torakris

I have merged the two kamaboko/fish paste product threads, so if you scroll up a bit there are quite a few pictures of various products but I can't wait to see more!

Shaya, those bagels are beautiful! I have only attempted bagels once in my life and they were such a disaster I never tried making them again. I think I might give those a try. Persiancook, those cardamom cookies were one of the recipes I have dog eared, I am glad to here you enjoyed them.

Edsel, those pictures are incredible! Another restaurant has been added to the list of places I need to go next summer. I want that duck! Thai food plus VTR and Lolita's? I am so jealous. Steven, Sun Luck Garden, you were in my neighborhood.... My parents really love that place but I can't remember the last time I have been there. From the outside is just looks like your average Chinese restaurant stuck in the middle of a little strip mall and I have never been tempted to venture in. Also being less than 5 minutes from my house I guess I am always looking for something a bit further out to try. Next summer....

I have been seeing that too, isn't it mostly being sold for drinking? I don't like bananas so am not interested in trying it, but what exactly does it tatse like?

Squeeze it over grilled fish, especially good with sanma. This is one of the reasons you will see a littel basket of sudachi just above the sanma display in some supermarkets. I also squeeze it over sashimi, I like it with white fleshed fish like hirame and tai. It is also wonderful with grilled/sauteed mushrooms. And it makes a great ponzu.

My favorite bitter melon dish is the Okinawan champuru, this is a simple dish of bittermelon stirfried with tofu. Use a firm tofu and press it well, I weight it down for at least an hour. Cut the tofu into small slabs and sear both sides, remove from pan. Saute the sliced bitter melon for a couple minutes, return the tofu to the pan and turn the heat to low. Add a couple beaten eggs then sprinkle with salt and soy sauce, when the eggs are just cooked pull off the heat and top with a pack of bonito flakes (katsuo bushi). In Okinawa this is often made with fatty pork or a spam like product, I prefer it without.

John, That sounds great! I think homemade curry powder is the way to go. I have never really thought about making a curry from scratch as for me curry is what I through together on really busy days... I need to rethink it! Yesterday at the supermarket they had a display of a new curry product from Nagatanien. Yaki Curry! You place hot rice into a gratin dish and pour on the pack of curry, sprinkle on the topping provided and then pop it into your toaster oven for 5 minutes. They currently have two flavors: ground meat and eggplant chicken and tomato both are prepared with a 2 cheese mix (cheddar and gorgonzola)??

Just a couple hours ago I made a memo to myself to include some of the popular izakaya style dishes. I have been jotting stuff down as it comes to me and I read here and I think I am looking at least at 3 books. That is if this first one ever comes to anything. I am going to take these ideas a little farther and see what I can do with it. Ogkodansha, Thank you for your words of wisdom. I have yet to really decide if this is something I am willing to put this much time into. I know nothing about the publishing business and hadn't even gotten that far in my thinking yet but I like the idea of mock up pages as an introduction to what the book will be.

This is the list that one member sent to me on recipes she would like to see in a cookbook: Mabodofu and other popular Japanese School Lunches Oden MORE Nabes Kushi Dango and other mochis Nikujaga Okonomiyaki An-pan Yuba and other Tofu things Those interesting Strawberry Omelets The Omelet thingy with the Ketchup Rice The chicken salad with the cucumber and jellyfish Burdock, Crysanthemum, Shiso, and Kabocha Goma-Ae A section on how to learn to love Natto Hijiki Salad (the carrot and Hijiki one) Konnyaku Steak Tonnkatsu Warabi Mochi Japanese Kimchi Nabe A section on the joys of Konnyaku Japanese Sweet Potato Recipes Seaweed Salads Okinawan Cooking (especially Goya Chanpuru) Curry Rice Wafu Dressing Spaghetti Naporitan New Years recipes! Especially those with Mochis. All traditional Japanese Holiday foods Chestnut rice Ohagi Sweet Red Bean Soup with Mochi Red and White bean pastes All the different PANs in Japan, IE Melon and Curry Pan etc Takoyaki ANYTHING that is daily family and fun and easy to grab... I really love the idea on a whole section of how to love natto!

oh dear, the book is getting bigger and bigger... I am not a pickle person, though I may add some really quick and easy versions that I do at home quite a bit. I will save the pickle book for Helen.

I had been thinking about it for a good 2 years now... I was thinking of using the Daily Nihongo thread as a base and writing something of an encyclopedia of Japanese foods with a couple recipes, but I think I like this idea better. I have already thought about dividing the book up into sections. 1. Dishes the Japanese really eat (including discussions/rankings of most popular dinner meals and kyushoku meals) -curry -mapodofu -karage -nikujyaga (this maybe divided into yoshoku-western foods, chuuka-Chinese foods and washoku-Japanese foods) 2. Local specialities that have become popular all over Japan -goya champuru -miso katsu 3. "Classic" dishes that the Japanese love but are forgetting how to make, these are the popular sozai (prepared dishes) that everyone picks up in the department store basement or supermarket -goma-ae -shira-ae -various seaweed dishes 4. Snacks and desserts - basically everything Suzy just mentioned

I am so jealous, I have never seen those in Japan before!! I want some too!

I just had a very interesting discussion with a reader of these forums and she suggested writing a cookbook on the dishes that the Japanese really eat. Pick up any Japanese cookbook and you are likely to see the same recipes over and over. Teriyaki, tempura, yakitori, miso soup, etc. I can't recall seeing recipes in English language books for things like omuraisu. curry rice, anpan, takoyaki, even karaage and the Japanese hambagu. Yet these are the kinds of foods the Japanese eat everyday but if you have never traveled to the country you may never have heard of. What dishes have you never seen in a cookbook that you would love to have a recipe for?

I pulled this out of the takikomi thread because I found it to be an interesting topic that deseves its own thread.

Hiroyuki, I am so jealous of everything you are able to grow! especially those mushrooms!! I think I need to put a little more effort into my garden next year. Anyone planting any winter vegetables? Is it too late to start anything now?

Mirin is also good in that it contains amino-carbonyls that produce umami savoriness that enhances the foods more than regular sugar. The alcohol content in mirin will pull out the flavors of many foods and mirin is awesome for creating teri or shininess. ← kinkistyle, you will find there are a lot of of who prefer Hellman's (we get it as Best Foods brand here) over Kewpie in the mayonnaise thread. It was just in the last couple years that I started really using a variety of sugars/mirin and it is amazing how they can really alter the taste of a dish. I really love the Japanese black raw sugar (kurozatou/kokutou), it even has its own thread. I guess I have been in Kanto too long but I love the karakuchi taste....

Since I am not from any prefecture... I prefer the black, to me the white is completely flavorless but his could be one of things where my brain is playing a trick on me. Maybe they really taste exactly the same and I am just assuming the white one is more bland. Is it just me or has anyone else been noticing the rise in konnyaku products in the past year or two? Especially products made with grated yam rather than the powdered version.

The only mixes I like to use for takikomi are the ones for kuri (chestnut) rice. I don't know why but I prefer the flavor of the chesnuts in those packs... Yours does look beautiful though!

At Costco last week I picked up an 8 pack of S&W black beans for a little over 600yen, that works out to about 75 yen a can. That is an incredible deal since S&W beans average about 250 yen a can anywhere else. I am headed there again next week and think I am going to stock up as that has got to be a pricing mistake.

I was pleasantly surprised by Mac's new Baisen goma ebi-fileo. It is probably going to disappear soon so if you want to give it a try I would suggest doing it soon...

I am a huge fan of Alford and Duguid as well and own all their books. While most of their recipes fall in the better than average to great category, there are always 1 to 2 from each book that gets a never again notation. I usually don't start thinking about baking until fall comes and I just pulled this book of the shelf two weeks ago and dog eared a couple pages. I thought I used this book more last year but glancing through it I seem to have only tried one thing. The recipe for Eleonore's Kaiserschmarron (pg 297) recieved a Great! mark.

godito, I live in Japan where buttermilk is also unavailable, over the years I have used various substitutes such as soured milk, yogurt and the powdered stuff. Many recipes turn out fine with a substitute but try make a buttermilk dressing or a buttermilk based soup with ay of those and you will be very disappointed. This summer I bought a buttermilk starter from Leeners.com and I will never go back to a substitute! I use them for all of my cheesemaking and sausage making supplies as well, and they will ship anywhere. edited to add you don't need raw milk for the starter and it can be made with whole milk, lowfat or even skim.

Are you letting it rest before using it, but not letting it sit too long? I can't remember now where I read it, or if it is even for Japanese karashi mustard or Coleman style western mustard, but you mix the powder with water in a small bowl and then turn it upside down to sit for 30 minutes before using. I could be wrong here but I don't recall vinegar being an ingredient in most karashi. I checked my tube but it doesn't list the ingredients.

Aww, so cute! What do you mix in the onigiri, torakris? Have you used the "push case" yet? I haven't used mine yet, I'm waiting for an opportunity to fill in with ganache! I know most of you here prepare the obento fresh in the morning (I'm a cheater, I make it a night before and put in the fridge because he can warm up in the microwave in the office). So i'd like to hear from you what are your Top Tips to save time making the obento in the morning? Marcia ← The onigiri are flavored with yukari furikake, my son's current favorite. I still have yet to use the push cases as well. I do 10 minute bentos in the morning for my husband, they go into a container that keeps them warm until lunch. I use instant soups (or leftovers which are rare) and the rice is either cooked with a timer or heated in the microwave. The most important thing for me is to know what I am going to put in the bento before I go to sleep. Because he has soup as well I don't feel bad if I only have time to make just two other dishes, but I try for 3. If I have something leftover from the night before, I heat that up. I do a lot of eggs, mini omelettes with different fillings every day. Today's obento had rice and soup (miso with wakame) grilled harasu (salmon belly), leftover turnip and carrot gratin (this was placed in a foil cup and grilled along with the harasu in the fish grill), and frozen corn sauteed with nira (garlic chives).

You will never have to worry about washing extra spoons again! Sour cream in a tube.