torakris

Two nights ago: mizuna and tofu salad with an ume dressing grilled eryngii mushrooms and garlicky pork mazegohan (mixed rice), it would have been prettier if I had had some scallions in the house

They were really good, I highly recommend any of these products. Now to find them in the stores. Helen, If you haven't already check the website and click on the free sample banner!

Except for the mushrooms we had the same soup last night too! Ours included pork, satoimo, gobo, daikon, carrot, onion and konnyaku. Sorry I didn't think to take a picture...

I'm thinking we should just extend this to the entire month of July! Seriously, the first step should probably be to check with Kris on available dates, since she will be traveling the farthest. =R= ← Thanks for thinking of me! I won't be buying my summer tickets until February but I can say now that I will definitely be in the US for the last week of July and the first 2 weeks of August.

This was a unique sushi roll in that instead of the typical soy sauce for dipping it was sold with a package of sesame dressing. I was so sure I would find this repulsive that I picked up a couple of soy sauce packs at the deli counter (free). To my great surprise it was really good!

A lunch from my neighborhood bread store. Taco naan and zunda brean (zunda refers to the paste made from sweetened edamame)

The samples I requested came in just 3 days! Though I am just getting around to posting them now..... These were some incredible samples, complete with recipes for each product. I have used almost all of it and am a very satisfied customer. Their tsuyu in particular was quite good.

A couple nights ago I made a wonderful shouga-yaki don. I apologize for the bad picture... I sliced pork tenderloin on the diagonal, salt, peppered, floured it and thenjust barely seared it. I then added to the pan 1:1:1 mix of soy sauce, sake and mirin with a large pinch of sugar and good grating of ginger. It took just a moment for the sauce to thicken then I placed some hot rice in a bowl topped it with baby spinach and red onions and topped it with the pork, adding extra sauce after the picture was taken.

here are some more recipes/pictures of soup spaghetti: Mushroom soup spaghetti mushroom, squid, corn and milk A colorful version with seafood and vegetables here is a version that is served cold

For lunch a couple days ago I picked a "soup spaghetti", I have had these quite a few times and enjoy them. At one restaurant close to by house this is all they serve. This falls in between a sauced pasta and an actual soup and I am not sure if this is a Japanese creation or they actually serve this in other parts of the world. below is the convenience store version. Japanese flavor soup spaghetti with umeboshi (pickled plum), chicken, mizuna and wakame seaweed. The soup was a strong garlic flavored chicken broth. After heating it in the microwave It is hard to see the soup but there is about 1/2 cup in there.

For lunch a couple days ago I picked a "soup spaghetti", I have had these quite a few times and enjoy them. At one restaurant close to by house this is all they serve. This falls in between a sauced pasta and an actual soup and I am not sure if this is a Japanese creation or they actually serve this in other parts of the world. below is the convenience store version. Japanese flavor soup spaghetti with umeboshi (pickled plum), chicken, mizuna and wakame seaweed. The soup was a strong garlic flavored chicken broth. After heating it in the microwave It is hard to see the soup but there is about 1/2 cup in there.

Newest Kit Kat Caramel, it wasn't as good as I was hoping. It had a pretty bad fake caramel flavor.

I didn't even make the connection until you mentioned it. Now I see what you mean, but this would definitely have been done just as a seasonal gesture (hence the yukata). Watermelon has strong associations with the days of summer in Japan, nothing more. ← Wow! I didn't make a connection either. The picture just screamed SUMMER at me. I guess I have been in Japan too long...

Which one did you buy? The shabu shabu cut or the sukiyaki cut? It may not be noticeable at first but the shabu shabu cut is thinner. Shabu shabu is far from "boiled" the meat is swished around in the hot water (not boiling) for just a second or two then pulled out and dipped into a sauce of choice (usually a ponzu or sesame sauce). The thicker sukiyaki cut doesn't work as well as shabu shabu because it takes longer to cook. In contrast the delicate shabu shabu cut is often too thin to stand up to the stir fry then simmer in the sukiyaki pot. Neither cut is meant for grilling. You could also use the sukiyaki cut in niku-jyaga.

It isn't what I would call cocktail sauce but what about some Tabasco (or other hot sauce), the chipotle tabasco could be nice here. My husband used to make a spicy ketchup like this, he would also add lots of black pepper for even more quick. A squeeze of lemon juice may help make it more cocktail sauce-y.

I hope you don't mind but I just had to post my favorite picture here!! This was from page 4, do remember where this was taken? The pictures are all really incredible! Did you have any favorite places you visited or any new favorite foods?

Do you have any wasabi (either powder or tube) in the house? This is a wonderful alternative that I have used frequently.

Hi nakji, Kochujang can be found in most stores now, look in the "ethnic" section and you will see tubes or little jars that say コチュジャン on them. If you want to get the larger tubs that are imported from Korea see if you can find a Yamaya or a Kaldi near you. Then of course you could also head to Tokyo's Koreantown in the Shinokubo area just 1km away from Shinjuku.

Are you talking about the actual noodles themselves? Soba noodles shouldn't be made with egg. The only ingredients should be buckwheat flour, flour (depending on the type), salt and mountain yam powder (again depending on the type). Here is one from Eden Foods that is definitely vegan.

Thanks for trying them and then reporting about it! I am sorry to hear they were lacking in flavor, they sure are beautiful though. The most important question though, would you buy them again?

maybe it is because I am so bad at math (and I mean embarrassingly bad) that I shun using ratios. The only recipe that I really use ratios for is this one I put in recipeGullet for a Pork and Cucumber Wasabi Salad. The ratio is simple 1:1:1 (soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar) This is an incredibly healthy (no oil added) and versatile salad. Though the recipe calls for pork, you can also use beef, shredded chicken or even seafood. Instead of or in addition to the cucumber, you can use any type of lettuce (I really love mizuna), shredded/julienned carrots, thin slices of onion, etc. The wasabi can be replaced with the condiment of your choice, I also use yuzu-koshou and the new yuzu-wasabi product in a tube.

I am glad to know I am not the only one who doesn't really care for ramen. In 13 years in Japan I can still count my trips to a ramen shop on one hand. My (Tokyo born and bred) husband also shares my indifference for ramen. I do make it at home more often, usually for an easy weekend lunch, though never from scratch. I either jazz up instant ramen or buy the fancier refrigerated packs that include soup and fresh noodles. Even these we only eat 2 to 4 times a year. I stare at the pictures in this thread in awe, the time and work put into these bowls of ramen is really amazing.

I just watched it! I can't believe I was drooling over rice!! I only wish that had focused more on other local foods as well instead of showing foods from all over Japan to be eaten with the rice...

No glop on my Sanyo ECJ-FK18!

I have the Sanyo ECJ-FK18 (10 cup), the cheapest I see it right now is about 20,000 yen. It is a couple years old, so here is the current ranking list at Kakaku.com I buy all electronic online now because the price is significantly cheaper than a local electronics store (even the massive chain ones). I save close to 20,000 a couple years ago on my rice cooker by buying it online.