sanrensho

That reminds me of a Japanese travelogue program that I once saw. I can't remember the details now, but a Japanese woman who had been staying in Italy wanted to make a Japanese dish for her friends/hosts. She ended up making the classic Spaghetti Neapolitan (w/ketchup) and her Italian hosts just loved it. They had no idea it contained ketchup until they were told. Maybe this will make your husband feel better. I don't have problems with using ketchup as a cooking ingredients. Honestly, how different is it from other bottled condiments in the Japanese kitchen such as tonkatsu sauce?

I think it's true that American recipes tend to be too sweet. I usually cut down the sugar amounts in most US recipes by 20-35%, and I know a few other Egulleters do as well. I generally don't have to make the same adjustment with my Japanese baking recipes (same items: cookies, cakes, etc.). As for the breakfast pastry basket, "croissants, muffins, and scones" does sound very American to me, with the obvious exception of the croissants. Unless I were really missing muffins and scones (ex-pat hunger pangs), I would personally be happier seeing something like brioches, pain au chocolat and pain aux raisins, in addition to a well-made croissant. Fairly pedestrian choices, but more European and up-scale to me. I think of muffins and scones as more of a home baking item, maybe that's just me. When you say Asian desserts, you seem to be referring to indigenous desserts, but some parts of Asia like Japan and HK have a strong tradition of Western-influenced pastry. You don't think a dessert with yuzu or matcha, just to name some obvious ingredients, would do well on your menu? How about lychee, coconut or lemongrass flavorings? My $0.02.

I am really enjoying this thread and admire your minimalism. I can't wait to read future installments. By focusing on good quality, seasonal ingredients that are local to you, I feel you are very much capturing the spirit of Italian cooking. (I've never been to Italy either, but that's the impression I get of Italian cooking. And also goes some way to explain why Italian cooking transplants so well in Japan, IMO.) You're doing a great job so far!

You'll wear out (or break) your peeler quickly trying to peel kabocha. It's faster and more effect to simply use a knife to cut off the peel. Also, it's perfectly fine to leave some of the skin, if you're comfortable with that (personal taste). My first instinct is to peel it too, but my wife usually leaves some if not all of the skin on. It's much nicer from a textural perspective, if you are braising the kabocha Japanese style, as in a typical nimono. Kabocha nimono images

Yes please!

This brings up an interesting question. How would a business (restaurant) that uses breast milk ensure the consistent taste of its products if it can't control what the moms are eating? Would they need to have a breast milk taster on staff to ensure some uniformity of breast milk taste? Or freeze batches for blending if there are "off" tastes in the fresh supply?

Wow. I don't think I have ever seen unsalted butter sold here at those prices. (Gay Lea is not sold out west, and no Loblaws, only Superstore.)

Still waiting for some comments on how it tasted. Between the baby breath and constant smell of damp breast milk (not to mention the, um, baby waste product from ingesting breast milk), I can say I had zero urge to get my share of the milk.

Hiroyuki will confirm, but it's very likely 350g total. Japanese recipes often specify a ground mixture of pork and beef (as one ingredient). Plus 700g is a huge amount for a typical Japanese recipe. Enough to feed a family of eight.

Firstly, I find it really confusing to deal with volume measurements and percentages, rather than metric weights and baker's percentages. However, I can tell you that I add similar amounts of whole wheat to my sourdough bread without any adjustment to the amount of water or kneading time. (Roughly 4:1 white to WW.) Now, if you're talking about a 50% whole wheat bread (baker's percentage--50% of flour or 1/2 whole wheat), that would probably require some adjustment of water. For a "light" WW of 20% (baker's percentage), I'm inclined to say that none or minimal adjustment may be needed. If you're current formula is working fine, I would just simply start adding WW in gradual increments. The handling of the dough and baked results will tell you if you need to adjust for water. I say just do it/try it.

You could try a Japanese market. I know that condensed milk has been sold in tubes there for a long time. A bigger market should have some.

It's "bibimbap." I would simply take it as a sign that you're pushing the right buttons. That and the weather!

I just noticed you're from Hawaii--it's been way too long since I last visited. Sniff. I could really use an apple banana now. The chopped amanatto stays intact but becomes a bit softer. It adds a bit of textural (and visual) interest to cakes and fillings, and of course pairs superbly with matcha. I think of them much like I do chocolate chips or raisins, so there are lots of possibilities in wafuu-style desserts. I don't have a recipe for the matcha azuki muffin yet. I think I will end up doctoring my usual sourdough muffin recipe--which is my current favorite muffin recipe. Hopefully the sourdough won't be too overpowering for the matcha. (I always have a lot of sourdough on hand from baking bread.) http://www.sourdoughhome.com/blueberrymuffins.html Thanks for posting the amanatto recipe. I look forward to trying it.

I mostly bake them in chiffon cakes (matcha, etc.), but I wouldn't hesitate to put them in a pound cake as well. I also chop them and throw them into chantilly cream or other creams for filling rolls (matcha azuki roll), etc. The brand I can get imported here is Inada Mame. They were selling the same brand in Matsumoto for about 125 yen per page (100-130g per package). Available in a couple of varieties including the standard azuki and kuromame, etc. I just had some out of the freezer, and they actually taste pretty good that way. And actually, that reminds me, I should make a matcha-azuki muffin sometime soon.

I'm interested too! Although I don't find it be that expensive, maybe Torakris is talking about the good stuff. (I use mine for baking only.)

If you like short grain Japonica varieties, you might like the haigamai (such as Tamaki Haigamai) rices that are partially polished with only the bran removed. There is also a Sukoyaka Genmai (Japanese brown rice) that actually seems like it is partially polished as well. Both can be found in Japanese or Korean markets. Our daily rice is generally a 50/50 blend of white rice and Sukoyaka Genmai or haigamai. Although I personally prefer a lower ratio of genmai/haigamai (25-35%). This makes a nice alternative to white rice with good texture.

Plain vanilla. Or matcha. All are commonly combined with sesame/red bean flavors in Japanese pastry, and I would think Korean and Chinese pastry too. If matcha is too Japanese for your Korean/Chinese theme, then another type of tea such as jasmine. Other ideas are caramel or kokuto (Japanese black sugar). Pear would also match well, as would chestnut. A subtle flavoring of yuzu or other citrus would also punch up the flavor combination. I would lean away from buttercream for a lighter frosting.

-Bread from Transylvania Bakery -Cinnamon sugar bagels from Mont Royal -Thomas Haas chocolates

General Egullet inspiration: I really, really miss Wendy DeBord's posts. I would say she was a huge inspiration when I started getting seriously into baking. So many demos and tips along the way. We miss you Wendy.

I nuke 'em for 30-60 seconds. They are very easy to microplane at that point. The juice is still slushy but easy to extract and strain. No worries about juice flying during juicing. In fact, I think I need to stock on another bag of organic lemons this week...

One storage tip that has saved my bacon numerous times is freezing lemons (courtesy of Peter the Eater). I would never have thought of this. Now I buy bags of organic lemons and freeze them for grating or juicing when I'm out of lemons. My version of the Lepard sourdough in one of the tutorials is also now my daily bread. Thank you Dan.

If I had to do a large volume, I suppose I would cut the lemons in half, then make angled cuts to remove the tough center part. Then slice into wedges and flick out any seeds.

I always cut into wedges, chop off the center (white) part, and flick out the seeds with a knife or other utensil. I do this with naval orange wedges too (not the seed part), as it makes the wedges easier to eat.

Thanks for the info, Anna!

^^^When I was living there, I spent 95% of my time in the Kanto/Tokyo area, and I think I only had the Kansai style during that entire time. I wouldn't be surprised if the Kansai style is much more prevalent throughout Japan. It seems like it is easier to make, especially homemade.