torakris

word for 2/16: あきづき akizuki (ah-key-zoo-key) These are new ones, just created in 1998. On the large side, they weigh in at over 1lb each and can be found in the stores from the middle of September to about the middle of October. akizuki: http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...ii/akizuki2.jpg

Hey, I had to gain 5lbs too!! I was joining on delayed entry so I had 7 months to do it in though. I was 19 years old, just under 5'8" and weighed 104lbs, I was told I had to hit 109 or I wouldn't be able to join. I went on a major milkshake and fast food diet and passed the weight test with flying colors!

It depends on the bread, some like anpan and curry-pan are filled before cooking, while others such as those with cream, potato salad, yakisoba, etc are filled after.

I am in Japan were it is all called cola, but with English speakers I will call it pop, was born and raised in Cleveland.....

If you are choosing between these two soy sauces then it would depend on what kind of food you are making. Kikkoman would be best for Japanese and Korean style dishes, while the Pearl River Brand would be best suited to Chinese. If plan on cooking a wide avriety then I would recommend Kikkoman as the best all-purpose, HOWEVER do not buy the Kikkoman that is made outside of Japan, that stuff is crap. You want a bottle that was made in Japan, it should have Japanese writing on it and a sticker taped to it translating the name, ingredients and such. For more on soy sauces check out this great thread from the China Forum: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=18720&st=0 and this one from the Japan forum: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry231493 and don't forget that even among brands there are different types, light , thick, low in salt, tamari, special ones fro sahimi, etc If you have questions about other products just start a thread about them specifically, everyone here loves to share their favorites!!

This is one of the times I am really glad Japan doesn't have the Food Network, I can enjoy their booksand recipes without the personality attached. I love Ina's stuff, as well as Nigella and Jamie too.....

MOS burger's newest!! the daikon burger A beef patty is topped with a slow simmered thick slice of daikon and then topped with a demi glace type sauce made with miso, tonbanjian (Chinese chile paste), bacon and eryngii mushrooms, this is then topped with a white yuzu flavored sauce: http://www.mos.co.jp/spotlight/040130/daikon.html MOS seems to be stepping on the Atkins bandwagon as there other newest offering is bun-less, choosing instead to wrap the burger in lettuce: http://www.mos.co.jp/spotlight/040130/t_lettuce.html They both look worth trying...

We have covered the most popular nashi in Japan but there are so many others and I don't even know them all. Many are specific to a local area and are pretty unavailable to other parts of Japan except for direct sales from the orchard. There are a couple new ones that are popping up in the markets that are worth keeping our eyes on, we will cover a couple of those. First a list of the most popular nashi in Japan 1. Kousui 2. Housui 3. Nijuuseiki word for 2/15: 南水　なんすい nansui　(nahn-sue-ee) This one is very sweet and can keep for quite a long time, 1 month at room temperature and even longer in the refrigerator. Its best selling point is the fact that it comes onto the market when all the others are leaving, from the middle of September into October. nansui: http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...nii/nansui4.jpg

That is a very good question that I don't have an answer for. I guess when I first came here at the rip old age of 20, Harajuku was just a lot more exciting and then before I knew I had a family and it just never seemed the best place to drag children to..... A lot of things are going to change when Hide (age 3) starts school in April, I am going to go to lots of places I have never been to before!

I have eaten a lot of anpan, but I have never been to the original Kimuraya, actually it is quite sad to admit but even after 14 years in the Tokyo area, I have not once been to Ginza.

I have never heard of that or seen it before, it was probably something to make the show more interesting. At most love hotels you never see other people, some are paid for through machines or else you hand the money to someone through a little hole in the wall. Privacy is usually the most important thing about these places. Some of the places that have parking even have curtains hanging down so people walking by can't see whose car is in there. A majority of those going to the love hotels are NOT going with their "significant others".

love hotels can be rented for short periods (meaning for a couple hours)and are usually themed, one by my house is shaped like a huge boat and called Queen Elizabeth, the rooms can be filled with some of the most amazing things. A previous thread (with a great link): http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry305716

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! well it is in Japan already....

hotels in Japan would be a great thread, unfortunately thay have nothing to do with food..... so we can just hide it here in the middle of this thread..... For pictures of a capsule hotel, check out this site: http://www.hotel-aaa.co.jp/ enter, then go to rooms and click on capsule

no, actually it is the same consistency as soy sauce, it is just seasoned. The ingredient list reads: soy sauce,, bonito flakes, konbu, sugar, salt, and amino acids most likely msg.

Friday dinner: cheese fondue with a wonderful baquette, sausages, asparagus, fresh baby corn and potatoes we had two extra kids for dinner they all loved it dessert: ice cream

Chris, don't limit yourself to capsule hotels! The love hotels are much more exciting!!

word for 12/14: 豊水　　ほうすい housui (hoe-sue-ee) this is another very popular one of the red (brown) nashi. Available for most of the month of September, it peaks in the middle of the month. housui: http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...sui/housui2.jpg

If you are looking for a good tsuyu at the Asian markets look for this one It is called Ninben tsuyu no moto and it is easily noticeable by its orange label. It will sometimes be referred to as a seasoned soy sauce. It is a 3 bai (triple strength, so it needs to be diluted, though there are a couple things I use it full strength for) type, so you can get a lot of use out of it. For example fro a kake-jiru you dilute it with 5 times as much water, but only 2 times for a tsuke-jiru. Dilute it with twice as much water and you have a ten-tsuyu for tempura, with an equal amount of water you can use it for kinpira or simmering fish, though I normally cut it with sake instead of water for simmering fish. It can also be used as a base for nabe by diluting it with 9 times the amount of water, or for oden with 12 to 14 times the amount, etc, etc....

I am assuming you want a kake-jiru, a noodle broth, rather than a tsuke-jiru, a dipping sauce usually used with cold noodles. With dashi and soy you are almost there..... For kake-jiru bring about 8 cups of dashi just to a boil and then add 2 tsp salt 6 Tbsp soy sauce 2 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp mirin continue cooking until the sugar has dissolved, check the flavor and adjust to your taste. If you are using instant dashi, you might want to decrease the salt a bit and then add it to taste. You can use this immediately or cool to room temperature and keep refrigerated for a couple days. This should make enough for 4 bowls of noodles.

I have never heard that it is illegal, it is considered to be bad manners to eat/drink while you are walking. Though nowadays it is more commonly seen and heck I do it all the time! When I first came I would try to drink my cans of iced coffee before I started walking again. There is nothing wrong with eating or drinking in public places, in nice weather the parks are full of people sitting on mats eating lunches and drinking, it is fine to drink alcohol in public here. Most parks won't allow you set up BBQ's, but other than that anything goes....

Wow, you know I don't remember too much either. Former US Army (Fort Dix, New Jersey, Fort Sam Houston, Texas and Fort Knox, Kentucky), maybe we were too busy training to even think about the food.... I was so tired most days I don't think I was fully awake while eating and probably would have eaten anything put in front of me. I do remember at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio there was a lot of Tex-Mex, most breakfasts were scrambled eggs wrapped in burritos. Fort Sam Houston by far had the best food of all the places I went to. At Fort Knox I ate at the hospital for most meals because it had the best food, I was a subdivision of the Medical Corp and for some reason we were supposed to eat there. I was a food inspector, though I now forget the fancy title I once had.... My military days are far behind but at least once a month I eat at the New Sanno Hotel here in Tokyo which is an US Air Force hotel which can only be used by military personnel, their guests and a couple select Japanese VIPs, for some reason my Father in law (who is Japanese and has nothing to do with the US military) has VIP status and he can get me in there. The food there is quite good and the prices are incredible especially considering it is in the heart of Tokyo. We usually go for their champagne brunch at $15 US per adult, free champagne a full buffet of salads, hot dishes, roast beef (cut to order), omelettes (made to order), desserts, drinks and a variety of Japanese foods yakitori, sushi, etc. I usually hang out in the seafood area with the steamed mussels, boiled shrimp and cheap caviar....

I just ran across this site with some great pictures of various vending machines: http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/vending.html

Forget about the men, women in Japan are now buying Valentine's chocolates for themselves! http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=feature&id=604

Thursday dinner: red cooked chicken with daikon and dried shiitakes (this was supposed to be last night's dinner...) pork, carrots and onion stirfry with a bulgogi sauce potato salad with mentaiko (spicy cod roe) Japanese and Jasmine rices dessert: ice cream