torakris

Hiroyuki, I love your furikake collection! I have at least 3 of the same ones... Since Hiroyuki is busy today I will help by providing some links to previous threads in the Japan forum. Furikake thread this thread inclusdes a wonderful recipe by Hiroyuki for a homemade version of furikake. The ever popular natto thread!

white lotus, sorry I really didn't give any places I just responded to Nancy... I am sort of more a whole in the wall/cheap eats kind of girl and will leave the fine dining comments to the others on the board, I can help with bookstores though. I love bookstores and spend many hours in them. Do you know where in Cleveland you will be staying? East side? West side? downtown? This will help us guide you to more specific places.

At most Japanese elementary schools and junior high schools, they serve kyushoku (school lunch) at lunch time. Parents are required to pay for the ingredients only (about 2,600 yen per month at my children's school). Labor and costs are borne by the local government. According to this month's kyushoku menu They have gohan (cooked rice), daikon leaves dressed with goma sauce, bamboo shoot soup, salmon grilled with mayo, and milk. Just to give you an idea of what they eat at school, I post this photo. This is a photo of a kyushoku lunch that I had two years ago. ← As an American living in japan with 3 kids now in the elementary school system I have nothing but raves for the Japanese school lunches. Anyone wanting to learn a little bit more should take a look at this photo essay I did on Kyushoku (school lunch) a couple years back: The Japanese school lunch system

Hiroyuki, Your empty refrigerator amazes me! This is what the same refigerator looks like full! The main refrigerator (top), notice the very short shelves though most of them are removable/adjustable the ice part and chill box(this can be a refrigerator or freezer as well with just a switch of the button) the vegetable drawer (I love this part) it is in a very easy to use part of the refrigerator and is huge with a top tray that runs the length and width of the drawer. This refrigerator had the largest freezer of all the refrigerators in the store, it is quite deep with a tray that like the vegetable drawer runs the length and width of the drawer.

Is this new? What is it close to on Mayfield? Anything in particular you recommend? Is it an actual restaurant or more like a take out?

I have been hoping you would do a foodblog! I am also very sorry to hear about your wife, this must be a very difficult time for everyone. We will be keeping her in our thoughts. What is the weather like up there? Do you have any plans for Golden Week?* *Golden Week normally runs from about 4/30 to 5/5 and nearly everyone in Japan is off from work and school, it is a common time for vacations abroad and within Japan. This year it is broken into two parts 4/28-4/30 and 5/3 to 5/6, the schools are in session and most people will be at work for 5/1 and 5/2.

I never come to eGullet without my glass (Ok, plastic cup from the Rainforest Cafe) of iced coffee, ever!

Some nice frothy, milky, sweetened matcha with a nice bitter chocolate is a wonderful pairing..

I just ordered her 'Entertaining' book and have 'Instant Cook' in my shopping cart. The 'Entertaining' one was only $3 at Amazon Marketplace so I jumped on it and sent it to my parent's place, I won't actually be able to look at for about 2 1/2 months though... Bella, The Flavors book I am pretty sure is available at Amazon, it is tied for my favorite with Off the Shelf.

Gee Rona, They are in almost every store here.. If you still can't find them let me know, I can force my kids to drink a couple bottles of Pepsi. Those McDonald's Snoopys were in Japan as well. After feeding my kids Happy Meals almost daily for a couple weeks I think I managed to collect almost all of them. We still have them...

OFF THE SHELF pg.40 stirred tomato risotto with mussels --I tweaked this a bit and it very popular in my cooking classes pg.62 bok choy and noodle stir fry --this is more like a soup than a stir fry.. pg.84 couscous salad --this may be my favorite recipe, everyone I have made it for asks for the recipe THE NEW COOK pg.91 roast pumpkin and couscous salad --another one of my favorites FLAVOURS pg.62 soy and galangal fish pg.102 balsamic chicken with garlic couscous pg.150 basil-fried tomato and couscous salad --I like serve this with the balsamic chicken on pg. 102 NEW FOOD FAST pg.64 pasta with rocket (arugula) and blue cheese I know that I have made more but these were the ones that popped out at me. Either she has a lot of couscous recipes or I really like couscous...

Hey Bella, I am starting to think we have a lot of the same cookbooks... I am also a huge Donna Hay fan and have 4 of her books. I had never heard of her when I was in the US but I found her cookbooks at the Costco in Japan and became hooked. Her food is really so simple and tastes really wonderful and I am a sucker for the beautiful pictures of every dish in the book! The only things I don't care for are her baked goods, but I have this same problem with Jamie Oliver's baked goods as well. Everything just seems so dry, maybe in the US we just like our cakes really moist? So what are some of your favorite dishes? It is time I pulled the books back off the shelves..

I remember hearing stories of people waiting in line for over an hour to buy cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon a couple years back. The stores were popping up everywhere, now according to Wikipedia they have closed all the stores but one (Odaiba location). It seems Doughnut Plant is still doing well, so I am curious to see what becomes of Krispy Kreme in another year or so.

Ok, it isn't exactly ika meshi and it isn't really even Japanese but my favorite stuffed squid is from Jamie Oliver. He stuffs a couple medium sized squid with spring onions, fresh red chile, cilantro, mint and lemon juice. These are placed into a steamer and various other vegetables are tossed in as well (baby bok choy, beans, sugar snap peas, etc) he scatters some slivered or grtaed ginger and (washed) salted black beans on top. Everything is steamed for about 8 minutes and topped with a sauce made from mashed salted black beans, sweet chilli sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and vegetable oil.

The new Basil Ebi (shrimp) Fileo two mayo based sauces with a deep fried shrimp patty? No thanks..

I am not sure if these really qualify as donuts... Mister Donut's new mikoron

Krispy Kreme Japan homepage

Not all tuna is the same... Big eye is prized for its akami ("red" meat) while the best ootoro comes from the kuromaguro (blue fin tuna). According to this site: (Mebachi- big eye tuna) In the fall it is also a source of toro (fatty part) when kuromaguro is not available. According to this site: yellow fin and big eye are mostly red meat with a very small ootoro. I wonder if this has too do with the size of the fish? Blue fin are really huge and that ootro section probably gets very little workout while the smaller tunas need to use most their body as they make their way across the ocean to our dinner plates. Just a guess... I looked at various pictures of big eye ootro on the internet and didn't see any with shimofuri, they all looked just like your picture. I guess you are going to have to search out a blue fin ootoro.

It has been a while since I took this picture so I can't remember the exact name but this bread was called something like zunda milk bread. Zunda is slightly sweetened ground up edamame. This was really a wonderful tasting bread.

For a limited time only! 1.5 liter bottles of Pepsi Twist and Pepsi Zero are coming with Le Creuset refrigerator magnets.

A new onigiri from 3F convenience store, shogayaki (ginger flavored pork) with a spicy mayo. This was really good and I will definitely be getting it again.

The new drink Black from Kirin Lemon As the bottle says it is an unforgettable flavor, and I am wishing I could forget it... At restaurants with self service drink counters my 6 year old son likes to put a little bit of everything into his cup, this is what it tasted like.

A recent lunch from the convenience store ham-katsu sandwich (I was craving a tonkatsu sandwich but this worked ), a new drink from Kirin Lemon and an onigiri with ginger pork and a spicy mayo.

a nice satisfying lunch from the supermarket futomaki, black rice onigiri, inari 298 yen (US$2.50)

A LOT! and the worst part is they don't have it on the regular Pepsi (actually I can't even find regular Pepsi anymore) its only on the Pepsi Twist and Pepsi Zero (which I haven't actually tried yet). Prasantrin, Keep looking, these magnets are wonderful! Look in drugstores, I bought mine at Create (huge chain store here). You will pay double at a convenience store anyway!