torakris

word for 4/14: 厚削り atsukezuri (ah-tsu-kay-zoo-rhee) These are thick, you could almost call them slices of katsuo rather than threads, I have never seen these used for anything except dashi making. Becasue of their thickness they can be simmered for a period of time (the flakes need to be removed almost immediately otherwise the stock becomes bitter) and produce a stronger flavored stock with a darker color. Atsukezuri are often the katsuo -bushi of choice for noodle shops. picture and recipe for dashi (in Japanese): http://www.kk-maruai.co.jp/recipe/dashi-atsu.html

Monday: karei (type of sole) with the egg sacs intact, simmered in a soy-sake sauce with lots of mitsuba (trefoil) sauteed potatoes miso soup with niboshi (tinydried fish) and turnips including some green Japanese rice Tuesday: a "curry" of chicken thighs, tomatoes and turnips yogurt relish with sauteen turnip greens and onions green salad basmati rice

good question. and difficult to answer..... In Japan there are a couple different ways to eat kaiseki, what I think of as the most traditional is the type of kaiseki that is served in a restaurant that either has the guests of the separate parties each in their own private rooms or in some cases the restaurant is set up on a large area of land with each room of guests actually being a separate little "house". I have been to this second type twice, they are incredibly beautiful with stone paths connecting the "houses" with brooks and waterfalls for viewing along with lush greenery all perfectly trimmed.... These type of kaiseki are very expensive (a couple hundred dollars per person) and I am pretty sure are reserved either for the very rich or for very special occasions. The more common type of kaiseki is the type that is eaten at an onsen (hot spring), these are popular places for either day trips or one night stays. The guests enjoy a leisurely dip in the hot spring baths and then return to their room for a multi course kaiseki style meal. The type of meal will depend on the amount of money being paid (some of the cheaper onsens are now offering buffet style or family style orrestaurant style dining). Prices for these can range from $50 a person (dirt cheap, no kaiseki) to the thousands of dollars. Most people I know tend to spend the average of about $90 to $150 per person, this includes , the hot spring bath, one night accomodation and two meals (dinner and breakfast) Then you have the regular rstaurant style kaiseki that seems to be popping up everywhere now. I have seen these in both the Japanese and western styles, these places can either have a room full of tables or have the tables separated off by curtains, partions, etc. You can usually choose a set kaiseki by the price, starting at about $50 and going up from there, averaging about $100. The new thing that seems to be really popular in my neighborhood, is the mini-kaiseki, this is geared at women for lunch time and can really be a great deal. I have had a couple of these and they tend to range from about $25 to about $60.

I would if I really knew more about it. Look here for a step by step explanaition: http://www.welcome.to/chanoyu

I had a recipe for celery kinpira that was really wonderful, and I can't find it any more. It was a little diferent than a normal kimpira and I have been unable to recreate it with success... Kinpira is also a great dish to make with part of the vegetable you might normally throw away! Like kabocha skins, satsumaimo skins, daikon and carrot skins, etc.

let's see what do I use katsuo bushi for..... it is a must in natto (along with soy sauce, scallions, karashi and an egg yolk) a great topping for okonomiyaki yaki-udon hiya yakko ohitashi like smallworld said mixit with some soy to make okaka and you have a great onigiri filling or furikake for rice

for a little fun, you might want to check out one of these places: Food theme parks: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38855

I picked up a new kind of konnyaku today, it is one of the sashimi style ones and it is flavored with yuzu......

my favorite noodle shop always serves this wonderful soba-cha, a tea made out of buckwheat groats. I picked some up today, this particular type is made with Tartar buckwheat and contains 100 times more rutin than normal soba. I wasn't even sure what rutin was but I found this: http://dreampharm.com/zrutin.asp The product I purchased looks like this:

I actually make a kinpira out of broccoli stalks for my husband's bento quite often, one small stalk is perfect for an adult bento. That version with miso sounds good though, i might give that a try. Thanks for the history information!

now lets talk about the different kinds of katsuo-bushi...... words for 4/13: 花かつお hana-katsuo (hah-nah-kah-tsu-oh) Hana means flower (unless you see this kanji 鼻 then it means nose!) and these are the wide shreds of katsuo that are used for making dashi, though they can be used for other things as well. 削り節 kezuribushi (kay-zoo-rhee-boo-she) this refers to almost all the other types of katsuo-bushi, kezuri means shreds or scrapings and each type has a different name to describe what kind of shred it is, we will discuss the various kezuri bushi in the following days. One of the most common types of kezuri bushi you will see are packs of about 3 or 5 grams each ( perfect for one time use), these are not used for dashi rather toppings for foods, like hiya yakko (cold tofu), okonomiyaki, noodles, ohitashi, etc, etc the following are pictures of the pack style kezuri bushi (left) and hana katsuo (right) and close ups and now you can discuss your favorite uses for katsuo-bushi here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=40744&st=0

There are lots of things to do with katsuo-bushi, what are some of your favorites?

The brand that seems to be most popular here is called Golden Phoenix, it is really quite good, but be careful, once at Nissin World Market I accidentally bought a bag just labeled as Thai rice (not Jasmine) and it was awful! My (Japanese) husband actually prefers Jasmine rice to Japanese......

I am enjoying a wonderful cup of genmai-cha this morning!

haven't discussed this for a while......

I have been eating a lot of roe recently, last night we had karei (type of sole) with the egg sacs still attached, I simmered this with some mistuba, it is a favorite at our house. This is what the fish loos like before cooking: http://www.shun-mall.co.jp/goods/5077.htm This morning I made onigiri for my husband with flaked salmon and some mentaiko (spicy cod roe), I think I may make some for myself as well....

any new kinpira stories?

The Tamasakai Costco (Tokyo) has 3 kinds of pizza at the snack bar for eat in or take out, plain cheese, pepperoni and mix like I described above. There are also two types tha you can buy in the refrigerated section (freshly made, cook at home) and they are 3 cheese and the same mix pizza from the snack area. No seafood..... The Jasmine rice, at my store, is with the other rices. It is the same orange-ish color 5 kg bag you can buy at Carrefour but a little cheaper.

Hmmm...interesting! Japanese friends tell me that the Carrefour in Chiba has mostly Japanese stuff, so they don't find it exciting enough to make the long drive there. I probably wouldn't drive much farther than I already do to get to Carrefour, I live about 20 minutes away (Minami Machida- Grandberry Mall store). I could actually get there faster by train, it is just 5 stops down on my line and the station there opens right up into the Grandberry Mall. I was really disappointed when they first opened but recently they are stocking a lot more "foreign foods" and besides their fish, their bread is also excellent and they have decent cheese. You can also buy some of the more exotic vegetables and fruits for cheaper than the regular international supermarkets.

word for 4/12: かつお節 katsuo bushi This is the type of katsuo most people outside of Japan are familiar with. Bushi is actually the word fushi which means a knot or a lump, thus the word katsuo bushi is actually referring to th lump of katsuo before shaving. However the since few people actually grate their own katsuo bushi any more it has also come to refer to the flakes. Great information on katsuo bushi including the process by which it is made: http://www.g-chef.com/english/articles/katuo.html and don't confuse this bushi with this bushi 武士　that means samurai warrior!

oh and I forgot, there are some types of farmed tuna, from the Daily Nihongo thread: word for 4/1: 養殖 ようしょく youshoku Farmed This seems to be the new thing for tuna now, apparently the wild tuna are caught and then held in cages to fatten them up. This increased fat content makes them more desirable for sushi. I have been noticing this label popping up quite a bit recently on packs of tuna, mostly from the Mediterranean. There are a lot of protests against this type of farming though..... http://www.eurocbc.org/page809.html

some how I missed the whole second page of this thread.... A couple things, way back a couple days ago "wa" was mentioned, the best English word I can think for this is "harmony" and this Japanese chef though he may believe in what he was saying may also at the same time be trying to "pacify" the American sushi "fanatics". In Japan, Americans are often viewed as getting riled up about the silliest things and I am sure most Japanese people who eat sushi with out without giving a *?#@* if it was previously or not get a kick out of watching them get all hysterical about these kind of things. The vast majority of tuna in Japan is frozen and I don't believe there has ever been a fuss about it...... sushi, if it doesn't have vinegared rice it is not sushi. Most sushi bars in Japan also sell sashimi and soups and simmered dishes and deep fried dishes, though there are some that are sushi only and most delivery sushi places I know are only sushi nothing else on the menu. The Japanese do not make a distinction between these kinds of places. "let's go out for sushi" in Japan could mean just sushi or more depending on how much and what they feel like eating......

The Kobe Costco sounds similar to my Tokyo one, i am surprised about the Jasmine rice though, it has been there every time I go.... Seafood pizza? we only have a mix with peperoni, sausage, peppers, onions and olives, there is also no bulgogi bowl here, but there is a bulgogi bake similar to the chicken bake. Limes and avocados are MUST purchases at Costco for me, like you said at other stores they can charge $2 (200 yen) per lime! Carrefour is slowing becoming one of my favorite stores here, I make sure I always get there during sampling time (they stop it after lunch here) and they really do ave a nice and very reasonably priced "ethnic" section and my favorite part of the store is the fish shop. They have the freshest looking fish and the most incredible variety better than any store around.

English guides to restaurants in Japan: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20889 For one of the first days you are there take an early morning trip to Tsukiji fish market (take advantage of that jet leg!) and get some great sushi I would also recommend you try to eat okonomiyaki/monjyayaki, tonkatsu, ramen, convenience store bentos and pig out for free at the department store basements for your cheap meals and save up for some nicer meals maybe a kaiten sushi or a kaiseki meal.

sort of Mirin is usually made using distilled liquor like shochu, which can be made with a variety of ingredients though commonly potatoes or rice. Normally the higher the price the better the alcohol that was used as a base. Some mirin makers will just purchase the cheap shochu from a distiller while the more traditional mirin producers will actually make their own shochu from scratch and use that as the base. To this they add steamed sweet rice and some koji and then let it ferment, the resulting product is mirin.