Kiem Hwa

We make triangular ones... I think Iv'e only seen triangular ones in Hawaii.

Well, my BF's mother's family is from Hiroshima area (his Father is Okinawan), so maybe thats why he so adamant about calling them musubi....He won't call them onigiri. Everytime I say onigiri, he dosn't know what I'm talking about..... The first time I used the forms, I was shaping some very flavorful rice, but the next few times we made normal musubis, filled with konbu or ume. Those times, my BF dipped his hands in the salt water afterwards and patted them so he could stick the nori around it. We couldn't tell the difference, but I wasn't being very observant.

The cousin of MeltyKiss.....MeltyBlend Similar to MeltyKiss in texture, only instead of Matcha flavor, a very slight coffee flavor, with savory smooth chocolate....yum! ....How come we have MeltyBlend here but not MeltyKiss???

My BF usually makes them the same way as your wife.... Since mine used to always come out badly shaped (not so triangular), he used to gloat and say that since I'm not Japanese I can't make nice triangular onigiri. However, the last few times we have made them, we used these plastic onigiri makers: This started because I made Kristin's Unagi Okowa(Unagi-Shiso rice) for a party and decided it would be more fun to make it into onigiri (and since I'm not Japanese.....I had to use such a maker ). Also, everyone I know in Hawaii calls these Musubi instead of Onigiri. I actually never heard them referred to as Onigiri until recently

Guess what I found today! Lt: Warabi mochi, filled with tsubushian, and wrapped with a salted Sakura leaf. Rt: Reminds me of O-hagi: pink-colored slightly mashed mochigome rice, filled with tsubushian, and wrapped with a salted Sakura leaf. Also shown to the right: Warabi mochi dipped in Kinako (with kuromame in the Kinako powder). Oishikatta!!!! Made by: Bashoudo. http://www.bashoudo.com/ At Shirokiya (A "mini Japanese Dept. store", here in the famous Ala Moana), they bring in various specialty companies for a few weeks at a time. Just arrived: Bashoudo with Warabi mochi, and another stall with Japanese versions of Shumai and Bao.

I Love Shiso Juice!!! We had some along the road to the temples in Ohara (small town near Kyoto) and they were selling sampes for 100Yen. It was very good, it wasn't too sweet, just a nice tart shiso flavor. The larger bottles they were selling were very expensive though. I'd love to make this myself, but it needs an exhorbidant about of Shiso ...so expensive here, and my plants are seedlings right now... hopefully they will make it.

Reporting in on the recently-purchased yuzu koshu.... So far, besides Lumpia, Ive eaten it with tofu, Saba, miso soup, rice, and the aburaage pockets I made the other day. I guess I can't get enough of it!! My BF loves it too

OK....I hope I don't sound too dumb......I think Ive had Sakura mochi several times.... I wasn't supposed to eat the leaf too was I? (unless maybe it was some other kind of leaf, but it was a bit stiff...)

I think they are supposed to be similar to Lemon peel, except sweeter. We will be in for a surprise too because MIL hasn't made this with Kumquats before. Maybe they will look like wetter verions of this: http://www.crackseedcenter.com/ProductGrou...1&CategoryID=13 After the salt-preserving process which takes several months, it can be eaten as is, or flavorings can be added to it such as sugar and honey, li-hing powder, Chinese five-spice, powdered licorice, etc. More about making Lemon peel: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...2/il/il22a.html

I found this in the 1$ New imports section: The texture and taste were very sugary - like eating a biscuit entirely made of brown sugar. They are ok, but I think it would be really good to have this texture and flavor in an andagi.

I wasn't sure if I should post this here, or in the Fuyu, winter foods thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33811&hl=buri I ran into some Hamachi Kama at the grocery store the other day, and attempted Buri-Daikon: It was quite good! I sort of followed these recipes: http://www.suresave.com/recipesofhawaii/sa...e_sep_2001.html http://www.tsuji.ac.jp/hp/jpn/jp_e/kanazaw...dai/buridai.htm Next time, I am going to try making miso-salmon kama, which I had once at a restaurant and was really good.

I found some Yuzu-Koshou! So far, I've eaten it with Sashimi, and "Japanese-style" Lumpia: For the Lumpia, I mixed it first with a sauce of shoyu-water (although you can't really see the sauce well on here). But it was REALLY good!!!!! The Lumpia filling consisted of ground chicken, shrimp, gobo, shiitake, carrots, hijiki, shirataki (yam noodles), Kudzu noodles, bean sprouts, and cabbage. http://www2.hawaii.edu/~aperry/LumpiaFilling.jpg

Kristin, Thanks for leading me to this thread... I saw your post and was inspired... My first attempt at Fukuro-ni: The filling consisted of ground chicken, shrimp, gobo, shiitake, carrots, hijiki, shirataki (yam noodles), and Kudzu noodles (the fat clear noodles - fabulous!) I simmered the fukuro in konbu-dashi-shoyu-sake-mirin-sugar broth. And the left-over filling we used to make "Japanese-style" Lumpia.

Well, I am quite relieved to find out that the consumed suppon turtles are mostly farmed: Thus, I would definately try this (If I can afford it). http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/trade/Japan98Soft...urtleMarket.htm The only thing I could never bring myself to eat is endagered species!

A while ago, I bought and planted some Camellia sinesis seeds: these are the Camellia that are the actual green tea plant, I am told. The first time I planted these seeds was about a year ago, in LA (grown on a windowsill in my office - on the same side of the buidling that the flowering Camellia outside were thriving). My seeds germinated and got to about 4-6 inches tall, very nice looking. Then I left (came back to Hawaii) and left them in the care of my friend (who is supposed to have a green thumb). Well, by the time I visited again a few months later, they were all dead- dried up and brown. Wel, this is my second try. My new Camellia have finally germinated and are about 1 inch tall right now. Does anyone ave any experience with growing Camellia from seeds (the tea or the ornamental plant)? I don't want them to dry up and die like last time!

New Okashi discovered at the "recent import" section of the grocery store: (L-R): Hokkaido kabocha pretzels by Kabaya: does this mean the Kabocha is grown in Hokkaido? These were good, but the kabocha flavor was very light and I really had to concentrate to find it. Mont Blanc flavored sitcks by Kabaya (like Pocky, but a different company). These were yummy, they mostly had a mocha flavor to them - Im not sure exactly what the chestnut flavor is supposed to taste like. Porute Creamy Marron, by Meiji: My favorite of the three.They are covered with a light chocolate coating and a chestnut (Marron) flavored- inside with texture similar to white chocolate....What is "porute"?

On Burari (TV show), the host ate some soft-shelled turtle soup/juice on some backstreet shop somewhere near Sugamo station, along Yamanote line in Tokyo. They put the entire turtle (smallish turtles - about 8-inches or so long) into the pot and boiled them. It is eaten for health I think, the woman serving it showed how nice her skin was after eating this soup for so long. Please inform us if you decide to eat it and how it was!!!! (Take pics) EDITED: to add Sugamo station, along Yamanote line

MIL's friend has a cute kumquat tree in her yard.... When we went over there, she gave us this preserved kumquats (left), and some more kumquats we were supposed to use her recipe to make more of the preserved kumquats.... but we got lazy, so MIL stuck them in a jar with some salt and put in in the sun (right). I wonder how this will turn out??

How easy is it to grow Kuri/chestnut, or wasabi?

Hmmm....Food Zealot's "Yuzu" tree doesn't look 18 years old......sighh....... I....can....be....patient........ For those of you who don't know, I love yuzu juice, but don't want to pay the exhorbitant price...and bought some seeds to grow my own...... From the Yuzu thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=54836

I just ordered Yuzu seeds online! Apparently, they are one of few citrus that will grow from seed. Hopefully they are in stock. I guess I will find out if Yuzu will grow well in Hawaii http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/order.htm

Wasabi 山葵 Apparently, one beneft of Wasabi is fighting food poisoning... thus good to eat with sushi and sashimi! Also may fight other infections, and fight cancer!!! More about the health benefits of Wasabi: http://www.wasabi.co.nz/product_benefits.html Also I read that much of the Wasabi paste products we have here in the US are not really Wasabi, they are horseradish! Is this true? Wasabi is also called Japanese horseradish, so I am confused.... Here is the S&B Wasabi paste I have in my fridge: http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp?P...ROD&ProdID=2375

Quote from the ponzu thread by Hiroyuki. On this page, they show some small Yuzu drinks (ゆずジュース), a 120ml bottle for 120円 or a 24-pack for 2,800円. I see you can order online, but I wonder how much they charge to ship to the US? I see it is already 1680円 to ship to Hokkaido.... Have you seen these types of drinks in the store in Japan? What kind of stores? I am going to buy me a case next time I come (If I can find it....) I wonder if any other brands besides the JAL Sky Time Yuzu juice have Nigari added?

ok......I'm convinced this is something I need to try... I'm going to look for some Yuzu koshou next time I go to the Japanese store....

Thanks Hiroyuki, you are right...Chiyoda: 千代田