torakris

Hitchmeer, I am also glad to hear you are settled in. My combo oven has been acting up recently (it's about 6 years old and has been through a lot) so I have been looking around. I currently own a Toshiba and have been extremely happy however I don't care for any of the new Toshiba ones that I have looked at. My previous oven was a Hitachi and it was awful, it was so weak I couldn't cook anything in it, so I am a little scared to try them again. It seems to be so hit or miss with the ovens here, My friend bought one of the really expensive top of the line models a couple years back and it microwaved like a charm but nothing baked right. I wish I could remember the maker... The things I am looking for currently are a large size, over 30L, though the biggest one I have seen so far was 33L. It also must have the ability to cook two trays of food at one time and preferably have 3 different levels (for positioning the tray). When are making cookies, baking two trays at once is really a life saver. I use my oven for microwaving, baking and sometimes broiling, these are the only functions I feel anyone really needs and am trying to avoid the ones that add to many functions. Let us know if you find a good one!

Yes, and I was standing next to him while he did it! Does that count? I would never have the nerve to do that myself....

Here is some information about Kirin Beer Village tours in English and a previous thread on similar factory tours and don't forget the ISO thread if you might want some company....

2/11: 煮付け　　煮つけ　　煮付 nitsuke (knee-tsu-kay) Nitsuke is a popular way of cooking fish like kinmedai. It is simply simmering the item in some of the following: water, broth, sake, sugar, mirin, soy sauce. The exact ingredients depend on the cook and the type of food being cooked. The item is simmered until the sauce is almost completely reduced to enable the flavor to settle completely, leaving it slightly sweet and slightly salty. Kinmedai is often prepared whole for nitsuke, but it can also be made with a filet.

Ok! Here is one of my favorite discoveries. White bitter gourd I found this in my supermarket in Japan where it was labeled as salad goya/nigauri (bitter gourd). Goya is the Okinawan term and nigauri the Japanese one they are used interchangeably. It is less bitter than it's green counterpart. I found this 2 years ago and really enjoyed it but never ran across it last summer....

McDonald's gift cards? Is this part of some new trend that I'm not aware of? ← Gift certificates? In Japan they are called gift cards, don't they have them everywhere? My husband filled out a short questionnaire at a real estate office last week and they gave him 10 - 500yen gift certificates (for McDonalds) and a tin of (very good) cookies.

Well I will give a thumbs up to the new Italian chicken sandwhich and the espresso shake. The chicken is sort of like chicken parmesan on a bun, the bun was nice and the chicken was quite juicy, the tomato sauce could have been a little better (it was on the sweet side), I will order it again though. I will be back there quite a bit since we have 5,000 yen (almost $50) worth of gift cards from there.

I love the bulgoki bakes here in Japan, they are too big for me to eat on my own though. Like Rona said they seem to rotate them with the chicken bake and currently the chicken bake is on the menu. I think they had a matcha (green tea) ice cream a little while back. Currently the most popular item seems to be the clam chowder, I tried it once and wasn't impressed. I love the fact that they let you eat as many samples as you want here. I swing by the counter where they grill the steaks at least 5 times before I leave and I probably hit the salmon sashimi stand the same number of times...

I think your best best for finding Tokyo castella (kasutera/kasuteira) might be the Asakusa area. You will be able to find alot of Japanese traditional sweets, sembei, etc and it is just a great place to walk around. Here is one shop in Asakusa that sells them, they are even their 2nd best selling item. If you scroll down there is a picture on the left of their Tokyo castella.

It really depends on what you are looking for and how much storage space you have. Here is the post with all of the Costco locations I do my shopping for foreign ingredients at a variety of stores. If there are some ingredients in particular that you are looking for just ask, we should be able to help.

I couldn't find a definitive answer.... Even wikipedia offers 3 possiblities.

2/10: Kinmedai is one of the fish that a couple years ago was found to contain high levels of mercury. Limited consumption was recommended fro pregnant women but it seems thatt eh rest of the population was scared as well. Japan's Fishing Industry in Peril "Prices are down on average of 40 percent," said Norie Hara, who owns a small fish shop in Meguro, a residential area in Tokyo. "The kinmedai was much sought after, but not anymore." At an average of US$10 per kilogram, selling kinmedai meant good business for vendors. Statistics from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government bear this out: it estimated that kinmedai alone accounted for $3 million of the total fish sales of $38 million in the capital's metropolitan region for 2000

Helen and Hiroyuki, Do your supermarkets sell fresh octopus? I can't find it anywhere, all they sell is the boiled stuff...

The size can vary, they average about 300 to 500g (10 to 16 ozs) but can go up to 1kg (2lbs). The smaller ones are often cooked whole while the larger ones are cut into filets.

In case you haven't found it yet: Fukuoka City Guide with restaurant information Fukuoka Now also with a restaurant guide Apparently Fukuoka is well known for its yatai (food stalls)

2/9: キンメダイ　　金目鯛 kinmedai Alfonsin/Alfonsino The literal translation would be "Golden eye snapper" but this is a misnomer as they are not in the tai (snapper family). They are not even in the same order, kinmedai being in the Beryciformes order and the sea breams/snappers/porgies in the Perciformes order. They are often translated into English as Golden eye snapper, red snapper, big eye snapper, big eye fish, etc. Kinmedai

It must be one of those foods that you can never find when you are looking for it. I am sure you should be able to find it in a department store basement even my local supermarkets carry them (either whole or just slices). Are you looking for the Nagasaki kasutera? There is also a Tokyo kasutera (castella) If you really want the real Nagasaki version, some of the famous shops have branches in Tokyo. Fukusaya

I often make the the one azureus mentioned from Marcella Hazan's book, actually I just made it last week. Her recipe is very simple and has a very subtle lemon tase (from lemon zest). It does not include ricotta cheese, though it is very sumilar to the texture that you described. I would suggest that you don't eat it the day it is made though as it can be hard and the flavor hasn't really developed, it is much better a couple days later. I could PM you the recipe if you are interested.

Yesterday there was a fire in the kitchen at my daughters' elementary school. News report and picture No one was hurt and the kids were let out a little early. The Kitchen was quite damaged though and we will be making bento lunches until further notice... Apparently they left the oil for tempura to heat while they attended a meeting.

You are about 4 1/2 hours and $110 (one way) away from Tokyo.... That is all I can help with.

Think of some of the most popular yoshoku dishes you can AND THEN put them all on one dish! Apparently someone did this and now it is a speciality of Nagasaki known as turuko-raisu. In English we would probably translate this as Turkey (as in the country) Rice. I had never heard of this and it doesn't seem to be too popular outside of Nagasaki... The dish consists of pilaf, spaghetti and a type of meat (tonkatsu seems to be the most common). Pictures of the many variations of Turkey Rice

This link will show pictures of ALL the silly inventions These are the food related ones: Hate it when the ramen you are eating splashes all over your face? Worry no more! Do you avoid eating fish because of the emotional trauma of cutting of it's head? Worry no more! Are you tired of burning your tongue on steaming hot ramen? and tired or searching for knives when you want to butter your toast? Worry no more!

I guess Japanese pizza consumers have a really hard time deciding on pizza toppings, Pizza Hut now has a new pizza called Nainzu (Nines) that is nine mini pizzas in one! The topping are decided for you but there is a lot of variation including 3 with tomato sauce, 3 with a garlic sauce and 3 with a mayonnaise sauce. There is no information yet on their website, but here is the press release.

As long as it is open by July.... I am currently working on getting my tickets for this summer, I can't wait to go. Edsel, you have got to give us a report! I know you will be one of the first ones there.

Ken, Make sure you report back with all of your finds!! I especially want to know about good BBQ. I actually had the Pig Sandwich that Chris mentioned from the Hard Rock Cafe and it was really good, it has been years though. Kua 'aina is a great place, I just wish there was one closer to me. This thread on Hamburgers in Tokyo discusses it some. I guess after 11 years here I have given up on looking for certain things, Maybe it is time for me to get out more and start looking again.