Kiem Hwa

I second the vote for Katsukura. This place has awesome, juicy tonkatsu, and also several other types of "katsu" including croquettes, yuba rolled around some veggies and katsu-ed, and a ground pork and shiso patty that is katsu-ed. Everything is good there. Also, notice the barley-rice mix (mugi-gohan) that you get. There are a few other branches around Kyoto. I never went to the one in the Isetan, but there are two off of Shijo-dori (both on the North side of the street). Ohh...heres the website http://www.fukunaga-tf.com/katsukura/main.html

I love Japanese dishes too! I only have a few so far and have decided that I will slowly collect them over time, and dont want any two pieces to be the same ...okay maybe on occasion two can match, but no more then two....

Chu-hi This is like a carbonated plum wine... but with more flavors...so yummy!!!! I dont think its being exported to the US yet, though I hear its going to Shanghai.

I just tried it....not bad! A subtle sweet potato flavor combined with chocolate... Who would have thought they would go togeather well?

It must be fall..... even in the "Japanese" Bakeries in Hong Kong (I just got back), there were chestnut cakes!!!! Rows of chestnut-flavored cakes! Also there were a few chestnut-flavored breads (pans) too Not only were they beautiful, but in Hong Kong, I can actually afford the cakes! Unlike in Japan or the US. These are the cakes I bought: A green tea cake and the chestnut with chocolate crispy cake!!!

I just got back from Hong Kong..... I love the "Okashi Land" store over there.... all imported Japanese snacks, and they sell 5-packs of Melty Kiss!!! I still cant find the Matcha Melty Kiss in the US (we have chocolate and almond flavors only ), but I can buy the 5-pack when I go to HK But I also found.... Strawberry Melty Kiss!!!! So good! Also, I found a few more fun things I havent seen in the US yet.... Kinako Pocky - this is great stuff.... i love the flavor of Kinako, and this is just right!!! Also, I found this Daigaku Imo Pucca... I havent tried it yet though. Another try was this chestnut-flavored Fran...not so great if you want a good chestnut flavor though. I much prefer the berry Fran.

Im in for Takikomi Gohan day!!!

OOHH!!! That looks delicious! Do you just make it with the same recipe I would use to make regular kinpira? So far I have used half of one to make a takikomi gohan - I realized I havent done much grocery shopping yet, so the only ingredients i could add were the eryngi and some iriko (little dried fishes), but it was pretty good

Is this a giant Eryngi? I bought this "King Oyster" mushroom yesterday.... Its about the size of my hand!! Im contemplating how best to prepare this giant thing! Any ideas?

I live in LA now Im really homesick for Hawaii, but there are a few perks here.....like the Japanese grocery stores are awesome!!!!! The other day I saw some dried shimeji and eryngi mushrooms, the eryngi were sliced (long way). Has anyone tried out the dried versions of these mushrooms? Could I use them in place of dried shiitake? Any ideas?

Sometimes the Japanese store in Hawaii would sell some slightly old Eryngi mushrooms for a great discount, but sometimes they had these white moldy spots (usually on the caps....), so I was afraid to buy them...could this be fungal outgrowth (from the mushroom) also?

Bashoudo is at Shirokiya Honolulu again. This time, not only did they have warabi-mochi, but also an assortment of kanten products. I tried the tokoroten, which is a block of seaweed-gel sliced into noodle-like strands, and this one was served with a vinegar sauce that had a kind-of ume flavor (it wasnt sweet). Very interesting texture, it was fun to slurp up these interesting "noodles". I wonder... is tokoroten usually served with the vinegar sauce or other types of sauces? Id be interested in trying it with a sweet sauce like kuromitsu or a matcha sauce. Ive been curious about trying this since I saw it on Next Stop Discovery (Burari) television show. A block of gel was shoved through a sieve-like block, so it was sliced into fat noodles. So what is the difference between the name of the kanten-noodles I had and the tokoroten described below? A search in my Online Japanese Translator revealed two Kanji for tokoroten, both meaning gelidium jelly. 心天 心太 This website shows a picture of tokoroten and mentions it is made out of tengusa. http://www.sumitomo.gr.jp/english/discover...d/food93_1.html Obachan makes tokoroten from scratch: http://kokonuggetyumyum.blogspot.com/2005/...ar-noodles.html

My sister recently brought me all kinds of goodies from Japan....unfortunatley almost everything I opened so far was melted, but...... I finally got to try the Passionfruit Kitkat....yum!!!! I also got these: Kinoko no Yama (mushroom mountain ): Azuki-Milk flavor, Uji-Kintoki flavor, and Cheesecake flavor Takenoko-no-sato (Bamboo shoot village ). I only tried the Kinotoki one, and it was pretty melted so no mushrooms on sticks, more like scatted chocolate blobs and some sticks, so I cant really comment on how much I liked it . Also, delicious (but melted, so lacking the texture it is supposed to have): Passionfruit Porute!!

Ohhh....I didnt know that Kansai Yamato had a shop...I only know about thier Ala Moana stall. Does the shop have more things than the stand??

My recent creation: Ono (a fish) wrapped in shiso, then yuba. A thin slice of nori wrapped around held it togeather nicely. Then it was fried briefly until the fish was cooked. I ate this with several sauces: ponzu, a spicy miso, wasabi and shoyu, but it was best with a little bit of wasabi rubbed inside (before cooking), then dipped in ponzu:) "Ono" is the Hawaiian name for a fish...I think its called Wahoo. What is the Japanese name for this fish? Here is Ono: http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/fish.cfm?ID=121

Here is is:) "Yuzu Chigiri"...what does "chigiri" mean? Is is a dried yuzu peel with some sugar on it, it is almost candied. It has a nice yuzu flavor:)

How about restaurants run by Chefs who beat the Iron Chefs??? There is a new Restaurant opening over here in Honolulu next month called Hakkei: http://www.hakkei-honolulu.com/html/eng_hospitality.html Too bad I will be moving to L.A. before they open . I guess I will have to wait until my next visit home to try this place out. It will be run by the apprentice of Chef Masahara who beat Iron Chef Morimoto by a score of 4 to 0. The original Hakkei (run by Masahara) is an onsen ryokan in Yubara, Okayama Prefecture ...has anyone eaten or stayed here??? http://www.hakkei-yubara.jp/

Now it seems like Hakkei wont be opening until late October.....Im so impatient!!!

柚子皮= Yuzu peel right? I saw a packaged of dried, sugared yuzu peel at the grocery store (Daiei) today!! I wasnt sure what that third kanji was, but now I know (peel), so I will be going back to buy it soon The translation on the package for the ingredients list said "orange & sugar" ...good thing I know the kanji for yuzu

I go here usually: It doesnt translate all terms but is pretty good. http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jwb/wwwjdic?9T When I imported 薄力小麦粉, I got the following results: 薄力粉 【はくりきこ】 (n) wheat flour of low viscosity; weak flour 小麦粉 【こむぎこ】 (n) wheat flour

JasonTrue, Your nagaimo-dango looks so fun and interesting! Definately let us know when you find a perfect recipe! What else can nagaimo-dango be used in besides soups? I am always trying to think of new ways to eat my nagaimo....too bad my BF wont eat nagaimo or eggplant.... so much for my plans of aki-nasu As fall as autumn flavors, I love kuri (chestnuts) the best!

Tonight my BF followed a recipe to make a dish that really reminds me of koya-dofu. In this recipe, the tofu is pressed and drained, then frozen, then drained again before cooking. Is this similar to the process of making koya-dofu? http://www.downtoearth.org/recipes/main_courses/bbq_tofu.htm Im not a fan of the BBQ sauce flavor, but we think it would be great with better sauces, like curry.

This weekend is the Harvest Moon Festival.... Chinese eat mooncakes... I suppose in Japan, this occasion is Otsukimi?

I found this page on Ishikawa cuisine: http://www.pref.ishikawa.jp/photo/bimi/bimi-e.htm Tai stuffed with Okara, then steamed! Sounds yummy!

An interesting article about the search for yomogi in Honolulu (focuses more on Chinese then Japanese usage): unfortunately they dont reveal the locations you can pick the fresh stuff growing over here. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbc...0314/1083/TASTE The recipes posted with that article: Yomogi mochi (microwave Japanese version), and In Sai Biang (Chinese yomogi rice cakes): http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbc...40313/1083/LIFE I had these In Sai Biang cakes before at a festival in Chinatown, and I thought they might be made from yomogi, but when I asked the guy who was selling them (he also made them), if it was mugwort or yomogi, he just gave me a blank look and told me some Chinese name... he probably said "in sai", but I can't remember anymore.