torakris

Hiroyuki, Thanks for those rankings! The comments especially were very interesting. Chris, I don't know how much Japanese you read so if you need help let us know. One interesting thing that came out of both rankings sites comments was that Jiyugaoka Sweet Forest is very young woman (20's) oriented and one male commentor said it could be uncomfortable for men ....

This thread lists almost all of them (at least all the ones I know of) I haven't been to any so I can't personally recommend them but if I had to choose I would pick either the ramen or curry musuem.

Your typo sort of freaked me out... DHA not DNA DNA in sausages?? I'm not interested. ← Thank you for the correction. I edited the original post. It seems so hard to make you a convert... ← Who needs diet supplements when all you need to do is eat sausages?! These sausages contain lypocene AND they even come shaped as cherry tomatoes. They do have regular shaped ones for adults though..

Rona, I like the same ones Helen does, and also like her I buy them very infrequently as they are quite expensive.

There are quite a few threads already on many of these of these products. rice cookers Japanese rice mirin soy sauce ponzu On some of the othe products: vinegar Mitsukan is by far the most popular and in most cases the only one you will find outside of Japan. Avoid using the ones labeled sushi vinegar as these contain salt and sugar and it is much better to add them to taste separately. nori I have no idea of brands as I never pay attention... I usually buy a mid range product, I have been disappointed with some of the really cheap ones. Avoid Korean nori as it is usually seasoned. sake You should one cook with one you would be comfortable drinking, avoid the cooking sakes. sauces Most unagi is sold seasoned so this shouldn't really be a problem. I think I have only ever seen one kind of unagi no tare (sauce) in the stores anyway. Most prepared sauces aren't very good and it is always better to try and make your own.

Your typo sort of freaked me out... DHA not DNA DNA in sausages?? I'm not interested.

well, my address is....

Starting on 2/10 McDonald's Japan is offering a couple new items in honor of the Torino Olympics. An Italian Chicken sandwich An espresso flavored milk shake and a deep fried potato and cheese ball served with a spicy sauce 2006 Olympic menu click near the green tab at the bottom to see pictures

Kathy, What kind of noodles did you use?

Yes you are asking a lot!! Having never been to NY I can't be sure of exactly what you are looking for but I recently ate the best pizza I have ever had in this country. It was a napoli style pizza and a wonderful new shop quite close to my house. The restaurant is called Papariina and there are only 2 shops both in Yokohama. I would second Peter's suggestion and look for Napoli style pizza it seems to be one of the newest booms, at least in my neighborhood where two other shops have opened. I don't like pastrami so can't help there. I have pretty much given up on bagels and now I just buy the cheap ones at Costco because my kids like them. Have you tried Dean & Deluca for either of these? Here is the previous Dean & Deluca thread, I was there a when it opened and found the prices ridiculous even for Japan, but if you want something bad enough.... Subs... These are one of the first things I eat when I go to the US. The Subway near my house closed many years back and I actually miss it! I really would love a sandwich I can actually sink my teeth into. BBQ, God, you are making me want to move back to the US. When I get a BBQ craving I usually just make it myself now. In the past my husband and I used to go to Tony Roma's or even TGIFriday's when the craving hit, but now we just do it at home. Yesterday I picked up 2 racks of baby back ribs at Costco... EDITED to say welcome to eGullet and the Japan Forum!!

nocturnalsusnshine, Welcome to eGullet and the Japan forum! If anyone could make perfect onigiri on their first try I would really be amazed. For me the triangle shape are the easiest. I scoop the hot rice (straight out of the rice cooker) onto my wet, salted hands. If I am filling them I add it now before I shape them. I then use my hands as a mold, constantly rotating the rice to get a perfect shape. With a lot of practice you will be able to do it, but don't sweat it I know quite a few Jaapnese women who can't make onigiri without a mold either....

Jen, That bento looks great! I also just noticed the links to your blog, great job. The babelfish translation is hysterical.

This is interesting, I never really paid attention to where the candy/snacks was made. I will start checking boxes... It does sound like they may be made for different markets though.

It is the regular dried stuff. Normally it is cut up into small squares, it melts into a nice soft mass, that is wonderful with mentaiko and cheese.....

For easier reading we have decided to move the Malalysian hawker food/laksa to its own thread. Malaysian Hawker food in Australia

For me it should only be called kamameshi if it is cooked in a kama. But many companies sell kamameshi no moto that are meant to be cooked in a regular rice cooker. I don't know how these are any different than takikomi though...

I will eat almost anything but that is one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. My husband, who is sitting at his computer next to me, saw it and said he would like to try it though...

wakame and nagaimo salad with Korean style seasonings (chile pepper, soy, vinegar and sesame oil)

last night a nagaimo and wakame salad with Korean style seasonings (chile pepper, soy, vinegar and sesame oil)

Anna, These are usually something I just through together with what ever is in the house... The general seasonings I use are salt and pepper (I prefer white in these), soy sauce and sake along with one egg. I might add some cornstarch if I will be making a pan sauce (teriyaki style) to go with them. Depending on the ingredients I might also squeeze in some ginger juice. I added renkon (lotus root) to these because I love the crunch. I almost always add scallions but I didn't have any in the house. Other additions I like are (not all at once!) garlic chives, enoki mushrooms, bamboo shoots, hijiki, etc. Depending on my mood theya re usually served with a ponzu sauce (like above) or a teriyaki sauce.

a version of ten musubi from a nearby convenience store

Nothing goes better with ponzu than grated daikon radish. Here I added some lotus root and pork patties.... I also recently picked up a bage of ponzu flavored potato chips

Last night I made one version of a Japanese style "hamburger" I added some chopped up renkon (lotus root) for crunch, pan fried them and then topped them with grated daikon and ponzu.

I really need to get more color in my miso soups.... last night was onion and aburage, my son's favorite

I haven't had potato chips in a while... I saw a bunch of new ones in the store, so I decided to give them a try. Kimchi chige (hotpot) flavor tasted like chile pepper and that was about it, disappointing I normally don't care for the Ozack chips (I don't like the texture) but this sounded good. Shiodare Kalbi (grilled beef with a salt based sauce), the name just sounds better in Japanese. These were awful, I can't even tell you what they tasted like it was a non-descriptive odd flavor. My 10 year old tasted one and said they were gross and didn't eat any more. I haven't yet tried these, I am a little potato chip'd out.... Ponzu flavor