torakris

My friend and I had lunch at Ume no Hana over a week ago and I am finally getting around to posting the pictures.... This is a tofu restaurant where all of the emals are served kaiseki style, coming out one at a time, we were there for lunch and had a choice of 4 (?) different kaiseki. We both chose the Yuki no Zen a special menu just for the month of December, it consisted of 11 dishes. We started off with some kakishu (an alcoholic drink made from persimmons), I don't normally drink but this was very good! There was also oborodofu (very soft tofu) served cold with a soy sauce and ginger and scallions. On the right is the green tea we received when sitting down. (sorry the pictures aren't very good because I was trying to take them without having to stand up...) Next came a tofu shumai that also had crab inside and satoimo mizore-ni, Japanese taro simmered in a sauce that included grated daikon. The dishes actually came one at a time but we were busy talking the sarted to pile up... This next one was called a soymilk-konnyaku salad, underneath was some very white konnyaku (maybe made with soymilk?), we couldn't figure this one out.... The "chips" on top looked something like tempeh but we weren't sure. We didn't catch what this one was, apparently every other Friday a musical performance is put on for 30 minutes by some kimono clad women playing some traditional instruments. This was nice but they asked you to refrain from talking during the performance and our waitress was just wispering the names of the dishes and we couldn't hear.... It was a type of deep fried fish paste and was really good. chawan mushi, steamed egg custard (one of the best I have ever had) black rice, pickles and miso soup with yuba and mizuna I didn't get a picture of dessert, it was a black sesame shiruko and was absolutely incredible, I definitely want to try this at home! The meal cost 2300yen (about $22) and I found it quite reasonable, we will definitely be going back again.

word for 12/19: 白子　しらす shirasu This word, literally "white child", refers to the very young fish, iwashi are probably the most common fish eaten at this stage, but the young of other fish such as ayu (sweetfish) and unagi (eel) are also called shirasu. These are delicious eaten raw and the fall is the best time to find them, they are called 生しらす　or "raw" shirasu and look like this: http://www.yaizu.com/shohin/shirasu/nama-shirasu.htm

wow! I don't care for omuraisu but damn that looks good!

What is the one in the bottom right corner? Is that mochi? How is it with mochi inside? ← it is shiratama-kuri-azuki, I have never tried ones with shiratama inside.... These pictures don't show how much cream is in most of those, the ones I have bought probably had over a cup of cream and it wasn't the good stuff either.

what kind of noodles are used in the nakjee bokum? that sounds like something I would love.. and welcome to egullet!

for those that are unfamiliar with Jaapnese style crepes they often look like this: http://www.kitakitune.co.jp/crepemenu.html some simpler version look like this: http://www.aprecio.co.jp/toyocho/pages/menuCrepe.htm and there are also savory versions: http://puchi.pekori.to/crepe2.htm I personally can't stand them and they are everywhere now, my kids love them though but at about $4 a piece it is an expensive snack for the 3 of them and it isn't very easy to share...

This is probably my absolute favorite Korean noodle dish, but one that is just too time consuming to make at home.... In the summer I make a trip at least once a month to my favorite Korean restaurant to eat this for lunch and eat some type of refrigerated version once a week.

Kris: What are the ingredients you used to make this dish? I see some bean sprouts, sesame, cellophane noodles(?), carrots, not sure which green vegetable it was, and what other ingredients there were. The picture looks pretty good! ← the noodles were the ones made from sweet potatoes as discussed in this thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...st=0&p=741752 the green vegetable is called seri in Japanese, I think it is minari in Korean and something like mugwort in English. There was also pork, I prefer beef but didn't have any in the house. The other ingredients were soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and garlic, this time I had a lot more sesame seeds than normal because I had 3 kids helping me in the kitchen... The really wonderful thing about this dish is that is can be made with almost anything and still taste good!

Well they seem to be doing quite well... From the Japan Time: With its latest outlet having recently opened in the food court of Shibuya's Tokyu department store, trendy Manhattan deli Dean & Deluca has carved a special niche for itself at the top of the high-end food business. With a store in Marunouchi and another in the newly revamped Shinagawa Station building, the all-American chain is proving to be a firm favorite with Tokyo gastrophiles (gourmets). New York staples like doughnuts and bagels are freshly baked using additive-free traditional recipes while a selection of French bread and pastries is also laid out in sumptuous style. and An assortment of Christmas goods has just been rolled out to tempt Tokyoites into giving their celebrations a trendy twist from the Big Apple. The seasonal offerings include a chicken, Christmas cake and tote bag gift set for 10,000 yen, a mini Turkey imported from France (4,800 yen) and a Buche de Noel (Christmas Log), made especially by Tokyo patisserie La Precieuse, for 4,500 yen. full article: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getart...l20041217mw.htm

I made chapchae last night what are some of your favorite Korean noodle dishes?

word for 12/18: おせち料理 osechi ryouri (oh-seh-chi ryou-rhee) These are the tradtional new year's dishes in Japan. Tazukuri, discussed yesterday, is just one of those dishes, to learn more about osechi ryouri look here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...29754&hl=osechi a picture of osechi ryouri: http://comm.hum.ibaraki.ac.jp/ibunka/2000/05/osechi.gif

I have just scanned over the past three pages..... What I am looking for is savory dishes using maple sryup. I would always see recipes using maple sryup and then skip by them because it was too expensive here in Japan, but I bought a large jug on my last trip to the US and now I can't seem to find any recipes... what are some of your favorite non-dessert uses of maple sryup?

What's the "Wafuu Chicken Tender" like? What makes it "wafuu?" ← the only information they give about it is that it has a special BBQ sauce.... no indication at all of what makes it wafuu (Japanese style).

I deep fried them for the first time last night. WOW! they lose that somewhat root-y taste and become really sweet. My oldest daughter who normally picks gobo out of her dishes couldn't stop eating these. I served them with a horseradish-mayo dip, though they would have been fine sprinkled with just salt.

daikon and aburage in white miso with a bit of yuzu-koshou I normally don't even make miso soup 3 times a month and here I am 3 days in a row.... My husband didn't even touch it though, so my kids had the leftovers this morning with their pancakes.....

I just got an oseibo gift today!!!!!! a monster pack of mentaiko (spicy cod roe), I love this stuff and I was just looking at it at the store yesterday where it was on sale for 298 yen ($2.90) for 100 grams (3 1/2 ozs) but it was still just a little too expensive. Now I have a whole box of it.....

word for 12/17: 田作り tazukuri (tah-zoo-koo-rhee) This is a very popular dish for the new year's holidays, the niboshi are first cooked a bit (either in by deep frying, in a frypan or in the oven) and then are simmered or mixed with a sweet-ish soy sauce mixture. Like most new year's foods there is a meaning behind their name, ta ( 田) is a field and zukuri is from the verb tsukuru (作る） which means to make, by eating this the Japanese traditionally wished for a rich harvest in the upcoming year. tazukuri: http://woman.excite.co.jp/kondate/img/feat...ri/27476764.jpg and a recipe: http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/3614.html

If you look around a bit you will see some products labeled 無添加調味料 mutenka choumiryou These are additive free products and I have seen them popping up more and more.

eeeewwwww!!!!

I have never seen that maitake family pack in my area before, about how much is it?

and just another note on ekisu, somethings that we call extracts in English like vanilla or almond extracts aren't ekisu in Japanese they are called エッセンス (essensu)

I personally have no problems with msg but I also don't buy a lot of packaged foods and don't see a need to sprinkle aji no moto on everything I eat. Here is an interesting website (obviously one sided by the name) but it has a lot of information about msg in Japan and the site in in both English and Japanese: http://www.noaminosan.org/indexE.html

lat night was niboshi and satsumaimo

word for 12/16: 味噌汁 misoshiru (me-sew-she-rhue) miso soup Once you have made the niboshi stock add some miso and you have misoshiru. If you use small niboshi you can even leave them in the soup to be eaten. Here is a misoshiru I made last night with niboshi and satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potatoes):

how can you not love fish roe... send it to me! send it to me!