torakris

word for 4/22: 〆さば　　〆サバ　〆鯖　しめさば　シメサバ shimesaba This is probably the most popular way of serving saba outside of Japan, this is the way you will see it in most sushi bars as it is difficult to get saba fresh enough to serve raw. Shimesaba is saba that has been salted and then "marinated" in a vinegar mixture, you can do this at home but again the freshness of the saba comes into play and thus it seems more common to purchase it at your local supermarket. shimesaba (as you would see for sale): http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/masutomi/img1033601990.gif

Thanks, besides curry leaves asafoetida is the one Indian spice I have been looking for for a while. Time to look harder Unfortunately fresh coconuts are quite hard to come by here, I might run across them twice a year, I will try the coconut in cocnut milk, I looove coconut anything......

the kids have been begging, so Weds dinner for my 5 plus 2 kids: Japanese curry rice with Japanese rice and pickles on the side ice cream for dessert

Jin, what is the daikon seasoned with?

I order gyu no tataki EVERYTIME I see it on the menu! This is probably one of my favorite foods, second to yuke, the Korean raw beef dish.

I am still not a huge soba fan, I will pick udon over it anytime. Thus I have never really paid attention to the soba that I bought , I am going to pay more attention to the variety out there. When I do purchase soba it is usually the type that is "flavored" with something else, like the wasabi and ashitaba ones I picked up in Shizuoka. I was dissapointed in te complete lack of flavor in the wasabi one though. The ashitaba one I really enjoyed, it almost didn't taste like soba......

I still have yet to try sanuki udon I bought a package of it and was planning to eat it last Sunday for lunch, but we endend up BBQing with the in-laws, so it is waiting until this weekend...... I can't wait to try it. I have also just ordered my first couple packs (of the season) of hiyashi-chuuka, with a sesame flavored sauce, summer and noodles just go together perfectly!

you are mean Helen, just mean!

ooohhh! I have eaten these, they are incredible! The honey actually drips out when you cut them open. I didn't realize they were injected with honey, I thought it was just the type of apple and the way they were grown... I'll see what I can find.

I really want to try this recipe (the winning one) it sounds incredible, I have a couple questions however; what is hing powder? Does it have a different name or a substitute? I have no access to fresh curry leaves, will leaving them out be a bad idea? I know the fresh grated coconut is optional but could you use dried or rehydrated dried instead?

I could!! I don't eat much at breakfast (more of a coffee and toast person) but a cold block of tofu topped with whatever I have in the house at the moment is a wonderful lunch, current favorites are cucumber and/or scallions with either sweet chile sauce or kimchi. Sometimes I look at a meal I prepared (similar to what you have just eaten for breakfast) and I am always amazed at all the different things that all come from the same little bean.

Tuesday dinner for my 5 plus two more kids: "mac and cheese" homemade with a mix of gruyere and romano cheeses with some green peas and butter sauteed bread crumbs on top salad of chick peas, cucumbers and red peppers with lemon juice and EVOO toasted baguette rubbed with garlic and drizzled with EVOO and eaten topped with slices of goose pastrami ice cream for dessert

The character you are seeing is 山菜 sansai, literally "mountain vegetable" and kogome are one type.

I really love this book, I use it for both referencing and cooking. MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES: Tembleque (a coconut pudding) the book's spine is actually broken at this page Linguine with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Parmasean (this is my husband's favorite pasta sauce and he HATES tomato based sauces!) make sure you use the original recipe with all 5 Tablespoons of butter Tomato sauce with bay leaves (variation #5) on the Basic tomato sauce, i like to add a can of good chunk tuna to this as well Spicy Coleslaw (my MIL often brings me a head of cabbage and asks me to make THAT coleslaw for her....) No Holds Barred Clam or Fish Chowder, I make it with cod Twice Cooked (Refried) Beans, these are incredible and I end up eating them straight from the frypan with a large spoon Slow Cooked Green Beans, I make this with half beans and half carrots and it is probably one of my favorite vegetable dishes Roasted Vegetables Catalonian style, this is great alone but I like to use it as a topping for bruschetta Apple Bread OTHER GOOD ONES: Hummus Orzo "Risotto" Risotto alla Milanese Curried Shrimp Basic Grilled or Broiled Chicken Cutlets make a great topping for a salad. I especially like the version with honey and cumin, serve with sauteed greens Sauteed Chicken Cutlets with lime sauce are a family favorite Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary Braised Cabbage with Wine and Nutmeg Quick Braised Carrots with Butter Curried Eggplant with potatoes Sauteed beans and tomatoes Banana Bread Overnight Waffles Cold mustard Sauce, great on cold poached salmon DUDS: Seaweed and cucumber salad, no salt at all? Blueberry muffins were on the bland side The chicken cutlets with a sweet soy marinade could have been better with a longer marinade time Chicken cutlets with herb marinade was bland Death by Chocolate Torte, not sure what went wrong but this was awful

If you need help making bibimbap, check out the incredible bibimbap thread!! http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=10301&st=0

swy, welcome to egullet!! Here is my honest opinion, go for the Zojirushi or anything that is at least a 5 cup. Even if you live alone and rarely cook for more than one of two people there will always be a time when you will kick yourself for not getting a bigger one. Even though it is a 3.5 cup (the Sanyo) that is normally for only white rice, for example I have a 10 cup rice cooker but it can only make 2 cups of okayu (rice gruel) and 6 cups of sticky/mixed rices. A 3.5 means you can only cook this kind of rice for one person and that probably means the bibimbap too. I looked at a couple other sites about that bibimbap making Sanyo and it says, all you have to do is pour in the bibimbap no moto (flavoring packet) and turn the switch on, it doesn't sound much different that any other type of takikomi gohan that you can do in any rice cooker. Bibimbap is not hard to make and if you really like the ishiyaki (dolsot) kind with the crusty bottom then I would invest in a set of dolsots I am sure it will taste 100 times better.....

phrase for 4/21 サバの生き腐り saba no iki kusari This translates roughly as "Although it looks alive, mackeral is spoiled inside" and is said as a reminder to be careful when eating saba that although it may look fresh there is a good chance it isn't. You will rarely see fresh saba sushi, it is normally salted and/or vinegared first. To get it really fresh you need to get to the place it is pulled out of the water. The next couple of days we will discuss the various ways of preparing saba and the ways you will see it sold in the store.

My daughter came home from school today with an paper detailing all the yearly expenses at school, the school lunch fee was listed as 230yen ($2.12) per meal.

I think one of the reasons why nimono can be so difficult for non-Japanese, is that often the goal you are trying to reach is that of ofukuro no aji or mother's taste. My mother has never made nimono in her life and thus I have nothing to "reach" for, nimono (outside of izakayas) isn't a common food in restaurants, you don't even know what is good nimono and what is bad nimono. Of course that is all relative as everyone has different likes and dislikes, I like my nimono heavier on the soy than say a person from Kansai might prepare it. What one person might consider great another person may consider unseasoned/over seasoned, etc, that was why when my husband said how wonderful my nimono was it was like I had finally nailed it on the head and discovered the flavor that hopefully my daughters will try to search for...

I picked up a HUGE maguro (tuna) collar yesterday for only 380 yen (about $3.50), I broiled it (only seasoned with salt and pepper) and served it with lemon wedges. heaven.......

a quick look at the Japanese yahoo turns up some copycat recipes for Yoshinoya gyudon, though they are all different the one thing they all have in common is sweet white wine....

Denise, Welcome to egullet and the Japan Forum!! I have to admit I have never eaten at Sukiya and I have been to Yoshinoya maybe twice in 14 years. so I am not sure exactly the taste you are going for.... But here is my recipe for gyudon, For 4 Heat 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup mirin and 1/4 cup soy sauce in a sauce pan and bring to boiling. (You can use either regular onions or scallions, if using regular onions add them to the pan with the sauce) add 12 oz very thinly sliced beef and and keep at a strong simmer until cooked to your liking if using scallions add them and then simmer (strongly) for about 30 seconds spoon over hot rice, adding as much liquid as desired top with a raw egg (or just yolk) some beni-shouga and shichimi

Monday dinner for my 5 plus two more kids: maguro (tuna) kama-yaki (collar) grilled with just salt and pepper and served with lemon wedges ground chicken meatballs and green beans simmered in a dashi-soy-mirin sauce tofu and kaisou (seaweed) salad with a shiso dressing gobo (burdock root), cucumber, carrot salad with a spicy mayo dressing shibazuke pickles Japanese rice dessert: mitarashi dango (balls of pounded rice with a sweetened soy sauce topping)

I made a ground chicken meatball and green bean nimono last night very simply seasoned with dashi, soy, mirin and some sugar, no recipe I just tasted as I went and my husband said it was really wonderful (he normally dislikes nimono) and went through 4 bowls of rice because the "sauce" was just so good. It has been almost 10 years in Japan and I feel like I have finally gotten the nimono thing down!

I am not really a huge tea drinker, especially hot teas and green teas, I enjoy drinking them but never make them.... I have never looked for flavored green teas but I will keep my eyes open. At least you got your neighbors hooked on something good, I have my whole neighborhood begging for Nestea (pre-sweetened, lemon flavor) powdered mix. Our last trip to Costco and we came back with 7 (5lb) canisters of it...