torakris

I also would be sure to include a couple bottle of a nice ponzu, if all you have ever tasted in the aji-pon then you are in for a treat. The yuzu ones are by far my favorite. the ponzu thread

I have been on a ponzu kick recently. Last night was a yasai-itame drizzled with ponzu, yum!! The day before we had pan seared nama-age (also called atsu-age or deep fried tofu) and shiitake with ponzu and topped with red onion and kaiware (daikon sprouts) sorry about the blurry picture..

we never did discuss many stirfried foods in this thread... Like I mentioned near the top, this is not a technique used in most traditional cooking but it is a very common way to prepare foods in homes today. Last night I made a yasai-itame or vegetable stirfry. this is a very simple dish made with what is on hand, though cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots and onions are very common. It often includes some kind of protein (pork being the most popular I think), I used chikuwa (a tube like fish paste product). Mine is seasoned with just salt and pepper and then a good amount of ponzu is poured over the top. Very simple but very good! A friend of mine in college would make yasai-itame almost every night but he drizzled it with tonkatsu sauce...

The simplest of simple bentos this was for my 4 year old son. this is how it gets packed sorry for the blurry picture, the bento gets placed into a bento bag and on top of that is placed a luncheon mat (this is spread onto the table and the bento is eaten on top of it). There is also a tissue (for wiping the mouth) and chopsticks (in a case).

It isn't very pretty to look at but these sanma (saury pike) filets were incredible. It was a purchased product (frozen) that called them yuzu-shio boshi or semi-dried with yuzu-salt.

Chris, I have never gone... I thought about it last year though but it was just too long of a trip. It is not held at Tokyo Big Sight rather at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. the homepage, in English

Today there was a flyer and coupons for wendy's in my newspaper. There is a Wendy's very close to me but this is the first time I have ever received a flyer. I haven't been there in about 5 years or so, but some of the burgers look pretty good. Next week they will be selling a new chicken sandwich called the sesame chicken sandwich,is a deep fried chicken patty topped with a special sesame sauce, lettuce, onions and cucumber slices. Their menu, unfortunately the chicken burger which debuts on 10/6 isn't listed yet.

Morimoto XEX opens today (9/30/2005) in Roppongi. I can't find any information in English, but are some nice pictures and information in Japanese.

I am on a cilantro kick at the moment, tossing it into absolutely everything.... ...except my coffee

For the short term and long term visitor, what would/do you take back to your home country from Japan? I wouldn't leave without some jars of yuzu koshou!

Yeah I was wondering the same thing. The Okinawan word for pork belly can actually be transalted as 3 layer pork... interesting. Those red berries (boxthorn), are those dried? I think I have seen them in Chinese restaurants here in Japan but they are usually used in desserts, though I think I did have them in a salad once. In molasses really a substitute for dark soy sauce? I don't have a good source for dark soy sauce here but I have plently of molasses in the house. Do you thin it out with a little soy or anything else?

wasabi has its own thread as does shiso

bincho maguro, also called shiro maguro, is albacore tuna sometimes it is called white tuna on menus. This is really soft and quite creamy, it has just recently become popular in Japan and is one of the cheaper fish. If you really want some help in restaurants, I suggest you pick up a copy of Robb Satterwhite's What's What in Japanese Restaurants, this is a great book (that can also fit inside a purse) he gives the names of foods in the Japanese characters along with the romanization and English meanings. It is broken down into types of restaurants and also has general tips/phrases on ordering.

don't forget about the kaiten sushi thread from about the middle there is some talk of ways to choose a good place as well as some names for theTokyo area.

You might also want to keep your eye out for kujira (whale), this can be found as sushi as well as the more common sashimi. I am pretty sure you can't get that in the US.

Some fish that are good in late November: many types of shrimp, squid and octopus, these are often looked down upon but they can be a completely different fish (? ) when theya re in season. One time last year at a kaiten place my husband made almost and entire meal out of some incredible octopus!! These also tend to be cheap ones so even at a slightly more expensive place, these will still only set you back 100 to 200 yen. hirame (flounder) is another common sushi topping but it will be in season then and is worth a couple tastes. some of the more rare fish in season at that time are kibinago (banded blue sprat) can be served as sushi but it is more common to see it as sashimi koi (carp) isn't a common sushi topping but you should be able to find it as koi no arai 鯉の洗い. This is a type of sashimi where the fish is "washed" in ice water before serving. mutsu (Japanese bluefish) is one to keep an eye out for, it is at its fattiest in the winter and is usually served in cooked forms but the sushi versions when you can find them are great. bora (grey mullet) is similar to tai (red snapper) but much cheaper, this also is rarely seen as sushi but rather as bora no arai (like the koi). I just picked up a large block for sashimi last week and it was great. I don't know why people spend the money on tai when you can eat bora for less than a quarter of the price. namako (sea cucumber), I have had this once as a gunkan maki but it is more more common to see it in a vinegared dish served as an appetizer. Most of these more unusual ones won't be found at a 105 yen place though...

is this it? Everything is 105 yen (with consumption tax included), these kinds of places will usually have a menu either on a wall or on the table of the items that are available to be ordered. My experience with these 105 yen places in that their selection is usually quite limited. You may be better off at a more expensive place if you want more selection. This is apparently quite a famous place in Shibuya though most reports I have gone through on the net (mostly blogs) don't give it a very high rating.... There is also a sign on the door that says to please finish your meal within 30 minutes and each customer must order over 7 pieces. Do you read Japanese at all? Can you read the menus? I ahve to run now but I will be back later with some fish that are in season in late November.

Do you by chance have a picture of that Japanese brand one? I am currently on the look out for a good one and am not quite up to making my own.... I really liked the Lee Kum Kee (I think) in the blue bottle that had the addition of dried scallops but I can't find it around me any more.

I normally cook 5 cups every day in my Sanyo IH cooker but have made 2 cups on occasion and have noticed no difference.

another wonderful recipe!! and all of the ingredients are popular ingredients in Japan as well. I have often seen a similar dish with ground pork like Dejah mentioned, but I really like the idea of fish paste. I was served a somewhat similar dish at a friend's house last week, ground chicken was seasoned in a similar way, then soft tofu was cut into blocks with the center shallowly (is tis a word? ) cut out. The chicken mixture was then formed into a somewhat ball like shape and placed into the depression. Finally they were placed into small cups (like tea cups) and steamed. For serving they were drizzled with a Japanese ponzu (citrusy-soy sauce). These were really good and probaly could be made with any mixture .

Do you have any more information about the shop? address? phone number? I am finding quite a few shops with that name but not in Shinjuku... What time of year will you be here? Probably the best thing to do will be to go for the fish that are in season. If you ever need help at a restaurant, especially sushi, just let me know I would be more than happy to join you!!

9/27: マス masu trout

The recipe called for the pork pieces to be simmered for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until tender. I used a pork belly instead of the shoulder it called for because past attempts at sausage making always turned out a little too lean. I see now that the soft texture could have been the combination of too much fat and a long simmering time.

Thanks for the help! I guess I need to practice my technique... Suzy, when you say your recipe serves 6 to 8 is that 1 crepe a piece? Bittman's recipe said 12 to 16 crepes so I halved it, but just barely got 4 (with an 8 inch pan).

I attempted to make crepes last night. They came out quite fine actually but I had a couple problems. The recipe (Bittman's HTCE) said to place 1 tablespoon of batter into a pan and swirl it around. This was giving me 3 inch circles... and then when I would add more (about 1/4 cup) and swirl the pan it wouldn't go into a nice circle. Instead I was getting lines all over the place sort of like a tic tac toe board and I ended up using more batter to fill in the open spaces. They turned out quite thin, so I don't think I was using too much batter. I was using an 8 inch non-stick pan over medium heat though I turned it down to med-low after the second one. Was the batter too thick? the heat too high? too low? why was I getting those lines?