torakris

My husband's newest way of eating natto is to mix it into gyudon with a whole raw egg, he say it on tv a week or so ago and as been eating it for breakfast everyday since.I guess I can't really comment until I have tried it....

Oh and how can I forget Hokkaido potatoes, the best in Japan!

sukiyaki is considered a nabe mono. Itamemono are things like kinpira or champuru there are very few "traditional" itame dishes, but in today's Japan this probably one of the most common cooking technigues used for the everyday meal. You can itame anything, meats, seafood, tofu, vegetables, sea vegetables with any type of seasoning.

I don't know too much about Hokkaido cuisine, except they use lots and lots of seafood. uni kani hotate ikura etc yum yum!

shira-ae (tofu dressed vegetables) is another great way to use tofu: http://recipes.egullet.com/recipes/r328.html

then it wouldn't be a roast pork bun..................?

I had some taro last night simmered with green beans in a soy-mirin sauce. very good!

OK admittedly this was not a fancy restaurant, in fact it was Mc Donald's but anyway. My sister and I went through the drive thru and she ordered a Big Mac with no onions, when we got home she opened it up and sure enough there were no onions, but they forgot the beef as well!

Because I like to cook and all of my friends know it I am constantly being asked for cooking advice, recipes, etc I don't mind at all and love sharing my recipes and knowledges, but occassionally they ask or do something that just gets me rolling on the floor, not in front of them of course! I have a friend who is always asking me for my recipes, so I give them to her and then she calls me up later and says hers didn't come out the same and she is mad at me for giving her a messed up recipe. After talking it through it turn out that for my white cake she substituted margarine for the butter, whole wheat flour for the white, some "healthy" brown sugar for the white, left out the baking powder because she doesn't like to use "chemicals", and didn't use the vanilla because her small son was going to eat and she didn't want to put alcohol in it! Just last week a woman who I teach cooking privately to, called me in a panic from the supermarket becasue she was going to make a braised pork dish with orange and sherry and she couldn't find where they sold the orange zest! When i told her she would have to make it by herself, she panicked and said "ohmy God, how do I do that!?" Any other stories of clueless friends?

The Japanese aren't too well known for their stir fries, but they do have them. What are some of your favorites?

Saturday night dinner: rei shabu shabu salad--thinly sliced pork cooked shabu shabu style (dipped briefly in not quite boiling water) then plunged into an ice bath, drained then placed on a bed of mizuna, topped with grated daikon radish and then covered witha sudachi based ponzu sauce. simmered taro and green beans celery kinpira (a quick stir fry with soy, sake and shichimi-seven spice powder) Japanese rice Dessert: pineapple

One of my favorites is very simple, mince up the tuna add some salt a couple splashes of tabasco, serve on thinly sliced toasted bread garnished with chives. ceviche is another wonderful way to serve raw tuna, I vary the juices and herbs depending on my mood. last time I used orange,lemon, marjoram and parsley and lots of red onion.

nope, teriyaki is truely Japanese. the variations with tons of sugar and things like pineapple is the gaijin twist on it!

the konnyaku thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...T&f=19&t=17712&

dengaku is a miso based glaze that is spread on to grilled vegetables, fish, tofu, konnyaku etc, so konnyaku dengaku is a piece of konnyaku with a miso glaze, broiled tofu with miso would be called tofu dengaku. Konnyaku tastes nothing like steak! but the miso does help it taste like something!

Jin has hit my 2 favorites. In the summer I make hiyayakko a couple times a week and I don't think I have ever had the same topping twice! I also love ganmodoki grilled or seared in a frypan and topped with grated daikon and ponzu, this is also great with atsuage. with aburage I liket o grill it then top it with tsuyu and grated radish and minced Japanese leeks .

Jin doesn't really like konnyaku, so I fell the need to mention it at least once a week, to keep her on her toes. I really do like konnyaku dengaku though, I am thinking about preparing it tonight.

I grew up with a mother who hated cottage cheese (and yogurt for that matter) thus I didn't have my first taste until college. and have never really acquired a taste for it. I do you like it my cottage cheese-dill bread though. Need to find that recipe again.......

what are your favorite ways to eat tofu, Japanese style? what are some of your favorite tofu products?

ooohhh! dengaku anything! even konnyaku!

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Bacon in Japan sucks!! I haven't had good bacon in years.

Friday night: simmered daikon radish with aburage (deep fried tofu packets) miso flavored stir fry of eggplants and shishito (Japanese pinky sized green peppers, occasioanlly spicy) hiyayakko (cold tofu) garnished with a soy-vinegar-sesame seed-garlic-Korean ped pepper dressing and sprinkles with shiso and yaki-nori tomato slices sprinkled with salt Japanese rice dessert: mango

I agrree with Jin, Koreans win hands down for perfecting the art of yakimono! Some Japanese favorites include: okonomiyaki, and the grilled squid and corn on the cob that you can find everywhere in the summer.

Hope you feel better! I can always find reasons to buy a particular book, any holiday works, the anniversary of my first date, the anniversary of the day I got my braces off, the anniversary of the day I went to the bon Jovi concert, etc.................