torakris

words for 4/25: let's look at some more ways saba can be dried, these ways are not always just particular to just saba they are drying techniques used for many kinds of fish. These fish are all salted before drying, they are either soaked in a brine or sprinkled with salt, the length of time in the brine and the amount and type of salt used vary by the type of fish, the type of process and the people making them. here are some of the most popular ones you may run across: 天日干し　tenpiboshi this means sun-dried, these are the ones you will see on the racks on the side of the road as you drive through coastal towns, they look like this: http://www.toretate-shonan.com/shopping/himonoheikatu.htm 一夜干し　ichiyaboshi literally meaning overnight dried fish, these tend to have the shortest drying period.　Often these are seen hanging out at night time to catch the cool sea breeze, grilled ichiyaboshi: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Foodpia/8684/VG...otos/02saba.jpg 灰干し haiboshi The character hai refers to ashes and in this case specifically volcanic ash, these fish are wrapped in a special film then a cloth and then covered with volcanic ash (top and bottom) and kept in a temperature controlled room, the time varying on the fish: http://www.tosen.co.jp/setsumei/setsumei2.htm 文化干し　bunkaboshi originally this referred to saba that had been dried wrapped in cellophane and sold that way, this was before the use of plastic trays, wrap, etc. Nowadays is tends to refer to a process of being dried in a cold room with many fans, imitating a cold wind for an average of about 14 hours. They are often still sold wrapped in cellophane: http://www.suzuichi.chikurasan.or.jp/syohin/syouhin%20_5.htm

I've heard some anally retentive things in my time, but what is this about? It is TRUE! I know of a couple of people who wash AND rinse their dishes before they load them into the dishwasher and someone who NEVER uses her dishwasher because she wants it in mint condition should she ever decide to sell her home - so far she has lived there for 15 years! And I know someone who only ever puts dishes in the machine and piles up all the used cooking pots in the sink and washes them by hand. But... to each his/her own. Isn't his how you are supposed to wash dishes? I grew up with two people always washing dishing, one to scrub them in the sink with soap and then rinse and then another to load them into the dishwasher.....

Nigari, traditionally the coagulant used for making tofu, is HUGE in Japan right now. Once difficult to find, as people rarely make their own tofu, it is everywhere. Stores in my neighborhood several several different brands, there are magazines and books devoted to it. And not just for food, I have seen recipes for making soaps, face lotions, etc. a nice article can be found here: http://web-japan.org/trends/society/soc040406.html

didn't need to go far, from dictionary.com: [Pidgin English chop, quick (probably from Chinese (Cantonese) kuaì) + stick.]

both interesting points! I wonder where the name chopsticks came from....

In Japan packing a perfectly balanced bento (boxed lunch) is a way of showing love between the parent an child as physical affection still isn't as common as it is in other parts of the world. Here is a really wonderful article about how the Japanese feel about obento, especially the ones made by mom: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getart...k20040325ks.htm It really is very culture related, there are no rights and no wrongs just different ways of thinking. I have to admit that being a foreign mom in Japan can be frustrating because it is really impossible for me to understand this feeling they have for bentos as I didn't grow up with them.

Friday, my husband was having a BBQ at work so it was just the kids and I: leftover homemade mac and cheese from a couple days ago (I had frozen the leftovers) "beefed" up with canned tuna, more cheese and more evaporated milk avocado slices drizzled with soy sauce ice cream for dessert

There was some discussion of dried fish (himono) in the hoshimono thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20861&st=0

Another popular way of buying saba is to buy it semi-dried, the fish are often salted or seasoned and then left to partly dry. In many seaside towns you will see rack upon rack of these fish air-drying as you drive down the roads. words for 4/24: 醤油干し shouyu-boshi (show-you-boe-she) These have been seasoned with soy sauce, this is one of my favorites: http://e47.jp/Q/uh/goods.asp?MALL=Q&SHOP=uh&PAGE=1&No=10 みりん干し　 mirin-boshi (me-rheen-boe-she) these have been seasoned with mirin: http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/tosa1/img1022258928.jpeg

my husband spent many years being forced to use his right hand and today is completely left handed. The schools in my area at least, don't seem to force changing but there are some parents who do. There is a new calligraphy school opened just a couple minutes walk from our house and yesterday my neighbor and I (we both have left handed children) were talking about sending our kids there. I told her I was thinking of calling the school first to make sure they will let my daughter use her left hand to write (calligraphy is traditionally down with the right hand and the strokes can be awkward to make with the left) and my friend said she was thinking of sending her son there so that he could learn to write with his right hand....

There is really incredible variety in the way things are done at schools here. Things like toothbrushing for example, the school my daughters go to started a encouraging the kids to brush their teeth after meals from last year, it is still completely "voluntary" and only those who want to do it. However a sshool just 5 minutes from my house has mandatory teeth brushing after meals and this has been in place for several years. The kids are also walking to school in a group, in my area this is called a tokouhan and it is decided by the school. All the children from the same area are put together, the tokouhan can't consist of more than 10 kids so when there are too many they break into two or more groups. They meet every morning at a designated place at a designated time and walk in two lanes with the hanchou (leader) and fukuhanchou (assistant leader) in the front and the back to guide the group. The same school that brushes their teeth after eating though does not do this and the kids all walk to school with whoever they want to or by themselves. In the pictures the kids are wearing helmets, I have never seen that before, I have seen yellow hats.... In my area the 1st grade kids attach a yellow cover to their backpack to make them more noticable.

nice article about sushi from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/dining/2...ml?pagewanted=1

we got there as it was opening and unfortunately most of the foodstands weren't opened yet , by noon it was jam packed but even the kids had a great time. This is definitely going to become a yearly event for us!

It is time for the annual Thai Food Festival again! This year it will be on May 8 and 9 at Yoyogi Park. my family and I had a great time there last year and will definitely be there again!! More information (under announcements): http://www.thaiembassy.jp/index/e-index/e-index.htm

I just found this site that has some nice pictures of a Japanese elementary school, sort of a Day in the life of an elementary school student: http://www.amphi.com/~psteffen/fmf/elementary.html

Although the area I live is far from rural, there is also a lot o effort to use locally produced food as well. We receive monthly notices discussing the food used in the lunches and various other tidbits about the lunches and they always stresss the use of Kanagawa prefecture grown produce (this is the prefecture Yokohama is located in). Sleepy Dragon mentioned that he liked the idea of the kids serving it themselves as it shows that they are not above such work, you should also know the children are responsible for cleaning the school as well, including hallways and toilets. This is also part of their education. All of the work done around the school is done my te kids (with the teachers) or by the parents. The parents help put up and take down decorations, plant flowers, clean up the yard, etc

Thursday dinner (for 7 again): mackeral simmered in miso corroke (potato and beef croquettes) served on a bed of cabbage and eaten with okonomiyaki sauce salad of tofu and mizuna wit a ginger dressing and katsuo bushi shibazuke pickles Japanese rice

I made a lovely salad last night of mizuna and tofu with a very gingery dressing and I tossed a handful of hana-katsuo onto the top, it added a wonderful flavor...

I just realized that when I say the Japanese grill the fish, you may have a different idea than what I am referring too. In Japan most stovetops instead of having an oven attached have a fish grill, this is a pull out drawer which has a grill rack and the fish are placed inside and then "grilled" using the gas from the stove top. It looks like this: http://prodb.matsushita.co.jp/product/info...g=04&hb=GT-WS3R

word for 4/23: 塩さば　　塩鯖　　シオサバ shiosaba (she-oh-sah-bah) These are simply fillet of saba that have been sprinkled with salt to help preserve them, these are very popular for grilling. Since they are already salted there is no need to do anything else to them. a piece of grilled shiosaba: http://www.marineplaza.co.jp/shiosaba.jpg

My 3 year old son has just started kyushoku (school lunch) at his preschool/kindergarten. This is a private school and the hot lunch is brought to the school just before serving and it is served in the same style as the elementary schools with the kids donning white smocks and hats and dishing it out to each other. The kids at this school eat a school lunch 3 times a week, take a bento from home one day a week, and have a half every Weds so they leave at 11:30 and eat lunch at home. I am not sure of the price per meal here, I think it is higher than the elementary school, from this year we will start paying for the meals separately (before it was included in the tuition) so I guess I will find out soon. Here is the first week of meal at his school: onigiri, chicken karaage (fried chicken), salad, greens with sesame sauce, tomato, jello like dessert napolitan spaghetti, sausages, salad, fruit, more of the jellied stuff inarizushi, futomaki,, simmered satstumaimo (Japanese sweet potato), greens with sesame sauce, chicken nugget, more jellied stuff sandwiches (cheese, egg, jam--not all together!), vegetable soup, daigaku-imo (deep fried Japanese sweet potatoes coated with a sugar sryup) chicken nuggets, fruit bamboo shoot rice, ebi-furai (breaded deep fried shrimp), tuna salad, ohitashi of greens, fruit

here is some information in English on using them and even more important the proper manners regarding them as there are a lot of no-no's with using chopsticks in Japan: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2039.html

though there is the "proper" way to hold them, it seems to be as individual as holding a pencil. I have seen many variations. No problems with lefties, both my husband and one daughter do it every day!!

Almost any buffet I have been to in Japan has a sign on the table that says you will be charged for food left on your dish, I have seen almost no wasting over here.

Hiroyuki, Thanks for the links, I too was quite surprised when I read the initial question saying they were injected with honey as I had never heard that and obviously honey doesn't grow in apples! I mentioned them in the Fruit in Japan thread: Though the cheap apples are never going to have this honey like sryup dripping out of the middle when you cut them like these very expensive apples I have eaten.