torakris

just a quick note, If you ever run across a dish that has the word Tosa in the title there is a very good chance that it is flavored with katsuo-bushi. Tosa is the former name of a province in Shikoku that is today known as Kochi-Ken, this area is famous for their bonito catch and thus the heavy use of katsuo in their food. So things like Tosa soy sauce, Tosa-ni (ni means simmered), etc all are flavore with bonito flakes.

word for 4/17: かつお粉末 katsuo funmatsu　(kah-tsu-oh foon-mah-tsu) This is powdered katsuo bushi, this can also be used the same way as the flakes, sprinkled on top of foods. It can also be used in dashi and I often use it with a strip of konbu for an "instant" dashi.

My family plus 2 extra kids for dinner on Friday: menchi-katsu (deep fried panko'd hamburger patties) served with tonkatsu sauce raw tuna slices with scallions soy-mirin and wasabi (the kids were all begging for more...) tomato and broccoli salad with orange-red wine vinegar-EVOO dressing mibuna pickles shibazuke (another type of pickle) Japanese rice

I just pulled out my package of ochazuke and it says to add 180ml, the packets vary from 5.2 grams to 6.0 grams. I have never measured and i think I add quite a bit less, I like it on the strong side with lots of extra wasabi.....

the ochazuke thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=16695&st=0 It is bascically a bowl of rice with some topping onto which you pour hot green tea and then devour very quickly....

chamame are wonderful! They started appearing in the frozen form a couple years ago and then I started seeing them in the fresh form as well. To me they seem "plumper" with a slightly more earthy taste, I would describe edamame as sweeter. They are both great and I have started to eat a lot more of the chamame.

I just ran across some interesting bento blogs check out: http://reason-m-web.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ and http://mito.typepad.com/photos/bento/

words for 4/16: and here are a couple of other types of kezuri bushi, they are all just variations on the thin cut and are mostly used as toppings 上粉　じょうこ jyouko http://fushitaka.com/2nd/l-image2/l-13293.jpg 糸粉　いとこ itoko http://fushitaka.com/2nd/l-image2/l-13313.jpg 糸がき itogaki http://fushitaka.com/2nd/l-image2/l-13335.jpg 細花　さいばな saibana http://fushitaka.com/2nd/l-image2/l-13355.jpg

Fu can also be used with western style cooking techniques, here is a recipe I have often run across but have yet to try.... French toast Fu: http://www.joyoliving.co.jp/cooking/2004/0417/french.htm

did you ever see a little white ball like thing with maybe pink and green stripes floating in your bowl of clear soup? That is a type of nama fu called 手まり麩　temari fu, here is a picture: http://www.e-shokuseikatsu.com/recipe/Outp...=56313521&ST=01

Fu is really a wonderful product and you have basically two kinds 焼き麩　yaki fu --this has been cooked and then dried, has a fairly long shelf life and comes in many shapes 生麩　nama fu --raw wheat gluten, this is fresh and should be used quickly, it is popular in soups and simmerd dishes

foodman the shrimp are eaten whole like that just popped into your mouth with however many you can manage to get on your chopsticks! Margaret I commented on the konnyaku (with a close-up picture) in the konnyaku thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=17712 I have no idea of its availability out of Japan, I had never seen it before here.... Thursday night: arugula salad dressed with EVOO and basalmic vinegar topped with thinly sliced smoked duck breast roasted zucchini, eryngi muchrooms, baby potatoes and onions toppd with gryuere cheese and panko and then baked just long enough to melt the cheese and brown the panko oatmeal and walnut soda bread (eating the leftovers for breakfast as type )

I think you've got it! I know a lot of people who can't stand ketchup on anything and others like me who will eat it on a couple things like hamburgers and fries and then there are people like my dad who keep a bottle on the table and pour it on everything......

yep! it was the only kind they had. I might try them in a miso soup tomorrow.....

a close up on the shrimp my 3 year old son devored almost all of these!!

Weds dinner: Spanish mackeral marinated with miso and grilled yuzu flavored konnyaku topped with a "sauce" of white miso-egg yolk-mirin and scallions ko-ebi tsukudani (tiny shrimp simmered in a soy based sauce) mibuna (type of green) pickles miso soup with tofu and satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato) Japanese rice ice cream for dessert

served the konnyaku last night..... I topped it with some scallions and white miso-egg yolk-mirin "sauce" It had a nice yuzu flavor but wasn't anything spectacular, I mean it is konnyaku after all! The sauce was great though!

look what I found on my trip to the supermarket this morning

A quick look at the website of one of my favorite stores, Tomizawa, shows them for sale: http://shop.tomizawa.co.jp/category/data_d...05&ID=4501&pg=2 I will check the store close to my house sometime next week and see if they stock them in the stores in this area.....

word for 4/15: 糸削り　 ito kezuri (ee-toe-kay-zoo-rhee) Ito means thread and thus these are thread like strips of katsuo-bushi. These are used pretty much the same way as the pack katsuo, as a garnish for foods. Here is what boasts itself as the thinnest ito kezuri in the world at 0.7 mm thickness: http://www.rakuten.co.jp/umisachi/561564/561588/

microwaving spaghetti seems to be popular here, maybe because of the lack of stove top space? Here is a tupperware like product that you add dried spaghetti and water to and then pop in your microwave to cook. I couldn't find a good picture but here is the commercial for it: http://www.kureha.co.jp/living/00cm/images..._yasai-shin.mov

In a search for a picture of frozen pasta, I ran across this : http://www.rakuten.co.jp/nippn/388499/ it is a corroke (croquette) filled with napolitan spaghetti, frozen, for convenient use in a bento He are just some of your choices among the frozen pasta meals: http://www.nippn.co.jp/product/reitopasta.htm usually they are one serving and are heated up in a microwave

I have seen fresh pasta, mostly in the International supermarkets, but like most fresh pastas found in your local American supermarket's refrigerated case, dried is almost always better.... Frozen spaghetti is big here though...

I have never heard of uchimame.... I wonder how available they are in the Tokyo area. kinako I love! It is wonderful with almost any kind of mochi and I like to mix it with honey and spread it onto bread...

When talking about the noodles themselves, they are pretty much the same as you would get in the US. Most of the pasta here is imported but the recent years have seen quite a few Japanese makers putting Japan made pasta on the market. I have to admit I stick to the Italian brands so I can not comment on the taste. The most popular shape of pasta here is definitely spaghetti, the long medium thickness noodles. Most Italian restaurants I ahve been to here serve a close to perfect al dente sometiimes on the softer side but if you come across spaghetti in a bento (quite popular) or an old fashioned Yoshoku-ya san (Japanized western food restaurant) the pasta could be quite overcooked. My husband also prefers his pasta overcooked as he says that is the way he grew up eating. My Italian heritage refuses to accomodate his wishes!!