JasonTrue

Homemade mayonnaise is worth it to me, though I only do that on rare occasions. I usually only work with a single yolk, so I don't end up with too much to use within a week or so. There's not much that I won't make from scratch; sometimes I even make tofu at home, though the time-to-flavor reward is only worth it in cities which have no good sources of very fresh tofu. For me, on the "not worth making it at home" category, are... marinated artichoke hearts (fresh small ones have limited availability where I am, anyway), marinated sundried tomatoes (not that hard to make from dried tomatoes, but not enough of a flavor advantage), cured olives, brined capers, umeboshi (Japanese pickled apricots), because the ume I can get in May aren't so spectacular anyway. In fact, most of these are because the fresh ingredients that I'd start with are either so limited in availability or so poor in quality that I'm better off buying them imported from somewhere where they are more likely to be good (even if it is just California). In Japan, I'm more likely to buy other pickled vegetables than make them; in the US, when I want Japanese style pickles I find that mine often taste better than the ones sold here. Various fermented things... beyond cheese, soy sauce, and related items mentioned above, I'd add miso, most kinds of kimchi (worth making at home but usually not worth the logistical challenges for me), vinegar, nattou, anything alcoholic. I have made Caspian yogurt at home (the one that ferments at room temperature), but usually don't bother with yogurt.

I discovered I have a magazine-format book: もっとTOKYOカフェ. It features a bunch of cafes, though it's mostly focusing on dramatic interiors and pretty food photos. I don't see the details of the coffee itself discussed much in this magazine. One near/in Shinjuku is the Kagurazaka location of Saryo. I can't speak to the coffee, but it looks like a beautiful setting. See http://www.saryo.jp/ It'd be a long walk from nishi-shinjuku, so you might want to grab a taxi or take a subway to Iidabashi or Kagurazaka. 162-0825 Tokyo-to Shinjuku-ku Kagurazaka 5-9 Phone 03-3266-0880 Open 11:30am to 10 pm (last order 9pm) generally, or later on Saturday and Sunday. 〒162-0825 東京都新宿区神楽坂5-9 【電話番号】03-3266-0880 【営業時間】 月～金 土・日・祝 11:30～23:00（L.O.22:00） 11:30～22:00（L.O.21:00）

I suspect there's a wrist double

My experience is that a touch of 80-100 proof alcohol of some sort helps prevent this (roughly a tablespoon per quart). The sugar percentage contributes as well: I use less sugar than most commercial brands, which can produce harder ice cream. Fat percentage may also affect the texture once fully frozen, though I've found problems at both extremes. Manufacturers often use various stabilizers that probably also help control this problem, and they probably also have more air overrun than the home ice cream makers. I use tall metal airtight canisters. I don't think there's a problem with your choice of storage containers.

The chef has changed at Carmelita again, since he left to start the also very nice Oliver's Twist down the street... I don't believe I've been there since the change, but on average, I usually find Carmelita far more interesting than Flora. Flora is sort of vegetarian comfort food, and Carmelita tends to be slightly more daring.

I often (as in every trip to Japan since 2001 or so) stay in Nishi-Shinjuku, and in my old age I'm becoming a bit jaded. However, I once had a great meal at Yuu-An in Nishi-Shinjuku, a restaurant in the basement of Shinjuku Park Tower. I've also had a less impressive one since then, so I don't know if they've changed or I just had a rough night. They do a lot of interesting small plates, and are sort of izakaya-like, focused generally on seasonal vegetables. I could point out some favorites but there was almost no overlap between the two times I've been there. I've only been seated in the tatami area, but they have two choices of seating areas. They used to have a lot of house-made infused shochu, but that seemed to be less so on my last visit a couple years ago. I usually get bread from Hokuo or similar spot in the morning (around 9am, because bakeries open a bit late). There are a couple of passable but unremarkable kissaten-style coffee shops between Keio Plaza and the train station, one of which actually opens in the morning. (Keep in mind that coffee is not typically considered a morning drink in Japan, so many old-style coffee shops open in the afternoon). I like "La Manina" in Takashimaya near the south entrance of Shinjuku station; that's easy to get to if you locate the shortcut to the south part of the station that's in sort of an ascending cobblestone alley near the Keio department store. It's Italian, but somehow I feel like that kind of Italian food could only really exist in Japan. (Hiromi would rather have food at La Medusa, Volterra or Cafe Lago in Seattle). Not in nishi-shinjuku, but it was a lot of fun to try Tama no Baiken in Futako-Tamagawa. http://blog.jagaimo.com/archive/2006/03/15/2314.aspx has a few photos (starting with three kinds of umeshu). It wasn't life-altering, but it was a good example of the kind of contemporary-but-simple Japanese food that never makes it to the US. If you can get to Shibuya from Shinjuku, it's about the 5th stop on Den-En-Toshi sen. However, there are similar quality places all over Shinjuku. I eat a lot in Nishi-Shinjuku, but I think it's dominated by big-budget restaurant concepts funded by massive restaurant companies, and so almost all of my experiences are kind of unremarkable, even though you'd have to try really hard to find anything bad. Add: Hiromi recommends http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g348507/

Also try searching on the "quick tokyo restuarant search" for coffee, espresso, cafe, etc at Bento.com. http://www.bento.com/info-search.html Both locations of Macchinesti are listed, as well as Mary Jane. This one sounds promising: Satei Hato (Shibuya - Coffee shop). 3400-9088. If you're looking for real coffee - rich, strong, and with a kick - Satei Hato is the place. Hand-picked beans and careful preparation translate into superb quality. Not only are the brews top-notch, they're served in the world's most exquisite china. Savor your java in a Y190,000 cup from the porcelain kilns of Arita, while the aroma of freshly made chiffon cakes and gentle classical BGM help calm your nerves. [feedback] ilinkphotomapSunShibuya 1-15-19. Open 11am-11:30pm daily.

Jazzed in Japan laments the decline of the old-school kissaten and refers to one whose owner would prefer to be serving beans picked in 1968. I read this article several years ago, and I'm not sure if that shop still operates. There's another cafe mentioned there as well. Since I haven't been to either one, I can't offer any particular recommendations. I do have an acquaintance who may have some opinions, but I'm not sure I'd be able to reach her easily. I just remembered last year I saw the Japan Barista Championship at Hoteres. (I only watched a few competitors, but one barista pulled off a truly impressive plated dessert built around espresso and sculpted cream roses). This close to the event you may not be able to get a free ticket, though. It's March 13, 2007, noon to 5 pm, Tokyo Big Sight. Entry to Hoteres is relatively inexpensive (about 1000 yen) even if you don't have advance tickets, but you will need to have a business card handy and they may expect you to be part of a hospitality company, public service institution such as a school or hospital, a restaurant, equipment manufacturer, or trading/distributing company*. Screening is minimal, and a business card is usually enough to get in. Japan Barista Championship 2007 If you attend, you'll likely be able to find which cafes are represented in a printed program. You won't likely be able to taste anything (except average espresso prepared by espresso machine equipment reps in the exhibition hall nearby). Unfortunately I cannot attend FoodEx/Hoteres this year, because I've scheduled my trip to Japan in late April this time. * Even software and computer hardware companies are represented there, because they offer POS systems; if you can find a way to fit into one of their categories, including "other", you'll probably be fine.

I've been mostly disappointed by coffee in Japan and I suspect, with the smaller numbers of old-school kissaten these days, that the obsession with detail as far as coffee is concerned, is either part myth or has largely declined since the 1990s. I think the 1980s were the peak of the Japanese coffee era. Most coffee in Japan is made using one-touch machines, even at some of the expensive kissaten. However, there are a few well-regarded shops. I'm not sure I can recommend any since I haven't been to most of the ones that have been written up in English. I have been to Macchinesti in Akabanebashi, which is fairly good for espresso by Japanese standards. They now have two locations near each other, I believe. However, in my opinion, it's not quite as good as Vivace in Seattle, from which it derives its inspiration and perhaps even its featured blend. They do roast the beans themselves in Japan, though. At a little gallery-owned cafe in Mashiko I had some surprisingly decent vacuum-pot coffee, but I suspect that's a bit out of your way unless you're going pottery hunting.

I'm not sure if there's a corresponding topic for Portland-area restaurants, but yesterday I found out the hard way that the Portland okonomiyaki restaurant, Kyo-Fu, has closed. Unfortunately the sign says "will return at 5pm", so we made two stops there on Saturday, once at lunch and again at dinner. Our purpose for the trip thus failed, we went to the Siberian section of a passable but not veryexciting crepe place in Hawthorne district and a very unremarkable Chinatown spot. The PortlandFood site has a posting from February 21 which made a note of this, unfortunately, I don't regularly follow that site. Next time I make a trip to Portland I'll have to do a bit more verification.

Re: Azura That's probably the case... I remember seeing impassioned pleas on Citysearch from the "new" owners that their food had totally changed and that people should give them a fair shake... Even so, I couldn't convince myself to try it before or after, both because the first incarnation looked so uninspired, and because I was thinking if they were doing anything particularly different they would have crafted a new identity, too. Usually you don't try to build on bad will...

It seems to me that it was a mistake to retain the name after the first ownership change... there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the location, but the first incarnation just sent all the wrong vibes from the visible-from-outside interior (at least to a reasonably well-traveled food geek such as myself), and the food didn't sound interesting. I just didn't believe that it would be any good, and knowing that there was a "new owner" just confused me... why didn't they want their own identity? I would vote for a cocktail lounge, with all that glass. I suppose there's no need for yet another place to drink on a corner with two other bars, but small and intimate with some simple small decadent dishes along the lines of Oliver's Twist could work there.

I suspect you may be able to ask a local fresh cheese producer to age the cheese in salted sakura leaves if you can provide them with the leaves. Many smaller producers are open to experimentation; I have a chocolatier prepare a few things according to my specification in rather small quantities. There are some small cheesemakers around the US that do some fresh soft cheeses wrapped in various leaves. Sally Jackson's chestnut-leaf wrapped guernsey cheese is a personal favorite, and there are more in other areas. Hoja santa (aka Sassafras, I believe) leaf-wrapped goat cheese from Texas-based The Mozzarella Company is really nice. Hiromi's addicted to the Oregon Rogue River Blue, which is aged in pear brandy-soaked grape leaves and is fantastic. It's really cost-prohibitive to import a few ounces, or even a few dozen pounds, of cheese, from almost anywhere, especially if there's such a short shelf life. However, you may be able to order and send something to a friend, and ask them to ship it the rest of the way as a personal shipment. Keep in mind, though, that cheese has at least 3 or 4 agencies that can hold your shipment for inspection, which can take as long as 2 weeks when they're working sluggishly. US Customs, FDA, and USDA can all elect to hold and/or inspect such shipments. Anyway, see if you can talk a local cheesemaker into aging some nice fresh soft cheese for 10 days or so and see how that goes... or you can always do the "do it yourself" thing starting with some off-the-shelf soft cheese.

The old-style miso made on farms was also sometimes kept hanging from eaves of roofs, which allowed it to dry and thereby reduced the water activity. I think this is the origin of the "stinks like miso" insult that is (or once was) the Japanese equivalent of calling someone a hick. That kind of miso could be kept about a year without refrigeration, but it's not the same as the high moisture, relatively low salt miso widely used today.

I noticed these (or similar) expensive prepared pasta sauces at Uwajimaya recently. I was wondering who might buy them... I couldn't imagine people as nostalgiac for packaged pseudo-Italian Japanese pasta sauces as I could for curry roux or the like. Many Japanese companies don't offer very good pricing for export, sometimes treating even large companies like JFC/Nishimoto as nothing more than ordinary retailers, even for large volumes. Since the products also need to be distributed and sometimes brokered, it's not too surprising to see products costing about 3 times the Japanese retail price... 2 times the original price is sometimes a bare minimum unless the manufacturer offers better discounts. Granted, most of the upscale Italian-focused specialty shops have $4 and $5 ready-to-heat pasta sauces, but they're usually fresh and often not bad. I'm a bit at a loss, though... do any Japanese consider such prepared pasta sauces important for making pasta? Somehow, prepared curry roux managed to become indispensible, even though it's not hard to make a brown roux and not hard to add spices to it, but I think it's because of perceived value: the ingredients are not sold separately and cheaply (namely, the spices) in that case. However, a little cream and a little uni and a little salt, in the quantities used in such packages, shouldn't be that much of an expense. A small package of cream, more than twice what you'd need, is about 300 yen, and I'm sure you could occasionally find 20 grams of uni on special at a supermarket for 300 yen. A roux will deteriorate less when packaged than retort packed uni. I find it hard to imagine that the flavor would be special without resorting to various flavoring additives.

That's funny... I didn't realize Nishino was considered so highfalutin' and pretentious. I know it isn't cheap, but it seemed to have rather ordinary interior design and the chef is quite down-to-earth. Maybe it's a vibe thing? I just thought it had a very casual feeling, tablecloths notwithstanding. My only irritation was when, with two Japanese people at the table, one of whom was a regular, they sent a waiter who spoke only English, resulting in some communication hurdles when we requested a few off-menu items (and some that are on the menu, because the waiter had been tuned to hear incorrect American pronunciations of various dishes). (as a caveat, since my visit there, they've also subsequently bought a few things from me).

Just like any other juice and most sauces, you should refrigerate it after opening.

I recommend getting one that takes up as much of the shelf space as possible. Mine is about 14" wide, which works fine except when I carelessly make a pizza that is wider than the 10" depth. Also, avoid anything round. Those are cute, but pointless, as you likely won't have any room for error when placing your food on the stone, except for maybe single loaves of bread.

I'm sad I missed that show... I'm glad someone continued the research Though I guess if any mainstream TV chef were to explore such techniques, I'd expect it to be Alton. Alton Brown demonstrated the technique on his cross-country tour show "Feasting on Asphalt". ... ←

by the way, I think kushi-katsu shops are sometimes also called kushi-age shops, but I may be wrong about that (since I don't eat meat, I've only been to one or two)

This is myouga, which I guess is sometimes translated as ginger shoot. It can be used finely sliced/diced and raw, or you can quick-pickle it. You can make a kind of salad with shiso, strips of myouga, and cucumber, rub everything together with a bit of salt until the vegetables sweat a bit; serve after chilling for an hour or so, to allow flavors to kind of converge a bit. Maybe you can add vinegar if you like. It's nice nearly-minced as a topping for hiya-yakko (cold tofu) with some soy sauce. Some people like it cooked, such as in miso soup. I once saw a nigiri-sushi made with marinated myouga (vinegar, sugar, salt). I once misused it as a shallot, sauteeing it before adding some other vegetables. That tasted nice, but the vegetable tends to be fairly dry and it likes to stay crispy anyway.

Gaku Homma wrote about this in his Japanese Country Cooking book... his mother always made round ones with old-school fillings like umeboshi; when packing a lunch for a field trip as a child, he was always shocked because everyone else's mother made various interesting shapes (squares or triangles or whatever) and had fillings that his mother would never consider making, and "theirs were completely different."

(Greens are different than mushrooms... but agh... I served them with mushrooms, sorry...) Yu choi, pak choy and chingensai are all actually different. Though most Japanese don't recognize a difference between young bok choy and chingensai, most Chinese do... There was a brief discussion on that somewhere in the China forum. Unfortunately, Seattle's mushroom season is at its tail end, so mostly have cultivated mushrooms right now, and that means a smaller variety. We've only got a month or two to wait until we start seeing 編笠茸 (amigasatake, morels) in Seattle. While I don't remember finding them in Japan, they lend themselves well to Japanese treatments. I may sneak some in to an ohitashi or two. I suspect they'd work well in a chawanmushi, as they like being in omelets.

Surprisingly, button mushrooms, and their close relatives, the crimini, have been getting expensive. I used to pay about $2-2.50 per pound, but this year they seem to be roughly $4-5/lb. in many cases. The white ones are usually a tiny bit cheaper than the brownish crimini, but I usually buy the crimini anyway. However, a pound of button mushrooms is a huge amount, and probably works out to a couple dozen mushrooms. The awabi-take are very nice, but so far I've only had them with something like chingensai (actually yu choi, whose Chinese characters are the same as 油菜, though I'm not sure it's the same as aburana). See http://blog.jagaimo.com/archive/2006/12/20/2862.aspx

In Seattle, maitake tend to be about $13/lb, so about 300-350 yen per 100 grams. Shiitake run $10-12/lb if I'm shopping in average places, $6 if I buy them from the local shiitake grower that sells at the Pike Place Market until it gets snowy in Grandview. So the typical price is maybe 250-300 yen per 100 grams. Enoki are usually about $1.50-2.50 for a package, or more at markets that think they're gourmet, but I think the same amount is 100-200 yen in Japan and fresher. "Real" shimeji tend to be pretty expensive compared to any of the others. My favorite mushroom discovery this year was "abalone mushrooms", or awabi-take. I suspect ponzu with those would be interesting. The texture is surprisingly similar to what I remember abalone being like (but it's been about 14 years since I tasted them).