torakris

like this? coffee ramen! The soup is made with coffee and so are the noodles.... The shop also serves it up with a container of milk so you can make cafe au lait ramen. Scroll down to see various pictures and if you read Jaanese you are in for a treat as this guy is pretty funny.

Rachel and Jason, Thank you for sharing your trip with us. New Orleans is one part of the US I have always wanted to go to and your stories have made me want to go there even more. This was my favorite:

Review of Danks Street Depot cookbook

I tasted something very similar to this at Tokyo's Foodex last month, they were awful. It was a Japanese company making them and they weren't using them as sushi wrappers (I don't think that would go well over here) rather they were wrapping up vegetables. Sort of like fresh spring rolls. I remember they had an orange one made with orange colored vegetables and a green one made with green colored vegetables, they also had one made from brown rice. I tried all three and couldn't detect any flavor, they were quite dry and sort of tasted like cardboard.

That would be Matcha cream frappucino in Japan. Ever since my sis intro'ed it to me at the Shibuya Starbucks.......I've been addicted! Slurped it everywhere.............even the Starbucks across from my home in Bangkok has it, though its super sweet here. ← I actually discovered this when I was in the US last summer! I know order it every time go to Starbucks in Japan with my kids as they love it.

Also they can be used for more than grilling, scroll through these 4 pages to see what else they can be used for.

I have done some more searching for them and see they go under various names.... This website has a nice variety and refers to them as either Hida conro or sumiyaki conro.　Sorry these are only available in Japan...

He's pinned it, just like good beef. Honestly if no one told you it was horse you wouldn't know the difference. For the record I also eat whale (it isn't illegal in Japan) but definitely prefer horse.

What you are looking for is actually called a shichirin. They are available (in Japan) is many types; cermamic, cast iron, round, square, etc. The type you are looking at is pretty much for restaurant use and I have never seen them in a home, depending on the restaurant they will use either charcoal or sterno candle(?). The type you see in Japanese homes are much bigger and look like this. They are almost always used outside. I think the name Hida (the title is misspelled) is taken from the Hida-Takayama area, an area of Japan very famous for it's dish of hoba miso that is always cooked on a small shichirin (in a restaurant). If you google images of hoba miso, you will see the shichirin you are talking about. If you notice there isn't much variety either.... I will edit the title for you.

One of the few alcoholic drink I can handle is sangria. I am planning on making a sangria for a BBQ we are having next weekend and I just noticed my bottle of yuzu liquer. So I was thinking of making a wafuu sangria. Anyone ever tried this? Any ideas? I was thinking of using just white wine with sliced of yuzu and sudachi/kabosu (whatever is available) as well as some sparkling water and sugar to sweeten it a bit. I normally use orange juice as a base but wonder if that will drown out the yuzu and other citrus flavors. Anther thought is to try some yuzu-cha (like a yuzu marmalade) in place of the juice and sugar.... Ideas? I want to try and keep it really fresh tasting.

You are making me sooo hungry. That all sounds so wonderful especially as I am sitting in front of the computer with a tuna sandwich. I will be in the US from July 17 to August 14. If you can somehow manage to get reservations at Lola Bistro I will be forever indebted!

This reminds me, I forgot about some of the all you can eat kushiage restaurants. Kushiage are deep fried skewered foods. You choose your selection from the buffet and then take it back to your table to deep fry them yourself. Here are some pictures

This whole topic is so interesting I decided to start a thread on it! Click here!

Some recent discussion in the Japan on cooking your own food in restaurants got me thinking.... Many of the restaurants I go to in Japan require you to cook the food yourself, I never really gave a second thought to it and actually enjoy it. What do you think about cooking your own food?? Here are some linksto threads, most with pictures, of restaurants in Japan were you cook your own food: Yakiniku (Korean style grilled meats) Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory "pancake") Monjyayaki (Tokyo's version of the okonomiyaki) Nabe (Japanese hotpot) Many teppanyaki (griddle cooking?) restaurants also have you make your own food. At this one you can cook the typical teppan foods of okonomiyaki and monjyayaki as well a various meats, vegetables, noodles and even risotto! At Pepper Lunch restaurants you are given are served your raw meat and vegetables on a sizzling hot plate with instructions on how to cook everything before the heat wears off... I am sure there are many more I can't think of at the moment....

In Japanese it is called goya (Okinawan name) or nigauri (Japanese name literally 'biter gourd'). One of my favorites! I posted a white version earlier in the hread.

I don't understand this thing about not eating horse meat, personally I love it. Not even two weeks ago I posted tihs picture of a horse meat sashimi dish I prepared using horse meat picked up at a local supermarket (In Japan).

my first thought was, 'Yes! Canada beats Japan to the punch for bizarre foods for once!' what did you think of them? I don't really like Canadian ketchup chips - I find them weirdly sweet ← I only ate about 2, I didn't really care for them. They were quite sweet and I was expecting more of a BBQ tang but it wasn't there..

Yesterday I was at Baskin Robbins with my kids, when these little 3 year old-ish twin girls came in with their mother. They ran up to the counter one screaming for matcha (green tea) ice cream and the other screaming for coffee flavor. I was thinking to myself that in the US motst 3 year olds wouldn't even know what these flavors were...

I would say in general Japanese children tend to be less picky than American children, food is so ingrained into the culture here. It is hard to explain you just have to be here to see it. My 3 were all weaned here, over a period or 5 to 10 years ago. I have noticed quite a few changes in the past years. When my oldest was a baby I was pushed to give her diluted teas and juices at 2 months and to start trying solids around 4 months. Things seem to be slowing down quite a bit now and most places suggest weaning closer to 6 months with aditional liquids not needed. You will almost never see babies drinking milk or water here though. Weaning is divided into 3 general stages: early, middle and later Here are some samples of foods fed at each stage early (5 to 6 months) middle (7 to 8 months) later (9 to 11 months) 12 to 15 months 　is the graduation from weaning and the foods are almost the same as an adults. From this age on most children eat regular table food.

Helen, Thanks for that information, I think I will try it again. It was definitely in a sunny but dry area before....

There is only one controller of this forum and I almost never delete things. Topics are often merged so it will be easier for searching and reading later on down the road. Your post can be found here, in the eating in kansai thread.

As I was enjoying my (homemade) mentaiko spaghetti for lunch today, I was thinking that Japanese style pasta must be added to this thread. If you are unfamilar with Japanese syle spaghetti, check out the Japanese spaghetti thread! This is something you can find almost anywhere. If you find yourself jet lagged and looking for something to eat at 3:00am, head off to the nearest family restaurant and check out their pasta selection. Here is Jonathon's menu (click on spaghetti) for something a bit nicer and not much more expensive, try La Boheme. (scroll to Japanese pastas)

It is possible. I received cutting from a friend's plant but they died... probably because I sort of forgot about them. I am not sure how easy they are though because I can kill aything.

Oooh, thank you! That sounds so good and so easy! I will try it today, I was thinking of what to make for this cold rainy Sunday..... Quick questions, what exactly are you using for raw sugar? I am thinking the Japanese kurozato/kokuto (black raw sugar) is quite strong and would overpower the honey. Though it might make a nice black sugar castella. Why do you mix it after the first 15 minutes? That is interesting and I don't think I have ever seen that before.

Thanks for the ideas! I am not sure why I didn't think of crackers... I like the Belgian endive leaf idea as well, I might try the blinis when it isn't going to be so many people. Anything else?