MoGa

Nowadays, it's often the actual gum/candy that's seen as the 'omake' anyway!

Wouldn't I need to illustrate a thread like that? My indoor photography skills suck.

We managed to get the ingredients for this and had it this evening. The Goya was Thai Bitter Melon, a lighter green and less 'frilly' than Japanese goya - smelled very 'grassy'. We were a little nervous about the bitterness so after salting it I blanched the slices too before rinsing with cold water and squeezing dry. Also, my husband found some excellent fresh fish cake 'roll' from a chiller cabinet, so we used strips of this instead of the chikuwa we had in the freezer. So I followed the recipe. The sauce was so good I made a bit more - if you like the idea of spicy Hiyashi Chuka this is an excellent and very simple recipe for it. We really, really enjoyed the mixed dish and will certainly be having it again. The goya was far too bitter eaten on its own, but in combination with the other ingredients it was delightful - we think the sesame oil (and I suspect the douban jiang also) played a vital part in taming this 'difficult' vegetable. Very different from yesterday's more conventional Hiyashi Chuka, but no worse for that. Not a particularly beautiful dish but delicious and refreshing.

Nice work there! (And I've always wondered how long these video homages take to piece together) The only jarring part is unagi don (not exactly the cheapest or homeliest meal... not anymore) representing gruel. Seems the ideal food for growing workhouse boys, especially in the summer. But I'm really nitpicking here, the clip choices and timing are excellent.

Hopefully I won't end up abusing this fine thread. Sometimes I can work things out for myself, but this is just too confusing for me. It's a recipe for Goya soda at the very bottom of this web page: http://lazynanana.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html "そしてゴーヤーソーダ。ゴーヤーを縦割りして種を取り、摺り下ろしたものにソーダを注ぐだけの「超」簡単ソーダ。ゴーヤーがたくさんあるときに摺り下ろしてziplocしておくといいかも。チャンプルー以外のゴーヤー料理を身につけようと頑張った私の、今年の一押し。料理というには簡単すぎるものですが、それでもこれはなかなかやみつきになりますよ。ここでは、甘みはついているけれどノンカロリーのソーダを使うのがポイントです。せっかく体にいいゴーヤーを使うので、カロリーも撃退！するのがお作法かと思います。でも、甘みのないペリエとかサンペレグリノとかクラブソーダだと×です。" What I can deduce from this is: The seeds are removed from the goya's centre and the goya turned into pulp (would a liquidiser/blender be OK for this?). Only a little of this pulp is needed so the rest can be stored in a ziplock bag (presumably in the fridge). You put some pulp in a glass and top it up with the soda of your choice - but she suggests sparkling water or club soda as these have no calories. Obviously I'm guessing most of this. Is that it? Or am I off track? Or is there something else I'm missing? Any pointers would be much appreciated.

It is confusing as sometimes the miniature versions are sold with gum, and sometimes they aren't. For instance I've seen miniature food sets sold with candy, such as a tea and wagashi from around Japan series - Castella and 'Western' tea set from Nagasaki, cherry blossom mochi and bean cakes for Kyoto. Yet in places such as Tokyu Hands I've seen similar items sold in boxes without candy and these seem destined for Doll Houses. My impression of 'omake' (the mystery collector items that get sold with candy) is summed up by the images on this Google snapshot of the word: http://images.google.com/images?q=%E3%81%8...m=1&sa=N&tab=wi which includes these images: and the classic source for omake:

Spicy Hiyashi Chuka with Goya??? I'm not sure if I've got this right, but this recipe seems very interesting to me*: http://www.misbit.com/recipe/mid002057.html 4 servings: 480g Chinese/Ramen style noodles - 4 x 120g 5 pieces of chikuwa 1 Goya (bitter gourd/bitter melon) approx 250g 1 tomato - approx 200g For sauce 4 tablespoons dashi 2 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon Douban jiang The goya is cut in half lengthways and 'cored'/seeds removed, then sliced thinly. It's left in a colander mixed with salt for 10 minutes to leach (I assume this will make it less bitter). The Goya is rinsed well in cold water and squeezed dry. Chikuwa is sliced diagonally and the tomato cut into slices. Combine and mix the sauce ingredients together. Cook noodles according to instructions, drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again and place in serving plates/bowls. Add chikuwa, goya and tomato and add sauce. *I found out about douban jiang recently thanks to Hiroyuki, found out some more in the China forum and have deveoped a real taste for it. --- Just found this post in the Okinawa thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1051336 not a million miles away from the recipe I've just posted

I mentioned a liking for Hiyashi Chuka in the soba thread and was gratified to get a response from nakji linking to photos of her first attempt: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...1entry1562821 I mentioned that I'd been using this brand (Maruchan) for Hiyashi Chuka as we're in London and this makes a convenient and satisfying option. Yesterday we tried another kind that is currently being sold at London's Rice Wine Shop. It's from Itsuki foods. Link to product here: http://www.itukifoodshop.jp/shopdetail/015000000007/order/ This seemed more expensive but as it was two servings it wasn't, especially as each serving size was slightly larger than the Maruchan one. We chose the lemon version, but there's also a sesame kind. It's been really hot in London recently, it's effectively summer here, and my husband got back very late from work. He was also very hungry so I made two separate portions for him - one of the Itsuki brand, and another of the Maruchan. They compared well, but the Itsuki one was definitely the preferred kind. We'll be stocking up. As for toppings, I spent little time on them (10-15 minutes). Only cooking involved making an layered omelet (seasoned with a little sugar, mirin, soy sauce and dashi). In short: Toppings: Julienned half a cucumber which I left in a colander with some salt for 20-30 minutes. This I then rinsed and drained.* Thinly sliced a tomato per serving Shredded the omelet and, due to personal preference, shredded some large cooked prawns.shrimp we had in the fridge Also we had some kinpira already made Noodles were cooked in boiling water for 4-5 minutes, drained and rinsed with cold water. These were put in a bowl. On top of the noodles I arranged piles of each topping. To serve we just added the pouch of liquid seasoning, stirred and ate. Oh it was good! We'd eaten cold rice noodles with shredded cabbage and fish sauce, lime juice, chili, palm sugar, garlic, cucumber, fresh mint leaves and prawns the day before. Tthe vinegary Hiyashi Chuka stood up well against such a flavourful competitor. I would like to try making Hiyashi Chuka with a home-made sauce and I know that nakji's miso based one didn't wow her (it did seem rather bland). Does anyone have a recipe they can recommend, or even alternative suggestions for toppings faithful to the Hiyashi Chuka taste? *I'm sorry to admit that I don't like raw cucumber - yet I'm happy to eat them once they've been leached this way

Actual food samples are still used in many restaurants and eateries in Japan. For instance a University dining hall/canteen might have portions of real food set up on display with prices next to them located near the vending machine which dispenses meal vouchers for these items. You might also see actual food in a display case outside of a restaurant or just set up on a table with a layer of cling film/saren wrap over it. Whilst these displays are certainly useful (especially for me) they aren't particularly enticing. There's also the additional factor that if I can't put aside an association with the food placed at a grave or family altar I assume other Japanese people are making a similar association. It doesn't stop me from eating at places where real food is used as an advertisement/guide, but I'm partly eating there despite the real food samples - not because of them (bit complicated). Plastic/wax food supplies no such reservations. I'm going to make some assumptions here: If it was 'standard' to use real food in the past (and I assume also that it would have been - literacy rates were about 40% in 1870) this would have continued to the point of the revolutionary 1920s wax replicas. I also imagine that these first replicas would have been a big draw by themselves being a technological break-through. I find it hard to believe it was solely to introduce the Japanese to new food, although, naturally, it was a perfect way to do this. Like many people who visit Japan I'm hypnotised by the proliferation of food programs. I've seen at least one fascinating one about how these plastic models are manufactured. So interesting I figured that there would be others and at least one of them would have made it to youtube. I used 'sample' as a search term - サンプル and found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOpaOXA9Ows It shows norimaki, tempura & napolitan spaghetti samples being made --- Here's a sample competition which also shows more being made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmLloZeQsTk

Phew! I am glad you addressed this! Peter Green - I'm sorry I gave you the impression I can read Japanese. I can often get an overview with translation software, but written Japanese for me is like crossword puzzles for other people. More like a code I can tap some cracks into but not actually open. I do have a Japanese keyboard, and the restaurant's name is in Hiragana (a phonetic 'alphabet') the challenge was irresistible! Thankfully, Hiroyuki has explained more fully than I could, and also pointed out why I posted the links... which is to lead you and others to more information about the restaurant you reviewed. Even without a knowledge of Japanese the pages can yield quite a lot to anyone curious enough to click on the links or run it through an electronic translation service.

There are very few countries where dried octopus is used and has traditional dishes for it. The OP comes from one of them and even he is unfamiliar with how his fellow countryfolk prepare and use dried octopus as it is a speciality from a different area to his (from what I can tell, 'pulpo seco' is used in some parts of Andalucia. I know that it is sold in my local market in Alicante, but the only people I know who eat it there - like my uncle - merely grill it... he has a 'yamabushi' side to him and likes to fend for himself in the mountains, pulpo seco is perfect 'survival food' for him. It is extremely expensive.) But, even in Spain, and even in Spanish, there is very little information about preparing these traditional but obscure dishes. Lots of information about preparing 'pulpo a la Gallega' though! ---- I think the reason the question belongs here is that there is hope that somebody may have information about how dried octopus is used in Japan. It seems already that as an ingredient it is just as obscure as 'pulpo seco' even though it is undoubtably a Japanese ingredient familiar to many Japanese people. My own family in Japan have eaten dried octopus regularly over the past few decades, during the 'bubble years' they probably had a hand in selecting much of the octopus (and squid) that went to Japan from the East Atlantic. But for reasons helenjp has covered they've never done more than eaten 'raw' or grilled the dry stuff. But I can't help but strongly suspect that somewhere in Japan there are regions, towns or villages that are doing something quite delightful with this ingredient. I'm probably just as curious about learning about this as inigoaguirre is. I can research in Spanish and read articles such as this one from El Pais (or this discussion by some Basque cooks), alas neither I, nor the OP can do the same in Japanese. Finding the uses different cultures have for the same ingredients I think is very exciting.

I just asked my husband's opinion and he thinks the lemon (or lemon & mint) idea should work. He also suggests 'savoury' vegetable juices for the summer. In his experience, people in Tokyo get real cravings for vegetable drinks during this time of the year and will prefer real vegetable juice to the canned stuff given the option. This would be dependent on having a good juicer though. He was wondering about portion control, and our thought was that people could pick out their own, with the vegetables/fruit priced individually according to value. Either a la carte, or in pre-mixed packs. Once the vegetables/fruit are chosen they get pushed through the juicer onto ice. Customers can add their own salt if they wish.

It's certainly a nice change to see every part of an animal being used. 'Hormone' food - easy to remember! I found your restaurant here: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a354301/ There's a run down on the chef here: http://recipe.gnavi.co.jp/chef/1261.html He trained in France, there are numerous French wine bottles, you got served sweetbreads, yet you fixated on the 'Korean-ness' of a restaurant that didn't even serve you garlic until asked! Didn't the kimchi have enough garlic to sate your craving? (Best Korean restaurant I've been to, having not been to Korea yet, is this one http://www.kan-nichi-kan.com/index.htm in Azabu Juban) Whenever there's a fight there's always a foreigner involved... sigh... Glad to learn it wasn't you! Perhaps it was a Pimp of Roppongi Crossing quarreling over turf. - which reminds me, on my first visit to Tokyo (2002) I spoke at length to a bar owner. He'd moved to Roppongi from another part of Tokyo and was delighted to have done so - much less extortion rackets going on in this area than in others. Those Pimps of Roppongi Crossing might be gentlemen after all.

If they can get hold of tiger nuts, Spanish horchata is a perfect, perfect solution. Once the sourcing issue is solved, the drink itself isn't hard to make: Clean the tiger nuts, soak overnight, turn them into puree the next day, strain and allow to cool (adding sugar, cinnamon & lemon rind). http://yobachan.blogspot.com/2008/01/horch...l-beverage.html In the summer it can be frozen and turned into granita, so it's possible to make large batches at a time (well it would be if you had room for it). It's also good in Spring and Autumn served cold - perhaps from a thermos flask which should be shaken before pouring. It can also be mixed with coffee as a (in my opinion) much nicer non-dairy alternative to soy milk. Granita horchata with iced coffee is particularly good. Tiger nuts/chufas have lots of nutritional benefits, a traditional Spanish remedy against Natsubate, horchata tastes really, really good, and the cafe may have the market cornered, I don't know of anywhere in Japan that sells it. In fact, it hardly seems known at all in Japan, a google search using オルチャタ didn't yied that many results. (But get there fast, el Bulli is already including horchata de chufas it on the menu and this will pique the interest of quite a few restaurants)

I certainly agree with donburi being a good choice for dinner, I don't eat any other meat except fish which prevented me from exploiting this option fully, but scrambling eggs with some seasonings, scallion and, well, anything you like (chicken and egg - mother & child - is a very popular option) was certainly a fixture in my own weekly menu. But then, not being fond of washing up, most of what I ate ended up looking like donburi. I convinced myself that all those little side dishes looked just as cute and appetising arranged directly on top of the rice. If only I'd cracked the secret then of maze gohan - unveiled here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1563794 (The takikomi gohan thread as a whole is a very good one for anyone serious about cooking at home) So is the okonomiyaki thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=19221 Which is a great food to have by yourself and to serve to guests. (helenjp posted the same thing as I wrote this) EDIT TO ADD and I forgot to add that other student stalwart - curry rice (Which reminded me of English school dinners). Not my cup of tea, but it is incredibly popular and as typical a 'home cooked meal' in Japan as anything.

Personally, I like to make it with firm momen dofu (= tofu). Check out the China... Forum, and you will find a thread on mapo tofu, where some say they like to use soft tofu. So, that's really depends on your preferences. I used to use a premade mix (Marumiya's) for decades, but now I prefer to make it from scratch. Again, check out the China... Forum, you will find a nice thread on making mapo tofu. ← Umh, according to my mom, Japanese brand tofu seems to be softer than the Chinese brands. Maybe that's why? ← Hm...... Anyone?? ← I can only go on the differences I've found in London. Tofu packaged by Japanese companies (not necessarily in Japan - an example is the Mori-nu/Morinaga brand) and sold in tetra-brik containers is indeed very soft, smooth and silky, even the 'firm' kind. When I buy fresh tofu in liquid from the refrigerator from Chinese, Japanese and Korean stores in London, the texture is different. More 'fibrous' somehow, or perhaps better explained as being more 'al dente'. I don't necessarily prefer one to the other - the qualities of each lend themselves better to different cooking styles. I don't like frying so much with the 'Japanese' tetra-brik style of tofu, then again I prefer the texture of it raw to the 'Chinese style' fresh tofu. I end up buying more of the 'frim' tetra-brik styles. They last a while so are convenient, also my fridge is tiny and this tofu doesn't need to be stored in it. I can easily change the texture and make it firmer (and better for frying with) by wrapping and draining it with a weight on top. By pressing and draining for several hours (rather than just one or two) I can get it to approximate 'Chinese' tofu. I can't get 'Chinese' tofu to approximate 'Japanese' tofu. I can't compare 'Chinese' tofu with that sold in China, but the tetra-brik kind of tofu is very similar to store bought and freshly made tofu I've eaten in Japan. However, as what I have been calling 'Chinese' tofu is available from Japanese supermarkets in London, I would be surprised if this kind wasn't available in Japan also.

Another great resource for anyone starting out is the http://www.justhungry.com/ (and also http://www.justbento.com/) website. I've updated the cook book list with my opinions on some books which I think are ideal for someone in her situation. --- I don't know where she'll be living in Japan, and this actually will play a big part in the kind of food she'll be having. I've spent some months living in central Tokyo where I had use of a kitchen, and I have to admit, making food for myself at home wasn't always economically viable. I could see how cooking for a family would make sense, but for a single person, with food being as cheap to buy prepared as it was, making food from scratch seemed, perversely, quite extravagant. I was there to support my then boyfriend (now husband) through a bereavement, finances weren't great and I tried to be as frugal as possible. Home cooking ended up being preparing rice, noodles, miso soup, vegetables and fruit (you quickly learn to find the best places to get fruit and vegetables economically). Almost everything else I'd buy already prepared to supplement this. Especially as many stores selling pre-prepared food reduced their prices considerably just before closing time. The only 'foreign food' I ever made was pasta and risotto. If I'd lived in a less urban area I imagine that it might have been more cost effective to cook at home. My own 'culture shock' involved getting used to the differences in price between foods in London and Tokyo - what was cheap in Europe: fruit, vegetables, rice was expensive in Tokyo, what was cheap in Tokyo: eating out, ready-cooked deli items was expensive in Europe. Occasionally you'd find a prepared fruit salad (made with fresh fruit) was cheaper than the unprocessed fruit sitting alongside it. ---- Looking in the refrigerators of Japanese Family members I see lots of foods that keep for at least a week in a tupperware container (examples are kinpira, spinach with sesame and Korean kimchi). Japanese Home Cooking, for many people cooking for just themselves, involves rice, miso soup and a selection of foods from the refrigerator. Perhaps with some fish or meat prepared at home or bought ready-cooked. Soba and udon noodles are popular as is ochazuke. And then there are classic dishes such as mabou dofu (tofu and mince with Chinese seasonings), oden (a selection of fish pastes and vegetables) and niku-jaga (meat and potatoes) which are popular amongst students for a reason. She can save a lot of money if she can develop a taste for natto . If your girlfriend finds herself based in a city, she may find herself eating out much more than she might expect to. It may take a while to work out how to save money by eating at home. --- And separately, there's the issue of drinks. If she gets a taste for them, there are plenty of products that allow you to make large quantities of cold drinks economically. Tea bags and powders allow you to make up litres of cold green tea. My own favourite are the bags of roasted barley - you just pop one of these into 1-1& a half litres of cold water and leave in the fridge to 'brew' for half an hour or so. The end result is called Mugi-cha There are vending machines everywhere, and with the warm weather, the temptation to buy bottles and cans of drinks is overwhelming. The costs quickly stack up. By making cold green tea or mugi-cha at home you can keep these down to a minimum (just refill plastic bottles and pop them in the freezer to take out with you).

Now I've had a few months to work through more of her recipes, I can heartily recommend the two books I have by Tokiko Suzuki "Japanese Homestyle Cooking " and also "The Essentials of Japanese Cooking " The 'hardest' part of either book is getting hold of the ingredients, but this should present few problems for anyone living in Japan. Most of the recipes are straightforward and beautifully explained with photo tutorials covering any potentially tricky or unfamiliar techniques and foods. Japanese Homestyle Cooking does go into some of the basics in more detail, so most of the more 'exotic' kitchen equipment one will encounter in a Japanese kitchen (or hardware shop) is explained and this particular book even has photos showing a good way to squeeze the water out of tofu. My Japanese Mother-In-Law is sadly no longer with us, Ms Suzuki, as a cooking tutor, is proving to be an appreciated surrogate. --------- Another kitchen companion I'm getting a lot of mileage from is "Quick & Easy Tsukemono" by Ikuko Hisamatsu. Every recipe includes a photo tutorial - all are straightforward and simple to follow. Again, the hardest part is sourcing the ingredients, again, not a problem for anyone living in Japan. A wonderful book for anyone interested in expanding into the side dishes and accompaniments that are typically associated with Japanese meals (and make such wonderful fridge staples and additions to a bento box lunch). Particularly marvellous for the warmer months, I'd also urge anyone with vegetarian/vegan leanings to consider this (less than 10% of the recipes involve fish or meat or even dairy products)

You've not mentioned soba (buckwheat noodles). If you haven't been to a restaurant where freshly milled soba is prepared and cut by hand and where the accompanying broths are just as carefully made (and only the tiniest fraction of places that serve soba qualify), now's your chance. I recommend Misoka an Kawamichi ya in Kyoto Not only is the soba first rate, but the restaurant is beautiful too. The speciality is hokoro which is prepared at your table This shows you what the hokoro looks like: http://www.kawamichiya.co.jp/gentei/gentei.html Address in Japanese: http://www.kawamichiya.co.jp/soba/index.htm In English it's Sanjo agaru, Fuya cho dori, Nakagyo ku ------------ I've not been to Kyoto in the summer/warmer months so I've no direct experience of the following place, but it does seem idyllic. It's called Sagenta and it specialises in 'nagashi somen' - these are the (very) thin wheat noodles that flow down bamboo pipes in ice cold water. It's just outside Kyoto (to the North) and the address in English is 76 Kibune cho, Kurama, Kyoto Apparently, getting a table over the river at Sagenta can be quite tricky, you'd need to book in advance. Some more info in English here: http://www.liveitup.com/travel/Go-Kyoto_Ja...antDetails.dest It has a lovely website which shows you what you can expect http://www.ugenta.co.jp/ I'm not sure why it is called Sagenta and Ugenta - the characters are the same - 左源太

And it does, it really does! I went to the store suggested by fiore and found the exact same Tai Wong douban jiang described by jackal10 (this thread's OP). Only difference is that the wicker container yielded two small pouches, very handy! (especially for sharing) The LKK version isn't a patch on this one being more watery and having a much thinner, less developed and rich taste. The other element to the Lee Kum Kee chili bean sauce that makes it less satisfying is that it is so darn salty, so even if you mix a tablespoon through some fish or vegetables with some generous slugs of rice wine the result is way too salty for me to enjoy. Not so with the Tai Wong Pixian Broad Bean Paste. It's just better in every way. This is already a favourite cooking 'sauce', and there's lots of uses we still need to find for it. The beansprout recipe has been an excellent start. Can't wait to try other genuine Sichuan versions of douban jiang. ---- Although I haven't tried it yet, once I started looking properly, I did find very small jars of Toban Djan amongst the condiments in stores specialising in Japanese food. It was quite expensive, especially given the quantity, but for anyone having trouble locating Sichuan douban jiang, I would imagine that this Japanese packaged sauce might be better than the LKK one.

Whilst this won't be nearly as impressive as stephle's post, I've finally 'cracked' this recipe. It's completely dependent on the quality of the Douban jiang. Still using Korean chili flakes for the ichimi togarashi, I found this douban jiang recently: (there were two plastic pouches in mine and I bought it at Seewoo, Lisle Street for 2.25GBP) Much, much better results than with the sauce I used before The spicy moyashi were absolutely delicious this way, very 'more'ish, and simplicity itself to prepare - they don't seem to improve with marinading so can be enjoyed immediately. This has been firmly established as a family favourite. I'll sure we'll be eating this for many years to come. Thanks again, Hiroyuki !

Now I feel guilty for not explaining that finding this place is by no means straightforward. Ereta park and the restaurant are relatively new, and they are situated near the 'casco antiguo' - the old part of town, which has also been renovated comparatively recently. I was taking my first steps having been bedbound/in a wheelchair for over a year so whilst I saw the restaurant from the park, didn't actually get to it on my last visit. I'm not sure if it's best approached from the park (which seemed to be closed off when I was there but still had lots of people walking around it - including my husband and me) or from the castle itself. I'd recommend anyone going for the first time to call the restaurant, or ask your concierge to and get advice from them. Map here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&ge...012531&t=h&z=17

Ooh! A little shot of Heidi there Perhaps the single most important influence in popularising cheese amongst the Japanese. (please note that I am not implying that Haiji was the only influence, or responsible in any way for introducing chiizu) ---- Hopefully you won't begrudge the Japanese for pushing up the price of elvers/angulas in Europe. In the UK forum we have tails of people consigning their unwanted dishes of a hundred baby eels to the gullet of another diner (this post onwards). Here we get to see part of a fully grown eel savoured and relished and realising a much more appreciated potential.

Bit on an old thread I hope no-one minds me bumping. I bought gobo (burdock root) in London for the first time yesterday - from Seewoo, Lisle St. Cleaned/scrubbed and cut the whole thing (about 700gms - a bit fatter than the gobo I've seen and used in Japan) into 7cm long matchsticks. As the gobo wasn't premium quality I made sure the matchstick shards were really fine. These I then soaked for some time in cold water with a generous slug of vinegar, the water started going brown before I finished cutting and adding shards of the gobo. Once I'd left the whole lot to soak for a few minutes, I rinsed away the vinegar in a colander with cold water and started turning them into kinpira. My very first attempt (I've had at my grandmother-in-law's house and really enjoyed it there). Using approx 500gms of shredded gobo (the rest is going into a miso soup) Heated a large frying pan/skillet and added about 3 tablespoons of sesame oil. High heat. Immediately added the rinsed and drained gobo shards, turned them to coat in the hot oil and, once coated, added 1 heaped teaspoon of Korean chili flakes. Cooked for about a minute longer stirring constantly. Reduced heat to medium (which for me involved switching pan to another electric hob... wish I had gas!) and added 15 tablespoons of sake, 3 of caster sugar, 5 of mirin, 5 of soy sauce and (because the gobo didn't have as much flavour as others I've tried) 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar. Kept cooking and stirring until liquid was all absorbed. Took the pan off the heat and once the gobo had cooled a little, I stirred in 2 drops of sesame chili oil (ra-yu) and a generous tablespoon of a raw soy sauce I particularly like. Kinpira then transferred to large plate to cool fully. This will be eaten today (we've already had a large portion from tasting it - couldn't stop ourselves) and added to most of next week's lunchboxes. Definitely something I'll be making again, probably quite often. The timeconsuming part is the scrubbing and cutting of the gobo, but it's actually really nice to slice compared to many other vegetables. As long as you have a sharp knife and enjoy using it, it's actually quite therapeutic.

Quote by kbjesq: Bump! I live in FL and it's always hot here, so I also worry about food safety. I'm not sure if these are indeed effective, but I always pack in a few antimicrobial sheets (see examples here at Lunch in a Box). I bought a whole bunch at a Daiso store when I visited California last year. They were very inexpensive. So far, no troubles . . . . Note that Lunch in a Box also suggests "edible ice packs" for keeping food cool in warm weather! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I really like the idea of frozen drinks and puddings being used. Anything sealed I can wash thoroughly before popping it in. I'll definitely use this suggestion.