim, but not pressed flat into sheets. but i dont know for sure. i selfishly wish there were more resources in english. in the meantime i am working on improving my korean.

i was still a little foggy on what takikomi gohan is... unlike the last time, i actually rememberd to run search! from the <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=19909&">Japanese foods--gohanmono, rice dishes</a> thread, the first post says:

i will certainly be joining again for this round. it will be exciting since ive never made this before. ive very occasionally added other grains, nuts or soybean sprouts but never chicken or mushrooms and never any seasonings like soy sauce and the like. so it will be fun.ive bought this before and wondered how it was made. i have seen sansai mix (in bags of water) and seen that used but didnt know how...

hi merrybaker... where is the restaurant(s) that you frequent and what are their names?

<center><b>hobak jeon (호박전) fried korean squash</b> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041108hobak6.jpg"></center> 2 korean hobak (squash) 2 eggs 2 tablespoons flour salt and pepper <ol><li>rinse, pat dry squash. slice into coins, about 1 cm thick. <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041108hobak4.jpg"></center> <li>prepare flour by adding salt and pepper and mixing well. crack eggs into a small bowl (large enough to lay the coins of squash flat) and whip them with chopsticks until just mixed. <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041108hobak2.jpg"> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041108hobak3.jpg"></center> <li>dip both sides of a slice of hobak in flour, making sure the entire surface is well dusted with flour. then dip the dusted squash in the egg. make sure that it is completely covered with beaten eggs, then pan fry in oil. <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041108hobak5.jpg"></center> <li>serve with chojang, a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar. you can add korean chile powder (gochugaru) to taste, or you can use some of the jangajji soy sauce you may have around.</ol> <hr width = "65%"> <i>notes:<blockquote>you can buy hobak at korean grocery markets. but if you want, you can substitute zucchini with very similar results.</blockquote></i> <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041108hobak.jpg"></center>

i took a look at that page and had some qs.could you taste the sake in the rice balls? (or perhaps the co-op mochi was not made with any?) also, it doesnt say anything specific, so you dont use mochigome, you use regular short grain. is that correct? and lastly, do you simply make the balls by hand, in a similar manner to when you make onigiri? maybe you are supposed to knead it to make it more mochi like and to stay together better in the soup? how were the damakko mochi that you bought from the co-op? were they very chewy like regular mochi? these damakko mochi sound so interesting and fun...

anyone care to describe the technical differences between chazuke, zosui and kayu?

but i do ook forward to finding that holiday pepsi near us...

we drink hot coke and lemon juice at our house...

the stuff is the best! id never tried fu until today.

saving up for your next trip to urasawa, i take it? in west la, theres that "little osaka" area in la (corner of olympic and sawtelle)... you can find quite a lot of meals for around $10. start with the two curry houses (i prefer hurry curry over curry house) or any of the ramen places (i prefer kinchans). and you wont do too badly eating chicken wings at furaibo. okay. you might go a bit over $10 but they are relatively inexpensive. theres also a creperie here. not authentic french but cheap and good enough. buy a savoury one and a sweet one and youll be stuffed. it might be a better bet to schlep on over to gardena or torrance for the same stuff rather than la... it would be cheaper gas too. i dont know how much mileage your car gets, but for our car, to go from our apt to gardena for eats, we would be spending a little more than $7.50 on gas, roundtrip. not that we are penny pinching to that extent... its just fun to calculate this. so if you REALLY want to keep prices down, find inexpensive well-made meals close to work or home. just a thought!

had this tonight instead of tomorrow night. <center>korean style army nabe (aka budae jjigae, 부대찌개) <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041106nabe2.jpg"></center> rough recipe for those who might be curious... (describing the photo below. starting from the top, then going clockwise...)<ul><li>1/2 a tin of spam, sliced. <li>a korean "put" chile, split. <li>1/2 of a daikon radish, sliced. <li>1 carrot, sliced. <li>2/3rds of a bunch of "sook" aka shungiku. <li>1/2 cake firm tofu, sliced. <li>1 bundle of mung bean noodles, soaked in hot water, 10 min. <li>another put gochu, split. <li>2 hot dogs, sliced. <li>2 wheels of kuruma fu, soaked in hot water, 5 min. <li>4 scallions, chopped into 3rds. <li>2 cakes of koya dofu, soaked in hot water, 10 min. <li>in the center, 1/3 of a head of cabbage's worth of kimchi, sliced. <li>under the kimchi, 3 heaping tablespoon of korean chile powder (gochugaru).</ul><center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041106nabe.jpg"></center> when we started the cooking we added a can of beef stock and about 1/2 a cup of water and let it simmer while. other typical additions include a brick of ramen (you can add the ramen packet if you like), american style sausages, ham and eggs. the most important is the spam. this is required for budae jjigae; everything else is frosting. i did not try any hanpen or sanuki udon...

hmmm. is citron the same thing as yuzu?i do not know if yuzu, yuja or citron are related in anyway or if they all mean the same thing. if i were forced to guess, i would guess that yuja and yuzu are the same fruit and citron is something different... but ive never seen yuja or citron. it has never occurred to me to place special orders with a grocer. a good idea... i was having a hell of a time finding candied citron and finally had to order it online. did you have to purchase a box in order for the order to be placed? ive always wanted to make my own yuja jam (partly for the jam and partly to make yujacha)...

i love puns like this!thank you for the links and photos...

so the main q i have is, just how big are yuzu? i saw them at the store and they are slightly larger than golf balls. or at least the ones i saw. and theyre green. (kind of like <a href="http://www.openkitchen.net/dic/yuzu.html">this picture</a>.) i have never seen them before. only read about them. and for some reason, i seemed to think that they were larger, kind of like pomelo. this korean article about japanese culture talks about how in december yuzu (that is how i translate "yuja"...) is sold in great quantities. and one of the more interesting things to do with yuzu is to stick it in your bath. <a href="http://www.ilboniyagi.com/iyagi/customs/12dongji.htm">the original article</a> has a photo of a bath with yuzu floating around. they look pretty large in that photo, but it is difficult to tell. here she describes the yuzu as yellow, which "according to folklore, is said to be a good colour for keeping spirits away". so when you take a bath with yuzu during winter solstice, its good because of the fragrance and the oils from the fruit keep your skin soft and its good luck. she also states that they are green in summer and yellow in winter. does that mean that the yuzu that i saw in the store is not quite ripe? are yuzu used in both green and yellow states? <center><hr width="65%"></center> nishimoto trading company is based (i believe) in the united states (or rather, maybe its based in japan with a branch here) but regardless, they market seasonal gift boxes of food stuffs and flowers. anyway, they featured citrus fruit for winter and you can see some of what they offer at <a href="http://www.atfresh.com/">http://www.atfresh.com/</a>. in the latest catalog, i saw a new (to me) fruit called sweetie. its a cross between a grapefruit and a pomelo. anyone had this before? <a href="http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au/pages/horticulture/citrus/citrus_variety_information.htm">this one site</a> says that its awfully popular in japan... ill look out for it in our local supermarkets, both in the american ones and in the korean ones. im curious!

maybe you are thinking about bindaeddeok (빈대떡)? they are made with mung beans. flour or mashed. i dont actually know. but i think this is a good chance for me to find out and maybe even try cooking. as a kid, i never liked bindaeddeok, not if there was good jeon around. but now i can appreciate it and even like it when other people order.i will look into learning how to make it, but i am unable to do anything in the immediate future. when i have the chance, i will post here. follow up to this... did some online research and found that most bindaeddeok is made from rehydrated, then ground (in a blender) dried mung beans. i have found a recipe for a bindaeddeok made from ground soybeans (fried okara patties is another way to put it). i have purchased the mung beans and when i get a chance i will post the results of my try at bindaeddeok. it will be some time probably, though.

continuing on the jangajji... back on the 22 (oct) i drained the jars of vinegar and added soy sauce. the veggies had lost some water and since i needed one of the jars for some soup i had made i combined all the veggies from one of the jars into another. <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041104jang.jpg"> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041104jang2.jpg"></center> <center><img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041104jang3.jpg"></center> <center>you can see the lid that i stick on top (left photo) to keep the veggies under. <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041104jang4.jpg"> <img src="http://www.rawbw.com/~coconut/eg/04/041104jang5.jpg"></center> the jangajji is just a step away from being done.. i had one of the carrots today. they were an experiment. i had never done (or seen this) jangajji with carrots... and now i think i know why. they get kind of soft. they were much more promising just under the vinegar. but they dont seem to hold up under the soy sauce. the garlic was crunchalicious though. anyhow, if i can find time this weekend (maybe on monday if i cant find time earlier) i will drain the soy sauce out. this time, i will reserve the soy sauce. i threw away the vinegar, but i think if i were more frugal, i would have saved it... found a use for it somehow. wish i did now. experiment. for next time. my mom has taught me to boil the reserved soy sauce to get rid of the excess water from the veggies. then you use the soy sauce for making dipping sauces. its SPICY good! (example: for mandu or for cha dol baegi) after you drain the soy sauce, you leave the veggies in the jar in the fridge. you take out small batches and mix them with sugar to taste and enjoy as a banchan. photos will be posted again later when i do this.

i like cooking shows that either: *) take you to a lot of different restaurants and show dishes *) show you a lot of variations on a theme i watch both types of shows for inspiration.

hope all of the veggie prices arent too bad... i am still planning on a nabe this weekend and will post again with what i have made. hmmm. mabye this is a good chance to try out the dried sanuki udon...

found many types of sanuki udon (frozen type) and bought one... delish! i have bought a packet of dry sanuki udon and will post eventually when i get the chance to try it out.

ive had this a couple times in the san francisco bay area. i like the taste although i find that the sizzling oil can get on my clothes (maybe i should put a napkin on my neck...). but still, i like pepperlunch. as for price in the states, they are in the middle. not fast food cheap, but not expensive either. as far as i know, there is one and only one pepperlunch branch in the states (in fremont, ca). too bad they have not opened up in the the los angeles area... i think the have also opened up shot in seoul, korea too!

i think i saw a bottle of this! is it possible that they sell this thing in giant one liter bottles? i could have sworn i saw it in that size. it was for about usd$10 and i wondered how anyone could get through that large of a bottle...next time i go to this particular market i will keep my eye out for it and hopefully i can find a smaller 500 ml bottle...

ordered some citron from king arthurs site on the 19th. ugh. the mail is taking forever. anyone have a favourite source for my future batches? :D