torakris

gorgeous! are they commonly made in small sizes like that? I usually see them as one large fry pan sized piece that is then cut into smaller pieces. I like the little ones! and the garlic chives are called nira in Japanese and should be available at Japanese markets as well.

made bibimbap last night!

On Sunday my husband's aunt gave us a huge bag of snacks, it is actually only 3 kinds but huge amounts of each one. One bag consisted of about 50 individually wrapped country ma'am cookies, all in one of their new flavors, gianduja (a hazelnut chocolate): http://www.fujiya-peko.co.jp/brand/country/13146.html I have hidden them from the rest of the family......

I just pulled out a (in Japanese) cooking encyclopedia and it gives the definition of tataki as: (loosely translated by me! ) any foods that have been hit/beaten with either a knife blade or handle, a wooden pestle (surikogi) or hands. It gives a couple samples and then discusses katsuo-tataki (bonito) and says the katsuo is seared over a flame, sliced, sauce/dressing is poured over it, then it is slightly pounded/kneaded with your hands to allow the flavors to penetrate more. So this is why some seared dishes have the name tataki. I don't recall ever seeing this as a step in any of the tataki dishes I have seen recipes for though....

I just found a couple reports, all are dated 10/12/04, here is one saying theya re going to sell: http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticl...section=finance and this one says they are not: http://www.retail-merchandiser.com/retailm...t_id=1000664088

I have no idea!! I was hoping someone could come along and explain this as well....

No I haven't heard this.... I don't want to lose my Carrefour....

what is that black triangular thing with the fish in the second picture? and why is the sekihan wrapped up?

this Japanese company, in Japan, calls it tempura as well; http://www.optic.or.jp/com/kaneta/kaneta_e.html I don't think I have ever heard anyone refer to it like this though....

word for 10/20: 若狭焼き wakasayaki This is a speciality of Kyoto, the amadai cut open and flattened and then sprinkled with salt. Itis then grilled over a flame while being brushed with sake, I have seen some variations that include dashi and soy or suggest mirin as a substitute for the sake. amadai no wakasayaki: http://amsterdam.park.org/Japan/Kyoto/cult...ori/ek_b073.htm

http://jyuuma.hp.infoseek.co.jp/Images/umaibou.JPG umai bou is here in Kanto, I can't stand that one though and none of my kids care for it either...

Anna is blogging!! yeah!! Don't worry about your kitchen size, you still have three times the counter space I do....

Oden is the name of a type of hotpot that features many products made from fish pastes. kamaboko is the general name for the steamed and sometimes grilled fish pastes, this includes the familiar planked kamaboko (ita-kamaboko) and chikuwa. This are made with pureed fish, some kind of starch and salt and are then steamed. It is probably do-able at home with a food processor. The ones your husband refers to as tempura are a sort of tempura like product, I am unsure of a general name for these deep fried fish and they may fall under the general kamaboko category They often have the word ten (天) at the end.

Is this a Korean style? I did renkon (lotus root) like that before, I got the recipe from Korean cookbook, it was really good.

gobo-ten right? http://www.e-ohsumi.co.jp/gobouten.jpg I never thought to put it in my yakisoba.... sounds good! I really love the gobo-maki used for oden http://seitengai.com/tsukiagean/images/goboumaki-c.jpg

just found this site with pictures of all the oden makings: http://www.abezen.co.jp/kantanmenu/syohin.htm getting hungry....

words for 10/19: アカアマダイ aka-amadai red tilefish http://www.zukan-bouz.com/suzuki/amadai/am...e/akaamadai.jpg キアマダイ ki-amadai I can't find an English name for this one, so how about yellow tilefish? http://www.zukan-bouz.com/suzuki/amadai/am...ge/kiamadai.jpg シロアマダイ shiro-amadai I can't find an English name on this one as well, so let's call this one white tilefish! http://www.zukan-bouz.com/suzuki/amadai/am.../siroamadai.jpg

Is this the stuff you are talking about? http://www.tirol-choco.com/collection.html I didn't look too much but it doesn't seem to go back as far as most dagashi, Hiroyuki?

I just picked up jap chae noodles yesterday! They ones I have always seen are more of a brown-gray color, though they cook up translucent. this brand is sort of grayish (it is made out of sweet potato starch)

they are really addicting aren't they?!!

Thank you! I will check for those on our next trip to Odaiba.

In Japan there are many dishes that have tataki in the title, tataki is from the verb tataku which means to hit or beat. From an online dictionary: たたく 叩く 1 〈打つ〉 hit; 《fml》 strike; beat; knock 《on [at] the door》; rap 《(on) the table》; 〈平手で〉 slap; 〈軽く〉 pat 《a dog, sb on the arm》; tap 《on the window, sb on the shoulder》; 〈強く〉 bang 《on [at] the door》; 〈打ちのめす〉 beat [《俗》 paste] sb; 《俗》 give sb a beating; 〈繰り返し〉 pound [hammer on] 《the table》 last night I made a gobo tataki, in which the gobo is beaten with a stick then cut into bite sized pieces, this particular dish was dressed with a sesame-vinegar-sugar-soy dressing. I also make a cucumber tataki pickle and a nagaimo (mountain yam) tataki salad, then there are couple fish dishes that are aslo called tataki, most of these are the raw fish flesh minced up and mixed with flavorings but some of them (ie katsuo-tataki) are seared and then just sliced. What are some of your favorite tataki dishes?

I really love gobo! last night tataki (beaten) gobo with a sesame-vinegar-sugar-soy dressing

Hhhmmmm.. I have been to Fujinomiya a couple times and have never partaken of the yakisoba.... I have to admit though that yakisoba is far from one of my favorite foods.

yeah, occasionally when I do or eat something he will jokingly say "hen-na gaijin" (weird/strange foreigner)...... what are the apricot dagashi? I probably love apricots more than anything!