Kiem Hwa

My MIL's friend just returned from a two-week trip to Hokkaido, and brought us loads of Omiyage!!! Two types of ume: semi-dried? and dried. Shiso-Maki Ume.

Today at the Japanese Grocery store here, there were a few fancy new import products: Ume-gobo Looked something like this: http://www.snipe.jp/blog/kitchen/archives/000204.html Ume-warabi-mochi Looked like beautiful pink cubes of warabi-mochi. Ume-mochi (regular mochi, not warabi) maybe looked like this? http://f.hatena.ne.jp/fui/20050213144000 Ume-takuan (pickled daikon with ume paste) Anyone tried any of these? (especially the first two). They were too expensive to just try for fun. I wonder why there were so many Ume products today...seasonal?? for Hina-matsuri (girls day)??

Haha...I finally figured out, the Burari episodes showing over here are quite old....tonight's two episodes were from May 2003!! Ooedo-sen: 大江戸線 http://www.ntv.co.jp/burari/030503/0503housou.html In Ryogoku, the host ate kakiage-don: donburi of tempura prawn-cuttlefish-scallops, fried in 100% sesame oil! Is frying in pure sesame oil common? It sounds delicous, but quite expensive! In Tsukiji (Kachidoki-eki), at a Yakiniku restaurant, the host ate Kalbi covered with a negi (large Japanese green onions)-salt baste. Also, he ate Negi-gohan. Finally, in Shinjuku, at a restaurant called つくし "Tsukushi", the chef only cooks a few dishes a day, depending on available seasonal specialties. you can't see the pic very well on the link, but it included takenoko-dengaku (skewered bamboo shoot) coated with various sauces: a kinome-miso sauce (kinome = bud of Japanese pepper tree), and a yuzu-miso sauce. A tomato stuffed with takenoko and chicken, and various other dishes that werent explained.....looks delicious! Ikegami-sen: 池上線 http://www.ntv.co.jp/burari/030517/0517housou.html The host ate French food: a sole-souffle He also discovered a pan-shop where they make many variations of anpan: with plum wine, red wine, yomogi, and several other flavors.

Did you say Kinako icecream??!!! Sounds fabulous! I wonder if I can I get the same desserts at the Gyukaku over here?

prasantrin- Great info, Thanks alot! How much is the sample class? My sister is also in Osaka (works near Namba Station), and I would love if she got interested in learning how to cook/bake. Her Japanese is not so great either, but you say that the teachers have been very patient with you, so it sounds like a good place for her to learn some cooking and maybe make some friends too. Maybe I can at least convince her to try out the sample class (maybe even when I come to visit her in March, I can go with her).

This evening, I went to an Izakaya here in Honolulu. They had a selection of shochu drinks, but you could also buy the entire bottle of shochu, and...... if you didn't finish it, write your name on it and come back later to drink the rest. My BF thought he saw something like this happening at an Izakaya in Japan on the TV show Burari. Is this a typical practice in Japan??

A nice link discussing foods of Kansai Region: includes Fukui (Kansai??), Mie, Shiga, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, Hyogo, and Tokushima: http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowhtml/C...ryCode_002.html

Another link discussing foods of Kansai, including Nara: http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowhtml/C...ryCode_002.html The list from Nara includes: Kakinoha-Zushi Chagayu Narazuke Pickles Miwa Somen Noodles Yoshino-Kuzu Dishes

A link discussing foods of the Kansai region inclusing Shiga: http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowhtml/C...ryCode_002.html The list from Shiga includes: -Lake Biwa Trout Rice -Salty Grilled Ayu fish -Omi Beef Sukiyaki -Mallard Nabe -Boiled Carp -Konnyaku Dishes -Saba-zushi -Corbicula Clam from Lake Biwa, called Seta Shijimi, is very unique with more fat than other shijimi clams. -Matsutake Rice - rice cooked with matsutake mushrooms, commin in many sites in Shiga Prefecture, including Shigaraki area and Mt. Mikami, which is also known as Matsutake Mountain. -Charcoal-Grilled Gudgeon -(Hon Moroko) which is indigenous to Lake Biwa

A link discussing various cuisines from all the prefectures in Kansai: http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowhtml/C...ryCode_002.html

A link discussing various cuisines from Osaka and other prefectures in Kansai: http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowhtml/C...ryCode_002.html Some from the Osaka list: Udon Chili & Udon Suki -Originated in Minami, Osaka in early Showa period. Hakozushi -vinegared rice in a rectangular wooden case, placing shrimp, sliced fish and other fillings on the rice, pressing them with the lid, then removing the case and cutting for eating Kitsune Udon Noodles - Features tasty "age," boiled in soy sauce and sweet sake. Shabu-Shabu - Originated in Kita-shinchi, Osaka, in the post-W. W. II. era. Sukiyaki- Unique Osaka-style seasoning with sugar and soy sauce, instead of soup stock. Tetchiri & Tessa- (Fugu??) Osaka is the largest consumer of blowfish in the nation. The licensing system for blowfish chefs originated in Osaka. "Tet/Tes" is old Japanese for guns, which are as fatal as blowfish toxin once you are caught. Negiyaki - a type of okonomiyaki unique to Osaka using minced leek. Harihari Nabe- a dish of whale meat and mizuna, a vegetable common in Osaka Pickled Mizunasu- Specialty pickles from Senshu, made of soft and savory mizunasu eggplants. Korean Grilled Beef & Cool Noodles - Grilled beef from Korea has been adopted and well-established in the culture of Osaka. In and around the Tsuruhashi district, you can find a number of Korean restaurants featuring grilled beef ("yakiniku") and cool noodles ("reimen").

This sounds like a dish I had in Osaka, at a Teppenyaki bar. The chef grilled mochi, flattened it, coated it with a mixture of the small-red-orange roe & mayonaise, then topped that with cheese (mozarella, I think), covered it with a lid with a spoonful of water to steam it melted, then fired it with a burner to brown the top of the cheese, and topped it with nori.....oishikatta (it was delicious)!!! I like cheese on/in curry too, which seems to be popular?

On "tonight's" episode of Burari, the host went to a restaurant where they served yamaimo (I didn't catch specficially which one, but a slimy one), where the yamaimo was grated into a slime, and mixed with miso and probably some green onions and other stuff, then served over mugi-gohan (barley rice). Such a yamaimo was a specialty of the area the restaurant was in. Has anyone tried mixing thier yamaimo with miso?

Tell your BF about White Day!! ← I did tell him about White Day, but all he seemed to hear was that I'm supposed to get him presents for Valentines Day.

I told my BF that in Japan, Valentines Day is a day for women to give thier men a gift.... he loves that idea of course, and now expects me to give him something great... So I am making him a Boston Creme Pie, then he is going to cook me dinner. Then later this week (after the Valentines Day rush is over), were going to celebrate by trying out a new raved about restaurant here in Honolulu, Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=61414

Thanks for the great review Oneidaone!! We are palnning to go there this week for a belated Valentines Day dinner. A new article on Hiroshi's in the Honolulu Advertiser: What a creative & adventurous guy! http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...3/en/en03a.html

Aji no ikezukuri (or ikizukuri) or something? ← Yes, I think that was it! There is a good amount of parking there! The prices of these 6 dishes ended up being about 45$: prices from the reviews I linked above, and some fuzzy guesses. Tori karaage ($4.95) Nasu no kinoko itame ($4.95) Aji no ikezukuri (or ikizukuri)? (7-8$) Hamachi Sashimi (11-12$) nitsuke karei (flounder) with tofu (about 7-8$?...my most fuzzy memory) Kushikatsu (about 5$)

I'll start with where I feasted last night: Izakaya Nonbei. 3108 Olu Street (off Kapahulu behind Genki Sushi) 808-734-5573 Some previous reviews of Izakaya Nonbei: Nadine Kam's Honolulu Star Bulletin Matthew Gray's Honolulu Advertiser Cheap Eats on KHNL My review: Two thumbs up!!!! The chef of Izakaya Nobei, Teruaki Mori, grew up near Nagano, specializes in traditional country cooking, and the menu is mostly fish dishes. At this restaurant you are supposed to select from a variety of small dishes, to share over sake or beer. All the dishes we ordered were very delicious and beautifully presented. We had Tori Karaage (fried chicken). Very moist and one of the best chicken karaages I've had. A nitsuke karei (flounder) with tofu: perhaps my favorite, except for the Hamachi sashimi. Nasu no kinoko itame, a dish of grilled eggplant (nasu) with kinoko mushrooms. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of these dishes. Also, i realize i am a bad blogger because I can't tell you the prices for any of these dishes. Hamachi Sashimi: Yumm!!! Very good quality fat pieces of Hamachi. Kushikatsu: A skewer of pork (tonkatsu) pieces alternating with onion, all katsu-ed: Aji Sashimi (it was called Aji-something ), but it is sashimi: yum! We ordered this because the Japanese buisnessmen next to us had it and it was so beautiful! Overall, with these 6 dishes plus 3 large Asahis ($6.95 each) the tab ended up being 70$ for 4 people. We were quite satisfied (not stuffed), though some people may want to order more then what we had (I was filled up with Asahi ) Every dish we had was delicious and I definately want to go back here again sometime. As for the menus, they are in Japanese, and translated to English (Romanji), but without explanations, and I only understood about half of it, but our waitress was very nice with helping us order and also listed many things that weren't on the menu.

From the Japan eGullet thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=58500 What are your favorite Izakaya in Honolulu?

wow, so many questions....I'll try to answer a few for starters.... What will be in season next month? Many of the tropical fruits here are in season all year round. For instance, pineapples, papayas, bananas you will be able to find anytime. Right now however, rambutan and longan are in season (best found in Chinatown), but Im not sure if they will still be around in March. I should hit at least one supermarket to pick up things like canned Wahoo from Samoa and local items that the Farmer's Market might not carry. Foodlands seems to be the big local chain. Is there one near Kapiolani CC? Im not sure if Foodland carrys such things as Samoan products (I have never looked). There are Samon/Tongan/Polynesian stores however, I spotted one on Vineyard Blvd, a little west of Chinatown, but haven't been inside. There are Foodlands all over, the one nearest to KCC is probably in Market City: http://www.marketcityhawaii.com/tenants.html Another store to check out is Daiei, they carry alot of specialty imports from Japan. The Kaheka branch is a block Mauka (towards the mountain) from Ala Moana: http://yellowpages.superpages.com/supermap...125&level=9#Map Away from town I have been considering Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and Matsumoto Shave Ice, which I believe is at 66-087 Kamehameha Hwy. 96712 Haleiwa, Hawaii 96712. Are the two anywhere near each other? About how distant is Haleiwa from Honolulu? Haleiwa is about 2 hours from Honolulu, depending on traffic. If you want to hit Kahuku (for the shrimp trucks) and the North shore all at once (in one day), my suggestion would be (by car) to start out going east, towards Hanauma Bay and Sea life park, and drive all the way around the island, passing through Kahuku and getting some shrimp, then continue to the North Shore. This makes for a really beautiful drive (the East side of Oahu is not to be missed!), and if you start early, you will make it to Kahuku/North Shore around Lunch time, you can get a plate of shrimp, go to the beach, and end up in Haleiwa for some Shave ice in the afternoon when you're hot and craving something cold (and if you want some good burgers/sandwiches, check out Kua Aina in Haleiwa!). Then you can return to Honolulu through Wahiawa, and on the way, stop by Dole Cannery. Are the Kona coffee plantations located in one particular part of the island or are they spread out? Do any of the pineapple or other fruit plantations have on-site stores that carry unusual portable-to-the-Mainland products or is everything there already available in the globalized supermarket. Kona coffee plantations are in Kona on the Big Island. Dole cannery is the pineapple plantation and also a tourist stop-shop-spot. You can probably get alot of portable to the mainland products there, but I dont know about the prices.

Here in Hawaii, I recently had really great homemade gyoza at Taishoken, a ramen shop originating in Japan (granted, there is only one style of gyoza). http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=44666 I wonder if the Taishokens in Japan have as wonderful gyoza??

yes. it *is* a yuzu jam that is diluted with hot water.i dont know how popular it is in japan, but it is pretty popular in korea. ← I saw it in the Korean section of Ranch 99 (a Chinese grocery store). Whenever it comes to different countries using the same Kanji/Chinese characters, I always wonder if the same thing is meant, i.e., I spotted this in a Chinese grocery store labeled as 柚子茶, (didn't clearly list the ingredients). Is this truely Yuzu??? melonpan - Have you had the Japanese Yuzu drinks (e.g Skytime on JAL or any others)? How does this compare? Can it be a cold drink? Im truely tempted to try it, but it was too expensive to just try without knowing if it is good or not. Thanks!!!!!!

Thanks glossyp! I'll check out Down to Earth ASAP. Also, I think there is an Indian grocery store somewhere in the King St/University area? Here is that Casablanca review: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...4/en/en22a.html I haven't tried this place out yet, but Moroccan Mint tea is great! Also, my experience with Moroccan restaurants is the atmospheres are usually quite romantic, and are also fabulous to rent rooms out for parties

Has anyone tried out 柚子茶 "yuzu cha"? It looks kind of like a marmalade (jam with citrus rinds). I suppose it is to be used as either a spread, cooked with, or diluted with water to make a drink/tea. Something like this (Japanese): http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/dreamclick/yuzu/

Gung Hee Fat Choy!!!! This year (2005, Lunar Year 4703), Chinese New Year falls on February 9th. However, in Japan, it seems Chinese New Year isn't celebrated much anymore: From the toshikoshi soba thread: As a Japanese born in 1960, I have never thought of such a question. The change from the old to the new calendar was made rather abruptly by the Meiji Government in the Meiji period as part of their effort to accelerate 'westernization'. There seems to have been considerable resistance against the sudden change, but now the Japanese take it for granted to celebrate the New Year on January 1st. ← Even if the Chinese New Year is no longer officially regarded in Japan, are there any celebrations or special foods eaten?? Over here, we are going to celebrate with a Lion Dance, and eat "lucky" symbolic foods including Jai (Monks food - a dish of root vegetables or fibrous vegetables, many attributed with various superstitious aspects), Nian Gao ("Year Cake", a brown sugar mochi cake, sweetness symbolizes a rich & sweet life, layers symbolize rising abundance for the coming year, round shape signifies family reunion), Noodle dishes (for longevity), Mooncakes (even though mooncakes are actually supposed to be eaten during the Autumn Harvest Moon festival), and drink some tea (Oolong and Jasmine). More about Chinese New Year Traditions and Foods: http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/...e_new_year.html http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesenew...olicnewyear.htm Its finally the year of the Rooster!!!! Goodbye Monkey !!!! YAY !!!!