BarbaraY

Hiroyuki, it looks like a lot of fun and the trees blooming next to the water are beautiful.

This thread reminds me of my public cooking days. During a hot spell I served a corn relish rather a hot vegetable. One customer sent it back complaining that it was cold.

That makes sense since it is a recipe for Shrimp and Avocado salad. Thank you.

During a recent tour in Italy I purchased a magazine, Cucinare Bene. I can usually translate the recipes but this one boggles me because it isn't in my dictionary nor any of the translation sites. "Mondate il songino dalle radichette". Any help would be appreciated. TIA

The Hot Milk Sponge cake was, as I recall, the first cake I learned to make. My grandma taught me how to do it. Very nostalgic.

I am so accustomed to doing this that, even though I'm now retired, I often do it while grocery shopping. Busy stockers and unwary customers need notice that I'm there.

I don't recommend adding extra water to Jasmine rice which is our favorite for most things. It doesn't get sticky but mushy. If you want rice that stays together, I agree with CommissionerLin, short grain or calrose. I cannot bring myself to cook unwashed rice.

I so envy you having decent Indian places to eat at. We recently had an Indian Restaurant open in our small town. My daughter and I tried it and were disappointed, strangest Butter Chicken I've ever had. I've had better tasting food at the food court near Oakland. As to the mannequins, I'm a great fan of Salwar suits and have seven of them. I do get some odd looks at times but they're comfortable. Not as revealing as those shown above. My favorite sari shop in Berkeley has mannequins with really big plastic hair.

I did mention her book above. It's a very good book with nice recipes. That's where I first started cooking NikuJaga. Sorry Hiroyuki but she calls for beef, not pork.

Thanks for bringing Market Hall Foods to my attention. I go to Oakland as often as I can as my dearest friend lives there. I'm surprised that she has never taken me there. I'm stopping there next week to visit with her for a bit before I leave from SFO for a trip to Italy. Maybe we can find time to check this out, either coming or going.

Ah! Frida Kahlo! My favorite artist. I tried to visit the Blue House when I was in Mexico City but it was closed for repairs. I'm enjoying this blog and looking forward to more.

I recently used it with Kalamata olives as a stuffing for chicken breasts. Very good.

What is the first thing that the cook sauteed? Is it mushroom? They looked very nice when finished?

Shizuo Tsuji, in his book Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art, has a recipe for Salmon that uses butter, soy sauce, and mirin with green onions. It's absolutely delicious.

In the Kaiseki book author Murata stresses the importance of soft water. My water is very, very hard so I have yet to make cold brewed dashi even though I have all the components. I'm still using dashi powder.

I have never seen canned tripe. Has anyone tried cooking it in a pressure cooker? Seems like a reasonable way to cut cooking time. My pressure cooker book calls for cooking for 15 minutes under full pressure. I've never done it but it should work. Mmmm! Menudo!

Yes. American grocery store strawberries are abominable, nasty, tasteless things. But, in a month or so the small fields in the Central Valley that are usually run by Vietnamese families and have a stand by the road will be ready. These are the most delicious, fragrant, bright red berries anyone would want. These berries, obviously aren't shippable because they keep for only a couple of days at most. I can gobble up a whole basket before I drive the 40 miles home. Very seasonal since they last only a couple of months. Then we look forward to the next season.

The kare-pan looks delicious. I hope it was. I would like to taste udo sometime but the nearest Japanese market is 70 miles away and I don't remember ever seeing it there. I usually order my Japanese goods from a store in San Francisco area.

As I remember my Grandmother blanched them. I thought it was fun to peel the horny hide off them when I was a kid. These were from the chickens that she raised so of course they were dirty.

I agree with Jason. This is a very interesting personal history. I also recommend Japanese Homestyle Cooking by Tokiko Suzuki. Although there's no historical context, the recipes are very authentic for those interested in what people really eat at home instead of in restaurants. Not westernized at all. My all-time favorite, go-to cookbook is Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji

I'm so looking forward to the rest of your blog. I'm fascinated by Japan and especially Japanese home cooking.

I found this immensely funny. You have a great sense of humor to pull this off.

I was surprised when I saw the picture of the Chkubeza. I have been digging this stuff out of my garden and cursing it for years. Now I will just try eating it. I had no idea it was edible.

I'm curious about the soup veggies. Are those preserved or fresh lemons and what are the greens?

I don't think I should have read this before breakfast. Those breads and pastries look wonderful and I'm sure they must taste wonderful, too.