torakris

Reading through this thread I was trying to remember things of my mothers that I hated while growing up and I couldn't really come up with anything. She was quite a good cook and did amazing things with a very limited budget and 8 kids...... Most of the stuff I didn't like were dishes that I personally didn't care for and still today don't eat like corned beef, smoked kielbasa (I don't really like smoked foods ) and her scalloped potatoes. The scalloped potatoes was probably the worst for as I hated (and still do) potatoes and still don't care for butter and cream....... I used to just pick out the ham. That being said I don't make too many of her dishes in my own home (except for her BBQ sauce and stuffed cabbage) but I don't mind eating anything she makes when I visit, though I have to admit she has gotten much more creative now that most of the picky kids are out of the house.

Let's look again at soem other citrus we covered in the middle of the year. ゆず　柚子 yuzu (you-zoo) A Japanese citrus fruit about the size of a tangerine, quite often with bumpy yellow skin, though I have seen smoother ones and there is also a green variety call ao-yuzu which is a little bit smaller. It has a very unique taste quite different from lemons or limes and is used for for it skin (peel) as a garnish/flavoring. Occasionally the juice is added to pickles and they even have a yuzu juice from drinking that is absolutely incredible (but very expensive, since yuzu tend to contain more seeds then juice). Yuzu is an unmistakable part of Japanese winter cooking and the newest way of enjoying it all year round is in yuzu-koshou 柚子こしょう) a speciality form the Kyushu region of Japan that has been enjoying a "boom" recently and can be found in supermarkets everywhere. Though the word koshou refers to black pepper, in Kyushu it is also used to refer to green chiles, thus this paste is a mix of yuzu rind, green chile and salt. yuzu koshou while searching the web for a picture I ran across 100's of sites citing yuzu as a beauty product, shampoos, etc, I have never seen it used this way in Japan............ An interesting article on yuzu (Thank you Sinbad! ) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/dining/0...94d10af&ei=5070

If it is the foam like skum you can just call it foam. Or you could call it by the Japanese word aku, but be careful how you use it because aku can also mean evil or vice.....

to get an idea about school lunches in Japan take a look at this thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...429&hl=kyushoku

Julia is doing fine, she had a very mild case of the mumps and was able to go back to school when it started up today. Is eating popular in the regular schools (non special educatio) in the US? I spent 12 years in private schools and we never ate outside of lunch but of course that was many years ago....... Japanese school lunches are actually quite good, they usually have a day once or twice a year when the parents can go and taste them.

How common is it to eat in classrooms? I don't remember ever eating in classrooms as a kid, except for once in my Spanish class we made gazpacho.... Are the kids allowed to just eat during a class or are there specific times set aside for eating a snack?

words for 1/8: セミノーラ　　ミネオラ seminola (say-me-noh-rah) and mineora (me-nay-oh-rah) I am grouping these together because they are both tangelos. The seminola is entirely grown in Japan (though the seeds came form Florida many years ago) and the Minneola (which looks similar to the dekopon) is imported from California. The seasons are similar running from about March to mid-May. seminola http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...neo/semin_3.jpg minneola

Tuesday night: working on cleaning out my refrigerator Kimchi and octopus gukbap with onions and Japanese leeks (a Korean "soupy" rice dish) fiddlehead ferns simmered with garlic, soy and mirin chicken meatballs and taro simmered in a dashi-soy-mirin-sugar sauce dessert chocolate truffle cake

I know that fish cake thing you are talking about, I love it too! Unfortunately I have no idea how to make it, don't even know its name, but if anyone else does..... As far as the miso, the Korean miso (called toenjang, doenjang, dwenjang, denjan and a variety of other names), I believe is made with just soybeans (no rice) like the mamemiso (bean miso) of Japan. The closest substitute would be the Japanese hatchomiso (the really dark one) or at least an aka (red) miso.

One of the biggest disappoints of a family restaurant chain was Big Boy, not even one hamburger on the menu! http://www.bigboyjapan.co.jp/bigboy/index.shtml

word for 1/7 アンコール ankooru (ahn-koe-rhue) This variety of orange was given the name of the English word "encore" becasue they aer so good you will be wanting more. They are more on the reddish side than the average orange and are supposedly very sweet. The season runs February through May and they don't do well in cold regions, so they are mostly grown in greenhouses or the very Southern regions. I have never eaten one of these and am very curious to give it a try...... encore orange http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...ore/encore2.jpg

some more pictures http://www.rakuten.co.jp/otarukitaichi/img1015547647.jpeg tarako (cod roe) mentaiko (spicy cod roe) ikura (salmon roe) kazunoko (herring roe)

Many cultures use what you describe fish parts "trashed in other countries" for making fish stock, don't they? I particularly like eating fish eyes (cooked, of course). Foodie Penguin Many countries use the heads, bones, etc for stock making, the Japanese have found other uses for them as well and actually you will rarely see them being used for stock. the bones are often removed from the fish and deep-fried and eaten as a snack with drinks. Fins, especially that of fugu, are often steeped in sake and enjoyed with the meal. Fish heads are often braised or added to nabes (hotpots) and then picked clean down to the bone including the eyeballs......

If you are looking for just Japanese, I would recommend Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, if you are maybe looking for a General Asian cooking book (that covers Japan as well) then you might try Madhur Jaffrey's A Taste of the Far East of Essentials of Asian Cuisine by Corrine Trang. The wonderful thing about Japanese cooking is that it doesn't become dated! The Tsuji book is also on the older side but really an incredible resource, I have glanced through a lot of the newer books on the amrket and have been very disappointed in most of them. Good Luck! and feel free to ask any questions here! we are better than a book.

the newest at Mos burger Japan BBQ Focaccia and Croquette Focaccia hhhmmm.......... http://www.mos.co.jp/spotlight/031212/focaccia.html

Robert welcome to egullet! Hope to hear more from you.

MOS burger, yummm! This Japanese chain is so good it has it's own thread! the MOS burger thread http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=20990

January 3rd saw two more sandwiches added to the menu: the McRib with BBQ sauce and bacon is making an appearance again and a new curry roll, a thin skinned egg roll with curry flavored meat and vegetables http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/sales/promotion_h_f.html

Soba, get your plane ticket ready McRib is alive and well in Japan! http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/sales/promotion_h_f.html It makes an appearance a couple times a year.

actually there were 48 of them! there are two layers.... It was also for 5 people and was the main part of a meal with smaller dishes. Good question about the sauces. I do what I have always considered the typical sauce of soy-vinegar-rayu (chile oil), but I know some people who just dip them in vinegar. I am not sure of regional differences.... anyone?

Now that was a good burger! I cried when it disappeared.

1.Whopper with everything (no cheese) and onion rings on the side 2. Big Mac, I love these things and eat them the most since I think all the Burger Kings have disappeared from Japan 3. anything from Arby's without cheese

do you ever find it hard to cook for one? Like the meat and vegetable packs being too big? or ever find it just not worth the effort to cook for yourself? I find that a lot of time when I need something just for myself (usually lunch) it always seems like a big bother to even make something.... I have never really cooked for one, went from my parent's house to a college dorm with a cafeteria, to an apartment with my boyfriend when I was 20 and then to an apartment with my now husband (and no there wasn't even one day between those last two places )

I made gyoza last night and it has been years since I made them. I always thought it was too time consuming and would occasionally by them already prepared but my kids never cared for them, so I rarely served them. Well I have discovered that letting my kids help me means that it takes almost no time at all and I just can't get over how different they taste! I think I will never buy them again..... I just made the simple typical filling of pork and Chinese cabbage and it was good but could have been so much better. Anyone have some favorite gyoza fillings they want to share? My gyoza EDIT and by the way my kids loved them!!

Monday dinner gyoza (Japanese potstickers) sashimi style squid with an egg yolk, some seasoned soy sauce and nori (laver) leftover kabocha salad miso soup made with little meatballs leftover over from the gyoza and Japanese sweet potato (satsumaimo) dessert: mascarpone with an espresso syrup (this is a Japanese product and quite good) the kids had ice cream