torakris

This has been one of the rainiest (and quite cold to boot) Mays that I can remember. I finally took some pictures of my garden though after almost 2 weeks of rain I need to do some serious weeding. raspberries and figs (in the planter) the wild dokudami the mint that grows like weeds the 'trees' in the back from L to R are kinkan (kumquat) bay leaf and sudachi on the left in broccoli and te very right are two shishitou plants in the planter under the kinkan is parsley and oregano the front 3 planters are shiso, basil , majoram and rosemary

I have been looking but haven't seen the regular matcha ones. The adzuki-matcha are only in the large bag and I am not about to spend 300yen ($3) on them. A little bit back I did pick up the new McVities lemon tea cookies, the biscuit is tea flavored while the filling is lemon. They were quite nice.

Like a couple people have mentioned, black sesame seed products are very popular in Japan and have been for quite some time now. I recently picked up this black sesame cream puff, with a black sesame custard inside as well (the gray stuff in the bottom right).

black sesame cream puff, there is a black sesame custard inside as well (the gray stuff in the right bottom corner) I really enjoyed this.

In honor of konnyaku day one of my local supermarkets was having a sale of half off all of their konnyaku products! I picked up a 3 month supply. Yesterday was a really rushed day so for my konnyaku dish I prepared the tama-konnyaku (top left), it came with a sauce pack and some karashi as well. It was quite good and a excellent deal at only 64 yen (about $.50)

Pocky!! I would trade any Pocky for those peaches though.....

I drove past the Yokohama one yesterday! (It doesn't open until September though) It is directly in front of the Kohoku Interchange for Daisan Keihin Road and the main road there is 3 to 4 lanes both ways so I hope it doesn't have the congestion problems that the Chiba one does. We also know all the backroads in that area. The crowds in the store are a different story, but after being here all this time they don't seem to bother me that much any more. I think I am definitely going to wait until the Yokohama one opens. How were the prices? I have never been to their store in the US so I have nothing to compare to. I am glad to know I am not the only person who doesn't care for Swedish meatballs....

When I was replenishing my panko supply the other day, I noticed some new types of panko I had never seen before. Beside whole wheat panko there were also flavored types. including curry flavored, aonori flavored and herb flavored. At about 3 times the price of regular panko I think it would be much cheaper to just add your own seasonings....

The way one company makes panko (I am not sure if this is the universal procedure or not though, with photographs of the process, in English Making Panko The 3 page panko thread from the Japan forum

I should have gotten the chicken sandwich..... the salad was awful, it was no bigger than their tiny shaker version except it had chicken in it. The dressing they offered were the same as the shaker, sesame or cheese and now they had a lemon and herb one. That sounded good so I asked for that, I was surprised to see it was actually a low fat one (I don't care for low fat salad dressings...). When I squeezed it open the watery lemon part came gushing out followed by a trickle of oil. The bowl was actually too small to mix the salad around, so the lettuce tasted of eithr just lemon or just oil. I finished and was still starving!

Helen? Have you made it yet? I want to know too! I am still waiting for the Yokohama one....

gobo chips (ok, more like sticks) are one of my favorites: renkon chips are quite popular as a salad topping here in Japan, I have been served them that way a number of times. I have never tried taro as chips, but it is wonderful deep fried , sweet potatoes I have also done and they turn out lovely... kabocha chips are nice but it is really hard to slice them very thin.

Your induction cooker should be able to do both, timer fuctions are pretty much standard on any decent model. I have a Sanyo induction heater and wouldn't trade it for anything, the timer lets me keep 3 pre-programed times in there, so with one push of the timer button the rice will be ready at 5:20 am and with two pushes of the button it is ready at 6:00pm, three pushes and my rice will be ready at noon. I am much happier with my Sanyo than I was with my previous Zojirushi. I have yet to meet a rice cooker that can do sticky rices, I have tried with Japanese sticky rices but they just don't work well... I remember reading somewhere else on the boards about someone raving about oatmeal cooked in a rice cooker. Unfortunately I can't remember who or where...

Meez, Just minutes ago I clicked on the link to your blog that was in the tempura thread, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.... Keep up the great work!

I love to see Pocky in blogs!

McDonald's Japan finally introduces salads! real meal salads Two new salads, grilled chicken sandwich and a yogurt dessert

GO Cleveland!

For the batter I use a low protein cake flour and ice water in pretty much equal amounts, usually 1 to 2 cups each and 1 egg yolk. Mix it very quickly and leave it lumpy. Keep the batter very cold, putting it over ice water if it will be used for a long period of time. If possible try to keep the ingredients chilled as well. Keep the heat as steady as possible, cooking only a few pieces at a time. Most professional shops in Japan cook with 100% sesame oil. For a while I was adding a splash of sesame oil to my canola oil but I don't think it changed the taste so I have since stopped.

I buy my semolina at Tomizawa (I am fortunate to live close to a couple of their branches) but I have seen it in almost any large international market in the section with all of the other flours.

the following is from a post by tammylc taken from the 2005 Heartland Gathering thread The "recipe" such as it is: Blanch zucchini in boiling water for 10 minutes. Stem, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut into small dice. Cook in butter and olive oil with some kosher salt until browned and sweet. They said 10-20 minutes, but ours went a lot longer than that and never really got brown. But eventually it started tasting really good and that's when we stoppped cooking it. Stuff into squash blossoms, dip in tempura batter, and deep fry until crispy. Eat immediately. Great story behind the stuffed squash blossoms. Last December I had dinner at Jose's Minibar in DC, and had this amazing caramelized zucchini dish. There's tons of zucchini in the market right now, but zucchini isn't usually the most interesting thing to cook or eat. Except this caramelized thing, which was amazing and which I thought we could attempt to recreate based on the vague directions I got when I asked about it at the restaurant. At one point yesterday, we leave Fat Guy watching some bags and manning the 2 pm check-in point while we go off to grab some last minute items. While we're gone he calls Cafe Atlantico (where the Minibar is), asks to speak to the chef by name, and says "Hey, this is Steve Shaw from New York. Can I get that caramelized zucchini recipe from you?" The guy on the other end of the phone is happy to oblige, and Steven writes it all down, while simultaneously trying to get far enough from the Chinese Lion Dance group to hear but also stay close enough to the bags to see them. We're not sure if the chef actually knew who Steve was or just didn't want to take the chance of seeming stupid in case he was someone important. Definitely a lesson in chutzpah. So, armed with the instructions for caramelizing the zucchini, Steven and I start discussing various presentation options. As I'm leaving the market I pass someone selling squash blossoms. I've never had them myself, but I know that they are frequently stuffed and deep fried, so I figure that they might make a great container for our caramelized zucchini mush and buy two small buckets worth. We decide on a tempura batter and convince Kris to staff the wok for the frying (Kris-Japan-tempura - it seemed the right thing to do). This was definitely our most ambitious and most tasty dish of the night.

I can start us off with a picture! This was a tempura of a stuffed zucchini blossom (it had been stuffed with pureed zucchini) from last year's Heartland gathering. Both the idea and the actual process of cooking it was entirely a group effort. I was in charge of the deep frying.

no different from regular soy sauce, maybe just a bit stronger...

Beef chashu? I have never seen that before, but that picture is mouthwatering. Is the soup homemade as well? It looks incredible!

It is just soap! It is really diluted quite a bit, I have eaten food the same day I sprayed it and after a good washing you can't taste anything.

Like Ohba says, the initial cost can be quite high but it will get cheaper as the years go on. I have had a small garden of some sorts going all year round for quite a few years now and I spend very little money on it except for buying seeds/seedlings. I use both planters and the dirt in my backyard and I keep recycling the dirt so I don't have to keep buying new stuff. It is a strange world we live in when we actually start paying money for dirt. I do very little int eh way of fertilizing and use a simple spry of dish soap and water to keep away bugs. I have quite a bit going in my garden right now, I will take a picture tomorrow because it is too dark to see anything now!