torakris

I learned the hard way last night that it comes to a very high heat very quickly. I had the ribs going at 200-250 for about 3 hours and then it dropped to below 150, I tried adding a bit more charcoal. I sat down with angry birds and I soon noticed billows of smoke pouring out of the top. Half of the ribs were burned yet salvageable... Cook the slow foods first, I was thinking it would be just the opposite. This will make a big difference in my cooking patterns now.

Unfortunately the big green egg isn't available in Japan but 2 weeks ago my husband and I noticed a kamado (Vision Grills) at Costco and just had to get it. I've never really done smoking/slow cook style foods before and am not really sure how to get the temperature stabilized. I started with it really high to sear some jerk flavored chicken breasts (they turned out wonderfully) then I wanted to get the temp down to 200 to smoke some ribs. I closed all the vents but it took almost 1 1/2 hours to get down to 200, am I doing something wrong? Also I'm used to grilling with no lid on, do you always cook with the lid closed? I'm having a hard time figuring out temps and cooking times for various foods, the instructions and website don't really have much information. I also ordered a big green egg cookbook but am still waiting on it from the US. Are there any good websites for someone who is new to this style of cooking?

This are exactly the kinds of places I am looking for!! I purposely picked this area because of the proximity to the Kensington Market area. We really love Mexican/Central/South American, but unfortunately Cleveland (my hometown) has pretty much nothing outside of the Chi Chi's variety. Our 2 best meals in San Francisco last summer were Burmese and El Salvadorian... Toronto will be the longest stay in our multi city trip and I am really looking forward to eating our way around!

Wow! Thanks everyone, I've started taking notes. That dried corn in particular sound like something I'd love and know I can't get in Japan. Shady Maple also sounds just like the kind of place my kids would love, and it's exactly midway between York and Philadelphia!

Was this at a restaurant? Rice and French fries? Hhmmm I'm not really a fan of menchi katsu but one if the supermarkets by me used to have a menchi katsu that was half ground meat ( probably pork or a beef pork mix) and half cabbage. The cabbage added a nice flavor and made it o much lighter. I'm not sure if they still sell them as I haven't bought them in quite some time. This was a pre-cooked item in the take- away area and sometimes you could get them still hot and crispy.

I've done little food research yet, but even in my hotel search DiNics keeps coming up... A another quick question regarding the Amish goods, We will be driving through Lancaster on our way to Philadelphia (coming from my brother's house in York) I was thinking of just stopping for a quick lunch. Do you think the prices would be cheaper in the Lancaster area or about the same? I grew up and spend every summer in Cleveland, only 1 1/2 from the largest Amish community but don't have any plans to visit this year and I really do love their jams.... Though I'm not a huge fan, my kids love the Amish lunch buffets so I'm thinking of making the lunch stop, of course I'm going on the assumption that they have these buffets in this area as well.

Not to be outdone by the The Meat Monster burger from Burger King, McDonald's will soon be introducing the Mega Teriyaki Burger

Was watching the news this morning and they were talking about the newest burger from Burger King. The Meat Monster I have no desire to give this a try...

At some point I promise to read through all 21 pages but first I have a quick question. For a first time visitor who will probably have only one meal (possibly two) here, where would you recommend? My three kids (ages 15,13 and 10)and I will be in Philadelphia in late July for probably only 2 days, though I might be making it 3. My kids eat absolutely everything and when we go to markets like these we often buy about 3 to 5 dishes then pass them around, so we can try a variety of food. Is there anything (non-perishable)in the market that is worth buying and taking home with me? Philadelphia is going to be stop 3 on an 8 city tour but we will have a car.

Apologies for just jumping into this thread but it seems to be the best one for dining in Toronto. My kids and I are going to be taking our first trip to Toronto this summer and we love to eat! We'll be there from 7/29 to 8/3 and I've just booked apartment like accommodations on Dundas about 2 blocks west of Bathurst. Even though we have a small kitchen I don't really plan on cooking much more than breakfasts, I am looking for some good places for lunch and dinner and even breakfast. We prefer ethnic cuisines to American style burgers and sandwiches, preferably places that we can eat family style as we tend to order a couple entrees and appetizers to share when we eat out. Nothing too expensive either as this is just a part of a 2 week trip that goes from Cleveland to Boston through Toronto and back. For reference my kids are 15, 13 and 10 and eat absolutely anything. We also aren't too interested in Japanese food as we can get that really cheap where we are.

This was such a great event! I can't believe how many people turned out despite the below freezing weather, I can't imagine what it would have been like if the weather was nicer. We got there just as it started and had no problem with the lines. My kids and I shared: Lamb sliders Meatballs Spring rolls Korean burger PBLT (pulled pork BLT) Polish boy topped French fries slathered in BBQ and slaw

It's going to be cold tomorrow but I'm really looking forward to trying out the trucks! I'm taking the kids along so we can sample as many trucks as possible. I hope you'll be taking lots of pictures.

Steven, As always, beautiful lunches! As to raw fish in bentos, I have never seen a child (or an adult for that matter) with a bento from home that included raw fish. Just to be sure I just asked my 15 year old daughter and she looked at me and laughed, "why would someone take sushi to school?!"

I don't polish my own rice but I do order it as brown rice online (I think its the same place Helen uses )and ask them to polish it. So I basically get it the day after it's polished and I can go through the 10kg bag in about 2 weeks, sometimes 3, so it stays quite fresh. It tastes much better than the supermarket stuff that could have been polished months before. This place only sells it in shipments of 30kg but they'll divide it into 3-10kg bags so 2 neighbors and I share it. Glad to hear that you're ok. We got shaken pretty badly here. I hope we hear from Helen soon she is quite a bit closer to the epicenter than I am.

Well that quake yesterday sure scared the crap out of me! They normally tell us here to get under a table but since we have a back yard that opens into a huge empty field, we tend to go outside instead. Just outside our back door we have a storage shed we all of our camping gear, tents, sleeping bags, gas ranges, BBQ grills and charcoal, flashlights, etc. I also hoard canned food, though I may have to think about moving it closer to the door in case we can't the back in the house. After the big Kobe earthquake in '95 I started keeping bottled water out in the shed but that has long since disappeared. I will have to restock that. Our place in Yokohama is too high and too far away from the ocean to be affected by the tsunami but I did feel a little safer knowing we had enough surfboards in our backyard to float on if needed....

dcarch, That is absolutely beautiful! I love the idea of a shell for the soy sauce.

I definitely have a theme going... I think I am being creative every year but as I've scrolled through my last couple posts it seems I'm stuck in a salmon, broccoli rabe and egg rut. This year for Girl's Day (March 3) I made a chirashi with smoked salmon, broccoli rabe and egg. This was probably my favorite to date. I also splurged on the chirashizushi no moto (the mix for the rice), instead of buying the one I usually do that costs about 198 yen ($2.40) I got one that was 498 yen ($6). The difference was incredible, really really good! Mitsukan's juumoku chirashi

This year's chirashi had smoked salmon, nanohana (broccoli rabe) and egg.

I can't stand Pepsi Nex but I had to pick up 2 bottles when I saw these Dean and Deluca refrigerator magnets on the bottles. There are 8 in the whole series.

I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in the US in many years but I do admit to being a sausage McGriddles addict, sausage only, no eggs and cheese--eewww. I occasionally get cravings for just a plain hamburger, and I really like the ones at McDonald's over the other chains. There is a good chance the taste is just nostalgia speaking. I did have the new Miami Burger here in Japan and really liked it. I have no idea why they called it a Miami burger though.

I'll definitely be at GHT!

If you are interested in meeting up at all while you are here, I'm more than happy to! I want to second the word of warning about Golden Week in Japan, I would strongly advise to plan on being in Tokyo during that week and avoid any type of trips to touristy areas. This would be a great time to explore Tokyo. Japan is really amazingly cheap when it comes to food, I am always shocked in the US when I get the bill for a mediocre meal for my family of 5, we can eat so much better and for half of that in Japan. Since there is no tipping and tax is included, when the menu says it is 1000 yen, it really is 1000 yen. To keep costs down I would make sure your hotel rooms have a at least a small refrigerator, if it has a small kitchen set up or at least a single gas burner even better. While convenience store are convenient they are also expensive. I would suggest finding a supermarket and doing your shopping there. Pick up some bread, jam, yogurt and fruit and you have some great inexpensive breakfasts. If you shop after 6 (or even better after 8) you'll find that most of the prepared foods are heavily discounted and you can get a really cheap dinner. If you are looking for a place to stay, I would suggest looking at Dormy Inn The prices are extremely reasonable, they include a mini kitchen and laundry facilities and well as an onsen (hot spring) on premises that is free for guests.

perfect for me!

Best dates for me are late July into mid-August. I think adding VTR is an absolute must, other than that I'm pretty much open, though I'd love to get back to Crop and also visit Dante. Ethnic wise Chinese/Asian is probably the best we've got, our choices for Mexican are awful and most of the Middle Eastern places are nothing to rave about.

I think that pizza cutter thing might beat out my potato chip tongs for the grand prize. That thing looks huge, I don't even think I have a drawer it would fit in.