rykomatsu

Thanks for all the input While I got desperate at times to just buy a neurofuzzy type rice cooker for the $150-$200 ballpark range since eating microwaved rice wasn't that great, my parents thought it was stupid for me to pay so much for a non-IH rice cooker and decided to send me a rice cooker, instead of the yearly gift package they usually send (they wanted my ps2 and DDR pad so it ended up being a fair trade across seas). I ended up choosing a pressure-IH rice cooker (not sure if it's going to make a difference) from Hitachi. As a joke, my folks suggested getting the one with the hand crafted iron bowl in it...but $500? phew no thanks With shipping, it ends up being about $170 or so which isn't too shabby for stateside where a standard IH runs about $300 post-tax. Part of the lower price is because it's last year's model on closeout too It should be here in a week or 2 (depending on how busy my folks are as they just moved to Shizuoka). I'll write back if I notice a significant difference over an IH cooker, which a friend of mine just bought Once again, ty for all the input. Only a few more weeks of laborious rice cooking

Unlike the American Rainbow Roll, that one looks very beautiful. Is it called 虹巻き (niji-maki)? I'm hungry now...I can't wait to go back to Japan in April

I still think it's pretty funny that Calpis is called Calpico here lol. (off topic, I know )

I usually add a dash of sake too

Teriyaki in and of itself is a style of cooking whereby you bring the "sheen" out of the item you are cooking by the inclusion of sugar into the sauce that is used (soy sauce based). However, in the US, I would venture to guess that 9 out of 10 "Japanese" restaurants do not serve what's "deemed" as teriyaki in Japan. Rather, most places just dump teriyaki sauce (which aside from sugar/soy sauce share nothing in common with what's used as teriyaki sauce in japan) over something that's broiled. In the US, "teriyaki" is "teriyaki". There's no other way to spell it really for the most part. Within the native Japanese culture over here in the US, (and to an extent I've seen it in Japan too), there's a distinction made between the 2. Teriyaki in the traditional style is written as 照り焼き in kanji, whereas just dumping foreign sauce onto the item is written as テリヤキ in katakana. The main reason for the US based sauce is, imho, because it's more palatable to those of the culture here...as a product in Japan, though, it might have some following, but i'm sure it's more of a cult thing than anything else; atleast that's what my relatives have said in the past when they've visited...I'm sure Hiroyuki can chime in whether that's true or not Likewise, going into the whole California Roll thing, it's popular because it's probably one of the most palatable sushi rolls available in the US. While anecdotal, a lot of people see eating raw fish as a challenge...whether it be because it's a foreign concept or the scent is too offensive or the rice is too vinegary, i'm not sure what it is. However, avocado and cucumber are widely consumed in the US and imitation crab meat I don't think is too foreign, when compared to sashimi either. So the entry into eating sushi is much easier for a first time consumer and usually the first time is usually the most memorable I would think Hence the popularity of the CA roll. (i hate that thing lol)

There are still some days i prefer to have sushi w/o wasabi and i assure you i'm older than your son most likely Over here in the US, in regards to the coffee, i think it is a bit unorthodox; atleast my friend on a number of occasions (major coffee lover) was told that they don't serve coffee at the restaraunt lol.

I'm assuming you're talking about rice gruel in which case you can have 3 variants: Okayu (お粥) Zosui (雑炊) Ojiya (おじや) Okayu is made from uncooked rice, whereas Zosui and Ojiya are made from cooked rice. Okayu is generally very thick compared to jook/juk(the korean one), though this can be "adjusted" by varying the water to rice ratio. Zosui is made from pre-cooked rice and is washed to remove the surface "stickiness" resulting in a clean and light texture. Ojiya is the same as zosui, but generally left unwashed and results in a thicker consistency than Zosui, but I suppose all the descriptions here are splitting hairs. Flavoring is rather varied, but one of the charms, for lack of a better term, is making zosui or ojiya after making shabu shabu, as you have some very wonderful stock remaining afterwards (though I prefer udon at the end). Starting from scratch, though, I generally go with fish stock; usually bonito+flying fish+a few other things which are in the dashi-pack I use. Add lightly beaten eggs and a dash of salt and pepper. Simmer for a few moments, and add green onions. Serve while piping hot. Because it's in hot water, the rice will become softer and softer over time so keep this in mind when you're preparing it. After a while you might be eating rice paste...miso can be used in place of fish stock as well, though I'm not a particular fan of this. Other condiments that go well...hm...Umeboshi is definitely one of them I think ochazuke (お茶漬け) would fall into the gruel category to an extent. In which case there are many varieties...salmon-chazuke, ikura-chazuke, oyako-chazuke (salmon+ikura), umechazuke, etc. My personal favorite, if you consider ochazuke as part of the rice gruel family would be a variant of snapper (鯛) chazuke: rice (wash beforehand if you prefer zosui type or don't if you prefer ojiya type) houjicha sliced snapper ground white sesame seed soy sauce I'm not good with portions, but basically take a LOT of sesame seed and grind it until it becomes very aromatic. Add soy sauce to make it a paste (watery or thick is personal preference...i prefer thick so the sesame sticks to the snapper better). Roll the snapper around in the paste and let it sit for 2-3hrs in the fridge. Lay the slices of the sesame/soysauce/snapper concoction on top of a bowl of rice and pour the houjicha over it. Let it sit for a min or 2 to slightly cook the snapper. Add seaweed (nori) or what not on top of the dish and consume. I'm sure others will chime in as well

When I was about 5, the exact thing happened above during new years holiday, while I was at my aunt/uncle's place. Choked and well...it dislodged and at the same time what came out of my mouth ended up on the osechi boxes needless to say I wasn't too popular that holiday at my relative's place

Friend was putting salmon and cream cheese into a roll and put cottage cheese in, instead

man....I love oshiruko, also called zenzai in the kansai area. I'm not 100% certain but it's usually consumed around the winter season, or more specifically (this is where I'm not certain) around the new years...atleast that's when we had it served in our family. Yum~

Expanding on what Torakris said in regards to shabu shabu, if you overdo wagyu in shabu shabu, you might as well get regular beef. it's so marbled that the oil melts into the pot really quickly so if you leave it in there for too long, you're pretty much "converting" it down to lower grade beef

Thanks Jason, I'm just interested in trying to bring over a small bag of Milky Queen to try (I'm guessing a 1~2kg bag) so I'll try looking over at the FDA site

I did a search but didn't find anything specifically about Milky Queen except for maybe a few short blurbs. The first time I heard about it was in a Japanese manga called Oishimbo a few years back but I read that in quick passing so I don't remember any details from that. However it's been something that I've been curious about since and probably more so atm because I can't cook rice readily Anyhow, I used to use akitakomachi rather blindly but switched to koshihikari when it became available. Akitakomachi was a little hard compared to koshihikari and in comparison I think the taste was more bland than koshihikari. I know rice in and of itself is rather bland lol, but I do recall that a side by side taste test, you could definitely feel the difference and taste the difference. Koshihikari appears to take on more water when cooked without getting mushy. I was told that Milky Queen was a genetically altered version of Koshihikari but is much more flavorful...is it something that someone who enjoys koshihikari would like? Also, does anyone know of the regulations to import rice to the US from Japan?

http://www.ukemochi.com/index.html Seems like a fun place to go to sample a lot of different things while grabbing a quick drink or 2 while standing... Thinking about including it on my itinerary for when I goto Japan possibly this winter, if not next April

ササミの湯引き (directly translated, Sasami pulled through hot water) is good when prepared well, but I've been to quite a few places where they leave it in the water too long. Generally, because of its lack of fat and what not, sasami's difficult to prepare properly Another common preparation is to sear the outside very quickly, then slice (similar to what's done with preparations of tuna) or marinate in sake + some other things for a few days. Does that count as sashimi still though?

just a trivia tidbit, but the nabe design that Hiroyuki has is commonly used in restaurants. The handles are bent straight up so you can place multiple ones over heat at the same time. Ones commonly used at home have handles that stick out like a regular frying pan cheers!

Well, I was at the store today and saw a 5.5cup IH rice cooker for a smidge under $300 after tax... same one in Japan is selling for 11500yen http://kakaku.com/item/21259010420/ I'm thinking it might be cheaper to have my family send it to me via EMS which would run it into the $150 range...or I can keep cooking rice in a donabe until I go next April lol, though considering I make nabemono a lot, this is starting to become a huge hassle as we're heading into Autumn/Winter lol.

So I knocked my rice cooker off the counter top on accident today and the lid broke off so I'm in the market for a new rice cooker. So there are a handful of rice cookers available here that use inductive heating (IH). I've heard from a number of people that they cook rice noticeably better than your standard neuro-fuzzy rice cooker. Is this true? And is it worth the $150-200 increase in price over a standard rice cooker? I want to decide as soon as possible as eating natto and tororo by themselves is somewhat lonely

chicken sashimi, in particular sasami is something i enjoy. Also, basashi wagyu-sashi is great too

Great thread I really envy the culinary delights you're enjoying. If you have a chance and want to give whale a shot (or dojou), this place is pretty well known in the Asakusa area. It's called Komagata Dojou (though it's written Dozeu in hiragana). http://www.dozeu.com/dozeu_fl/menu/menu.html I'll add more later...gotta head out for a company gathering >.>

Are you staying in Tokyo, or more specifically near Asakusa? I may be able to point you to a place that serves whale-nabe (though their primary specialty is Dojou nabe) I envy you ma'am

There's a place in Asakusa that serves whale-nabe. Their primary dish is dojyou (Loach) nabe. It wasn't Komagata Dozeu though... The consistency is almost like the beef from Yoshinoya's beef bowl over here in the US, but a more lighter/delicate flavor.

I think this in and of itself is an extremely intriguing topic and the answer (I don't think there's a right or wrong answer for the most part) gives insight as to why Japanese culinary culture is second to none (ok ok I'm biased lol) in the world when it comes to variety and regionalization. It also depends on who you ask, as a lot of people will see it as "let's see how many different ways you can prepare one thing" and group all fish into one category to give you a very simplified view of things. So in this simplified description, I'll focus a little on a class of seasonings called gyosho- (魚醤）or uoshoyu (魚醤油）. Literally translated, it's basically fish soy sauce. However, it's prepared slightly differently than soy sauce. There's 2 main ones in Japan; one heralds from Akita prefecture and the other from Ishikawa prefecture. Akita faces the Pacific Ocean and Ishikawa faces the Sea of Japan. The one from Ishikawa is called Ishiru （いしる）and is made from sardine and squid organs and what not that are fermented under salt. The one from Akita is called Shottsuru (しょっつる） and is made from Sandfish (and is also Akita's Prefectural Fish, much like Golden Poppy is California's state flower). The flavor is different, but both have the distinct fermented aroma that spreads when you consume each. From one person's view, you can obviously say "well it's just a different take on 2 different things". Another view you can take on it is convergent evolution of the culinary culture based on the natural resources available to the people of those regions. They're still both Japanese and would be classified as such. But that's not to say both can be readily bought all across Japan. Distribution across Japan is definitely there because they have an amazing freight system compared to the US. But production doesn't occur in the same place because of regional differences. With a very rapid freight system in Japan, though, the regional differences start to distribute a little more across Japan, but at the same time, you have a necessity to have chefs who also know how to prepare them and a lot of times that stays rather localized so while the ability certainly exists for regional specialties to lose that "status", it hasn't happened as rapidly as one might expect. Personally, I'd view "Japanese cooking" as a whole with subtle to distinct differences due to regional contributions. The one area of Japan I might see as otherwise might be Okinawa, but that's a stretch to an extent.

しゃぶしゃぶ - Shabu Shabu on Tuesday Light kelp/flying fish/bonito stock Thinly sliced beef, napa cabbage, shiitake, enoki, tofu, mizuna, gobo Cook the veggies in the stock first, once they're ready, take the beef and just dip it into the simmering stock for a few moments. Consume with Sesame sauce or ponzu. At the end, with the beef/seafood stock add salt, pepper, and udon to finish off. For me, I make shabu shabu for the udon at the end 湯豆腐 - Yudofu, literally hot water tofu Tofu, napa cabbage, enoki, mizuna, gobo in similar stock to shabu shabu, but a little more intense. Stick the items that take longer to cook into the pot first, then add tofu/enoki in towards the end. It's common to add chicken or white fish in as well. I added matsutake this time so it was a slight cross between Yudofu and Dobinmushi. I make a lot of nabe-mono (hot pot) since I'm single, it's easy to prepare, and it heats up your body on cold autumn and winter nights

Yep, sake kasu = sake lees or sake dregs good luck! -RK