torakris

here is a UK based nursery that ships all over Europe: http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/altsal.htm this link will take you to their oriental seed pages, I didn't browse all 3 pages but they do have shiso (both green and red). The yuzu,that you mentioned looking for in another thread, could be harder to find..) And welcome to eGullet and the Japan forum!

http://www.aokitakamasa.com/blog/archives/cat_food.html 3rd picture down, pasta with yuzu kosho... I haven't tried this yet but it sounds good.

The only ones I have had are the middle ones and found them lacking in flavor... Yes Hokkaido is very famous for their kabocha and as to porute, it sounds more French than English.....

I haven't had those for years! my kids used to love them...

Suppon is the name of the Japanese snapping turtle that you are most likely to find on menus. Daiichi is probably one of the most famous (and most expensive) restaurants that specializes in suppon, here are some great pictures of one person's meal there: http://joi.typepad.com/weblog/2003/04/japanese_suppon.html You can find suppon courses as different restaurants all over Japan for much cheaper, courses can be found in the 8,000 to 12,000 yen range ($80-$120) per person. Here is what you come up with if you type suppon ryouri (snapping turtle cooking) into yahoo Japan: http://search.yahoo.co.jp/bin/search?p=%A4....x=0&search.y=0

sour cream it was atop some chili, that wasn't bad itself, but I haven't had sour cream in years...

word for 1/21: いかだ焼き ikada yaki (ee-kah-dah yah-key) Ikada means raft in Japanese and the dish has this name because it resembles a raft. Two (or sometimes more) filets are grilled whole, they are normally cut in half) and then served next to each other. To understand better look here: http://www.matuba.co.jp/main/003.html the first picture on the left in regular ikada yaki (with 3 pieces), the top right is an ikada-don, if you scroll down you will see that all of the other dishes feature unagi that has first been cut in half.

just with salt? how do you use them?

1/20: 並 nami (regular) 上 jou (deluxe--better than nami) 特上 tokujou (super deluxe -- better than jou) You will often see these characters on menus、not just for unagi but other dishes as well. Here is a typical unagi restaurant menu: http://www.babanishi.com/kakutenpo/insyoku/izuei/menu.html

this is right. I think we discussed this over in the wasabi thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST&f=19&t=21853

The catalogue from the co-op I order from had JAL's yuzu drink in it last week. I don't remember how much it was just that it was expensive. A friend of mine here orders a concentrated version that needs to be diluted with water and is just wonderful, but also pricey...

turtlemeng, welcome to egullet and the Japan forum! and what an informative first post!!

If you live in Hawaii you can.... when I lived in Hawaii, people put furikake on everything! I have never seen that particular combination in Japan, or anywhere for that matter, but it doesn't mean you can't do it. If it tastes good.....

I am going to steam them as I have never eaten them any other way....

1/19: 鰻重　うな重 unajuu うな丼　　鰻丼 unadon These are both dishes that consist of rice topped with grilled eel, the difference being the type of vessel used for serving. the unajuu is served in a laquer box: http://www.nona.dti.ne.jp/~miura-t/picture/unaju-1.jpg and the unadon is served in a large rice bowl: http://homepage2.nifty.com/unasuke/unadon.jpg

I love yuzu koshou! for those unfamiliar with it, it looks like this: and we discussed it on Daily Nihongo way back when: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=321560 What can't you put yuzu koshou on? I like it with tofu, noodles, miso soup, grilled foods, nabes.....

if you scroll back up through this thread, you will find quite a number of recipes for the sauce, I buy it bottled....

I'm almost afraid to ask if it tasted good... Soba ← actually the people on the show who were trying it didn't really have anything to say, which is very unusual as usually there are squeals of oishiiii from the female guests. A person from the shop that sells it, said that they often sell out of it daily.... She also showed them the proper way to eat it, you pick up the finger shaped piece of tonkatsu, place some ice cream on it, smear it with the cream and then place a piece of fruit on top, this way you get all of the tastes together. Even my husband was cringing!

The brand of shichimi I have includes the aonori type of seaweed, this is sort of a flaky kind that would be easy to use in making your own. It should be in any well stocked Asian market, the name is 青のり in Japanese and up close it looks something like this: http://www.katagi.co.jp/katagi_hp/table/img/flake/aonori.jpg sanshou could be hard to find in the whole form, it is normally sold already ground. If you are making your own and you have access to yuzu, dry some of the peels and add that for a wonderful fragrance/taste.

word for 1/18: 白焼き shira yaki (she-rah-yah-key) "white cooked", this is unagi cooked without sauce thus it is white. http://www.geocities.co.jp/Foodpia-Celery/3920/shirayaki.jpg

I saw this on tv last night http://www.geocities.jp/kuntihov/kiyomaru/...01/s_kiyo06.jpg a tonkatsu parfait! tonkatsu topped with a special tonkatsu sauce is added to a scoop of matcha ice cream, whip cream and seasonal fruits....

How about Beige? Alain Ducasse's new restaurant in Ginza? http://beige-tokyo.com/e/about.html of course I haven't been......

I had bad morning sickness with all three pregnancies and my craving were different for each one. With #1 is was tomatoes and pizza, but only one specific frozen pizza that was sold at only one store by my house. With #2 it was anything raw, lots of sushi and yukwe (Korean raw beef dish), with #3 it was umeboshi, the Japanese pickled sour plums.... For all three pregnancies I could not eat noodles of any kind, even after the morning sickness passed.... Good luck!!

word for 1/17: 蒲焼 kabayaki (kah-bah-yah-key) This is probaly the unagi preparation that most people are familiar with. Very few people in Japan make this at home, rather it is bought already seasoned and grilled and it just needs to be warmed up. The way of cooking kabayaki is slightly different between eastern Japan and western Japan. In eastern Japan, unagi is steamed after it is grilled, then it's grilled again. In the western part of Japan, unagi isn't steamed. So, unagi no kabayaki in eastern Japan tends to be softer than that of western Japan. from: http://japanesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa070901a.htm with a picture

mentaiko (spicy cod roe) with nagaimo (mountain yam) seasoned only with a bit of mirin. I made it a couple hours before taking the picture so it turned out quite watery...