torakris

what do y'all with the hardened oil afterwards? Can it be re-used?

Helen, I am not sure. I have never tasted the Thai radish so I am unsure of the best substitute for it. I have never looked for the Thai style here so honestly I don't even know what it looks like...

I can't help too much with the Japanese knives as all the knives I use are German. But I can tell you that most Japanese houses that I have helped cook in have rusty knives, some much worse than others. I think you really have to be meticulous in your care of them.

That yuzu concentrate makes great juice! I have one friend who always has it in her house, she orders it by the case! The price has always stopped me because it would be gone in a day or two in my house....

how long was your trip????? I haven't eaten that much in a year!

I have no idea of the temp... I just heated the oil until it sent up bubbles when I put the chopsticks into the pan..... I cooked them for somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes, I don't pay attention to time either.... One was a little red close to the bone but the others were perfect.

Mizducky, great pictures, it looks fabulous! and yes that pickled radish you have is the Japanese type, I wonder how differently they taste. I have never eaten the Thai one so I can't compare them.

4/4: two deep-fried versions ナマズ天ぷら namazu tempura ナマズフライ namazu furai (fried namazu)

This site lists a ranking of the most popular food souvenirs from Tokyo

tokyogurumegal, you might be interested in our dagashi thread. and please post your pictures when you get the chance!

Sunday lunch I followed the Cook's illustrated recipe, but omitted the radish (didn't have it on hand) and dried sprimp (forgot about them...) I put the chiles on top as a garnish with the cilantro, I really liked it this way as I love the taste of fresh chiles and it also made it easier to feed the kids. I don't know why I don't make this more often, it is really easy and everything can be prepared in the time it takes the noodles to soak. And the kids loved it!!

(pulling the plastic bag out of the trash...) the 5 legs weighed 915 grams, so about 6 1/2 ounces each? They seemed smaller than chicken legs I have eaten in the US and in general the whole chickens I find here are quite small. Whole chickens are very expensive (and hard to find), the Japanese just don't cook with them, $20 in an average price for a 3- 3 1/2 pounder, even at Costco they still cost in the $12 to $15 range. Those legs were a really good deal, I can sometimes find frozen legs at about $1 each (absolute cheapest) but they tend to be really scrawny. The ones I used yesterday were great!

My recipe calls for cayenne, but I think I will try roasting my own instead. Is pad thai ever served with fresh chiles, like as a garnish instead? I will be making this for the kids as well and just now I was thinking maybe I should add the heat at the table.... only 4 more hours to pad thai.....

A Kihachi Soft Cream has just opened up in my neighborhood, I will have to go check them out....

4/3: ナマズの蒲焼 namazu no kabayaki Kabayaki is the style that unagi (eel) is most often prepared, but it works well on namazu as well. The fillets are skewered then grilled and brushed with a soy based tare (sauce). a full pictorial on how to prepare namazu kabayaki

They were wonderful!! I can now say I like beets I did a slow roast, almost 1 1/2 hours as they were quite big. I left them in the foil to cool and opened them about 6 hours later. I had a hard time peeling them and ended up cutting off the skins with a paring knife. I used two today and left the other 3 wrapped in the foil for another day. Are they easier to peel if you remove them from the foil right away? I made a salad with blue cheese, arugula and sherry vinegar and EVOO dressing Next time if I do this again I will serve it on a shallow platter and sprinkle the blue cheese on top.....

ta da! I ended up going to an international market in Tokyo to find a chicken and wound up buying a bag of legs instead though, $20 for a whole chicken or $3.50 for 5 legs...hhhmmm.... I used Brooks recipe and it was a huge hit. I had no bacon grease so I used Crisco and a bit of canola.

4/2: マナズの寿司 namazu no sushi ナマズの薄造り namazu no usutsukuri (sashimi)

I have a recipe I have used for a sweet version filled with an (sweet red beans) and it contains quite a bit of sugar so I am not sure if removing that is going to mess up the proportions or not. I decided to check out recipes on the internet as well and came up with many different ways to make it. The average proportion of warabi starch to water was about 1:4~5, the sugar content varied from none to twice the amount of warabi starch..... There are softer varieties like this one, which is similar to my recipe and then ones that are dropped in a block form into ice water and then cut into cubes like this. Most of the recipes followed similar steps. mix the water and warabi starch in a bowl, mixing well so that it doesn't clump or harden. Then pour through a strainer into a sauce pan and add the sugar. Place over high heat and stir constantly until it starts to bubble. Lower the heat to medium and keep stirring until it becomes transparent and thickens. It can then be poured as a block into ice water, spooned into ice water or poured onto a sheet (covered with some kind of powder--usually kinako) but a non-stick sheet might work. To make the savory version you want, I would follow the pictures in the first link and at the place the clam/sun dried tomato mixture in the middle of a flattened piece and then pinch the sides together, sort of like a dumpling.

chikuwa stuffed with a cucumber slice is a great filler for a bento....

I have never seen nor heard of that one before...

APRIL FOOLS!!!!

4/1: ナマズ　　なまず　　鯰 namazu Japanese catfish also known as Chinese catfish and Far eastern catfish namazu WARNING!! Do not attempt to swim in lakes that have Japanese catfish, they are vicious predators and consider human flesh a delicacy. Many people have not survived the attacks.

For those living in Japan and have access to Lala on cable or Sky Perfect, in addition to Jami Oliver's Lovely Dining, there are now featuring two more Brits. Nigella Lawson's show will be starting this month and Delia Smith's show will be starting in June.

Cafe Stick from Kabaya B is cookie and chocolate W is cookie and cream