Kiem Hwa

Found in Hanshin Dept store: Kyo-dofu (I know there is a more specific name for it, but I forgot it). Flavored (L-R): Yuzu, plain, and yomogi. Being a fan of both yuzu and yomogi flavorings, I couldnt resist this three-flavor pack. There were also larger single flavor packs, including a sakura flavor. It was very soft with a light and subltle flavorings (the flavored ones), and I ate it without the shoyu-sauce provided so i wouldnt mask the flavor. Yummy!

More Yuzu-stuff I bought / ate in Kansai: Some very soft and yummy Kyo-tofu (there is a specific name but I forgot it). Flavored (L-R): Yuzu, plain, and Yomogi. The flavoring were very subtle, but in a nice way and noticeable if you knew what you were tasting for (i.e., you know what yomogi tastes like). From Hanshin Dept, 315yen. From the 100yen shop: Yuzu-miso...havent tried it yet, but for 100 yen, who can resist? Also from the 100yen shop: Yuzu-flavored yanwari-age-tofu. Tofu-chips? Puffy chips with a nice spicy yuzu (koshou) flavor. Yuzu-daikon tsukemono, from Kyoto: yumyum, I sampled this stuff and bought it as omiyage for two aunties and myself

Just got back from a great 10-day trip in Kansai. Look what I found! Green yuzu koshou (315 yen, Hanshin Dept) Red yuzu koshou (315 yen, Hanshin Dept) I also saw Kanzuri but didnt get it, as well as some Yuzu koshou in tubes. not Yuzu Koshou, but potentially fabulous (havent tried it yet): Yuzu-? furikake?? (dunno the Kanji) Flakes of dried yuzu. Im going to put this on some rice maybe tonight. Found in a shop on eastern end of Shijo-dori in Kyoto, 525yen.

Just got back from a great 10-day trip in Kansai. Look what I found! Green yuzu koshou (315 yen, Hanshin Dept) Red yuzu koshou (315 yen, Hanshin Dept) I also saw Kanzuri but didnt get it, as well as some Yuzu koshou in tubes. not Yuzu Koshou, but potentially fabulous (havent tried it yet): Yuzu-? furikake?? (dunno the Kanji) Flakes of dried yuzu. Im going to put this on some rice maybe tonight. Found in a shop on eastern end of Shijo-dori in Kyoto, 525yen.

how funny. the very first time i went to Kyoto in '97, i took a picture of that interesting building, i have the exact same picture (same angle exactly) as the third picture down on that website!

today in Kyoto (on Sanjo-dori in the Gion area), I found a Yuzu - furikake? (i couldnt read the kanji that came after yuzu), but it looked like flaked, dried yuzu peel, no nori in it. I didnt buy it yet though, were going back to that area tomorrow, so im contemplating.... it was about 550yen....hmm..... Im soooo tempted.... i also sampled a yuzu flavored cabbage tsukemono, a very light yuzu flavor.

Today in Kyoto (Arashiyama area) I had Houji-Cha soft serve!!!, Also it was half Matcha, and both were very good. The Houji cha had that nice smokey flavor...yummmm.....

So far, our techniques has been.....wandering around whatever location we happen to be in when we get hungry, until we see something appealing. Not bad, but I need to spend some time looking up all the truely unmissable restaurants.

yesterday i asked where to find Yuzu gelato or Yuzu sorbet.... today, we went to Uji, in Kyoto prefecture, and guess what! Yuzu softo-kurimu (Yuzu soft serve Ice cream). Oishii-kata!!!! it was so delicious and had a wonderful flavor of yuzu. Not only did we find Yuzu softo, there were tons of restaurants/ sweets shops with Matcha-softo, and we had one that was dusted with Matcha powder, which was also really good, and we also had Sakura-softo, which was okay, but the sakura flavor didnt come through that well. There were a few other mouth watering softo flavors, including Houji-cha (roasted green tea) flavor, but the shop selling it was closed . also, there was kuro-goma flavor (black sesame), but we couldnt try everything! Now on my list to have....that Houji-cha flvaored ice cream and the Kinako one Krisitin mentioned on another thread.

This topic seems perfectly timed for my trip to Japan, which is...now!!! I just arrive yesterdey with my BF, we are staying with my sister in Osaka. I will try to use some of your suggestions, especially about eating Kaiseki for lunch instead of dinner, then i wont feel so guilty (and my BF can't enjoy meals that are too expensive). well, hopefully over these 10 days, i will accumulate some good foodie experinces to share with you all

My MIL's friend recently returned from Japan and told us of some delicious Yuzu-gelato she had in Narita airport... unfortunately, when I was there last week, I couldn't find it in the section of the airport i was transferring planes in... Now I have no idea when ill be in Narita again, but Im in Kansai... any ideas about where to find Yuzu gelato or Yuzu sorbet???

Are yubiki and otoshi the same thing, just different terms used in different regions, or are they slightly different preparations?

My first-ever attempt at Chirashi-Zushi: My method of making the rice almost exactly the same as Kristin's (above post). I soaked the rice for an hour with a strip of Konbu, then removed it, added some sake and cooked it. Then I mixed in rice vinegar and sugar. I boiled some shrimp and used the boiling water as my "dashi"-base, plus some sake, mirin, shoyu, and sugar. I simmered shiitake, koya-dofu, gobo, kanpyo, and carrots in it, then mixed it into my cooked rice. I also had a few shiso leaves (from my baby shiso plants ) that I chopped up and mixed into the rice. My rice mixture ended up looking similar to Kristin's (forgot to take a picture). I topped the mixed rice with tamago (egg) strips, kaiware (daikon sprouts), the shrimp, Unagi (that I kinda burnt in the broiler), and tobiko roe (since I like tobiko better then Ikura, and it was cheaper). Taadaa!!!! It came out pretty good, except that i burnt my Unagi, and next time I will also add some of the simmering liquid to the rice like Kristin did. Also, I forgot all about adding shredded nori, or eating it with ginger. By the way, how do I know how many "flavors" it has????

Our neighbor came by with loads of various mochi for us: top: "Uguisu" mochi: has tsubushian (red beans) inside left: blueberry-flavored chichi (coconut) mochi right: sakura mochi and ohagi Then MIL's friend brought us some Sekihan: Then, I made Chirashi-Zushi for my first time:

March 3rd: Hina Matsuri (Girls Day)!!!! Some foods to eat for Hina Matsuri include: Chirashi-Zushi, which we have been discussing: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=25403 Sakura-mochi, we have been discussing Sakura here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=60362 The Hina Matsuri Thread, read more about foods to eat for Hina-Matsuri here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38174

Green tea and sweets? (O-cha & Wagashi?) In Kyoto, I noticed there were a large amount of tea shops which had green tea and sweets as thier specialty. We tried a particularly fabulous one in the Gion district, where the line for seats was down the stairs (the tea shop seating was on the second floor), out the door and extended past a few stores down. We were actually pretty lucky because the line became that long after we had just eaten there (it was only down the stairs when we had to wait ). We had a green tea parfait, o-cha, warabi-mochi, and dango. They also had a shop downstairs seeling green tea and green-tea sweets (green tea cookies, green tea chocolates, etc).

This is going to be high on my list for the next time I come to Tokyo!!!!! When me and my BF were in Japan last year, we went into every pan-ya we saw.... and bought pans in practically every one!!!

Pictures of Beautiful food. Check out the food served at this ryokan in Shiga. http://www.ryokusuitei.com/

They do have seeds in them. They are sooooo yummy!!!! So are the kari-kari ume, and the dried ume.

They were pretty yummy.... They were soft and had a really good chocolate flavor, the inside is kind of like a creamy chocolate filling. On the package, it says "Bitter Brandy", so i don't know if there is Brandy inside the chocolate?

That is a beautiful cake! Did you take a look at the recipe she used? It's more like mine, though mine calls for whipping the egg whites to stiff peaks and hers calls for soft peaks (as you did for your second try). ← I tried this recipe out myself, Here is my result: No cracking, and it didn't look like it was going to, but the bottom is quite dense, while the top is somewhat lighter, but the picture in the recipe shows it is consistently light through her whole cake. It still tasted good though, but how to get the bottom to lighten up?? Maybe whip my egg whites more? She doesn't specify in the recipe how gentle I need to be with the egg whites either...

Hina Matsuri is coming soon....yay!! I really love the Hina Arare, which I first had a few years ago when a friend bought me some.... now I just buy my own Hina Arare I bought for myself: These are in various flavors including shoyu, chocolate-covered, ginger, furikake, plain, and a pink one i haven't figured out yet (I would guess ume, but ume/plums are not on the ingredients list). These arare are just okay.... On the left is another type of Hina-Arare i bought for myself, I think these are the kind my friend bought for me a long time ago, that I liked (Haven't opened the package yet). Middle and right, Omiyage from MIL's friend who just returned from a trip to Hokkaido.... There are candies or arare inside, but I haven't opened them up yet to find out what kinds.

This year i learned that about 1 month after New Years, all the left over New Years special products (omiyage) go on sale for like 75% off or more So I bought myself some Mikan-Jellies: originally 17$, now 5$

Omiyage from Hokkaido: Namachoco Yukimochi: Chocolate powder-coated mochi, filled with chocolate

My MIL's friend just returned from Hokkaido with loads of Omiyage for us, including.... Shiroi-Koibito! Oishi!!! Box Lid: Inside: Also some Namachoco Yukimochi: Chocolate powder-coated Mochi, filled with chocolate Shiso-maki Ume: Some type of flavored Rakkyo: