torakris

here are step by step pictures of the sanmai oroshi method of cutting fish that is commonly used on saba: http://www.tsuji.ac.jp/hp/gihou/Basic_Tech...sh/amadai2.html you could cut these further to make small kirimi for more information on saba take a look at the Daily Nihongo thread starting at page 18 (4/18) and continuing on for several pages EDIT the daily nihongo thread can be found here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20174

Well I have been here for 2 weeks and have been out quite a bit now.... Most dinners have been cooked at home, by me, for anywhere from 6 to 9 adults and 7 to 9 kids..... it has been challenging but a lot of fun. Days have been split between doing things with the kids and going out shopping with my brother, we have hit Geauga Lake (amusement park/water park) 3 times already as my aunt bought us all season passes. We have also been to the zoo and Lake Farmpark, we have also started packing our own lunches for our visits to these places as they charge you ridiculous prices for crap... The days with my brother a little more exciting foodwise, we borrowed a book from the library about ethnic eats in Cleveland and have been hitting most of the places on the East side. One favorite was Pacific East on the corner of Coventry and Mayfield, they had a sushi roll lunch for $10.95 that you can choose 3 of about 12 rolls, they were so big I had a hard time finishing! It also cam with soup, salad and tea. Biggest dissapointment was Shinano on Wilson Mills across from Richmond Mall, we went there for lunch and they menu alone was just disappointing, so I asked if they had a Japanese menu (most restaurants will have a separate menu for the Japanese customers) and we ordered various dishes from there. We also ordered their sushi roll lunch for $8.95 to share, this came only with soup. I was shocked at the size of the roll, they were tiny, this "lunch" was an appetizer portion and it was flavorless to boot. We paid over $40 and left the place with our stomachs still growling. Of next Japanese venture will be Matsu up on Chagrin. The place we keep finding ourselves going back to is La Gelateria, a gelato shop with 2 locations, one at Legacy Village and one the Cedar-Fairmount area. We both by far prefer the Cedar-Fairmount, the gelato actually tastes much better there and the atmosphere can't be beat. It makes a nice finish to a lot of the restaurants they have in the area. We went to Mad Greek across the street, and that wasn't bad but I felt their Indian dishes were better than the Greek ones.... We have been to Legacy Village which I felt were just a bunch of very overpriced shops, the shopping cener is gorgeous though and many of the restaurants looked quite good, I think we are going to try Stir Crazy that is there. Trader Joe's was nice, a lot smaller than I expected, but the prices and selection was good, we also visited Sur La Table and Wild Oats. I normally avoid Malls, but I have been to Beachwood because my ssiter works at Victorias Secret and gets 30% off.... For most of my real shopping we go to the cheap places, Gabriel Brothers, Wal-mart and Marc's. Another favorite place to go is Golden Gate Shopping center, they have a World Market ( I really like this shop), 1/2 price books, Linens and things, Holcomb's (teaching and educational supplies) and an Old Navy where I picked up a lot of summer clothes on sale. Of course the kids like it because it has Chuck E Cheese..... My brother and I have been hitting all of the ethnic markets, there is a really nice Indian one near Golden Gate called Lakshmi Plaza that just opened and an African one on Taylor that we drove past last night but didn't have time to get in. We still have a huge list of places we want to get to, but I am leaving for Boston tomorrow (just me ) and I don't know how many we will make it to after we get back.

any recipes would be greatly appreciated! So does anyone actually use the little package of pakora spice mix? or is it better to mix your own?

unfortunately I don't have a kitchen aid ... I will check out Cabelas, there doesn't seem to be a store near us though. A lot of the things I saw on ebay were combination meat grinders/sausage stuffers, we will probably be making not too large amounts at one time, is this what I should be going for? I also assumed we would use pre-ground meat... bad idea? I was thinking of using the sausage amker just for stuffing the meat into the casings. I too would love to hear more about these soy casings, especially where to get them as I am sure sure of the availability of the pork ones in Japan.

My husband really wants to make his own sausages and he asked me to pick up a sausage maker/stuffer on my trip to the US. I haven't been able to find one in stores anywhere and just now looked on ebay and there are tons there, I have no idea of what exactly I should be looking for. Are there any goods brands? anything I should know? I really don't have much more than $40 to spend....

I just had pakoras for the first time a couple of days ago at a Greek restaurant , ok it is sort of Greek/Indian restaurant...... anyway these were great, they had had cauliflower and I think spinach, my brother and I want to duplicate them them at home and we went to an Indian market today and purchased besan flour and a pakora spice mix (as we had no idea what the spicing was). Looking through the egullet archives shows a multitude of variations, what are some of your favorite ingredients to add? what do you like to serve it with?

Jim, I am glad you got to go again! I am going to check out the Azamino area one when I get back to Japan. my husband is addicted to that natto! When I talked to him on the phone the other morning he said he just ordered 10 more packs, he seems to be living on this while we are gone. My friend who is from Yamagata is going home for a trip in August and has promised to bring him back some more.

I too have never seen them eaten alive, I have enjoyed them deep dried on occasion and like the crunch though I find they have little flavor. My favorite version was kimchi'd, it was raw but not alive and really, really good!

Anna, there is quite a bit about marlin in the daily nihongo thread, look at this page: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20174&st=660 it starts on 5/31 and continues on past all the tsuyu talk....

traditionally monaka is a type of wagashi made with a wafer made from rice flour and not really related to taiyaki, looks like this: http://www.toraya-group.co.jp/english/waga.../typ_pi_003.jpg I am not really a big monaka fan either the ice cream or wagashi type, I don't like the soggy wafer.... EDIT: I see smallworld was typing the same thing at the same time...

In my experience working with both, gas ovens in Japan a A LOT stronger than their electric counterparts, I would usually have to lower the temp by at leat 10 degrees and cook for a shorter period when using gas. Electric oven can vary widely in their strength and some need to be set at higher temps than indicated, my first electric oven in Japan I couldn't cook anything except cookies or other things that only required a short cooking time, things like meatloaf and cakes wouldn't be cooked through even if I had them in there at 180 (350) for 2 hours! All ovens cook differently you just need to get used to the way it works and adjust accordingly. Good luck!

remember not all umeboshi are created equally! If it was one of the individually wrapped ones it was probably the snack style that tend to be more sour than the "regular" ones. Umeboshi have various salt contents, one with only 8% salt will not taste nearly as salty as one with 18%. If you are looking for a really easy to eat one look for the hachimitsu (honey) ones, these are quite mild.

I am taking notes everyone! I was initially thinking about trying places that were somewhat unique to Boston or take advantage of the fresh seafood, definitely going to get a clam chowder, but now am very tempted by the Portuguese restaurant and the Cambodian one as well..... Basically something I wouldn't be able to eat often (if ever) when I am at home in Japan and anything more exciting than most of the offerings here in Cleveland.

thanks for all the information and the great pictures!!

I am not an expert on Indian curries or Japanese ones for that matter but in my experience Japanese curry tends to be of a thick sauce with some meat and vegetables ( most commonly potatoes, carrots and onions) while curries in India are more of a meat and/or vegetable dish with some sauce for binding. Japanese curries also tend to be milder and sweeter. But don't forget there are also Indian style curries made in Japan, these tend to focus more on various spices rather than a pack of roux.

Wow thanks for all of the info! I am planning to get a Boston Guide book from the library soon so I am more familiar with the place names. I too am worried about the convention traffic, I am going to be there the exact time it is going on too, from the 24th to the 29th. My sister said it is going to mostly be on the North side so maybe if I stick to the South.... I tried to get a different week but the ticket prices were like $300 more! I thought $150 round trip to Boston (from Cleveland) was too good to pass up.

Thank you! I am glad to hear that about the first book, I actually placed it into my shopping cart at amazon last night. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...5Fencoding=UTF8 This is the other I put in my cart, Food of Portugal by Jean Anderson http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...5Fencoding=UTF8 I am going to check out the others you have suggested.

could that thick green paste be yuzu-koshou? look like this?

Glad I noticed this thread, I have been on the computer for hours looking for some good Spanish and Portuguese cookbooks as I have discovered my collection is really lacking in this area. Unfortunately I don't read much Spanish or Portuguese so are there any recommendations for books in English as well? Any authors to look out for?

I can tell you tempura does not mean golden, here is a really great thread we had on the origins of tempura a while back: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36984 wish I knew more about the meaning of the word kimchi.....

hhmmm... I am assuming any type of green tea will do, except for thr frothy tea ceremony tea , I have never actually heard of a specific tea for use in ochazuke.

I just decided yesterday to leave my 3 kids with my parents and take a 6 day solo trip to Boston to visit my newly married sister and husband, at the end of this month. I have never been to Boston before and am looking eagerly foward to this trip (and the fact that I will have 6 days with no kids!), My biggest problem will be my very low budget since the one credit card I own isn't take in very many places in the US and I don't have a whole lot of cash. I will be with my sister on Saturday and Sunday but from Monday to Thursday I will be on my own. What are some foods that I shouldn't miss and are there any good markets that I must see? I will probably be eating lunch out on my own everyday and then cooking dinner for the 3 of us in the evenings, this will really be a joy as they both love food as much as I do. My sister lives in Jamaica Plain and I will have have free use of her train pass during the week as the hospital she works at is just a 5 minute walk from her place, but any recommendations in the general area would be greatly appreciated.

Melonpan, This is another product I don't believe I have ever seen before in Japan! Of course I normally skip the inside aisles of the supermarkets...... especially when shopping with the 3 kids..... I need to start paying more attention now!

dashi chazuke? I don't think I have ever seen that before, how does it taste compared to a regular ochazuke?

Compared to? I worked for *the* mouse for several years and adore him and everything all of it is. they are also excited about McDonald's.... I think most of my eating will be done without them. My budget has just gotten quite a bit tighter since I have decided to fly to Boston for a couple of days (with out the children!) and visit my sister, I know we will eat quite well together! I am waiting for my little brother to get here from Michigan and then we can go out and eat as none of my siblings here are all that interested in food.... Once I get over my fear of driving on the other side of the road I will be getting out more by myself, though right now I am dependant on others. I am also looking more foward to cooking, especially from my dad's extensive garden, but I need to get this house stocked up first.....