torakris

Good Luck Varmint!! We are cheering for you and remember tofu is your friend!

What are some of your favorite Japanese vegetables or Japanese style of preparation?

word for 5/6 あっさり assari (ahs-sah-ree) the two s's are sort of like one long s this is used to describe food that light, plain, simple, subtle flavored, no strong or oily favors. Think of foods like ohitashi (cooked vegetables in a dashi broth).

this sounds incredible, can you share it with us?

I follow Bob Thomson and his The New Victory Garden religiously! I used to watch hiis shows on PBS with my dad and when i started gardening it was the first place I turned.

Aji no moto is the Japanese word for both MSG and the name of the company that makes it. aji= flavor no= 's or of ( so flavor's) moto= base or beginning this discussion coincides perfectly with today's Japanese word "umami" as it is MSG that help's foods "jump" to life.

a really good sharp cheddar pecorino romano gorgonzola (dolce)

word for 5/5: 旨み　旨味　うまみ umami (oo-mah-mee) there is no direct translation for this taste sensation which means something along the lines of "savoriness" or even "tastiness". It is difficult to describe, but foods like wine, soy sauce, mushrooms, aged cheese, etc are very high on the umami list. for more information look here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4459306,00.html

yes there are! the traditional foods eaten include: chirashi-zushi-- a sort of "scattered" rice sushi with egg and various vegetables clam soup hishi-mochi-- pressed rice cake in the shape of a diamond hina-arare-- puffed sweetened rice normally with the addition of sweetened beans a little more information is here: http://www.ajinomoto.com/traditions/spring_02.html

this Sunday's breakfast: pancakes with my family's favorite toppings, maple syrup, chocolate sauce, and caramel sauce. iced cafe au lait

Glad you enjoyed it!

Girl's have their own day on March 3rd (3/3) it is called hinamatsuri. It does seem a little odd to call it children's day when you are only celebrating the boys.....

Kristin, this is usually true. I'd rather pay Thomas Keller $400 to roam freely in his kitchen for a day than pay for a meal. Suzanne, Kristin is the new shogun-regent of the Japan board. Jin, I am with you, I would rather pay for the experience of being in the kitchen then actually eating the food! shogun-regent, I like the sound of that! The most ridiculously overpriced meal I ever ate was at Hyakkumangoku in Atami, Japan, it is an onsen hotel (hot spring resort) and the $700 per person price covered one night stay, use of the baths, and a dinner (kaiseki) and breakfast. I would estimate the dinner was about $200 or so of that, glad I didn't pay! By the way since I don't drink alcohol all of my prices given are with out drinks. I normally only drink water in restaurants, I guess I was a pretty cheap date, no wonder I was so popular

May 5th (5/5) is called kodomo no hi (or Children's day) in Japan. Those with boys in their household normally hang out koinobori (carp shaped flags) and the traditional foods eaten are kashiwa mochi and chimaki. For pictures click here: http://nedo4.cc.gakushuin.ac.jp/kisetu/tango/food.htm for more information about the day itself and a picture of the koinobori click on the kodomo no hi link at the bottom of the page.

Sunday dinner: Spent the day at my in-laws having a full blown luau (minus the pig and the poi!), some Hawaiin/Tahitian dancer friends were in Japan for some shows and we had a BBQ with them and some dancers from Japan. There were leis for everyone representing all of the islands, about 5 ukuleles being passed around, and ddancers performing almost everything they know. It was making me very homesick for the year I lived on Maui. My contribution: brined chicken wings , it is what my MIL requested.

I still remember trying to talk my then boyfriend (now husband) out of paying $50 a person because I though it was ridiculously expensive, I see most of you pay that much in just tax alone! I have yet to eat a meal in a restaurant that I felt was worth the money I paid for it, I find everything ridicuously over priced. I almost never take my family out, only if my in-laws are paying. I think I will go crawl back under my rock now.....................

It wasn't the beef we actually ate , but it is a picture of Kobe steaks. It needs to be much bigger to really be appreciated! I am afraid that Kobe steak yesterday has just pushed yuke to second place as my favorite beef dish Beef is wonderful!!!!

word for 5/4: 苦い nigai (nee-gah-ee) bitter Though the Japanese treasure this flavor and are quite fond of using bitter foods, it is interesting to note that the chinese character used for this word is the same character as for kurushii (苦しい) which means painful, afflicting, tormenting...

Margaret, I had a group of 10 Japanese women in an all out discussion about it, none of them couldn't believe it wasn't in the dictionary it is such an everyday word. They came to the consensus it was probably an abbreviation of shio-poi (like or ~ish), similar to kodomo-poi (childlike) or aka-poi (reddish). Then yesterday at a BBQ with some Japanese friends I asked again and they though it might be an abbreviation of shio-ippai (ippai meaning a lot or full). So who knows? On Tuesday I am going to ask my daughter's Kumon Kokugo teacher, she is a Japanese language teacher she should know.

I love beef! I always have and I always will. Sometimes there is nothing better then the perfect piece of beef. I ate that perfection today! from the dinner thread: the hilight of the BBQ was the Kobe beef, this had been sent to my friend by her parents who live in Kobe. This was the most gorgeous cut of meat I have ever laid my eyes upon. They were in large chunks about 2 by 3 inches and about 1 inch thick. We lightly salt and peppered them and then placed them over a medium high fire. The smell of them cooking was pure ectasy, my drool almost distinguished the fire. I tested their doneness (OK rareness) by the finger press test and pulled them off when I thought they were just at that point between rare and medium rare. I hit it on the dot, perfection! biggrin.gif Gorgeous sear lines on the outside and lucsious pink in the middle. I let them rest for a couple of minutes, which felt more like hours, before I started to cut. I cut them into bite sized pieces and we poured a small bowl of Maldon sea salt for dipping. I know no words to describe the taste of this meat, no description can do it justice. There is no beef like true Kobe beef! Please feel free to discuss beef!

Saturday dinner: had a BBQ at our house with friends chicken sate with MY peanut sauce (wonderful stuff!) yaki-imo (steam -grilled Japanese sweet potatoes) grilled fava beans (soramame in Japanese) Thai style beef salad yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls) with soy sauce, miso, or my favorite kojuchang (Korean spicy miso) wrapped in shiso leaves (pulled striaght from the plants in the garden! ) the hilight of the BBQ was the Kobe beef, this had been sent to my friend by her parents who live in Kobe. This was the most gorgeous cut of meat I have ever laid my eyes upon. They were in large chunks about 2 by 3 inches and about 1 inch thick. We lightly salt and peppered them and then placed them over a medium high fire. The smell of them cooking was pure ectasy, my drool almost distinguished the fire. I tested their doneness (OK rareness) by the finger press test and pulled them off when I thought they were just at that point between rare and medium rare. I hit it on the dot, perfection! Gorgeous sear lines on the outside and lucsious pink in the middle. I let them rest for a couple of minutes, which felt more like hours, before I started to cut. I cut them into bite sized pieces and we poured a small bowl of Maldon sea salt for dipping. I know no words to describe the taste of this meat, no description can do it justice. There is no beef like true Kobe beef! dessert: apple pie (made by my friend) ice cream

I will eat pretty much anything put in front of me, there are some things I like more then others though. I don't really like beets, but if they are served to me I can eat them, I have to admit I have never eaten bugs, but I would be willing to try.

this is the way I would do it too! I just made a similar stir fry the other night, chicken marinated with rice wine and cornstarch, velveted, the ginger and garlic stir fried until fragrant, chicken and veggies tossed in, sauce added, drizzle of sesame oil if wanted and there you go!

Money that actually came out of my pocketbook? not someone else's? I am such a tightwad I am almost shamed to admit that it is a measely $50 spent on Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant in Kihei, Maui (I think it was the Pacific Cafe or something like that) Then there was the almost 5 year period in my life where my ex-boyfriend and I lived the luxurious life, with something like a $10,000 a month allowance from his father. Dinners would regulary be between $50 and $100 per person with out blinking an eye. But it wasn't actually my pocket book. Now $100 is my monthly eating out allowance for my family of 5! The things we do for love!

word for 5/3: しょっぱい shoppai (sho-pah-ee) salty I hesitate to teach this word to everyone because according to every dictionary I looked in, it is not a word! Yet it is a word uttered by every japanese on a regular basis, typing it into yahoo japan gives over 44,000 hits describing evrything from the saltiness of tears to sea water to food). I have spent the past couple days quizzing friends and neighbors on the origins of this word and its non-presence in dictionaries despite the fact whenever I asked someone how to say salty in Japanese they all answered shoppai. If anyone knows anything about this word, i would love to hear about it, my curiosity has been peaked! Feel free to use it at random the Japanese all do!