torakris
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Posts posted by torakris
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C'mon guys, hoshi-imo are everywhere!
My kids and I have been eating them all winter, I have yet to see a supermarket that doesn't have them.
Also the yaki-imo truck, he goes past my house regularly a couple times a week, just bought some last week.
As to gourmet soy sauces, I don't know how easy it would be to get the soy from the the small, local breweries in the US. Even in Japan you can't just pick up these speciality ones at a store, a lot of them need to ordered from the brewery, usually heard about by word of mouth. Different flavors are preferred in different areas of Japan, I had to go to 5 stores just to find tamari, because it just isn't popular in the Tokyo area.
Soy, like many other things, is based on personal preference, just try a couple and look for the one that suits you.
I am a true Tokyoite, OK I am really American, but I feel like a Tokyoite, in that I like my food very "koi" or strong tasting. Everyone raves about the wonderful food in the Kyoto area, but on my trip there I found it completely bland and was very disappointed. So when I look for a soy I am looking for the koi-est of koi.
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In Elizabeth Schneider's book from Amaranth to Zucchini, she has recipes for Burdock, Leeks, Mushrooms, Braised with Wine and Lemon, Toasted Barley Baked with Burdock, Shallots, Celery, and Walnuts, she aslo says to try it in a gratin with a bechamel sauce.
It is really such a wonderful earthy flavor, I don't know why it hasn't caught on outside of Japan.
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In Taiwan I've also seen half-dried scallops as a stack. They're little queenies which come in individual packets; not completely dry - sort of a bit chewy/fudgy texture. Lovely sweet flavour. Haven't seen them in Europe, but have a sneaking suspicion the Japanese have something similar
J
Yes they have these in Japan and they are positively addicting.
In college my ex-boyfriend's mother would send him care packages from Japan and a large bag of these was always included.
My ex would come home from class to find me sitting next to this large box surronded by all these little wrappers, I don't think I even saved one for him!
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I found a recipe in an old Food and Wine that calls for
4 ounces hibiscus
2 1/2 quarts of water
1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar
The info says that in Mexico it is served very sweet and suggests orange slices for garnish.
Does that sound too sweet?
Has anyone ever tried this Mexican version?
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What you have got there Jason is um, um............................
Soy sauce, yup just plain old soy sauce.
Soy sauce has 5 classifications, koikukuchi ,or dark soy sauce, being the most popular at about 82% of the market.
For more info on classifications look here:
http://www.japanweb.co.uk/listing/soy.htm
Soy makers are free to name their soy anything they want and use various names amakuchi, umakuchi, marudaizu, etc to make their's stand out and sound special. Your's is the last one marudaizu, that is how you read the 3 chinese characters on the front, it simply means soybean. I am not sure when they first came onto the market but initially it was used to describe a soy made without wheat and thus would ahve a crisper, cleaner taste. now, however, it is a name that means nothing as a lot of the products, yours included, have wheat in the ingredients. It is better than the cheap soys that have alcohol included, but is nothing fancy. By what I see in the supermarkets 1/2 of the soy sauces seem to have marudaizu on the label and it is used as your basic all purpose soy.
I buy marudaizu as well in one liter bottles and pay about $4, your will cost more because it is an import but that seems a little high, especially for kikkoman.
I have been experimenting a little with various soy sauces and have 4 currently and even though the prices are very different there is almost no taste difference.
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My husband and I make our own rakkyou, though he likes them salt pickled and I like them with vinegar. Occasionally I will pick up some of the red wine pickled ones, those are really wonderful!
I also love nozawa-na, I could eat an entire package in one sitting, sorry no idea of the English name.
I love takana cha-han (fried rice) though.
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Thanks, for the money I paid for it, it had better be real!
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After many konnyaku batake deaths (it wedges in the throat and doesn't disintegrate like a regular jelly would) various other jellies sprung up. Not actually made from konnyaku though, the lychee one may have been one of those.
I am sure that I saw lychee and mango jellies in the Chinese markets a while before that though, so they may have been around a while.
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The atmosphere is better than the 7-11 isn't it?
sort of like eating ramen at a ramen shop vs making it by yourself at home.
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what no tea drinkers?
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I think oden is one of those foods that is pretty hard to mess up, I haven't noticed any diference between the stuff purchased in the supermarkets, convenience stores, street stalls, beaches, etc.
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the blubber comment hits it on the spot! but there is just something about it that I enjoy..............
I have to admit to never having partaken in the konnyaku steak though, but I do enjoy it cut up and in other dishes.
I like popsicles and the konnyaku batake jellies!
I don't keep them in the house though because they are a choking hazard and have caused a number of deaths.
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What do you put for DASHI when you cook oden yourself?
I like oxtail in addition to dried bonito and kombu, though
it is not at all usual.
BON that is the way I like it!
I am not a big fan of meats , especially chicken, in my oden but oxtails can really hit the spot!
Mochi? I have never seen that before, need to look for it.
The only thing i don't care for is hanpen and I am not sure how to describe this to anyone who is not familiar with it. It is sort of creamy and spongey all at the same time. gross!
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March 3rd is hinamatsuri (Girl's Day) in Japan, and having 2 girls I was recquired to make the traditional fare of chirashizushi.
Here is my version (for this year at least, last year I made it as a pressed rice cake with various layers):
made sushi rice, steamed the rice with konbu (kelp) and sake then mixed it with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, to this I added renkon (lotus root) that had been simmered in dashi, vinegar and sugar as well as nanohana (broccoli rabe) which had been boiled then seasoned with dashi and soy. This was was spread onto a platter and then garnished with thin shreads of egg omelette, ikura (salmon roe), ama-ebi (sweet shrimp), and hotate (scallops).
I then made my daughters' favorite vegetable rolls
Into a 4 by 2 inch piece of thinly sliced pork I placed enoki muskrooms, julienned carrots and scallions and rolled it.
Sauteed them in a fry pan and then added a soy-mirin-sake-sugar sauce and reduced it until syrupy and the rolls were well coated. Sliced the rolls in half on the diagonal and garnished the dish with cherry tomatoes.
Dessert:
beautiful strawberries
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I jsut looked at my maple syrup (Canadian) and it doesn't list a grade, is it the real stuff?
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I love them both too!
Those dried ones are sooo expensive though!
I was looking at them in the store yesterday but couldn't justify that price.
They are incredible in soups.
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slice it thin, smear it with a little horseradish and eat it cold!
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My favorite use of gobo is either in kinpira(a quick saute with soy sauce, sake, and chile pepper) or in a soy based simmered dish (like sukiyaki, etc), they also make great pickles.
After cutting gobo is should be immersed in cold water to prevent discoloration, adding a little vinegar will help whiten it. The skin has the best flavor so you don't really want to peel it, rather scrub it with a stiff brush.
I don't know how much luck you will have finding it out of a Japanese market, I think I remember reading somewhere that the Jaapnese are the only people who actually consume it as a vegetable, other countries use it solely for medicinal purposes. I wonder why?
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While shopping today I pick up some bags of hibiscus flowers, rose hips, and jasmine flowers, I have only drunk teas made from these in tea bag form and am not sure how what to do with them.
Suggestions?
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So Torakris- you mean the konnyaku potato was even more boring than the processed konnyaku such that the latter was preferable? Hard to believe..... And how pray tell, did it get to Japan from Indonesia 1500 years ago?
According to the following site:
http://shakespeare-w.com/english/konnyaku/whatis.html
It was introduced into Japan in the 6th century for use as a medicine.
Japan is the only country that cultivates it, though it grows wild in China and SE Asia.
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Konnyaku is made from the konnyaku potato indigenous to Indonesia, here is how to make it:
http://www.shakespeare-w.com/english/konny.../howtomake.html
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Although I do like it, I understand how the big solid blocks of konnyaku can be difficult to take. The noodles, though (ito-kon or shirataki) are wonderful in nabe, diet or no diet.
I like konnyaku in most forms, though, with my favorite being sashimi-style, served cold and thinly sliced with karashi. Not too many seem to share my enthusiasm, though.
Margaret,
I do! I do! I do!
Konnyaku sashimi can almost be good as the real stuff!
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BTW, Kris, if I send you a digital camera, will you post photos??
And snowangel, I want pix of Diana cooking..or better yet perusing all the cokbooks, deciding on the meal! Donations of a digital camera are always welcome!
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I like that website, too.
Some foodstuffs mentioned there are not familiar to me: for example, dropwort. But the most intriguing item was the sesame leaves. I had no idea that any part of the plant other than the seeds were eaten. For that matter, I don't know what a sesame plant looks like or where it's most commonly grown (in the U.S., California, no doubt
). Dropwort is truely a wonderful vegetable, if you can ever get your hands on it give it a try.
It is also known as water celery or minari in Korean and seri in Japanese. It is a common hotpot ingredient and it also often used in making napa cabbage kimchi.
What is called sesame leaves is actually the perilla plant and is actually a misnomer, they are not related to the true sesame. Perilla (called kkaennip in Korean) is similar to the Japanese shiso but almost twice the size.
I have used shiso to make this kimchi and it is really good!
Korean Dining Etiquette
in Elsewhere in Asia/Pacific: Cooking & Baking
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Those meatal chopsticks sure are pretty to look at................
Those huge plastic ones in Chinese restaurants are the worst though!
Give me some good old Japanese ones anyday.
I love those Korean spoons though, they make the absolute best spoons!
Regarding the etiquette, I have heard about it, but since most of the Korean food I eat is in Japan, I follow the Japanese rules
ALWAYS hold the bowl in your hand
ALWAYS eat your rice with chopsticks
Pull the solid food out of your soup with chopsticks and then drink the soup directly from the bowl