sanrensho

Klary, Thanks for the instructions on the capucijner peas with bacon and onion. We had it as a side dish. No pickles in the house to speak of, so I had mine with a bit of dijon mustard mixed in, the kids had theirs plain. However, I can really see how the peas would go well with sweet pickles and what looks to be a sweet mustard (?) in your photo. I'm pleased to report that my 4-year old asked for more peas at breakfast the next day. I will be making this dish again. -Kenji

We had a Japanese nabe (hot pot) party with three other families. Two propane burners and two hot pots going on at the same time. One hot pot with kim chi and the other using a chicken stock for variety and for the kids. Everyone managed to stuff themselves silly and we polished off most of a 9-inch mousse cake (green tea and white/dark chocolate w/layers of almond biscuit). At the stroke of midnight, we popped the cork on some "champagne" (sparkling cider) and everyone including kids had some bubbly. Best of all, everyone left with a satisfied smile. Can't wait to do it again next year.

I really like the version that my wife makes, with finely ground walnuts added to a dashi-based stock. Not sure if this is a regional thing exclusive to Nagano prefecture.

Great photos. Very interesting to hear your impressions of Japanese pastry. I had to laught at the chestnut comment. Yes, AFAIK, there is a law requiring Japanese pastry shops to offer cream puffs, panna cotta and mont blanc. You mention a few times how the chestnut elements were too sweet. Did you find the chestnut elements to be sweeter than their use in France?

The Fujiya site states that free delivery is for minimum orders of $100 and in the downtown core only.

The default measurements are for cooking Japanese (short grain) rice. When cooking other types of rice, you need to adjust the water level accordingly and ignore the default measurements. When cooking short grain rice using the default measurements, you must use the plastic measuring cup that comes with your rice cooker.

Klary, could you please post up the cooking method/recipe for the capucijner peas with bacon? I didn't see it in RecipeGullet. I found a can of imported capucijner peas today in one of our local grocery chains (Save-On Foods) here in Vancouver. Thanks. -Kenji

From your description, it sounds like the episode was handled fairly tastefully. Chopping heads and spurting blood/guts would have been unnecessary. However, I see nothing wrong with not glossing over how food (meat) gets to our tables. I'm not even a vegetarian, but even kids need to realize that meat doesn't mysteriously appear on styrofoam plates and nicely wrapped in plastic. I don't agree with candy-coating over the fact that meat = animal slaughter.

A Google search turned up this source: http://www.cortibros.biz/WEBSITE/Groceries...e/SoySauces.asp I know nothing about the retailer, however.

Firstly, I haven't seen the show. However, if you're talking about media sensationalism, then I don't see how GR is to blame for that. If you're saying that GR's show deliberately played up the slaughter in a sensationalist way, then I can understand the criticism. As long as there are appropriate warnings, I personally don't see a problem with revealing the slaughter aspect of food. I also don't have a problem with explaining to my children that meat comes from dead animals. Death is exploited in much worse ways on television, such as CSI.

I did a little hunting around and found a photo of the mysterious Thai red tea: http://kousuzuki.ld.infoseek.co.jp/japan%2...chaayen4221.jpg Sorry about the low res photo. As far as I can tell, it's just the brewed tea and sweetened condensed milk. EDIT: Here's a link to an online source for Thai red tea leaves. If anyone has this, they should be able to read off the ingredient list. http://importfood.com/thaiicetea.html

I'd say no. If this were true, then people would be climbing over themselves to buy perfect looking fruit that tastes like crap. Although I'm sure it has happened, I don't think it's what the Japanese consumer expects. It would be more accurate to say that appearance and flavor are of equal importance.

I urge you to get yourself a good book and keep trying. The Cake Bible has some good buttercream recipes and excellent instructions. I usually use RLB's mousseline BC from that book. I'm only a home baker, but have never had a problem making that particular recipe.

Is that because of the preparation? I'm assuming that you could make any coconut curry separate by boiling the milk sufficiently.

IMO, the purest way to enjoy matsutake is in a suimono (clear broth) or as matsutake gohan (matsutake rice). Both preparations will allow you to fully capture and enjoy the aroma of matsutake, which infuses itself into the broth or rice. Distant third would be wrapping in parchment paper and steaming with some butter. Above all, I would urge you to keep it simple and avoiding adding any sauces. Stir-frying matsutake would be a complete waste, in my opinion. Oven roasting also strikes me as a waste, because all that aroma is just going escape. Grilling at the table would be nice because you can still enjoy the aroma while eating. Another traditional prep is in a chawanmushi (savory custard). Again, the idea is to capture all that aroma and let it infuse into the custard.

In the case of Thai coconut milk curries, the coconut milk is purposely boiled until the oil separates. (To my understanding, this is seen as desirable to the presentation of Thai coconut milk curries.) This process takes about 5-10 minutes.

This thread should be helpful for the gelatin technique. I usually use approx. two sheets of gelatin per cup of unwhipped cream, but it depends on personal taste and the desired stiffness. You can use the equivalent amount of powdered gelatin. The flavors can consist of any strained fruit puree you like, either from fresh or frozen fruit or from a canned or frozen puree (mango, etc.). For an easy chocolate mousse, you can make a whipped chocolate ganache (chocolate melted in cream then whipped). No gelatin is needed, although white chocolate benefits from gelatin to stiffen it up.

For a simple whipped cream-based fruit mousse, just add melted gelatin well before the soft peak stage and then fold in fruit puree. I make this all the time and it is dead easy.

I don't think it's possible to be "too snarky" about Ray-Ray. Aside from large chopping jobs and deboning, I think you will like the santoku a lot for almost everything else. Since you already have some German knives, you might as well check out the Japanese steel.

Santoku knives are "trendy"? Rachel Ray driven? AFAIK, Japanese chefs have been using santoku knives before Ray-Ray was even born. I prefer a santoku, and yes, I have small hands. However, I think you should also pay attention to the steel and handle, not just the style of knife.

Does anyone have any suggestions for combos with lemon specifically? TIA Lemon + almond Lemon + vanilla Lemon + coconut Lemon + white chocolate Lemon + raspberry Lemon + (other citrus) Lemon + ???

Thank you for the great first post, Susanne! Bless your heart for taking the time to write out that pronunciation guide. Those examples are a great starting point for the rest of us. I can now take a decent stab at pronouncing Dutch words. Klary, I hope you are doing well and recovering nicely. -Kenji

Could be the spelling--wagyu (literally, "Japanese cow").

In traditional Japanese cooking it's most often used as a dipping sauce, but also poured over some foods.

Not to get too technical, but I would characterize ponzu as more of a sauce and not a marinade. As Torakris said, I think the average Japanese would associate ponzu with the aji-pon from Mitsuka, which is probably the most widely available ponzu. However, that doesn't mean it's the only way to make ponzu. I just consulted two native Japanese dictionaries and one specifies ponzu as being made from daidai (bitter oranges). The other specifies kankitsu.