torakris

I still have problems with cheese in Japanese dishes.... The Dairy Products in Japan thread

yeah you see that a lot in Japan, sometimes I feel sorry for those people who can't read English like my Mother in law who can't even read her own name...

well if it anything similar to xex Daikanyama, the original shop, I don't think I would recommend it. Unfortunately, the good seats are exclusively for Xex members. The riffraff sit by the door. Becoming an elite guest will set you back an initial ¥30,000, plus a monthly membership fee of ¥7,000. Curiously, that's the exact amount of discount vouchers you receive; i.e. come often enough and it's a cost-free deal. But even the cheap seats are peachy out here. Xex is the Noah's Ark of drinking establishments; customers turn up two by two. Wooden lounges are lined up in pairs facing the water with flickering lanterns casting a romantic glow as the house singer belts out Barry White covers and moody jazz classics. Not surprisingly, champagnes outnumber beers on the menu fivefold. the rest of the article from Metropolis

2/16: 穴子天ぷら anago tempura Another very popular way of serving anago, as with the anago sushi, it is often served in one long piece. anago tempura

here are some recipes from Harumi in English.

Today (February 14) is the opening of 100% Chocolate Cafe. Produced by Meiji Chocolate it is billing itself as the world's first chocolate themed cafe. their homepage a bit from their menu they also have a "chocolate library" consisting of 56 different kinds of chocolate the chocolate library these chocolates are made from 22 different kinds of cocoa beans from 16 different countries. It is located not too far from Tokyo station and the foods are available for take out or eating in. map

here is a recipe for karashi-ae, "dressed with karashi" dish, it calls for a lot of karashi, so I would add it to taste and stop when you get to the level you like.

I am pretty sure most houses in Japan have a tube of this spicy stuff. As iw as eating my oden last night, I started thinking about how much I love karashi. So what do you use karashi for? I like it on nikuman (bao, steamed Chinese buns), shumai (steamed Chinese dumplings), it also adds a nice kick to salad dressings, mixes well with mayo for a nice sauce and with a soy based sauce makes a nice dressing for boiled greens.

oh and I did make the simmering broth by myself, with some tsuyu (seasoned soy sauce), sake, mirin, soy sauce and a bit of sugar. It was eaten with lots of karashi (Japanese mustard). In the bottom right of the picture were some cabbage pickles, I felt the meal was a bit lacking in the vegetable department...... but I forgot to put them out so they will be on the table tonight.

I was feeling really lazy last night, I had been planning to take the family out to eat but my husband got called into work (on a Sunday! ) so that plan was shot. I was wandering around the supermarket looking for something simple but not too expensive. Then teh oden section caught my eye! notice almost every pack has a half off sticker on it. I added some hard boiled eggs and a 1/4 of a daikon and voila a meal for two days!! and it only cost me about $12 (1200 yen).....

2/14: 穴子寿司 anago sushi This is probably the preparation that most people are familiar with and for a good reason, it is delicious! Usually it is served brushed with a bit of kabayaki (or similar) sauce. Many places serve it looking something like this. and Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

I don't think it is very widely used at all. Though many houses in Japan have computers, very few of the women I know that are about my age know how to use them. they usually belong to the men of the house. Children very rarely use them either. People get shocked when they come to our house and see that not only do my kids have they own computer (complete with tons of software) but they know how to use it! Now that most people use their keitais (cell phones) for e-mail and browsing the internet, they don't have much need for a computer in the home.

Ok now I feel like a moron, I have a couple packs of these various flours in my house but for some reason they never clicked as "rice flour" in my head. I guess I think of them as dango flour... I was always searching for something actually called mochiko like I had seen in the US not really realizing that most mochi and dango are the same thing.... Kristin slowly backs out of the thread.....

I just ran out to the nearest and cheapest in our area, denkiya-san (store that sells electronic goods) and the Tiger one I am looking at was going for 11,800 yen (about $110) where at Amazon it is going for 9500 yen (about $90). It was bigger than I expected, I really have a hard time imagining size... I don't think I am going to need that bigger one after all. I too have avoided hot plates until now because the kids were small and I was scared they would get burned, but they are older now so it is definitely something I want. Of course if you hadn't mentioned it....

where do you find your rice flour??? I have had a heck of a time trying to find rice flour, specifically mochiko here. I finally found some rice flour at Tomizawa but it took a while to find it because they called it リ　ファリーヌ　(riz farine).... I have never been able to find rice flour in my supermarkets. By the way for shortbread I have always used the Japanese "weak" flour, I had never heard of rice flour in it before. Maybe I will give it a try with my riz farine.

I admit it, I picked the bigger one thinking of those 50-at-a-time batches of gyoza! Hope it *does* fit up there on top of the china cabinets, between the Japanese doll case and the carton of cake tins! ← Actually if you look at the plate sizes they only like a centimeter different. I was looking at the bigger (longer by 8 centimeters) Tiger but at an 5,000 yen ($50) I don't know if it is worth it or not. Also the Tiger has a yakedo (burn) guard while the Zoj doesn't, I am not exactly sure how that works but it just sounds safer.

Ah ha, but did you note that the Zoj has a cunning half-grill, half-plate for times when you want to grill some meat and veges at the same time? The Zoj is sitting in *my* shopping cart, waiting for the right moment to push the button! ← Yeah, I noticed that and was trying to figure out how that worked..... The tiger one seems to be more compact for storing with is a big plus for me.

an Indian friend of mine has one of those double heat element fish roasters and swears by it for making tandoori chicken. I have just plopped this hotplate into my shopping cart, I am going to wait a couple days before ordering it though. After doing some searching on the web and at kakaku.com it looks like Amazon.co.jp really has good prices on this stuff.

genmaicha? This is a great site with brewing instructions for all kinds of Japanese tea, scroll down to genmai-cha.

believe it or not I have been in this country for 10 years and do not own one single electric item like this! I have a gas grill and a do-nabe (clay pot) and that is all we use for table cooking, anything else gets done at the stove, okonomiyaki and yakisoba and gyoza are all made in a fry pan. I have never made yakiniku at home or I do a simplified version in a fry pan or else we do it on the grill outside. That deluxe version looks really nice though. I think it is time for us to get something like that...

In her watashi to Tokyo blog Mari has a recent entry on wagashi with lots of links and tons of gorgeous pictures. Definitely check it out!

2/13: There are many varieties of anago but the one that is the most common and the one that people think of when they hear anago is the maanago, known as conger eel in English. Here is a really great article about a day in the life of an anago fisherman in Tokyo Bay. Trapping sea eels in Tokyo Bay

last night I grilled some semi-dried squid and served it with a kanzuri and mayo sauce, this was quite good!

重ね蒸し kasane-mushi Kasane is from the verb kasaneru which to layer things or pile them on top of each other. Foods that have been cooked in this way are layered then steamed, something like this these are layers of Chinese cabbage and thinly sliced pork that were layered in a frypan, seasoned with a bit of sake, then steamed over low heat for about 20 minutes. The final dish was then seasoned with some ponzu.

last night I made an unbelievably simple dish of pork and Chinese cabbage steamed with a bit of sake then doused with ponzu. not the prettiest thing to look at but is was really good. I just made alternating layers of thinly sliced pork and Chinese cabbage in a frypan, sprinkled it with some sake, turned the heat to low and steamed it for about 20 minutes. I then removed it from the pan, cut it into pieces and poured ponzu (yuzu-pon) on top.