torakris

A friend of mine wants me to teach her how to make a cherry pie, unfortunately I have never made one before and the only cherries we have access to are jarred sour cherries. This recipe looks good but I don't have tapioca, is there anything else I could use. Also are the filling ingedients just mixed together and then added to the pie crust. Final question, what is the best topping for a cherry pie, lattice top? second crust?

That looks interesting. How was the flavour of the daikon and the persimmon itself? ← This was a really good pickle, the daikon had a faint kaki flavor and the pieces of kaki were wonderful on their own. I will look for this one again.

1/23: 七つ道具 nanatsu dougu This translates as the "7 tools". The Japanese often say about ankou that there is no part you can't eat and these 7 tools are the 7 parts that should never be thrown away. They are the flesh, skin, liver, stomach, ovaries, fins and gills. This shows how to cut up ankou and what the 7 tools are, click on the picture to see it better.

I am not really a knife person and don't want (and can't afford to) spend a lot of money on knives. I just found this set of 6 knives made here in Japan for an unbelievable price. I have really wanted a sashimi knife and shellfish knife for a while now. The price in US $ is $190 but the Japanese site gives a price of 15,000 yen (about $130), this almost seems too cheap..... I have never owned a Japanese knife before..

vinnecooks, those sound great! I like the combination of the yuzu, herbs and togarashi. Also mixing them with shrimp based mousse makes them sound lighter. I really need to make crab cakes... Edited to add: Welcome to eGullet and the Japan forum!

We should make it a new rule that a foodblog isn't complete until you eat Pocky!

Marco, That is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! I really want to try this but I have never seen those son myon noodles before. Any susbstitutes?

1/22: Though it is a huge family there are only two main kinds of anglerfish that are eaten in Japan. キアンコウ kiankou or yellow goosefish クツアンコウ kutsuanko or black mouth goosefish Kianko are by far more popular and when a package is simply labeled ankou it can be assumed this is the one you are enjoying.

For ideas on good sites to visit, especially Jomon and Yayoi related check out jomonjapan.org (all in English). This link will take you to the Shizuoka page which talks about a Toro ruins, an extremely well preserved Yayoi village (that I have wanted to visit for some time now) but click on any of the prefectures on the left to open the page for that prefecture. There are even a couple shell mounds in central Tokyo.

Hishio has an interesting history especially since no one seems to really know what it really was even though there are several references to it in many historical documents. This site has a lot of information : Documents written near the end of the Nara period describe more than 22 varieties of hishio, miso, and soy nuggets. Of these, hishio was by far the most diversified, yet all its 15 or more varieties were generally grouped into three basic types: 1. Fish, Shellfish, and Wild Game Hishio (Shishi-bishio). Generally prepared by pickling crabs, sea urchins, or shrimp in a mixture of salt, water, and sake. Deer meat, eggs and, occasionally, fowl were also used. 2. Vegetable and Fruit Hishio (Kusa-bishio). Foods such as uri melon, eggplant, daikon, green leafy vegetables, kabu turnips, udo, fresh green soybeans, mizunegi onions, peaches and apricots pickled with salt and fermented. In some cases, vinegar and/or mizuame^?? sweetening was used with or in place of the salt. These preparations later evolved into tsukemono (salted pickles) and the various types of Finger Lickin' miso. During this period the first miso pickles were made using uri melons and eggplants. 3. Soybean and/or Grain Hishio (Koku-bishio). The last type of hishio to develop, these products contained soybeans, grain (rice, wheat, or barley), salt, and often sake or sake lees. The Chinese equivalent of this fermented soyfood was called kara hishio and that from Korea was called komabishio ("high-elegant hishio"). These three foods evolved into today's miso and shoyu. Today you will still see hishio as very different products. from a fish like sauce to a chunky miso like product.

Chris, this sounds like the Buddist vegetarian ryouri I've had at some restaurants. If so, i recommend a really nice place I sometimes go to in Tokyo up and right of Ueno koen called "Bon". If my mail archives are correct, the phone number is 03 3872-0234. ← Here is the English website for Bon, apparently it is Fuchu ryouri, a type of shojin ryouri. It looks interesting and pretty reasonable as well.

I have been offline for a couple days with a really bad cold, but I am feeling better and it is time to get back to fish! 1/21: あんこう ankou monkfish, anglerfish, goosefish ankou

Your question about historical foods really had me stumped for a bit. Most of what are considered the foods that Japan is well known for are quite recent "inventions". Dishes like modern day sushi, sukiyaki, tonkatsu, etc became popular in the Edo period and later. However if you take a look at Japanese home cooking you will see that it has strong roots to shojin ryouri or the vegetarian temple food. I guess you could even call kaiseki a historical food, though there are many modern versions of it. Kaiseki can be found anywhere while shojin ryouri is a little bit harder to find. If you really want to enjoy it in the atmosphere of the period your best bet would be Kyoto. Here are some Kyoto area shojin ryouri restaurants Many Japanese can go back 100's of years, are there any specific dishes you are interested in? EDIT: oh, and welcome to eGullet!

For those that can't read it here is the list of most popular salad dressing flavors (this was a poll of over 16,000 people mostly aged in their 20's to 40's) 1. wafuu (Japanese style)- Sesame seed flavor 2. wafuu - Aojiso (shiso or perilla) flavor 3. wafuu - soy sauce flavor 4. tartar sauce 5. chukka (Chinese style) dressing 6. French dressing (in Japan, French dressing is white not like the orange stuff in the states) 7. wafuu- oroshi (with grated daikon radish) 8. Italian dressing 9. 1000 Islands dressing 10. citrus based dressing 11. ethnic style dressings 12. others 13. no response Other interesting points in the survey was that 35% of those polled said they used salad dressing 2 to 3 times a week, with 15% using it 4 to 5 times a wekks and 16% using it only once a week. Kewpie leads the country in the popularity of its salad dressing with 63% of those polled, the next two companies were tied with only 25% each.

That is a pretty old bottle of soy sauce! I would return it. I do not refrigerate my soy sauce and though I usually use it up in 2 to 4 months I have probably gone up to 9 months with an open bottle and never noticed any flavor differences. The labels on most soy sauce bottles recommend it to be refrigerated after opening.

In my opinion to make it more Japanese I would definitely take out the seasonings and oyster sauce, instead serve it with a wasabi-mayo dressing. If you can find it, a dab of yuzu-koshou mixed in with the crab would be wonderful. Yuzu-koshou is a paste made of green chiles and yuzu (a type of citrus)

My favorite is by far Kikkoman, but make sure you buy the Kikkoman soy that is made in Japan and not the stuff that is made in the US. You should be able to find the plastic 1L bottles at any Asian market, their plain soy sauce is good but their tokusen marudaizu soy sauce is much better and more expensive. I would recommend either. One hint is to read the label carefully and put it back on the shelf if it lists alcohol as an ingredient. click here for a picture of kikkoman's soy sauces, regular and tokusen marudaizu (scroll down).

1/16 Akamanbou can be eaten in a variety of ways, from sushi/sashimi to pan fried and deep fried. Some typical dishes can be found here (scroll down).

Yamamaimo doesn't really have much of a taste, it is sort of like a slimy jicama as it has a nice crunch. I would avoid eating it grated (tororo) the first time as this seems to be the way it first eaten by many people and they never touch it again. I don't gaga on many foods but wow the first time I had it it was like eating nose snot. I wish I could describe it better... I do match stick salads a lot but it can be tricky if it is your first time working with it as they can slide all over the place when you are trying to cut them. Any easy salad is to cut it into chunks them put them in a ziploc and whack it with a rolling pin, then season it with your favorite dressing, veggies, etc. There should be a picture of this salad upthread (by the way, I have merged this thread with a previous thread) It is also good deepfried then added to a simmered dish, it loses all of its sliminess this way. Also be careful when handling it as people find it makes their skin unbearably itchy.

The stone pot fad does seem to be fading, but a couple weeks ago I had a stone pot mapodofu at a restaurant and it was really good. I haven't noticed curry anywhere, it does sound good though.

YAMAGUCHI PREFECTURE (region = Chugoku) http://www.infocreate.co.jp/hometown/yamaguchi/tabe-e.html http://www.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/gyosei/kok...y2004/other.htm To discuss the cuisine of Yamaguchi please go to this thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=81197

1/15: アカマンボウ akamanbou In English you may see this written as either opah or moonfish. You may also see it in Japanese as mandai. akamanbou

No thank you... for those that don't know, maid kissa

I know the flavor you are describing as I have done this before, not normally on purpose though. I posted my teriyaki recipe in this thread and the ingredients (soy, sake, mirin, and sugar) are only slightly reduced over low heat. In many Japanese recipes the alcohol is often burned off of the sake first and then the soy sauce added when making a sauce. Other foods that are to be kept mild tasting are simmered in the dashi first and the seasonings, like soy, added only at the end.

Even more unusual restaurants can be found in this thread