torakris

I have done various versions, one of my favorites was served bruschetta style with diced tuna, avocado, lime, fresh chiles, coconut milk and seame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil. Then there is the "traditonal" Japanese version called maguro tatatki which is minced up tuna mixed with scallions and soy sauce, usually served atop rice or in a sushi roll Sometimes I do it "Hawaiian" style with cubed tuna, soy, tabasco, sesame seeds, and a drizzle of sesame oil

page 338 Chicken with sherry vinegar sauce this is absolutely wonderful. I have made it over and over. Everytime I pull out the book to try something new I end up making this! I think tomorrow I am going to try page 238 Grilled whole fish wrapped in pancetta and herbs...........

back to the greeens once again! word for 8/9: おいしい菜 oishiina (oy-shee-nah) This translates literally as delicious green. I ran across this in the si\upermarket yesterday and had never seen it before. A quick web search says that it is a type of nabana ("flowering" green) from the Hakata area of Fukuoka prefecture, it is aso referred to as Hakatana. Though it is from the nabana family it has no flowers or else it is harvested before they have a chance to develop. Cooking it last night I found the taste similar to komatsuna but a little lighter in color with much thicker stems. It seems to be one of those multi purpose greens can be used in an type of preparation.

Thursday dinner: fried zuwai-gani (tiny crabs) tofu and melokheya greens(Jew's mallow) with umeboshi-ginger- soy simmered daikon with niku-miso dessert: M&M's

iced coffee

torakris-- Fugu! fugu is not the rare delicacy that those outside of Japan believe it to be, even the sashimi is available at your local gocery! the kids loved it!

word for 8/8: 白菜　はくさい hakusai (hah-koo-sah-ee) Chinese or napa cabbage This is the most popular of the cabbage family in Japan. It is used in almost every preparation, nabes, pickles, stirfries, salads, simmered dishes, etc. It is a winter vegetable, making it a mainstay of nabes, and can be difficult to find during the summer. Hakusai in Japan in a beautiful vegetable and can be incredibly sweet.

I'll take that as a compliment....

Jin, great article! Though it is the most expensive city in the world, you can eat decent food cheaply here, trust me I know! Ever since the bubble burst, restaurants have been lowering their prices to stay in competition. 7 or 8 years ago \1,000 ($8.50) for a lunch was a good deal and \1,000 lunches were popping up everywhere. Now the price is somewhere between \580 and \780. A Japanese "family restaurant" near my house called Aiya (—•‰®) has great lunches for only \780 (about $6.50) and the food is great quality especially considering the price. their \780 lunch menu: click on the 3rd line down http://www.skylark.co.jp/cgi-bin/menu.cgi?gyoutai=AY

eating lunch nishin no kombumaki herring rolled up in konbu (kelp) and simmered in a soy based sauce

Having only had the powdered stuff before, what is the flavor of real wasabi? How does it taste compared to the green stuff we're so used to (which, to me, seems to have no taste but does provide a "kick")? Speaking of which, does it have the same "kick" as the pretend wasabi? edit: added "to me" the powdered stuff packs the biggest kick, but just kick no flavor, the tube stuff comes next with slightly less kick but more flavor and the big winner (of course) is the fresh stuff with incredible depth of flavor and more than enough kick to know you are eating wasabi. Think about powdered ginger if you added water and made it into a paste would it taste anything like the real stuff?

iced coffee..........................finally!

you can do lots of things with it, look here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...T&f=19&t=21853&

The kids were in heaven at first, curry rice twice a day with lots of snacks in between.... what child wouldn't go crazy They were really polite about the taste (or lack of) of the food and didn't care for any of the retort packaged stuff, the pasta sauces were just unpalatable. I did notice that Mia (age 7) was sprinkling salt on everything and she even asked if there was pepper, of which there was none............ I had brought a couple new cooking magazines with me and as we were paging through them both my friend and her mother commented on the heavy use of spices used and how they had never cooked with spices before. This of course is the same friend who asked me a while back what I use garlic with as she had never cooked with it before..........

I guess I do a little of both and it depends on what kind or party it is and who is coming. sometimes it is easier and faster to through together something you are familiar with and then spend more time with the guests, other times when with my friends who enjoy cooking we plan an entirely new menu and do it together. Most parties tend to be a mix of true and tried along with something new, I am pretty good at picking recipes and can't recall a single bomb.

Katherine, You were together much, much too long! and I thought my meal last week of chicken, bean sprouts and can of mushroom soup was bad......

my part Okinawan dinner: rafuti and goya champuru

Weds dinner: was in an Okinawan mood simmered pork belly with bonito flakes goya champuru (stirfry of bitter melon, tofu, egg, and bonito flakes) broccoli no goma-ae (sesame paste sauce) shirasu-meshi (rice with baby anchovies--fry pan dried then seasoned with soy, and shiso)

her is a picture of a mirin-boshi (mirin zuke) we had the other night, this was fugu:

As any who follows the dinner thread can tell we have really been on a Japanese food eating spree. Pretty much 3 times a day now. You can figure out the Yamaguchi finances by the way we eat, the poorer we are the more Japanese food (because it is the cheapest) I have actually been enjoying it, I had been off Jaapnese food for a while

word for 8/7: back to the leafy greens for a moment みぶな mibuna This is another leafy green form the Kyoto area (Mibu, to be exact) that has been gaining in popularity through out Japan in recent years. It is really a winter vegetable but has become available all year round. It is used in soups, stirfries, simmered dishes and pickles. picture: http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/images/ve...ure/mibuna1.jpg

You just gotta wonder who comes up with this stuff................. I am really happy with their new change of having choices with your set. Now when you order any kind of burger set you have a choice of one item from column A (fries, salad, mini pancakes, or chicken nuggets) and one choice from column B (cold drinks, hot drinks, soup).

sweetie -- as onle librarian to another(and we know what people who work in libraries are like) if you EVER make it to the states and new jersey i will a) cook for you and b) take you out for lunch at lou's place - course you may encounter tommy but that is another hazard New Jersey here I come!

well........ at least you got a tan kris well that was the important part! and it will only be improved by our 4 day camping trip to the beach next week. where i will be doing ALL of the cooking!

McDonald's has now entered part 3! South France Ratatouille burger on a black sesame seed bun Smoked beef burger a breakfast sandwich with a grilled omelette, potato salad, bacon, ketchup, special sauce and lettuce yomogi spring rolls, a Japanese style sweet with red bean paste check them out here: EDITED to remove link as they are no longer available I tried the ratatouille burger today the heavy on the chick pea ratatouille just did not blend with the double burger and special sauce....... ................not that I actually thought it would.