jean_genie

Our best sushi experiences were when we sat at the sushi counter in front of the chef, which was something we could only do when we arrived in Japan last year, simply because we did not have such options back home in Perth, Aust. It's great to order the sushi, and watch the chef prepare it and plop it straight down in front of you for you to consume freshly made. But of course, fresh fish always makes the difference between good and bad sushi experiences.

Oh, and haha! I just found the list of links to "THE BEST" threads - dunno how I missed it before, seeing that it has been pinned And oh my, what a list!

Todd36, thank you for your input. After living in countryside Japan for the past year where it was difficult to get many international foodstuff, I sure am looking forward to the variety offered by NYC!

Dear Mark, Thank you so much for your valued advice. If there are people like you who are passionate about NYC, I'm sure it's not as bad as I imagine it to be. Hopefully I have enough common sense to avoid trouble. There will at least be a fully equipped kitchen in the apartment that we'll stay at, so hopefully it's not too tiny. And thanks very much for the recommendations to pick up NYM and NFT - I'm sure I'll refer to them a lot if I get them (and I most probably will). Cheers Jean

Oh, cool, so many replies! Thanks for all your replies. Nathan: About restaurants preferences - we are adventurous eaters and would love to try anything that comes highly recommended. Price-wise: well, ranging from cheap to classy would be nice, and perhaps the maximum cost we'd want to pay for a meal is about $150 per person. Other preferences: as raji mentioned, most of the food in Japan are Japanised, so we crave for some good authentically-prepared food from any cuisines. Oh, and we love spicy food! I guess if everyone would recommend a couple of their favourite restaurants to try, we'd be pretty busy for our 2mths stay. tim, thanks for your list of cheese and sausage places Hubby loves cheese (selection is somewhat lacking in Japan), so we'll definitely check those places out. MarkIsCooking, your reply makes me feel better about going to NYC, and I hope you will return to NYC. To tell you the truth, I was initially quite apprehensive about NY, but reading this topic gives me stuff to look forward to. As a person who loves to travel and exploring, I'll definitely check out the non-food aspect of New York raji: what I meant by "non-alcoholic drinkers" is that we both don't drink alcohol - I'm allergic to it and hubby chooses not to drink it on principle. Thanks for your recommendation re: markets on 9th avenue. Will check it out. Oh, and please do list your favourites!

Hi emsny, thanks for your reply. I just checked and we'll be staying in one of the apartments on Wall Street.

Oh my, what a list! Thank you so much Todd36, I don't feel so apprehensive about going to NY now I will definitely check out most, if not all, of the places on your list! And I'll consider getting the Zagat guide you mentioned.

Hey NY-ers, I'm a newbie here, needing advice from NY-ers. Hubby will be taking a 2mth business trip to NYC, and I will be accompanying him (we arrive this Thursday 2nd Aug). 2 mths is a pretty lengthy period (but yet too short for me to find a job), so I'd like some suggestions on what food places to try and what to avoid. I have done a bit of searching on this thread, but this is a HUGE thread and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed atm. Assuming we don't have any food or budgetary restrictions (we are both non-alcoholic drinkers though), please give a list of must-try restaurants We will be staying in Manhattan (I think on Wall Street?). I love markets and grocery shopping, but hubby said that most NY-ers rely on food delivery so there aren't that many markets or grocery stores around NYC. Please say that's not true, and please recommend some good markets/foodie places to explore I need something interesting to do while hubby is working! [Also, sInce we're based in Japan where it's difficult to get good SE Asian (especially SIngaporean and Malaysian) and Chinese food, we'd love it if we can have reccomendations on good places to go to for those cuisines] Many thanks in advance, and I look forward to reading any replies Cheers, Jean

Hi Anne, I would separate pasta and 'Asian' noodles because they are quite different. Pasta and noodles have different textures (eg 'al dente' is desirable in pasta, but not necessarily so in noodles) and different cooking methods (eg noodles can be fried in its sauce or cooked in broth whereas pasta and its sauce tend to be cooked separately). Also different parts of Asia has different types of noodles - my observation has been that rice noodles tend to dominate in SE Asia whereas wheat noodles features a lot in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. That said, there are many possibilities in the kitchen, and 'fusion' dishes are not uncommon these days.

Asian people don't wear shoes inside their homes, and we often cook without shoes on.. would probably be a good idea to have some protection though!

I sometimes wish I taught at a shougakkou or even a chuugakkou for the kyuushoku (as a JET participant, I don't get to choose my placement). Fellow JETs who visit elementary and junior high often tell me how good and cheap the kyuushoku are. Of course, there are also those less open-minded ones who complain about the fish, tofu, etc, but they're just plain fussy.

Was this the final product, or did you continue to cook the stew to reduce the liquid? Is it traditional in these parts of SE Asia for the liquid portion of a dish to remain fluid - other than rendang where it reduced to a glaze? Must be the NA influence on my preference because I like to use cornstarch slurry to thicken sauces just enough for it to slide lazily down a spoon. Lovely looking stew regardless! ← Mm yummy, this looks just like my mum's Chicken Pongteh! This is making me miss my mum's Nonya dishes all the more! (not a simple case of going home for some of her cooking since my mum is in Australia and I'm in Japan!) Dejah: yeah - the liquid of a lot of curries and stews in SE Asia are not as thick as non-SE-Asian gravies and stews. The idea is to wet the rice that accompanies the dishes (at least it is for me).

Wow, pizzas in New York are huge! Are they usually that big there? Thanks for blogging Hubby (and I) will be going to NYC for his job training for 2-3 months in a few weeks' time, and this blog gives an interesting introduction to New York.

Yep it does make a difference in sea snails. The raw sea snails I've had at sushi restaurants before and since the snorkelling trip (mentioned yesterday) all have a very strong and almost unpleasant taste. The live one I ate had a mild and nice fresh-seafood-y taste.

Nope, haven't tried this particular fish dish, although I have eaten a live sea snail. Soon after I arrived in Japan last year and began teaching at my school, I was invited by one of the marine teachers to go snorkelling, where he plucked a sea snail from a rock and handed it to me to eat. Being an adventurous eater, I love sashimi and raw fish, so I didn't initially give it much thought to eating the snail, but then I saw it move! The teacher saw the look of hesitation on my face and chuckled! With my pride slightly dented, I quickly put the wriggling thing in my mouth. It was really good! Nothing like super-fresh seafood, even better when they are plucked straight from the sea and handed to you!

Just wanted to say I made umebishio last night, and it's nice I added an extra step to shinju's recipe: I first soaked the pickled ume for 4-5days in water (changing the water every two days) to remove the saltiness. The taste of umebishio reminds me of the plum sauce that usually comes with Chinese roast duck. I think the umebishio will go well with pork. Perhaps I might try making umemiso next..

Thanks shinju. A few days in the refridgerator seem to work well at drying the pickled ume [friends were quite curious as to why I had pink ume on a rack in the fridge]. It's almost mid-July so perhaps the meteorology centre will soon deem that rainy season is over!

Mmm, that looks good. I was wondering how to use the umebishio, but I guess I should use my imagination!

Doomo arigatou Hiroyuki san! To tell you the truth, it didn't occur to me to ask the teacher who gave it to me because I thought what I was doing (eating it out of the jar) was the norm. I didn't know you had to dry them until a few weeks ago, I watched the ume pickling process on the nightly cooking show on NHK (I don't understand much of what is said, but food is universal, right?). I could ask the teacher, unfortunately my Japanese is fledgling at best, and he doesn't know any English.. The English teachers I teach with have never made umeboshi before, and I feel too shy to waste the teachers' time by playing the translation game.. Thanks for the websites Last night after posting my query on this thread, I began a little experiment where I've put a few pickled ume in the fridge to dry (since it is quite a drying environment in there).. I wonder if it will work. I'm also gonna make some umebishio based on shinju's recipe (I'm soaking the pickled ume first for a couple of days to remove the pickling juice)... I'm determined to make use of all the pickled ume before I move in three weeks' time. Oh, and I'm loving Japan! I love the food, the culture and the awesome matsuri in inaka Japan. I'm glad that I got to experience rural Japan this past year, and that soon I will have the opportunity to live in one of the biggest cities in the world (although I am a bit apprehensive about the move)

Last year, soon after my arrival in Japan, I was given a huge jar of 'umeboshi' by one of the teachers at the school I teach at. This is homemade stuff (in a coffee jar), still in its pink pickling juice, shiso (I'm guessing the dark red leaves are shiso) and all. Well, I guess that means they haven't yet reached the stage of ume 'boshi', have they? I wasn't told how to use or prepare them - I suppose the teacher assumed I knew what to do with them since I'd expressed that I loved pickled plums (I was referring to the Chinese types which are dried, milder and somewhat sweeter). I haven't actually used them in any way other than taking them out of the jar, removing the seeds, washing in water (it's too mouth-puckering otherwise) and then popping them in my mouth. I'm down to half a jar and I'm glad I have found this wonderful thread full of suggestions on how to use the remaining. I have a couple of questions about the ume 'boshi' I have. Obviously I'm supposed to dry them before using them - how do I do that? I am going to move in a few weeks time to Tokyo, and I would like to use these pickling ume up by then. Have I actually jumped the gun and consumed them too early? And I suppose there are good uses for the pink pickling liquid - any suggestions? Many thanks in advance! Hm, I wish I'd found this thread before going through half of the pickling ume given to me!