torakris

Well this afternoon I got a call from my husband who tells me he won't be home for dinner Friday night either! So know I have to eat them all by myself. I had about 10 of them for dinner tonight and had a hell of a time. I thought I had one of those church key can openers but I don't so I was back to my screw driver and paring knife. It took about 5 minutes per oyster and they left quite a few cuts on my hands (from the shells) but they were worth it! I used my favorite dressings of ponzu and cocktail sauce and I) tried one over a flame but it never opened, first I put it in a griddle pan but it wasn't doing anything so then I put it directly on the flame and even after a couple minutes it still wouldn't open.... a picture

Just finishing off Thursday's dinner I had a bowl of Japanese rice and 2 umeboshi and oysters 3 ways raw oysters with a ponzu sauce raw oysters with lemon juice and a cocktail sauce oysters on the grill I am havingteh hardest time opening these suckers up and could only get through 10 before I gave up, I will save the rest for tomorrow. The kids had curry rice and my husband is having dinner out with a friend.

in Japan there is a bottled sauce called Kimchi no moto (or kimchi base/sauce), it is sort of a "dressing" used to make instant kimchi, but I have seen it called for in recipes with raw fish/shellfish. I personally think this stuff from the bottle tastes awful and doubt restuarants are using it, but if the owner/chefs are Japanese they might have just used the name kimchi sauce to describe a sauce like cho-kochujang that Yong Tae was describing. Cho-kojujang is a great sauce that is often used as a dipping sauce/ dressing for fish and seafood. I make mine with kochujang, sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds, garlic and ground chile pepper.

I doubt I will be able to buy an oyster knife before tomorrow, so I guess I will have a go with the can opener thingie. I am not sure if they are going to last until tomorrow... I keep walking past the refrigerator thinking, maybe I should just try one more.....

a recent miso thread from the Japan forum: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=35489

The worst thing for miso is air and warmth, so it should be stored very well sealed and in a cool place, the refrigerator works well but fr longer storage in can be kept in the freezer. It will not freeze and can be used directly in soups from the freezer. Most miso you will buy in a supermarket (in Japan or overseas) is not meant to be kept forever and there is usually an expiration date of 6 months to a year after packing and there can be very noticable deteriorations in the flavor. I have thrown away bad miso before. A typical Japanese family of 4 can go through a kilogram of miso in one to two months, aso there is little need for long term storage, though I did run a cross a couple websites that recommend those who live alone to keep it in the freezer. In the freeezer they say it should be good for 1 to 2 years. As to what is the best miso to buy, it really depends on what you use it for, for sauces and dressing and marinating fish you should go with white, red can also be used for some sauces and makes a great miso soup, if you are probably just going to be using it for soup and maybe an occasional dressing you might want to go with a brown/golden type. These can vary from almost white to almost red, so you can pick the one that best suits your tastes.

My friend had a box of oysters delivered to her house this morning (from a thoughtful friend of her husbands) and she does not eat oysters and her husband is out of town for the next 3 days so she gave them to me! I love raw oysters but have never prepared them in my home..... I tried opening one (to test it of course ) with a combination of a paring knife and a screw driver, I ended up chipping off pieces of the shell, some large some small and am still finding them embedded in my teeth. Also there was some black stuff up in the corner of the shell and when I was chipping in got mixed in with the oyster juice leaving it slightly muddy and seaweedy tasting, should these be washed first? What is the best way to open them without an oyster knife? and the biggest question will they keep until dinner tomorrow night? my husband won't be here for dinner tonight and I would like to share them with him That is about 32 hours from now... and what is the best way to store them? This is what they look like!

Weds dinner: tofu and shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves) tamago-toji with carrots and red onions (tamago-toji is a dish were you simmer some protein and vegetables in a soupy like soy based sauce and then add a couple of well-stirred eggs, cover and cook until your desried doneness) last night's ingredients made it taste a bit like sukiyaki miso soup with potatoes and broccoli turnip pickles with dried apricots Japanese rice

word for 2/19: 愛宕　あたご atago (ah-tah-go) This is the largest nashi in Japan weighing in at over 2 lbs. It's season runs from the end of November to the end of December. atago: http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...ago/oku-at4.jpg

On the pictures of Japanese food thread Comfort me asked: Please, please please -- if any of you have a recipe for syrup rice balls on a skewer could you give me a heads up? Is it mochi, heated under a broiler or on a grill? What is the syrup? Why is it calling to me like a hooker to a sailor? I can't get the image out of my head! These are called mitarashi dango and there are a variety of toppings for them, popular ones include anko (red bean paste), paste made with black sesame seeds and soy based sauces, one a lot thinner than the other, and these are both heated ove a fire. Ｔｈｅ　recipes for these can vary slightly but you will need rice flour. In Japan there are two types used for these dangos, here is a picture of what they look like on the left is shiratamako (白玉粉） and the right is joushinko (上新粉） shiratamako is a rice flour made sweet glutinous rice and is also sometimes in the US called mochiko flour. The name means white ball flour and if you look you will see that is exactly what it is. joushinko is rice flour made from non-glutinous rice The recipe I use calls for both of these to be mixed together, but I have seen recipes that call just for joushinko. Normally these are kneaded with some water and then steamed for close to an hour, my recipe uses a microwave..... I will make them a little later today with the 2 different soy sauce toppings and will then post the pictures and recipes here. Please be patient a little longer.

keep the ideas coming! These all sound wonderful, I like the idea of combining it with cheese or doing dessert style dishes, that one with rose water sounds wonderful and I have a small bottle that has yet to be used (I think that may be my next question!) Granola, my kids might go for that and it could make a great breakfast and make my morning easier....

On my last trip to Costco I picked up a bag of dried apricots for snacking. However the 1 kg bag is still more than half full and my family is sick of them. What can I do with these?

Tuesday: superquick chicken fajitas made with chicken tenderloins, onions and red pepper stuffed into tortillas with some guacamole

If are wanting to know more about mirin, especially all of the different types look at this previous thread from the Japan forum: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=30998 A good brand name for mirin in Takara.

word for 2/18: 晩三吉　おくさんきち　or　ばんさんきち okusankichi or bansankichi This type of nashi can be called by two names, the characters do not change though. Most nashi can be found during late summer but you will still see some in the markets all year round, this is one of them. The bansankichi can be found from October through April, it can be distinguished from most other nashi in the fact that the top part near the stem isn't smooth and round like a regular nashi. http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...ago/oku-at3.jpg

sushi, especially the rice, should never be refrigerated, like redfox says the grains will become hard and unpleasant. You can make it a couple hours in advance and keep it in a bowl covered with a wet towel, you can have all of the topping prepared ahead of time as well and just throw them together at the last moment. In case anyone is looking for some ideas for vegetarian sushi topping here is a nice list with quite a few pictures: http://rgmjapan.tripod.com/VEGETARIANSUSHI.html

I was hanging out at the sandbox this morning with my son and some of my other neighbors when my pastry chef friend (mentioned in the above post) came out with some samples of a cake she was working on. She told me that since I asked her about wasanbon a couple months ago she hasn't stopped thinking about it and this cake was one of her experiments with it. It was a roll cake made with wasanbon instead of regular sugar and then it was rolled with a layer of fresh cream and in the middle was a custard made with wasanbon as well. It was absolutely delicious and the custard was incredible. I would definitely pay money for this!

everything mochi: http://www.geocities.com/scocasso/mochi/mochi02/mochi02.htm

doenjang is basically a miso and will give you a miso like broth. Is is possible it was a broth based on beef, instead of dashi, in Korea beef broth is quite popular.

Monday dinner: thinly sliced pork and Chinese cabbage cooked in a clay pot with miso, sake and garlic maitake mushrooms and shishitou peppers stirfried with bacon turnip pickles with dried apricots Japanese rice forteified with Vitamin E capsules (this was a free sample) dessert: one leftover pots de creme shared by my husband and I

oysters are everywhere wet turn now. Though in Japan they seem to be much more popular cooked, kaki fry (panko'd deep fried oysters), oyster stew, oyster nabe, etc Any favorite way to oysters Japanese style?

According to their homepage, they have stopped selling their yakiniku rice burger because the beef used in the yakiniku topping was from the US. (There is an import ban on US beef following the BSE find) However the meat used to make the regular hamburgers is from either Tasmania or New Zealand....

word for 2/17: 新高　　にいたか niitaka (knee-tah-kah) Though this nashi has been around for about 100 years , it rise in popularity is very recent. These are large nashi weighing in at between 1 and 2 lbs each. the season for them is long, running from the end of September into november, these can also be kept in good condition for up to 2 months if stored in a cool place. niitaka: http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...ii/niitaka2.jpg

Saturday, we had a birthday party for 8 year old Mia with 13 kids, she asked for a white cake with kiwi. I added some raspberries for color, and because I love them! For dinner I tossed together panne with red peppers, asparagus and smoked salmon. Sunday night we had temaki sushi (hand rolls), this is what we stuffed it with all of this cost me less than US $20! dessert: Mexican chocolate Pots de creme