torakris

word for 2/8: うなぎパイ unagi pai Unagi pie, this is a speciality from Hamamatsu and is an unagi flavored sweet..... To satisfy your sweet tooth, try Unagi Pie, cookies made with fresh butter with crushed eel bones, eel extract, or garlic mixed in. It's the most popular souvenir from Hamamatsu. from here a close up of unagi pie

ok all these warnings about the roux are starting to scare me as I have 3 small children who love to fight as soon as I step in the kitchen.... can it be made ahead of time (like when the kids are in school) and then reheated later?

ikasumi pasta I love ikasumi! I once had an ikasumi risotto at an okonomiyaki places, we cooked it ourselves on the teppan (griddle) and it was great..

well since everyone has already made it.... you can help me! The most difficult part for me is the sausage, as they have nothing like that here in Japan, so I am thinking about making my own. Fifi, you mentioned not to use fresh sausage, is there a reason behind that? If I made my own it would probably be fresh... I was thinking about making the spicy Louisiana poultry sausage from Bruce Aidell's Complete Sausage Book because I have a 2kg block of thighs in my freezer and won't be able to make it to Costco in the next week or two to get a big block of pork.... Is there a traditional sausage for gumbo?

yum, nachos! I have the superbowl on in the background, I was watching it for a bit but they have dubbed over it with Japanese commentators and it is annoying to listen to. It just isn't the same watching it here by myself in Japan on a Monday morning, it started at 8:00am Japan time.... I am snacking though! dried fish and pickled plums..... GO BROWNS! sorry just getting ready for next year..

there is even a corn cream stew roux we all know about the Japanese love of corn

I made my favorite cream stew last week and even had a picture of it, but my finger slipped on the keyboard and I lost it..... I really don't like cream stew and didn't make it for years because I found it so bland, then I figured out a way to make it good and flavorful. I use a box of the Japanese cream stew roux, sort of like their curry roux block but for stew. I saute some onions and potatoes then I add the water and scoop out the flesh of about 1/4 of a kabocha that I heated in the microwave until very soft and add that as well. This just melts into the stew giving it a gorgeous color and adding great flavor. I simmer this until the potatoes are almost tender then I add the roux, bring it back to a simmer and add chunked fresh salmon and cook a couple minutes until it is heated through. Finally I add some blanched broccoli and it is ready to be served. My family all eat it over rice but I prefer mine with bread.

let's discuss stew!

So what is your favorite Japanese style stew?

my husband made mentaiko pasta for our lunch yesterday. just mix the mentaiko with some butter, add hot pasta and garnish with nori

March 27th is the best day of the whole year for a birthday and trust me, I know!! I am definitely in for the gumbo making!

word for 2/7: 肝煮 kimoni (key-moe-knee) Ni is from the verb niru 煮る which means to simmer, these are simmered unagi livers. kimoni

well...... curry flavored crepe filled with ice cream and anko There were a couple more references to curry crepes but I couldn't get any other pictures...

makimaki welcome to egullet!! I used a small pan for my yuba, it took about 45 minutes to get that much but the taste is definitely worth the wait. The yuba sold in the supermarkets can't even compare to the taste of freshly made. There are some more pictures of the process near the end of the eGCI class I did on soy. eGCI SOY class

I just ran across this shop that sell crepes with natto.... and not just nattou, but natto with coffee jelly and cream or natto and kimchi and mayo, they have a whole menu dedicated to natto crepes, apparently it is pretty popular..... natto crepes scroll down a bit to see tehir natto menu as well as pictures of the two crepes I just described

heaven in a bowl.... Poke (pronounced "po-keh") means "to slice or cut." As a food dish served as an appetizer or snack, it usually consists of bite-sized pieces of raw, fresh fish mixed with seaweed and kukui nut relish. Today's poke aficionados, however, incorporate a wide range of ingredients, including all types of seafood (everything from swordfish and snapper to octopus and lobster), herbs, spices, nuts, marinades, fruits, vegetables, seasonings and even tofu. from here

I don't think I have ever thought of bibimbap as a place to use up leftovers..... I have always made it with freshly made toppings. I don't really care for kimchi in my bibimbap,though I don't mind eating it along side, but I have seen it served that way here in Japan in numerous restaurants. Tofu? I have never seen that before, but I could imagine if it was done right it could be good.

I have been in a Hawaiian mood for a bit and yesterday my local supermarket had a great price on a nice block of tuna, so I decided to make poke with it. Since it really wasn't enough to feed all 5 of us, I turned it into a bibimbap. I made a very simple marinade with soy sauce, salt, sesame oil and I tossed in some pine nuts. I have never used pine nuts with it before and they were great! Normally I would add some heat but since the kids were eating I just piled my bowl with a heap of kochujang. What is your favorite version of poke?

I just can't get enough! Last night I marinated the tuna in a Hawaiian poke style (with soy sauce, sesame oil and pine nuts) and also had a vinegared salad of daikon and carrots, bean sprouts seasoned with sesame oil and sesame seeds and chrysanthemum leaves with sesame oil and seeds and a bit of soy. Kochujang in the middle.

I think that just answered all of your questions... I would say the most noticeable difference is the broth, fish (bonito) based for saimin and normally pork based for ramen. It just tastes lighter. On every trip my husband and I make back to Hawaii the first thing he does when he gets off the plane (before we even leave the terminal) is to get a bowl of saimin...

I think the kind of place I really want here in Japan is something along the lines of Yummy Korean BBQ (a fast food chain that is all over the islands), you know you pick a main , get two scoops of rice and then pick a couple sides, all for a good price and you actually get full. and believe it it or not look what some internet sarching has found Yummy Korean BBQ in Japan!!!! in Nagoya.....

word for 2/6: 肝焼き　　きも焼き kimoyaki These are the unagi livers that have been skewered and then grilled. These are probably one of the only foods in Japan that I can't eat, they are extremely bitter. For some reason the bitterness is not noticeable in the kimosui (soup mentioned above) and I love that... kimoyaki

I am pretty sure this was invented in Hawaii, since the only places you will see on a menu are Hawaiian restaurants here... Spam is sort of seen as a gourmet product here and is quite expensive and normally only for sale in international markets.....

Well the Roy and Alan Wong restaurants serve the fusion stuff. I don't yet know of any places that sell true Hawaiian food (poi, laulau, etc) most of them serve "local foods" like locomoco, poke, etc and the plate lunch is getting mopre and more popular.

it looks like you can order them online I am not familiar with these products though...