torakris

I have no problem with this thread as long as it pretty much sticks with food related stuff! If you have a Japanese word that you want to know what it means or vice versa a word in English that you want to know its English equivalent please post here. If on the otherhand you actually want to discuss a particular food then a new thread wouuld be more appropriate as things could get lost in here.

Palladion, Welcome to egullet! Thank you for the informative post, that really does show the downside of a central kitchen. I was at my elementary school yesterday helping the 1st graders out with serving lunch (my school has 2 to 3 mothers volunteer for the first month of school to help the kids get used to the kyushoku system as not all of the kids came from kindergartens that had it). It was actually quite hot, they had beef stew yesterday and the mothers ended up dishing it out instead because it was so hot. After dishing out the food all the kids that had been helping remove their gowns, hats and masks and then sit with the rest of the class (in the classroom) at their desks (pushed into groups to 4 to make a table), they the two "leaders" for the week go to the front of the classroom and lead the class in a "gokurousamadeshita" (thank you for all of your work) to the kids who had helped and then in a loud "itadakimasu" and then they all eat!

looks like it should be airing in about 30 minutes, I will go set my VCR so I am sure not to miss it!

Have you had a look at these books? Japanese Cooking- Contemporary and Traditional Japanese and vegetarian food expert Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner presents traditional Japanese dishes and regional specialties from Kyusju in the south to Hokkaido in the north. She draws from a long tradition of vegetarian cooking in Buddhist temples, as well as an abundance of vegetable- and legume-based dishes that can be found in traditional Japanese cuisine. For those dishes that are usually prepared with meat, fish or fowl, Miyoko has created innovative substitutes utilizing tofu, seitan, and other vegetarian foods to create what is truly a unique vegan cookbook. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books and The Folk Art of Japanese Country Cooking http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books While Tsuji and Andoh have risen far above most other authors of the "Japanese cookbooks" genre, Homma is really at the pinnacle in helping the Westerner understand what Japanese cooking is all about in the cultural context. Whereas most books provide a workable recipe and a useful picture of the presentation, allowing one to do a reasonable job of "cooking a Japanese dish in an American kitchen", this book provides the social and historical context in which the ingredients and the dish exist, so that one understands what one is doing when using a recipe. Not to be found in other books are discussion of breakfast and recipes for it; once you've made and enjoyed okayu you'll do it again and again (and eventually invest in a neuro-fuzzy-logic rice cooker with timer so that the okayu is waiting for you in the morning). The book has many useful illustrations not found elsewhere, such as three ways to set a breakfast tray. Homma's sincere desire to convey the "spirit of Japanese cooking" and the stories he tells add incomparable charm. Highest recommendation

Graph-sha puts out great cookbooks, most of their stuff is what I would possibly call "classic" they really stand the test of time, unfortunately they have this sort of "old" look to them and the photography just doesn't compare to some of the other books on the market. Cookbooks in Japan really seem to follow trends, 5 years ago it was Italian, every other cookbook was about Italian foods, a year to 2 years ago it was cheap food, with titiles like feeding 4 on 1000yen a day. This year it seems to be healthly foods, lots of macrobiotics, genmai (brown rice) and other grains, books focusing just on vegetables, etc. The other new trend are books that have recipes for just one or two people. You should be able to find some books on things like temple foods now because of the current health/macrobiotic trend but I am not sure how much historical information you will find in them. I think it is time for me to take a trip to the bookstore and check out the shelves!

My husband spent the day moving trees from his parents old house to their new house, te kids spent the day making house out of cardboardboxes, I spent the day weeding through all the sites I had bookmarked on my computer. I had nothing in te house and didn't feel like shopping or cooking soooo Okonomiyaki!

Today is the one year anniversary of the Daily Nihongo thread!! So I am going to take the day off! On a side note, I have been pestering my husband (who knows nothing about food) about saba for about the past week, actually saba is all I have been talking about and have actually been teaching my neighbors quite a bit. A couple days ago I told my husband that I was thinking about compiling all of the information from this thread into a book in a couple years when I am done, well my husband, who tunes me out when I talk food, was over at his parents house yesterday and told them I was going to write a book about saba!

some good recipes from eat Japan on-line: http://www.eat-japan.com/food/index.html

some recipes the Japanese restaurant navigator http://www.japaneserestaurantnavi.com/index.html

world cooking recipes: http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/ichi/index.htm

NTT Gourmet Page http://www.tec-tsuji.com/nttgourmet/index.html

Here is a list of some of the French style pastry shops in Tokyo (in Japanese) but with links to all of the shops: http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/sumsinny/feel/feelparis.html

sushi and some general Japanese foods with soem pictures and Japanese characters: http://www.ease.com/~randyj/rjsushi2.htm

Japanese recipes from recipe source: http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/ja...e/indexall.html

Just how well do you know your sushi? Take this sushi quiz!! http://english-cafe.net/japan/sushi_trivia.htm

Another great article from Elizabeth Andoh! also check out t the $100 melon thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=39936

I just report 'em, don't necessarily eat 'em! I am not sure if I have ever eaten this before, up until recently I always groups all dried fish together not really paying attention to the process with which it was dried. I see if I can find one and sample it for you!

a good write up of Roppongi Hills (all in English): http://www.sushiandtofu.com/sushi_and_tofu...iHills_0308.htm

Yasuko-san's home cooking: http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~chrkaji/yasuko/index_e.html

Bob and Angie (English and Japanese): http://www.bob-an.com/recipe/English/index_e.html

Do you have any favorite sites for Japanese recipes in English? list them here!! Ya gotta have it! http://www.biglove.lvhr.com/recipes/japanese/japandex.html

I know you just said this thread was dead, but I just ran across this today: http://store.yahoo.co.jp/organic/veggie-sommelier.html that's right this company is using the name vegetable sommelier.... I haven't looked into this but I don't think it is an official title, but still....

here is a nice one set up as articles going in depth on particular ingredients, there are recipes as well and you may notice names of some Iron Chefs there: http://www.g-chef.com/english/articles_index.html

Sounds incredible! and way out of my price range.... I wish I had more to add but while I ahev had decent Italian nothing was anything I would rave about. Can't wait to hear from others....

Saturday dinner, trying not to use as much rice as it is unbelievably expensive this year... yaki udon with kimchi, carrots and onions topped with katsuo-bushi flakes tofu "steaks" brasied in a soy-sugar-sesame-garlic-chile powder sauce gobo (burdock root) and cucmber salad