torakris

Here is the English page of the Tokyo Cooking Academy it lists as one of its requirements for foreign students as "An Ability to study in the Japanese language", so I am assuming that the classes aren't in English. http://www.shokuryo.ac.jp/cookeryT/english/index.html The Hattori School of Nutrition: http://www.hattori.ac.jp/index.html doesn't have any information in English and skimming the Japanese parts I can't find any reference to classes in English...

My okonimayi is very similar to Helen's, fluffy and slightly mosit and with much more cabbage than batter. I also top it the same! My husband tops it like her son... Though sometimes I do a seafood version, my favorite is with thin slices of fatty pork from the belly. Pour/scoup the okonomiyaki into the pan/griddle and places strips of fatty pork on top, then flip it over to cook the pork side, I like to turn up the heat at the end to the pork becomes nice and crispy. Okonomiyaki parties are fun, I did them a lot in college with my Japanese and Korean friends and I just had one last winter with some Japanese friends here. We should declare some day okonomiyaki day andhave a big internet okonomiyaki party!

9/14: ヒラマサ hiramasa (he-rah-mah-sah) This is of the same genus as buri and looks almost identical except the shape of the mouth is different. There are almost no English references to it and the only name I could find was Asian yellowtail. hiramasa: http://www.zukan-bouz.com/aji/buri.image/hirakuti.jpg and buri for comparison: http://www.zukan-bouz.com/aji/buri.image/burikuti.jpg

the only other thing I can think of are the kuro tamago (black eggs) of Owakudani (near Hakone). From here http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTP/Fuji_Hakone_and_Izu/day_1.html (with a picture) At a shop by the hot spring, they sell the specialty of Owakudani, black boiled eggs. The hydrogen sulfide contained in the hot spring and iron in the eggs bond together and the eggshells naturally turn black. The rich taste of the boiled eggs is a gourmand gift from the king of hell at the "great hell". I bought these on a trip there a couple months ago and they just tasted like hard boiled eggs to me.....

KANAGAWA PREFECTURE (region = Kanto) Ok I can't find a single link (in English) for Kanagawa..... let's look at the discussion: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=51206

Ok, I live in Kanagawa (Yokohama) and am at a loss for local foods..... Probably what comes best to mind when people think of Yokohama are shumai (Chinese style dumplings) but what else is there? When thinking of Kamakura is there more than hato sabre? (pigeon shaped cookies) Yokohama shumai: http://www.kiyoken.com/pic/siumai/n0001.jpg hato sabre: http://www.kcb-net.ne.jp/nurse/secret/HP/g.../hatosabure.jpg

word for 9/13 well I think we are done with buri! let's take a look again at the names at different stages of life: STAGE KANTO NAME KANSAI NAME big adult buri buri adult warasa mejiro young adult inada hamachi juvenile wakashi/wakanago tsubasu/wakasa baby mojyako mojyako Please remember that these names can vary depending on who you are talking to and what part of Japan you are standing in, for an even more detailed list of the names used in different parts of Japan look here (Japanese): http://chisiki.sub.jp/MorinoKigi/NamaenoKi/SyusseUo.htm

melonpan, thanks for all that info and pictures!! I had never heard of this before, now I am finding myself desperately wanting it....

ginger didn't really work for me, but lemon really did. besides a dark plastic bag that I carried in my purse in case I needed to vomit in public I always had some type of lemon hard candy. When I had to make dinner I would wear a mask on my face, like a surgical mask that doctors wear, this kept the smells at bay, but on days it was really bad I would spray a little lemon scented water on the mask. and like someone else mentioned I couldn't even think about food (and that is all I normally think about!), I couldn't browse my cookbooks and I even averted my eyes when a food commercial or food scene was on tv.....

did you share it?

I have never seen these before. of course I am usually avoiding the candy/snack aisles..... I really love one snack though that is similar to their raisin one, the mobi one though has two versions one with apples and figs (as well as raisins) and another with the addition of pinapple and orange, I may be taking a trip to the store today.

myouga really works best as a garnish. The tempura was wonderful though and I also add it to miso soups, as a garnish though rather than actually cooking it. Yesterday as I was searching for the relish in my refrigerator I stumbled upon a jar of pickled myouga that I think made about 3 weeks ago and completely forgot about....

IBARAKI PREFECTURE (region= Kanto) http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/cook/feature/spe_ibaraki.html To discuss the foods of Ibaraki (sometimes pronounced IbaraGi) please go to this thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=51153

word for 9/12: モジャコ mojyako (moe-jya-koe) This is the name used to describe the tiny baby buri that make an appearance in the spring and are just a couple centimeters long.

Though I would never open something that was sealed, I inspect almost everything before I buy it. Eggs in Jaapn are usually sold in sealed but clear plastic cartons so there is no use for opening, but I always pick them up and look at the bottom. Most vegetables and fruits are sold already wrapped up so there isn't much to squeeze or inspect but I do smell fruits and peel part of the husk off the corn. I pick up packs of meat and tilt them to the side to see if any of "juices" are running and then avoid those at are. I teach my children how to shop by screaming at them at the top of my lungs that they are not to poke their fingers through the plastic and especially not the most expesive items in the store like $15 wedges of watermelon or $50 steaks. They are also not allowed to changes the prices by flipping numbers on those numbers that flip over and over price markers, they are also taught not to erase anything that has been written on a blackboard. And fruits liek grapes sitting in open packages are not there for sampling and then if there are free samples they are not allowed to stand there and proceed to eat all 20 pieces on the plate. My kids are never going to learn to shop because I never take them anywhere anymore...

I have decided to pin this topic so that it doesn't get lost in the forum and will be easier to find.

actually I am with you on this! I personally don't care for those hard cubes and I would take a hot fudge sundae over mitsumame anyday.....

sorry, can't let this rest yet. this link http://seaweed.ucg.ie/SeaweedUsesGeneral/Agars.html says (Japanese names are my addition): The best quality agar is extracted from species of the red algal genera Pterocladia (OBAKUSA) and Gelidium (TENGUSA), which are harvested by hand from natural populations in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Azores, California, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Chile, and Japan. Agars of lesser quality are extracted from Gracilaria (OGONORI) and Hypnea (IBARANORI) species. After doing a lot of research on the internet it seems to boil down to different and/or general names to describe the same thing. In the US where the main use of agar is as a lab culture substrate a general name for all of the various seaweeds serves its purpose while in Japan where it is prized for its food applications it is broken down into different types with slightly different qualities.

great pictures! I am with your husband on this one, I just can't eat kasuzuke. I don't really like the taste of alcohol, I can't eat it in sweets either..... I do on occasion eat the ones with a mix of kasu and white miso, but I really prefer an all miso version.

I think kanten can be confusing because it can be used to refer to different things. It can be used to refer to the powder or sheets of the seaweed derived gelatin like substance used for making youkan, tokoroten and the jelly like cubes used in dishes like mitsumame that also can go by the name kanten.

As far as I know kanten is referred to in English as agar agar. from the internet: ちなみに、寒天は英語ではアガー（agar）ですが、語源はマレー語のアガーアガー（agar-agar）、19世紀にはじめて英語の辞書に登場したといわれます。 http://www.housefoods.co.jp/openhouse/pepm...ook/ireland.htm translation: In English kanten is called agar, the origins of the word is actually from the Malaysian agar agar and in the 19th century it started to turn up in English dictionaries. Also more on kanten (agar agar) with pictures of it in the original seaweed form: http://www.net-report.jp/sorui/z_danwa/kaisou05_kanten.html

I am so jealous you can get a banh mi whenever you want to! I spent a good 2 hours yesterday online trying to find a place in Tokyo to get banh mi and to no avail, I got hooked on my trip to Boston this summer and am currently suffering serious withdraw symptoms....

word for 9/11: ワカシ wakashi (Kanto term) ツバス tsubasu (Kansai term) These are the words for the very young yellowtail in about the 15 to 30 cm range.

This is one reason I have avoided buying fresh wasabi in the past, because I thought you would have to consume the whole thing in a couple of days. I might give that glass in the freezer thing a try....

I am assuming there is water in there too.... Yes it really that simple, though I have never made it myself...... I really like the kuro (black) mitsumame that is made with brown sugar instead of white....