torakris

shio ame? I am living in Japan right? how come I have never heard of this stuff? is it sweet at all? or just taste like salt?

I love bibimbap and make some version of it at least once a month. If you have some time check out the 3 page bibimbap thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=10301&st=0 I use my kochujang straight with out mixing it with anything, a lot of restaurants here in Japan mix it with mirin and/or seame oil. Toppings vary on the season, but everything is seasoned individually first before topping the rice, and I use a fried egg with an unset yolk, but if I was using a stone dolsot (which I don't own) I would just use a raw egg yolk

chrysanthemum

word for 10/14: 梅煮 ume-ni (u-may-knee) Ume is from umeboshi the Japanese pickled plum and ni is from the verb niru that means to simmer. So this is essentially umeboshi-simmered or simmered with an umeboshi and this is a common way to simmer fish and you can also see recipes for simmering meats like pork that also call for an addition of an umeboshi. aji no ume-ni: http://www.ntv.co.jp/3min/old/9605/0520.html

you are making me want to move back to Hawaii..... great pictures!!

fu-jaga????

phish, this thread on mochi/daifuku may help a bit: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=45222

here is a little bit on kasutera, mostly the name origins: http://home.att.ne.jp/kiwi/AptNo7/kasutera.html I find the taste similar to a very eggy yellow sponge cake.

another popular product, kokuto table rolls

In my search of all the daifukus that Japan has to offer , I found this purin daifuku, for those unfamiliar with purin it is a Japanese take on a flan and somehow they got this into a daifuku. I am not a huge fan of purin and didn't care for this one but not because of the purin rather the outer mochi part had a really gummy and raw taste.....

I found another winner! Normally I don't like apollo but that is because I can't stand that fake strawberry flavor, these are cranberry flavored! This really surprised me because the Japanese don't eat cranberries..... It was quite good though, they are also jumbo sized at about 5 times the normal size.

word for 10/13: アジ/あじ開き　　　アジ/あじひらき aji hiraki (ah-jee he-rah-key) Hiraki means open, from the verb hiraku (to open), these are fish that have been opened up and partially dried. They are almost always grilled before eating. Though aji is very popular they method of drying fish can be used with many different kinds of fish. These are often collectively referred to as himono (hoshimono) or dried things. aji no hiraki: http://www.mir.or.jp/~yamajin/new/002.html and a previous thread on semi dried fish: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...st=0&p=334587 and the hoshimono (himono) thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20861&st=0

Rachel, This looks like lots of fun! I can't wait to hear more.... I also am a huge Madhur Jaffrey fan. hers were some of the first cookbooks I used when I started cooking.

Most of the dashi are quite small, just a one person snack size. Are you planning a trip to Japan?....

sometimes I can use 3!

good question! That might be a good question for the cooking boards....

wow! thanks for all the comments, permanent blogger? no thanks! this takes a lot of time, see I type with only 2 fingers.... maybe I will come back again in another 6 months or so, I really enjoy this. Feel free to come on over to the Japan forum and visit me there!! By the way I had a really nice lunch today. Hide was off today and didn't want to come home from his friend's house (upstairs) to eat lunch, so the mother invited us as well as another neighbor and her kids to eat there. It turned into an impromptu potluck, I brought the leftover pasta and celery sticks with the cream cheese from yesterday. There was also ramen, onigiri (rice balls), Korean style nori, hard boiled eggs, dried baby sardines and some snacks for afterwards with coffee.

buttermilk is one thing I still have yet to find here in Tokyo. For substitutes in baking I use either a buttermilk pwder that I buy in the US, though I did find it here once, or I sour one cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. I have yet to find the right subsitute for using it in things like dressings and soups, sauces, etc.

Yeah, I used that the last time he did it.... and it pretty much pulled all the wax off the floor as well though it did start to look normal again after a couple months .... I am thinking of giving up until he gets into college...

word for 10/12: くさや kusaya (koo-sah-yah) This is a type of fermented dried fish often made with aji, this explains it better: An interesting fermented fish product called kusaya comes from the island of Izu. Mackerel and similar fish are soaked in a brine or "kusaya gravy" that is used over and over again because salt was a rare material. After soaking, the fish is dried. In the unused period, the "gravy" was kept alive by adding just one fish fillet. Kusaya is distinguished from other dried fish by its strong, unique, peculiar odor. "If you broil kusaya in your house, the odor will not leave for three months." from here: http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/japan.html and a picture: http://www.trans-usa.com/mike/images/kusaya.jpg

It definitely had a strawberry flavor, but you know it could of had a kind of cream soda taste as well... I will have to get it again to figure out.

Thanks for the hints about taking off the the stuff on the wall. They problem is the Japanese don't use paint on their walls, nearly every house in the country has almost te same white/cream colored patterned wall paper and it is really hard to clean.... and of course you only can see about 5% of Hide's artwork in that picture..... I still need to clean the floor from where he painted it with a whole bottle of nail polish. Tuesday morning and I am having a glass of juice. There is no milk in the house.....

scotch eggs are very popular in Japan! They are often found in bentos (lunch boxes) and are often made with quail eggs, this is one frozen variety: http://www.nipponham.co.jp/product/chouri10/oben_sco.html A lot of the scotch eggs I see here skip the deep frying part and just coat the egg with a meat mixture and either pan fry or bake....

this has nothing to do with food, but I am so proud of Mia (age 8) she just made her first skirt! I showed her some basic stitches and guided her along but she hand sewed (I am not ready to let her use a sewing machine yet) the whole thing by herself. she worked on it yesterday and today, it is the leftover material from some dresses I made for her and Julia about 4 years ago. Besides cooking I also love to sew, sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century! I wanted to take a picture of her wearing it but she was too embarrassed, but Julia really wanted her picture taken with her new pose she has been practicing... the finger thing again. artwork on the wall courtesy of Hide.....

Monday dinner I needed to use up the rest of the ground beef and pork mix that I used part of for the futomaki and I had some julienned carrots leftover also, soooo.... a baked pasta dish with carrot-garlic-meat sauce and mozarella (leftover from Thursday's mozarella and tomato tart. I wanted something to snack on while glued to the television watching season 1 of 24. sooo.... the dip was an imulse buy it is a cream cheese-garden vegetable spread, my kids love it and I was too busy watching 24 to notice they didn't leave me any.... I don't think I am going to be able to wait a week between episodes..