sanrensho

Thanks for the advice. Actually, the (sweet) umeshu from my parents-in-law is at least 3 years in the making, so I assume it's a matter of taste. However, it's good to know that my preferred sweetness level is quicker to produce. Did you make your umeshu with shochu?

The homemade umeshu made by my parents-in-law is quite sweet. It's at least as sweet as Choya, which I haven't had in a long time. It's definitely sweeter (and has less kick) than the "assari" version of Choya that is made with brandy. I desperately need to find a local source for ume so that I can start making my own umeshu.

I'm assuming the first comment was address to Bruce, not me. It wasn't me that posted about using Pam. I don't use Pam, but I do find it helpful to lightly coat the noodles with oil to prevent sticking. This is after too many incidents of having rice noodles stuck to my wok.I believe the end amount of oil used is the same, unless it's my technique that needs brushing up.

That looks delicious. The color looks really good to me. I'm glad it turned out well for you. Did you thin the matcha with warm water first?

I've found it helpful to give the soaked/blanched rice noodles a very light coating of oil, if you have problems with the noodles sticking when stir-frying.

I'd call this "intuitive." After all, isn't that what salad plates are for? Although I'd like to credit my Japanese heritage for wanting to keep sauces/dressings separate, my wife (who is Japanese) has no qualms about plopping runny salads onto the same plate as mains. I can only tolerate this if the salad is dressed in such a way that it won't leach into the rest of the food. I don't have a problem with having complementary foods touch, or Thai meals where you have a lot of intermingling of sauces with rice on your plate. I consider that to be in the spirit of eating Thai. I guess I'm saying that there's a lot of leeway depending on the customs of the cuisine itself. I agree with you 100% on water with meals.

Yup. Excellent source of calcium. Japanese kids and adults alike will also snack on things like tiny dried whole anchovies. Good for the bones...

Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. We've stored miso for close to a year this way. I personally don't see any need for adding oil--nor would I want any oil mixed with my miso. If you find that you're having trouble getting through a package of miso, start using it in your dressings or even smear on cucumber for a snack.

They're called nama yatsuhashi. Love the things, haven't had them in years. EDITED: Left out the "nama" part.

Out of curiosity, where is the Hamilton Beach/Kenwood/DeLonghi mixer made?

I usually make this with strained (frozen) raspberry puree. Being the cake person that I am, it's usually when I have some puree leftover from making raspberry buttercream. However, I haven't experimented with this much, so maybe there's a better way to get a more intense flavor. I would try steeping the raspberries in vinegar first, then puree and strain. Rapsberry jam strikes me as being way too sweet.

I happen to like that particular stir-fry sauce because it really highlights the oyster sauce and pepper. I'm not a big fan of using a little oyster sauce in everything, as the flavor becomes muted and it can be a bit boring.

I think celebrating seasonality and seasonal foods/ingredients is an important aspect of Japanese cuisine. Of course, this isn't unique to Japanese cuisine, but it is nonetheless an important aspect of preparing and enjoying Japanese cuisine.

Thanks, I'll try this next time. Here's our default Thai stir-fry from asparagus (from an older Aussie cookbook called Thai Cooking Class): Stir-fry chopped garlic, then add 400g asparagus. Stir-fry one minute, add 2 TBS oyster sauce, 1 TBS fish sauce, 1 TSP sugar, 1 TSP white pepper. Stir-fry another 1-2 minutes. Cheers!

Wow, that looks great. I think I'll be making a red curry tomorrow with more pedestrian ingredients, probably thin-shaved beef. What did you use to stir-fry the snow peas?

If your guests are heavy coffee drinkers and/or your schedules don't match, you might want to consider saving labor by brewing over a thermal carafe, vacuum pot, thermos, etc.

Yes, it is really that simple. And I third the Melitta filter suggestion. Note that some coffee drinkers do not like the sludge that can result with French press pots. Like myself, for instance. Instead of using your spice grinder, I would recommend either picking up another grinder or getting the smallest amount of freshly roasted beans pre-ground by your roaster. For myself and my wife, I usually buy only 1/4 lb of roasted beans at a time. Of course, it helps that our local roaster has an outlet only a few blocks from my house.

One thing I often do is to weigh out all my ingredients the night before, so that everything is on the counter and ready to go. This is also a good way to make sure that you have all your ingredients on hand. I'll also grease my pans at the same time.

The Le Creuset grill pan is also on sale for 25% off $145.

Yes, Japanese onigiri are almost always made with the unseasoned seaweed. As you say, it's less messy, but the use of Korean seaweed makes for a tasty variation.

Lenabo, your English is great! I have no trouble understanding your writing. I did read Alinka's blog and that is what initially piqued my curiosity about Russian cakes/pastry. It's a subject that most of us know very little about, and I look forward to learning more from your posts.

The burgers don't appeal to me, but the Vietnamese salad roll variations are kind of cute.

What sort of mousses will you be making? Bavarois? Is there a freezer on site? I would think that would affect the time it takes for your mousse to set up and be ready for covering with ganache. If I read your post correctly, you intend to assemble a cake for demonstration purposes, but have one that is already set up for pouring the final ganache. Sounds like a good plan to me. Good luck!

You might want to check out your closest Winners as they occasionally have Kai (known as Kershaw Shun here in North America) knives for around $25. These are not their top of the line knives, as you might imagine. However, I have found that Japanese knives at this price point perform far better than anything else in the same price range such as Henkels. Also, I should note that Japanese knives at this price point are typically short or medium length santoku or gyuto blades, so this might not be what you're looking for if you want a long chef's knife. Warning: Winners also had some Japanese-made "Seki" knives but I wouldn't recommend them. The blades are serviceable for the price ($12~, I think), but some of the handles fall apart.

Hang Heung? I just got back from T&T and they were blowing out their remaining mooncake gift boxes for 1/2 price. All of the remaining boxes appeared to be from two producers: Hang Heung Bakery in HK and I-Mei of Taiwan. I picked up a tin of the I-Mei mooncakes. In a moment of complete stupidity, I neglected to look for the iced mooncakes that everybody has mentioned. http://www.tnt-supermarket.com/mid_autumn/mid_autumn-e.php