torakris

no.... I guess I could run to the 100 yen store and buy one though....

I think these some of the common places you will see garlic and especially garlic in extremes. I have also seen dishes heavy on the garlic labeled as "stamina" dishes... I still don't think though that I it has found its way into the more traditional Japanese cooking, garlic use still seems to be associated with foreign foods. I teach cooking classes and all of my students are Japanese and I use garlic in most of my cooking, my students have often commented on my use of large amounts of garlic. Some even saying they have never bought garlic in their lives, others say they only buy it for pasta sauces uses only one clove and the rest of it goes to waste. Last month I taught them how to make the French dish of chicken with 40 cloves of garlic and they were all amazed as just how sweet garlic could be....

word for 11/27: 干し数の子 hoshi kazunoko These are dried kazunoko, most likely dried out in the sun, they need to be rehydrated before using and swell to about 3 times the dried size. dried kazunoko (bottom) and rehydrated (top): http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/uo/jpg/46422...ikazunoko08.jpg

I wonder if I can "grill" them in a griddle pan...?

do you think grilling them could make them sweeter? sort of like roasting tomatoes? I have some mikan that aren't particularly flavorful....

I love Gyu-kaku! I can't believe your pictures weren't taken in Japan!! Everything down to the dishes and the outside of the restaurant look exactly the same. The only difference was the sauces, we don't have either of those... I can get to 5 different Gyu-kaku locations in less than 10 minutes....

I also found this: 日本でのにんにくの歴史 にんにくが日本に伝わったのは意外と古く約1800年前の古事記のころといわれています。中世のころ「源氏物語」に風邪をひいた娘がにんにくを服用し、恋人がその臭さに怒ってしまったといった話がでてきます。 11世紀に入るとにんにくは主に仏教や貴族などの上流社会からは嫌われますが、庶民の間では薬用としても食品としても取り入られていきました。江戸時代には「にんにくは悪臭甚だしいが、効能が多いので人家に欠くべかざるもの」（大和本草）と薬効の面では高く評価されました。明治時代になって鎖国が解かれ肉食の料理が広まるにつれ、食用としても愛用されるようになりました。 very rough translation: History of garlic in Japan The first records of garlic are from the Kojiki (records of Ancient Matters) from about 1800 years ago. In the Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari written 11th century) there was a part about a young girl who takes some garlic to help cure her cold and her boyfriend finds the smell repulsive. Around the 11th century the majority of the upper class, including the Buddhists and the nobles shunned the use of garlic, while the common pople used it as both a medicine and a food ingredient. During the Edo period (1600-1868) despite its repugnant smell,the medicinal benefits of garlic were thought to be too great to avoid its use. Then with Japan's break from isolation during the Meiji period (1868-1912) and the emergence of a variety of meat dishes, garlic was starting to be used more regularly.

hhhmmmm..... Though garlic is eaten in Japan it is used much less than in other Asian countries and the usage seems to be more recent. Scanning some papers on the internet it seems to have entered the country about 2000 years ago from China but as a medicine, some reports show it being in China (most likely from India) from about 5000 years ago. Another reason why it may not have caught on as part of Japanese cuisine is: Even though the "Shojin-ryori" is a vegetarian diet, some vegetables such as the onion, garlic, and leek cannot be used in the dish because they are too strong. Also, no cooking spice is used in preparing the dish, because each vegetable already has a unique taste. People who cook the dish make the best use of the flavor of the vegetables. The "Shojin-ryori" is thought to be the mother of the Japanese table style, because Kaiseki -ryoti and Hucha-ryori were based on "Shojin-ryori." from: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/jap...ion-effect.html

I always make mine with regular flour, but have seen recipes that call for mung bean powder, shiratamako and even katakuriko in addition to or instead of flour. Maybe I will experiment a bit more.

word for 11/26: 塩数の子 shio kazunoko Shio means salt and these are salted herring roe, they can be made with either a brine or a dry salt mixture. To remove the salt before eating they should be soaked a couple hours to overnight in a lightly salted bowl of water, then change the water and soak for another couple of hours (changing te water every hour or so) until they are to your liking. After soaking they can be eaten as it with a sprinkling of soy sauce and some katsuo bushi (bonito flakes) or used in other preparations. shio kazunoko: http://www.hokkaidou.co.jp/gyoran/kazunoko.htm

I had a bunch of errands to run this morning and decided to pop into Family Mart (convenience store) for lunch. I got taco rice maki and toromaguro onigiri This taco rice thing caught me eye as I had never taco rice in a maki before, for those that are unfamiliar taco rice is a dish that originated in Okinawa and consists of a dish of rice topped with a taco meat sauce and other toppings like cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. It basically a taco with rice instead of a shell. It was really good and I mean REALLY GOOD! why didn't I ever think about this before??? close ups

I made the damakko nabe again last night, my husband and I are both addicted now! I took the advise of a friend originally from Akita and added a bit of sugar, soy, sake and mirin to the chicken stock and it was even better than the first time. I didn't have chicken on hand so I used pork along with shiitake, enoki, negi (scallions), gobo and mizuna. again it was just eaten with some yuzu-koshou, this is really simple and is going to be a staple! the next time I with definitely make the damakko mochi by myself. My friend said she does nothing special when coking the rice, just regular rice with nothing added, then it is pounded a bit and shaped into small balls.

My neighbor just returned from a visit to her hometown of Hamamatsu (in Shizuoka) bringing back mikan and amikan flavored cakes for all of us neighbors. When asked how her trip went, she just smiled and wonderful! apparently she spent the whole time at her parent's eating unagi pies! from here: http://hamamatsu-daisuki.net/english/food/top.html Unagi Pie 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. I know we talked about these somewhere else....

looks a little like chijimi/pajeon... I notice on has rice added to it but the other doesn't , they both have miso though, is that the necessary ingredient?

word for 11/25: にぎり nigiri (knee-ghee-rhee) as in nigiri sushi, the kind of sushi most people are familar with, shaped by hand with something on top. kazunoko no nigiri sushi: http://www.sanraku.com/image/kazunoko.gif

I don't know anyone who pounds rice at home.... I see it normally at schools and festivals, most people use these: http://www.toshiba.co.jp/webcata/cooker/pfc_20fk.htm nowadays. a mochitsuki machine that will do all the work for you! it also doubles as a bread machine.

I was commenting to a Korean friend of mine on a recipe I found for pajeon/chijimi that called for soy milk (instead of water) and she said she almost always made hers with regular milk (again instead of water). I had never seen recipes calling for milk before, I wonder if that would change the texture somewhat.

I had black rice last night! It isn't used much in Japanese cooking, actually none of my Japanese friends had ever seen it before. I use about 1 to 2 tablesppons of black rice per 180ml (rice cooker sized cup) of regular Japanese rice. Last night I used 1/2 cup black with 4 1/2 white. You can use any proportion you want, I have even seen rices calling for all black rice but 1 tablespoon per cup is enough to turn it all deep purple and give it a wonderful nutty flavor. I serve it with all kinds of dishes, Korean or Japanese and actually last night it was the "base" for a cream stew.

some pictures of oseibo: https://www2.daimaru.co.jp/daimaru/gift/dlink.jsp?s=71 click on one of the categories at the bottom and then on the picture to see it bigger. Hiroyuki, I noticed that you said you buy them for yourself, I have always thought about doing that, do you think the prices are better?

word for 11/24: 数の子 kazunoko (kah-zoo-noh-koe) herring roe http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/kazunoko.jpg

I love chijimi/pajeon and make them quite a bit, some favorites being pork and nira (garlic chives), kimchi - alone or with pork/seafood, kabocha, and zucchini with beef. I actually prefer chijimi to okonomiyaki....

Chijimi is the word used in Japan fro the Korean pancake known throughout the rest of the world as pajeon/pajun/and a hundred other spellings. Jeon (Pan-fried Food). Jeon refers to vegetables, seafood, or meat, dipped in egg and flour and fried. I was told that chijimi is the "old" word for the modern day pajeon and was brought into use in Japan by the Koreans that were brought over early last century and it stayed in use because the Koreans stayed in Japan thus never learning the "new" word.

we just recently discussed suzuki over in the Daily Nihongo thread starting here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...45entry749045 It's scientific name is Lateolabrax japonicus (Japanese sea bass/sea perch) and more can be found out about it here: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.cfm?id=4589

the potatoes are boiled a couple minutes until tender but still firm. Heat some oil in a large frying pan toss in a couple dried red chiles, then add a cinnamon stick and 2 to 3 cardamom pods stir a couple times and add about 3 good sized onions worth of thinly sliced half rings. Cok a couple minutes until lightly browned then add the sweet potatoes. Stirfry a couple minutes then add some salt and a couple squeezes of lime juice. Cook a bit more until tender. Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian

I attempted the cream ones once but they were too liquid-y and didn't hold their shape, needless to say it was a disaster. now I buy them....