torakris

the nutritional value of sea urchin, it has 37mg of cholesterol in a 1 tablespoon serving. I have no idea if that is high or not though...

Hotpots are almost always winter food, I don't know anyone who would pull out the nabe in the summer. September is still pretty hot, maybe October.

I haven't posted here in a long time..... I am such a bad photographer and my meals always pale in comparison. Last night I made ikura-don, I even made the soy sauce seasoned ikura (salmon roe) myself from a sac of fresh eggs. The shiso (perilla) garnish was growing wild in my backyard.

Sorry for the delay in posting, I somehow lost the paper I had all my notes on.... 9/13: 石狩鍋 ishikari nabe A speciality of Ishikari City in Hokkaido, this is a hotpot of salmon and vegetables in a miso seasoned broth. ishikarinabe

these pictures are driving me crazy... I must give this another shot!

ikuradon last night!

Ikura-don! The recipe I looked at said it was best eaten 3 to 5 days after making, this was day 4. I tasted a spoonful every day and honestly thought it was best on day 1, after just sitting overnight. It was wonderful though, I topped it with some shiso that is growing wild in the backyard.

MOS is now introducing three new chicken burgers: http://www.mos.co.jp/spotlight/050825/index.html tandoori burger topped with white asparagus teriyaki chicken burger (topped with plain old lettuce and mayo) mustard chicken burger with a root vegetable salad and plum sauce

Chris, I agree with all of your choices, especially MOS burger. Even if you normally shun fast food, you must try MOS burger at least once! the MOS burger thread

buffy, Welcome to eGullet and the Japan Forum! I hadn't thought of kakigori, if you travel to Japan during the summer months I also highly recommend it. There will probably be stands in any of the touristy areas. the kakigori thread

I almost always use just plain old soy sauce...

What's the difference between the two? ← monjya-yaki is really quite runny, it is more like eating the raw okonomiyaki batter than eating okonomiyaki....but it really is good. here is a description of how it is made as well as a list of other types of okonomiyaki.

To add a bit more history the Portuguese brought it to Japan where it is referred to and nanban-zuke, literally "Southern barbarian style pickle".

My first two votes would be for monjya-yaki and various seasonal daifuku. Monjya-yaki is okonomiyaki's runnier cousin and is a Tokyo speciality Monjya! Daifuku are often described as stuffed mochi, the most popular ones (that are also available all year round) are filled with a red paste (anko) or have beans in them (mame). There are some incredible ones though that pop up for limited times throughout the year. Daifuku! the thread

With Japanese restaurants popping up all over the world it is getting easier to find Japanese foods other than sushi near our homes. However there are still some foods that haven't quite picked up in popularity yet out of Japan. What only in Japan foods would you recommend to a visitor?

Following up on their black sesame Pocky they seem to be continuing in the "healthy" 5 grain mode: kinako Pocky Kinako is roasted soy bean powder and these Pocky are for any fan of this, these are really great! I am going to be back in the store for more of these and the black sesame ones. EDIT* next to them is a white chocolate-maple syrup flavored kit kat, it's a dud don't bother...

what was in it?

The kinako (roasted soy bean powder) Pocky seem to be part of a new series of 5 grain blends Pocky... If you love kinako you will love these, I must hide this package from the children! The kit kat was really disappointing, I really despise white chocolate but thought that the maple might help. Unfortunately there is almost no maple flavor. I even nibbled off all of the coating to see if the maple flavor was sandwiched inbetween the layers and still couldn't find it.

You don't by chance have the scientifuc name of the particular tsubugai that you have? here is some more information: Another class of toxins found in some whelks are the neurotoxins. Some species of whelk stun their prey with a poison in order to render their prey helpless. These toxins affect the nervous system of both the shellfish prey and humans who eat venomous whelks. In our waters only the "ten-ridged" whelk, Neptunea decemcostata, is venomous. The waved whelk (Buccinum undatum), is not venomous and instead smothers its prey when feeding. The moonsnail (or drill), (Euspira heros), drills a hole in the shell of its prey causing the animal to open. Neither of these species possesses venomous toxins. Harvesting of the venomous whelk is prohibited. This means that Neptunea cannot be landed. Other whelks such as Colus have not been certified as venomous; however, they will be treated as venomous until further information can be obtained. from here after reading a bit more on the net, I am thinking (at least hoping) that the tsubugai available in stores are of the non-poisonous kind. Doing a search of whelk recipes pulls up many recipes and none of them mention removing poison... Many these warnings are there for those who are out collecting them from the ocean on their own?

I cut the pizza in quarters and then bake two pieces at a time. Thanks for the heads up on the mango drink, I will skip it .

I thought you would have to be really gentle, but that can actually stand up to quite a bit of abuse.

I was just reading the newspaper and saw a small announcement on the newest Kit Kat. White maple flavor, a apparently a combination of white chocolate and maple syrup. It goes on sale tomorrow (9/12). I will have to go look for that along with the kinako Pocky that I saw advertised earlier this week.

those both look wonderful! Yuki, I actually do like mayo on my yakisoba, I have never really liked the taste of butter and this wasn't even real butter it was like popcorn butter. I made a lot so that we would have enough for lunch on Saturday (read: lazy mother), I tried to mask teh butter taste by reheating it with okonomiyaki sauce (the only kind of "sauce" I had) and a large dollop of karashi. I really liked the karashi with it.

I too use ziplock. I didn't even know those bags (I-wrap) had a name... I like ziplock because of the fact that it is sturdier, those other bags just seem to flimsy to me.

you can eat them raw but this isn't something I would prepare for myself... My favorite way of eating them is tsuboyaki, this is usually done on a BBQ but I am sure you could do it under a broiler or even in a frypan if need be. Just place the tsubugai on the grill and drip a bit of soy, sake, mirin (in any combination you like) inside and cook until done., pull out the meat and eat. They can also be lightly boiled and mixed together (or served) with a vegetable of your liking with any kind of dressing. I have also eaten them skewered from an oden pot.