margaret

I've actually eaten the pink garlic. It's shiso. Usually with katsuo bushi. Not bad. I really do hate the yellow takuan. Lately all the takuan I've had has been soggy, too. Boo.

So difficult to pick a favorite, but I've always enjoyed junmai over ginjyo types, which are often too fruity and light and mild. That said, I like anything by the Ume Nishiki brewery from Eihime, as well as sakes made by the Kimoto brewing process, which lends a richer, more pronounced flavor. Daishichi Kimoto is a nice one, very easy to drink but with a complex profile. Rihaku that was mentioned below is also nice, and always seemed to me to have a very pronounced rice flavor. I've always been wary of the Momokawa line. Pearl is nigori, then? For other nigori, I would also recommend Hitori Musume, which isn't overwhelmingly sweet or thick. I wonder why you use salt on the edge of a masu, Jinmyo. There are many traditional reasons for the custom, but I can't imagine why one would need salt with a quality sake today. I worked at a sake bar for several years, and often customers would ask for salt, but I never could understand why - if it's to stimulate the appetite, I would just as soon eat some salty dried fish or other snack. Truth be told, however, I don't like drinking sake out of wooden masu at all.

When I was bartending, I used to eat out every day off - twice a week for dinner, occasionally after work Koreatown or early morning congee. Now that I'm a corporate stiff, it's probably more. Trying to cut down. I'm starting to realize that not only is it cheaper to eat at home, but it also usually tastes better. Sometimes, though, you just really want a change of environment, and someone to wait on you. Living in New York, too, it's usually the only way to get to see friends, since no one is ever willing to come out to Brooklyn - almost always end up grabbing dinner/drinks/whatever in the city. Take out, however, almost never happens. If I'm home, I'm cooking. None of this ordering in nonsense.

yesterday's salad of chopped tomatoes, marinated overnight in the fridge in red wine vinegar, garlic, EVOO, lots and lots of basil, s&p - today added cannellini beans, warmed, and mixed with farfalle. vidalia onion soup with crusts of toasted baguette. raw baby spinach with toasted almonds, walnut oil and lemon juice. navarro correas malbec. not a bad deal for the price, but what do I know about wine. now eating leftover baguette smeared with pesto and olive tapenade, alternately. plus more wine. maybe some strawberries later, if the mood strikes. edit: spelling + wine=oof.

Wasabi ice cream. Had it at some wasabi festival somewhere in Japan, can't remember now. Lots of freshly picked wasabi made into all sorts of treats, but the ice cream was the hit. Really smooth, mellow flavor. Fresh tasting, not at all heavy.

A simple Thursday dinner, not much time or energy Plain, basic okonomiyaki (savory Japanese pancake), just cabbage and scallions. Kakuteki (daikon kimchi) Yamaimo (mountain potato) done two ways - raw salad with an ume shiso dressing, and sliced into thin rounds, fried in butter and salted. Okra sliced and tossed with a ponzu dressing. Miso soup with tofu and Japanese leeks.

This is how I make ichiban-dashi: Wipe konbu clean. Add to pot of cold water. Set on medium heat. Just before it reaches a boil, remove konbu. Then add the katsuo bushi (bonito flakes). When it comes to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer a couple of minutes before turning the heat off. When all the bonito flakes have sunk to the bottom, strain the dashi. If you allow the konbu to boil, it'll get all slimy and nasty. I have no idea about the carrots - what??

Bell peppers, of any color, cooked or raw. Sad, too, because they can be so purty. Raw onions, especially diced. Raw tomatoes in green salads. Love them any other way, hate them in green salad. I also share the licorice/anise disgust. I keep trying it, convinced that something has changed and now I'll love it, but ugh. Every time ugh. Feel the love, however, for brussel sprouts, natto, olives, and most everything else.

Just finished lunch: papparelle with asparagus, peas, fava beans and tomato. panzanella. Now sucking on: korean scorched rice candy While drinking: hot green tea

Buttered wheat toast with honey.

Tail first, of course! Save the sweet fat head for last.

Japanese bread is a whole separate category. I think I'm most horrified by yakisoba-pan - fried noodles stuffed into a hot dog bun. The sweeter breads, like red bean paste and taro, have always been my favorites. It's interesting, though, becuase at least in New York, I always find the Korean bakeries to be the best. There are a few Chinese-run places in Chinatown which are the cheapest but the lowest quality, and a few chi-chi Japanese pastry places, but the Korean-run ones always seem to be the best. Most unusual yoshoku....that's a tough one. As torakris said, they're all unusual, perhaps. It's just kind of strange to see these really familiar foods taken totally out of context and done in a completely Japanese way. Is there a Chinese or Korean equivalent to yoshoku? I've had Chinese food cooked by Korean people, but never anything like curry or stew or anything. Anyone know? Is this something unique to Japan?

So how did the rakkyo turn out?

We grew shiso in our (pathetic) indoor garden last year, and one of my favorite dishes during the summer was fresh soft tofu, squished, with some torn shiso and a splash of good quality ponzu. Maybe some minced ginger. Tastes like the weather feels. Along the same lines, I also like tofu squares smeared with ume paste, wrapped in shiso, and then breaded in panko and deep fried.

As far as I know, there are no full-on robatayaki places in New York. A friend of mine has been talking about opening one up, but nothing yet. If you want grilled Japanese foods, there are plenty of yakitori and yakiniku restuarants.

This is an example of a pretty typical yoshoku menu. I tried to find one with photos but no luck. Perhaps someone else will do better? (Torakris, I'm looking at you!)

That's what's so interesting about yoshoku. Translated character for character, it just means Western food (—mHj, but it seems to be a really distinct category in Japan. While French food served in Tokyo would technically be yoshoku (as opposed to Wa or Chu, Japanese or Chinese - the three big categories), the word yoshoku really does conjure up images of curry rice and white cream stew and croquettes, homestyle cooking or student fare, all modified to fit Japanese taste. Italian Tomato is very popular in the Nagasaki area, famous for its cakes. There's another one now, too, at JAS Mart on St. Mark's Place. I love the shokupan, or white sandwich bread, at the bakery there. Incidentally, I found that the Italian food I ate in Tokyo was, on the whole, better than what I'd had in most mid-level Italian places in New York. Have you been to Basta Pasta? It's an Japanese-run Italian joint on 18th or 19th street in New York, I think, and I've had a few decent meals there. Some interesting wafu pasta (Japanese style pasta) dishes that you can't find at a lot of places in New York.

Light, quick (but colorful!) dinner at home alone tonight: a big ol' heap of steamed purple potatoes, broccoli rabe sauteed with garlic and carmelized onions, lots of s&p, evoo roasted beets with a red wine vinegar/lemon juice/evoo dressing, minced shallots, toasted almonds and walnuts for dessert, sliced fresh strawberries with black fig vinegar Not the most balanced meal ever, but I have to admit that the purple/green/yellow/red on the plate was striking.

I used to love their kinpira rice burgers. Looking at the menu now online, seems like they've come out with some interesting new stuff. Roast pork with a sauce of apples stewed in wine on graham bread?

While many Japanese people tend to be (understandably) horrified at seeing maki with cream cheese and broccoli tempura in U.S. restaurants, the Japanese are also adept at adopting dishes from other cuisines and adjusting them to fit the Japanese palate. For instance, curry rice, which I'm assuming came from India at some point, now bears no resemblance to any type of Indian curry. Other yoshoku examples would be hayashi raisu (hashed beef Japanese style, with a ketchup and shoyu based sauce), korokke (croquettes), Japanese bun-less hamburgers with grated daikon, omuraisu (thin omelette filled with rice , served with tomato ketchup), etc. Many school cafeterias and family restaurants dedicate a large portion of their menu to yoshoku (western dishes). How do you feel about Japanese yoshoku? Should they be held up to the originals, or are they valid as a unique style of cooking?

I've also been raised by the camp that says anything and everything goes into curry. Usual additions to the pre-packaged roux include beer, grated apple, honey, tomato juice, Coca-Cola, ginger, whatever's in the house.

From what I can tell, hoshimono seem to most often be fish. The hoshimono I mostly eat tend to be seaweed. In the winter nothing beats tororo kombu (dried vinegared kombu seaweed, very thin) dropped into a steaming bowl of udon or left to melt over a bowl of hot rice. And there's a snack whose name escapes me now that I also really like - dried kombu that's been cut into small rectangles and vinegared, kind of melts in the mouth. Also, fu, or dried wheat gluten, in miso shiru. Does this count?

In restaurants, almost never. Maybe once, twice a month? Sushi in a restaurant, maybe once a year. But that's probably because we eat it at home so much. Two, three times a week for dinner, plus whatever leftovers the boy brings home from his job. I usually make a trip to Chinatown or Koreatown once a week to pick up Japanese ingredients - much cheaper than any J supermarkets. At my office, too, there's usually someone's omiyage (souvenirs) lying around - senbei, candies, mochi. Yesterday I arrived home from a week in Central America, not realizing how much I missed Japanese food until I caught the scent of curry rice wafting down the hall of my building. A welcome surprise after many meals of rice and beans. Now I'm ready for some agedashi tofu.

Sake, of course. I'm absolutely clueless about wine, but luckily I can hold my own when it comes to sake. I used to drink things like ume-shu and anzu-shu (apricot liquor) and lychee liquor more often, but I think I've outgrown the sweetness. Shochu, especially imo-jyochu (shochu made from potatoes). I'm often scolded for mixing good shochu with water and umeboshi, but I started off on Iichiko brand and the habit is hard to kick. Chilled canned green tea of every variety in every convenience store. One of the things I miss most about Japan. I don't miss, however, all the super fruity sodas and the decided unavailability of 100% juice. A bit off subject, though. Also kohi gyunyu (coffee milk). For beer, definitely Ebisu. Or Asahi Dry.

I remember when I was first learning Japanese, and reading in some dictionary that 'salty' was 'shio-karai.' Nobody really seems to use it at all, although a lot of people use just 'karai' to mean salty. I assumed it was a regional thing, but thinking about it now I'm not so sure. Maybe Kansai? I just asked my boyfriend about the origins of shoppai, and he made something up about it being derived from shio-ppai (like suppai is from su, meaning vinegar - shio is salt). Although I kind of doubt it, he could be right?