torakris

For me the only must would be a donabe! You can do almost anything in this from the regular nabe dishes to Korean chige to rice dishes to fondue. The only thing I don't make in the donabe is sukiyaki though shabu shabu works fine. I used to have a sukiyaki pot but it became too small for my family and now I use a regular high sided (about 3 inches) fry pan and it works so well I have no intention of buying a special one. Any of the accessories, special spoons, dishes etc are personal preference, I am not an accessory person so I just use whatever is already in my kitchen.

Is it that time of year already? The tsukimi burger comes back tomorrow, Sept. 1.

Last week I had a flyer in my newspaper for Two Way Pizza, which doesn't even deliver to my neighborhood so I am unsure as to why I even recieved it. Their special summer pizza is the Loco Moco pizza, take a look here (you may have to scroll down), with onion, tomato, demi glace hamburger patty, demi glace mayo, as well as a soft boiled egg and lettuce that you add before eating. As I have never eaten from this place I am not sure but it says the the sauce base is a margarine sauce. Other pizzas list pizza sauce as the base so I am really unclear as to what a margarine sauce is... Until the end of September there is a coupon for half off the loco moco pizza so the large pizza is only 2050 yen ($19) instead of 4100 yen ($38).

I really don't like hanpen, I have seen the "sandwich" versions but have never been tempted to try one. You can find them in the refrigerated section near the other fish products, the package looks like this.

Thanks! I have just added this to my list for things to pick up next year. I remember at one time fashioning a ring out of foil and using that as a sort of a flame tamer, at least it elevated the pan a little higher off the flame. I have the same problem with the range in kitchen. I can get it fairly low but if a breeze comes through the flame will go out....

I have the absolute cheapest model that I could find about 10 years ago and I am still using it (a lot). I think I paid in the 1500 yen range and am more than happy. The only problem I have is that it doesn't do a weak flame really well. I make fondue in my donabe and use the portable gas range. I do find that even the lowest I can get it is just a little too strong after the cheese has melted. I tried using a friend's more expensive model and still had the same problem though. This, unfortunately, is not something that can be tested for in the store... For any other purpose the cheap ones perform just as good as the pricey ones and I would go for the cheaper one myself. I do still make fondue, I just keep an eye on the cheese and control it by turning it off when needed. I see no point in actually purchasing a fondue pot.

Erin, That is by far the most vegetables I have seen in a katsu sando. I am going have to give that one a try. As much as I put down white bread that squishiness is actually mouth watering...

Erin, Are you in Yokohama now? I thought you were way on the other side of Tokyo. You can find a little Maisen stand in some department store basements. Take another look at some of the grocery/convenience store ones again, they can be just as meaty at the Maisen ones and much cheaper. If you really want to splurge try the Kimukatsu sandwiches, these are wonderful! Rather than one piece of meat they are made from extremely juicy layers of thinly sliced pork. It looks like the only basement these are available in is the Takashimaya at Futagotamagawa (Denentoshi/Hanzomon line).

It is just a preference, I would never put either meatloaf nor tonkatsu on a bread other than white. It is just the taste I am looking for when eating these kinds of sandwiches. Though I prefer whole grain breads for toast sometimes I get a craving for a thick piece of Japanese fluffy white, it is just the flavor I want at that moment. Also about once a year I get a craving for cheap white bread smeared with cheap tub margarine with cheap pasta and jarred pasta sauce, I think it reminds me of my college days...

I can't believe no one has posted here for 8 months! I am just back in Japan after spending most of the summer in the US and was disappointed to see that the milk tea McFlurry is gone. It has been replaced by a blueberry version. That milk tea one (and the matcha-green tea one as well) was really good. I am not a fan of oreos and at first thought that it was an odd combination but it really worked. I am going to miss that milk tea McFlurry.....

I really agree with you on the bread, it is really hard to find decent bread here and even if you did manage I wouldn't dare put any of that supermarket ham and cheese on it. The day after I arrived in the US this summer I went to the store and picked up an loaf of the darkest pumpernickel I could find along with a nice Amish baby swiss and Black Forest ham and ate sandwiches everyday for the first week! The thing with the katsu sandwich is that it needs white bread to make it what it is, for me it is like a meatloaf sandwich which I would never put on anything except a generic white.

I am with you on this. While I wouldn't say they are bad they aren't worth the price. I usually get my katsu sandwich craving from the supermarket or convenience store. The 3F (convenience store chain) version is my favorite with a thin smear of karashi-mayo and a bit of cabbage as well as sauce and less than half the price of Maisen. This was my last meal before I left Japan for the summer this year.

That looks so good! I really love your spoon as well. Did you use the cold brew coffee in the same ratio as you posted in your first post in this thread? I have been drinking Toddy cold brew exclusively for 3 years now and love it. I would love to try to make a jellied coffee, I can get decent ones for a very reasonable price here in Japan so I have never been tempted before. Not until I saw that picture....

I second this book by Roy Yamaguchi (no relation to me by the way ) I have been using it for over 10 years and some of my staple sauces are from here. I rarely cook the full recipes as written but pull out the bits and pieces that I want. His peanut sauce is the best and I have been making it exclusively for over 10 years. This can be found on page 20, Crisp Vegetable sushi with Thai peanut dip. His Caesar salad dressing is also the best the I have ever made, pg 62. For mainland regional I really like the Jamison's books. I use The Border Cookbook (as mentioned above) and just this summer picked up American Home Cooking. I have dog eared numerous pages from this one and once I actually finish unpacking (broght back 11 bags from the US this year) I am going to start cooking.

There are just too many people to thank that I won't even attempt it. I just can't make a post without thanking Ronnie who went way out of his way to make sure that we had an incredible weekend. From a stretch limo food crawl of the city and ending with an incredible dinner at the same place where Anthony Bourdain was taping a new episode. (if someone knows when this is going to be aired please let me know!) I am headed to Japan tomorrow morning and have been really busy since I came back from Chicago but I plan to comment more once I get settled back at home. I really had the most incredible time and am really looking forward to next year. This time I will say it so that everyone will hear me, absolutely no deep frying next year! It was really hot in there with no air conditioning!

Kris is going to be *so* excited that you've volunteered her to make tempura. I believe her previous words were "never again." Although the stuffed deep fried squash blossoms were totally awesome. ← Tammy you remembered very well! I think I already posted twice on this thread that I refuse to deep fry in addition to repeating many times over the past 2 years... Steven, You do realize that I will most definitely be barefoot again and that always seems to freak out the other chefs. I was planning on just hanging back this year and watching everyone else do the work.....

Nancy, Thank you for posting the photos (I didn't even think to bring my camera), this was a really wonderful meal and for a great person as well. I don't think I can pick any favorte dish but some of them would have been the grilled corn, the peach cobbler and the serrano ham and manchego cheese appetizer. It was a wonderful night with great weather (half of the restaurant is a patio) and music as well.

Damn, I was just reading this and thinking - I hope Randi is paying attention to all this - so I can just follow! ← And I was thinking..... I'm sure Kerry is good with directions. Maybe we can just follow Alex and Rona..... ← I, too, am freaking out about these directions. Maybe we can all shell out a couple extra bucks and squeeze into a taxi? I am really bad about directions and especially bad with trains. I also have an irrational fear of buses but if I am with others it may be OK. Is there anything to do around Union Station for a couple hours Friday morning? I am arriving at 5am and since the bread class isn't starting until noon I have quite a bit of time to kill.Anyone else going from this area to the bread class?

Nancy, Thank you so much for letting us know about this! Annie did such a wonderful job for our Heartland Gathering meal last year. I would love to go as well, would I be able to join you guys?

Absolutely. An update to the list ... Heartland Gathering Bread Workshop Friday, August 8th So far, I have: edsel karen m Amy Viny CaliPoutine (*) Jean Blanchard santo_grace torakris (*) LuckyGirl (*) +2 (*) prasantrin's +1 NancyH's +1 (*) (*) = probable/maybe ← Tom, Count me in as a definite! I booked my tickets yesterday and will roll into Chicago at 5am... We are are starting at 6 right?

Is there anyone taking the megabus (to anywhere) or will be in the Union station area around 10pm -12am Sunday night? The bus I want leaves at 11:59pm and my mom is freaking out about me being alone in the area at that time of night. She says she would feel better if she knew I wasn't alone. It is hard to believe I am 38 years old... Also I just checked the megabus website and they have moved the location of the Chicago bus stop it now says: Departures - On East side of Canal, South of Jackson Is this still close to Union station?

Please add me to the ethnic market tour! I am also happy to help out in the kitchen anywhere needed. Steven, I am so glad that you are able to make it, it wouldn't be a Heartland gathering if our New Yorker wasn't there. How much of the weekend will you be there for?

My brother and I had some of those when he was here, they are some of the best Kit Kats I have had in a long time!! Did you find them in the individual package? I have only been able to find them in the bag.

I did a goma-ae recipe in my eGCI class on Japanese cooking, scroll to the 2nd recipe.

I lent him a suitcase. I am also taking back half of them when I head back to the US in 3 weeks. He also bought out the local Uniqlo and cleared the Pocky/ other snack shelves in all the area supermarkets....