torakris

Saturday dinner: I am running out of food in the house..... Thai style red curry with squid, potatoes, onions and cabbage served over Jasmine rice tomato salad

word for 3/7: インドマグロ　or　南マグロ　(ミナミマグロ） indo-maguro or minami-maguro This is the Southern blue fin tuna pulled out of the Indian ocean, at one time they were caught just off the coast of India but now they are brought to Japan from as far away as Tasmania and Cape Town.

These are a type of the nama yatsuhashi, they were sakura ones, made with white an (bean paste) and chopped up salt preserved sakura (cherry blossoms). They were incredible!

Let's start by discussing the types of tuna. word for 3/6: 本マグロ　　黒マグロ　（クロマグロ） honmaguro (hone-mah-goo-rhoe) kuromaguro (koo-rhoe-mah-goo-rhoe) These are both ways of saying bluefin tuna, probably the most popular tuna for sashimi/sushi eating.

Only a couple more days until payday and i am working from the freezer and the larder: chicken meatballs simmered in a tomato sauce with green beans served over Japanese rice potato salad with cucumbers and green olives

word for 3/5: まぐろ　　マグロ　　鮪 maguro (mah-goo-rhow) and those are all the ways you may see it written Tuna we will spend a couple days discussing the varieties and cuts of this fish.

So what is this? a teishoku is a set. It is usually a ~~teishoku, the ~~ being the name of the main dish, common ones being shogayaki (gingered pork) teishoku, corroke (croquette) teishoku, karaage (deep fried chicken) teishoku, etc. The katsu-ni I guess could be called a simmered tonkatsu, ni is from the verb niru which means to simmer, its is made exactly katsu don (tonkatsu rice bowl) except the katsu isn't placed directly on the rice.

Well I was too busy and ended up making pasta for dinner instead of chirashi zushi, but we did have some wonderful sakura mochi. and here are some hina ningyo decorations, the one on the left was made by Julia at kindergarten and the one on the right I made, it is a type of patchwork called kimekomi.

I had lunch out with some mothers from the elementary school and I ordered the katsu-ni teishoku, it cost about $9.

Just finished Thursday dinner: semi-dried horse mackeral, grilled shirae (tofu dressed) mizuna and carrots Chinese cabbage pickles Miso soup with Japanese sweet potato and aburage (tofu pockets) Japanese rice

Thank you! No katsu as word of the day yet, we will get to it eventually. tonkatsu is always pronounced tonkatsu, ton is another way of reading the character for buta (pig) How does one know katsu-don is going to be pork? hhhmmmm.... It just is If it wasn't, it would specify what kind of katsu it was (ie chicken-katsu, ham-katsu) katsu curry is the same answer as above kushi katsu, kushi are skewers, so kushi katsu refers to foods that have been skewered (can be anything from meat to fish/seafood to vegetables), then panko'd and deep fried kami katsu? are you sure this is the right word? kami can mean paper, hair or God and I don't think you would want to eat any of them even if they were coated in panko..... sasami katsu, sasami is th chicken tenderloin, so this would be the katsu version of it katsu donburi is katsudon, don is short for donburi, the Japanese LOVE to shorten things

the sauce is called tonkatsu sauce

very busy day so Weds dinner: penne tossed with tomato-Italian sausage-red pepper-onion-fennel seeds sauce

all you ever wanted to know: http://www.foodsubs.com/ThickenStarch.html

I think we are actually done with the fruits! Time to move on to a whole new subject, word for 3/4: 魚　さかな sakana (sah-kah-nah) fish

yellow truffle, sorry but this are not available for purchase! These are pictures of bentos made lovingly my the mothers of kindergarten children. I wouldn't say these are typical bentos you would see everyday in my daughters classroom, but not one of them would surprise me. It would be more common to see these on special days or field trips. Some mothers here can get really fancy with the bentos though and right now every book store has huge displays of bento books and the new school year starts in less than a month (April 1st). Books on making bentos for boys, on making bentos for girls, on making bentos for jr. high school aged kids, for high school aged kids, for kids in kindergarten and of course books that show you how to make these "character" bentos. My daughter is now begging me to make her the Power Puff Girl one......

Sandra, That sounds wonderful, I have never actually had a ten-toji don and have actually never even heard of it, but I can figure out what it is by its name. It basically is a ten-don (or tempura donburi) that is cooked briefly with egg, until the egg is still slightly runny or just cooked. This style of cooking with a just barely set egg mixed with protein and vegetables is called ~~toji, the ~~ represents the the other foods involved. For example if it is made with eel it is called unagi-toji, if you make it with pork and chrysanthemum leaves it would be called butaniku-shungiku-toji. The sauce you are describing is a typical ama-kara sauce (ama from amai meaning sweet and kara from karai for salty). Here is how you would make this: first you would make the tempura (or use store bought ) then is a smallish pan you would make the sauce (this makes enough for 2), bring to a boil and let simmer for a couple minutes: 100 ml water (just under 1/2 cup), 1 Tablespoon each of soy sauce, mirin and sugar (this can be adjusted to taste) Then take the freshly deep fried tempura and place it into the sauce to coat it well , if you place this on top of the rice now you will have ten-don. To make the ten-toji don you need to go a step further, it is best to make only one at a time, so take a very small frypan and place half of the sauce in it, then add the tempura and turn it so it is coated well. Take one large egg, break it into a small bowl and mix it, then pour this egg over the mixture in the frypan trying to cover everything, do this quickly and then immediately cover the pan with a lid and cook on low heat for about 30 seconds of until the egg is cooked to your liking. You can then slide this out of the frypan onto a large bowl of rice. You can use this same sauce and technique to make oyako-don, the donburi with chicken and egg, just cook the chicken and some scallions in teh sauce until cooked through and follow with the egg technique. Enjoy!

It isn't a ridiculous price but it is higher than average. For comparison Baskin Robbins here is probably exactly half that price and I have eaten at gelato shops here paying about $4 to $4.50 a scoop. It does look really good and I would pay it if I was alone, but I would never take my family of 5 there!

Globally renowned Belgian chocolate manufacturer Pierre Marcolini, founded by multi award-winning pastry chef Pierre Marcolini, 39, opened a shop in a narrow alley near the heart of Ginza two years ago. Since then, Marcolini's shop, famous for its fine-quality chocolates elegantly displayed like a jewelry store, has been leading the chocolate boom in Tokyo. Marcolini has ventured into a new line of business, opening "Pierre Marcolini Ice Cream Ginza" on Dec. 13, which is indeed his first ice cream shop. Standing right next to the chocolate shop, Marcolini's new ice cream building consists of an ice cream shop on the first floor, a counter-style, non-smoking cafe on the second floor and a smoking space on the third floor. from here: http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/japano/0312/pierre/1215pierre.html

the latest issue went on sale March 1st. This month's special feature is called Ultimate Japanese Cuisine http://www.kateigaho.com/int/mar04/main.cfm oh and there is a long article on Hello Kitty too....

Of course they are symbolic!! and of course I had to do a search on the internet to find out why!! Here is what I found: Special foods served on Hina Matsuri, for example, include hishimochi, a diamond-shape mochi with green, white and red layers. "The green layer represents the freshness of spring and fertility; the white, winter and purity; and the red, the color of spring flowers," Young said. Other foods traditionally served are clam soups with spring herbs, which represent purity and recognize the new season, and a sweet, mild sake, symbolizing longevity and happiness, that even the girls could partake of. from here;: http://starbulletin.com/2002/03/01/features/story4.html

Tuesday dinner: just the kids and I, so Julia decided the menu mapodofu gobo and cucumber salad with a spicy mayo sauce Japanese rice

Just ran across this Japanese site of recipes for hina matsuri, even if you can't read it the pictures are great! http://www.recipe.nestle.co.jp/kind/hinamatsuri/

word for 3/3: ひな祭り　 hina matsuri (hee-nah-mah-tsu-rhee) Also referred to as Girl's day it is a special celebration day for girls, not a national holiday though. For more information take a look at the current hina matsuri thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=38174

March 3rd is Hina Matsuri in Japan, a celebration day for girls. Almost every house with girls has a set of hina ningyo dolls with anywhere from one to many multi-levels. Traditional foods eaten on teh day include chirashi-zushi, clam soup and sakura mochi. the dolls that my daughters have are 2 tiered and are in a glass case, my neighbor has 8 tiers and each doll and ornament needs to be set up in the proper space, one by one, she says it takes 3 to 4 hours to set up. Most of the dolls are handmade and thus can be very expensive, the set we have cost close to $2,000, it was bought by my in-laws. more info on hina matsuri: http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Sauna/...s/iss_9903.html