sanrensho

Another thanks for mentioning this. I'll probably watch it once all of the episodes have aired. My wife has also been pining to watch Bambino!, which is also airing currently.

I would say it's definitely doable. We've had a blueberry bush that has been stunted for the last two years due to lack of sun. It has since been planted in a sunny location. The bush isn't more than 3 or 4 feet tall and the roots weren't particularly big. I'm already seeing some blossoms, so we should be able to pick a handful [edited] of blueberries this year. (Last year we only got a couple of tiny blueberries.) I think you could also do gooseberries on a sunny balcony. We have one bush that was also moved to a sunny location this year, and it's not very tall, maybe 2 feet. We can already see the fruit, and the foliage is nice.

Curry plant or curry (leaf) tree? I probably wasn't specific enough, but I'm looking the latter. I realize it may be a hopeless quest, since it's a tropical/sub-tropical tree.

My experience is the same as well. A bit of egg yolk does not prevent whites from whipping up, so I no longer worry about it.

I'm with you there. I grew some chervil a few years ago when it was included in a mesculin/herb mix, so it should be easy to grow from seed. Unfortunately, my local nursery no longer carries the same seed pack. Also, I've asked Pam R to merge the two threads since it was too confusing with the similar subject matter. Sorry about that! Does anyone know if it is possible to grow kaffir lime leaf and curry leaf trees in our climate? Has anyone seen either sold locally (plants)?

Fujiya will have (Japanese) green shiso plants once the weather warms up. I'll post when they become available. I also saw two types of shiso (green and purple) at the Maple Leaf Garden Centre in Lynn Valley, but the former appeared to be the Korean perilla with a purple tint to the leaves.

The gardeners at my local nursery (Dykhof Nurseries in North Van) keep reminding me that it's still borderline early to plant tomatoes and basil, so I've been holding off on both. I'm dying to make some basil pesto to go with the handmade pasta that we started making this year...

^^^I really wish we could plant some fruit trees, but space and other restrictions mean that we have to settle for fruit bushes. I'm thinking of picking up a blackcurrant bush and some black raspberries this year. My experiences with tomatoes have been miserable, but I think I'll give it a go this year.

[Edited the first part out] Surely there must be some of you that are busy planting and planning for your garden bounty. What have you got going into the ground? Anything unusual this year? This year, we finally have some sun to work with due to some generous tree removal (for hazard reasons). So far, we've got a bunch of Japanese greens coming up, lots of young Spinach and other assorted greens, along with the start of a lettuce patch. Also doing sugar snap peas, eggplant and squash for the first time. I also continue to be amazed at the production from my redcurrant bush, although it will be another month or so before the fruit are ripe. I look forward to hearing what everyone is planting, as well as your successes/failures.

I was thinking of warabi (bracken fern fiddleheads), which is what the Korean community picks in my immediate area. I have looked around, but haven't found any kogomi (ostrich fern fiddleheads), although I'm no expert.

Along the same lines, are the fiddleheads you get in NS from ostrich ferns? Are fiddleheads from bracken fern (more toxic) ever picked in your area?

I use the same technique. It really doesn't take that much effort, at least for the quantities I deal with. The only double mesh strainer (not chinois) I have is a complete *pain* to clean up the seeds later. I'm fairly sure I will still be picking out the seeds years from now.... I only use my single mesh strainers now.

Thanks for the input, Catherine and Ruth. It sounds like it will be worthwhile to plant some of the black raspberries next to my patch of regular raspberries. Hopefully I'll have a decent crop in about 2009 or so!

The strainer doesn't have to be any finer than a tea strainer. I've used several types of standard mesh strainers and they all work fine without passing seeds. However, with some styles of mesh, it's more difficult to clean up the seeds afterwards.

I was think of planting some black raspberries this year, but have never tasted or picked them. In fact, I've never seen black raspberries sold in our local markets. How do they taste compared to regular (red) raspberries? Of course, there are many varieties of red raspberries, but I'd like to know if there is a significant difference in taste. Thanks in advance.

Not sure　if this helps, but this company (Japanese only) lists 2kg bars of "bitter" unsweetened chocolate for 1,650 yen. It is a lot, but perhaps you could split with someone or freeze/refrigerate. It doesn't list the source of the chocolate, but I wonder if it's a Meiji or similar domestic product?

It sounds like you're looking for a glacage recipe. I haven't tried it myself, but there is a cocoa glacage recipe by pastry chef Michael Laiskonis in RecipeGullet. http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r352.html

Hi Rona. Sorry about the glacial response. The recipe is actually a Japanese one and contains eggs and milk, but no butter (so technically not a brioche). I'll send you a PM of the original recipe, rather than my modified one, since the original ingredients/weights will probably work better for you.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I look forward to trying them soon.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely try them. Does the yomogi require aku-nuki (boiling separately) before putting in the miso soup? How long would you boil the yomogi for ohitashi? Have you ever had yomogi in nabe?

Ouch, I don't think I could *ahem* stomach that! I guess my fallback plan is to boil and puree, then freeze for later use or mochi making. It's too bad that we don't make tempura often.

I use a 30 degree Baume syrup with the following ratios (I usually scale down to 1/2 or 1/4 this amount): 1 liter water 1,350 grams sugar Bring to boil until dissolved and cool. That's it. Lasts indefinitely (at least 6 months) in the fridge, stored in a standard plastic container. I've never had it crystallize on me and use no other precautions.

Hiroyuki recently posted some photos of his yomogi tempura in this thread. I have access to a good amount of fresh yomogi this year, thanks to some transplanted plants and the arrival of warmer spring weather. However, I'd really like to find some uses for it other than mochi. Do you have any favorite or unusual recipes that use fresh yomogi? A quick Google search in Japanese brings up a lot of recipes for mochi (rice cakes), and also some recipes for baking in breads and cakes. I'm especially interested in recipes that don't involve mochi or breads.

^^^Thanks for replying, Kristin. I guess I'll have to go hunting around some Japanese pastry sites for this mystery sakura powder.

Is everybody kneading their egg bread/brioche/challah? I have a no-knead recipe for egg bread that my family has been enjoying for the last couple of weeks, but I'm not sure it's worth posting the recipe or adding to RecipeGullet. I'm not a bread baker by any means, so "no-knead" recipes are the difference between baking bread or not at all.