torakris

Katsukura was mentioned a couple times in the tonkatsu thread. Just a couple months ago they opened the first branch in Kanagawa (Yokohama), just about 10 minutes from my house, one of these days....

I was reading this article from Nipponia: Japanese Cuisine: a fest for the eyes and was curious how many of us really pay attention to the dishes we use when we plate our Japanese foods. I have to admit that being an always in a hurry mother of three young kids I rarely do, but occasionally I stare at the gorgeous pottery in the stores thinking someday...

A nice article on Nagoya meibutsu from Nipponia.

Hiroyuki, that is beautiful! a nice article on Japanese shortcake

12/13: ムニエル munieru (moo-knee-eh-rhue) This is the Japanese pronunciation of the French word meuniere, the technique of coated fish in flour then sauteing in butter and serving it with lemon. This technique is popular in Japan as well and masu (specifically nijimasu) is a fish that particularly takes to this preparation. Other western style preparations are commonly used with trout sush as frying, simple butter sauteeing and cooking in foil/parchment. nijimasu no munieru

12/12: 小袖すし kosode sushi Kosode is a type of kimono that has very narrow sleeves and this is what the name literally means "small sleeves". This type of sushi has the fish partly wrapped around the rice sort of the way the kimono sleeve would wrap around the wrist. nijimasu no kosode sushi and if you are interested in learning more about the kimono or want to see a picture, look here.

This was a gift my husband received from a friend, it was kujira no himono or semi dried whale meat. It had been marinated in a teriyaki like sauce and dried, the directions said to gently sear it over a flame before eating. It was in one large piece that we cut into bite sized pieces with scissors. If I hadn't known better I would have thought it was beef jerky...

well this is the closest... It is semi-dried marinated whale meat. It tasted a bit like whale jerky, but you heat it over a flame so it gets a nice smokey taste, my 5 year old son loved it!

I made some kurozato scones yesterday, I liked them but felt the flavor was a little too weak, maybe if I had iced them with kurozato icing as well...

nope! and also this is the way the finished dish is supposed to look, this is not a mistake.

I really think I need to replace the batteries in my camera, my pictures are getting really bad... unohana This is made with okara, the tofu pulp or lees which are a by product of tofu making. It is sort of a dry, mealy product but in a good way last night it was stirfried with dried shiitakes, carrots and green beans and seasoned with sake, sugar, soy sauce and dashi. I have a recipe for it in my eGCI class on soy

take a wild guess.... I don't think I could have done anything to make this look better, so I didn't bother.

12/11: サクラマス sakura masu Cherry trout This is a species, related to the rainbow trout, native to Asia. Some subspecies include the amago (アマゴ), yamame (ヤマメ), biwamasu (ビワマス) and satsukimasu (サツキマス). You will not most likely run across these fish for sale in supermarkets but may encounter them on fishing trips or maybe in restaurants on the banks of the rivers that they run in. If you really want to learn a little more, click here

another one of my favorites maguro yamakake raw tuna with grated mountain yam seasoned with a bit of soy sauce and wasabi

maguro yamakake raw tuna with grated mountain yam seasoned with soy sauce and wasabi

satsumage (the deep fried fish paste cakes) are also great in simmered dishes, last we had some satsumage and carrots simmered with hijiki

I am not sure why my hijiki pictures always turn out so bad.... simmered with satsumage (deep fied fish paste cake) and carrots

We are heading to Bali for Christmas this year, so no Christmas cakes, no Kentucky fried chicken.... I can't wait to see pictures of the cakes others have made/bought though.

I inherited quite a few things from my grandmother including a couple of cookbooks with handwritten notes, but my favorite is a set of dessert forks that she bought when she was living in Kyoto over 40 years ago. My grandfather spent 2 years teaching at Kyoto University in the early 60's and though I have received many of the souvenirs from that trip my Japanese friends always find it exciting when they find out they are using forks bought by my grandmother in Japan 40 years earlier.

Pear? that is a first... was is ASian pear (nashi) or western pear (yonashi)? and by the way welcome to eGullet and the Japan forum!! Rona, I am still looking for the lime ones, the hi chew selection has been really bad recently only yogurt (eewww), green apple (bigger eeewww), and strawberry (boring).

← From what I can find from Japanese sources, the salmon trout of Japan is a cross between the rainbow trout and the brown trout. The steelhead is a rainbow trout but one that tends to be larger and it also spends its entire adult life in the ocean, though it will return to fresh water to spawn. When you see the name steelhead in Japnese it is always followed (or preceded) by 降海型 (koukaigata) nijimasu, or essentially ocean living nijimasu.

12/9: サーモントラウト　/　トラウトサーモン saamontorauto / torautosaamon salmon trout / trout salmon salmon trout This is a subspecies of the rainbow trout and can be found by both of the above names in Japan. salmon trout

12/8: ニジマス　　虹鱒 nijimasu rainbow trout nijimasu

wow! thanks this is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I am also interested in buying a mortar and pestle, any ideas where I should look to find a good price? I also would like to stock up on various condiments/sauces, any recommended brands?

I was going to mention this as well, You will very rarely see it used as a marinade. In Japan it is most commonly used as a dipping sauce or dressing.