smallworld

Thanks. I do cover the bucket with plastic wrap already (not to prevent drying but to stop refrigerator smells from seeping in). I think I should clarify- the grounds near the top don't dry out overnight, they are dry from the beginning. The water just never gets to them, no matter how I pour. I can get all the top grounds wet, and then they sink down and expose new dry ones. Am I the only one with this problem? Wonder what I'm doing wrong...

I just came accross these shiso wraps on the New York Times' website (registration required). For those unable to access the site, shiso wraps seem to be the invention of Bar Masa. They are like mini temaki (handrolls) with a shiso leaf used as the base. No nori. The are served open and topped with all sorts of pretty toppings. I will be trying to make them soon. One thing I'm wondering about is how to dip them. The shiso is too small to make it a true wrap, so if you tried dipping top-side down all the toppings would fall off. But just dipping the bottom wouldn't be very good either. Probably the best thing to do would add a few drops of soy sauce to each wrap. I guess I'll have to buy a soy sauce server that drips instead of pours...

Any Toddy fans out there who can give some advine? I've been using a Toddy for several months and am happy with the results. But one thing seems a little odd: No matter how slowly and carefully I pour in the water, there are always grounds on or near the top that stay dry. I assumed that after soaking all night they would get wet but the next morning they're still dry. This seems like a terrible waste. I've tried reducing the amount of coffee, and that works but the concentrate is not as strong. Perhaps I could just increase the steeping time? I've also tried stirring the mix, which also works, but the instructions specifically forbid this. So why can't I stir? Is 12 hours the maximum steeping time? Will it not turn out if I do it longer?

I like the idea of shopping for your breakfast the night before, but I'm not sure if the convenience store is the right place. A visit to a conbini (Japanese convenience store) is definitely a must for visitors, if only to marvel at the amazing selection and sheer, well, convenience of it all. And to stock up on drinks and such. But I've never been very impressed with the quality of the "fresh" prepared food (with some exceptions like nikuman and oden). If at all possible, it's better to shop at a depa-chika (department store basement), local bakery, or even the hotel's own bakery. Almost anything you buy at those places- pastries, bread, sandwhiches, onigiri, bento- will taste better (and have fewer preservatives) than from the conbini. Virtually all hotel rooms come with an electric kettle and a small selection of tea and instant coffee. If you're a coffee drinker, skip the instant stuff and buy the little individual coffee filters- almost as fast as instant but it's real coffee. You can buy them at convenience stores and supermarkets. These have been a huge hit with visitors I've hosted. Be wary of accepting recommendations. Many hotels don't have a true concierge, and the people at the information desk may not be well-informed or will tend to recommend only the touristy places. And there tends to be an assumption that non-Japanese don't like Japanese food. So recommendations from (Japanese) hosts and friends may not be so helpful. Guidebooks recommendations can also be disappointing. So how can you find a good restaurant? Study up before you go. If you know what kind of food you want to try and what restaurants serve it, you'll probably be able to find a place by yourself. If you have a pocket guidebook that includes food vocabulary or food pictures, communication shouldn't be much of a problem. Eating in Japanand What's What in Japanese Restaurantsare usefull books both before your trip (for studying) and during (for referene and language help). (Are either of these the one you meant, Helen?)

Yup, it sounds like you're talking about ramen. The noodle soups served in Japanese ramen shops is so different from what we call "ramen" in North America that I didn't recognise it at first either. There are several types of broth used for ramen. The three basic kinds are salt-based, with a light clear stock; soy sauce based, with a darker clear stock, and tonkotsu (pork-bone stock), with a cream coloured opaque broth. There are variations of these stocks, and a few other kinds of stocks as well, but those are the basics. Various flavours can be added to the stock, such as kimchi, miso, curry etc. Toppings usually include char siu pork, menma (strips of bamboo shoots), nori seaweed, negi (sliced scallions), and naruto (white fish sausage with a pink spiral). Try experimenting with the instant ramen you can find anywhere, or better yet check out a Japanese or Asian market for the non-instant kind. You'd be surprised how good a simple pack of ramen can be once you've gussied it up a bit!

Thank you, Prasantrin, for the wonderfully informative post. It wasn't even directed at me, but I'm really tempted to sign up. I have a few questions: What is the entrance fee (sorry if you already wrote than and I missed it)? Can you go to any branch, or do you have to stick to the one you signed up at? Do you bring home the stuff you make, or eat it together in class? Thank you.

Sackville, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with your nabe. The nabe thread already mentioned should give you some ideas, but you don't have to limit yourself to nabe-mono. An earthenware nabe is great for okayu (congee), nabe-yaki udon, and more. And as Kristin pointed out you can use your nabe for non-Japanese recipes as well. Like Korean or Chinese style hotpots. Now I have a question for you. I've long wanted to by a nabe and konro (gas burner) here in Japan and bring them home as a souvenir. But I imagine the gas cartridges would have to be smuggled. Did you have any trouble bringing them home? And are you able to find refill cartridges? Thanks!

A food-obsessed American in Japan: Yukkuri Countdown JAPAN

No, it's not takuan. I almost never have takuan in the house, as my husband doesn't like it. I've always been disappointed when I've bought small packages of takuan. The takuan sold whole (as in one whole daikon) is the one I like, but it always goes bad before I can finish it all. (I wonder if takuan- or any pickles for that matter- can be frozen?) Anyway, the stuff you see is just simmered daikon slices. Very plain stuff.

Bento moblog is one of the many blogs dedicated to the daily bento. It's the only one I've seen that's in English. The following, both food blogs and regular blogs, feature Japanese food occasionally: Miruki, a very slick site featuring mostly Japanese and Japanese-style western recipes. Johny Angel, by an American in love with with all kinds of Asian food. l'art de vivre, with tonnes of Asian and other recipes. Umami, with plenty of food adventures in Singapore and elsewhere. Son of Soy, a Filipino American's blog about Japan. Pinkcocoa tabetai, mostly Asian food in Australia. My little cyberspot, Asian food in Singapore. Does anyone know any good Japanese-language Japanese food blogs?

The various Chinatowns in Japan do have Chinese New Year's celebrations, but outside of Chinatown nobody does any celebrating. In fact, none of the students in my morning class (I'm talking about fourteen adult students) were even aware that today is the Chinese New Year! Once upon a time Setsubun was New Year's Eve in Japan. The following day, Risshun, was the first day of the New Year and was the same day as Chinese New Year's. It was on a different day every year, of course, depending on the moon. Now Setsubun is a fixed day, so it rarely coincides with Chinese New Year's.

Shinju, if it's a weekday, I'd recommend the Gyoza Stadium. It's like a theme park for gyoza, with branches of famous gyoza shops. (Actually, I can't exactly recommend this place, as I've never been, but everybody I know who's been there has loved it. The only problem seems to be the crowds, so it's best to go early on a weekday.) It's in the Sunshine City Building in Ikebukuro, which is a bit out of the way. But there's a Tokyu Hands in the same building which is definitely a good place for visitors, and Ikebukuro has a few other good spots (like the huge depa-chikas under the Seibu and Tobu department stores, and the wonderful Japan Traditional Craft Centre). I also like Lee Gyoza (as mentioned in the article Torakris linked to) but it's known for its unique gyoza with unusual fillings. If you and your Dad want to try really typical, regular gyoza, perhaps the best place to have them is in a ramen shop. That's where most people eat their gyoza (in fact, shops that sell gyoza and gyoza only are a bit rare).

So what did everyone do with their leftover curry? I made curry soumen, which is what I always do. I had enough for a third day and was planning to serve it over potatoes tonight. But last night my husband ate the leftovers with frozen rice for a midnight snack. Guess I'll have to make curry again sometime soon. Norio, I think curry Loco Moco is a great idea! Loco Moco has been popular in Japan for about a year now, but still seems to be mostly unknown outside of Hawaii. What a shame! Merrybaker, what beautiful meals? Curry is not a very attractive food, but we still like seeing pictures. Take a picture next time!

Yes! I think tomatoes are great in curry. The one I did last night has canned tomaotes and half a bottle of tomato/vegetable juice. I don't use roux (the flour and butter kind) very often so I could be wrong, but I assumed using it at the end would be better for two reasons. First, I think the thickening power of roux isn't permenant, and since I simmer my curry for a long long time I was worried that if I thickened it at the beginning it might start to thin after a few hours. Second, I like to skim the foam from the top of the curry while it simmers, and I imagine that the foam wouldn't form if I thickened first. No idea if any of that is true or not. But I'm pretty happy with the way my curry turned out last night!

I made today's curry without the store-bought curry roux. I was worried that it would turn out to be more of an Indian curry (not that I have anything against Indian curries) but it came out just like a typical Japanese curry. I used home-made vegetable stock and lots of vegetables- onions, carrots and tomatoes- to replace the koku (deep rich flavour?) and sweetness that the store-bought roux imparts. After a few hours of simmering, I cooled it down in the fridge, as a kind of short-cut to that wonderful second-day curry flavour. And finally I reheated and added regular flour-and-butter roux. I think I'll never buy curry roux again! Served with fukujin-zuke, salad (with corn of course), and beer.

I really want one of these!!!! sukiyaki.....shabu shabu..... nabemono! as with most things, there are the more expensive ones which put out a higher btu or even have double burners but there are also very reasonably priced ones with less horsepower available for just usd$20 (i have seen even $15 ones at the koeran market). we got a cheapie $20 iwatani (on sale) a while ago and yes, theres no turning back. indespensible.try one of the marukais in honolulu and check out what they have there. their prices are usually quite reasonable for imports. actually bc of the volume they turn around, their prices are probably one of the cheapest if not the cheapest for japanese imports. ps, did you know theres a band out there called "<a href="http://www.con-los.com/">cassette con-los</a>"? clever-precious. ← How much are the gas canisters? I've been thinking of buying a konro for the folks back home but have no idea how easy it is for them to get the gas.

OK. I can see how if your gas burner doesn't come with a fish grill, and if you don't have a convection oven, a toaster oven might come in handy. But if you've got both I still don't see the point. The only good thing is the timer. Might save me from burning the toast (on those rare occasions that I actually make toast). Then again, I'm not likely to forget about, and burn, stuff in the fish griller. Because when I'm grilling fish or mochi tuna melts or whatever I'm usually cooking other stuff too, and I'm right there in front of the griller. So I'm still not convinced. Even if I had a big western-sized kitchen with generous conuter space I wouldn't buy a toaster oven. I would have a gas oven and a four-burner stove with a fish griller (do they even make stoves with four burners here?) and a toaster. I mean a real toaster, not a toaster oven. And life would be good.

I made nanakusa-gayu yesterday. This is what was in the pack of nanakusa I bought: From left: hotokenoza (henbit); seri (water dropwort); daikon; hakobe (chickweed); nazuna (Shepard's purse); suzuna (turnip); and gogyo (cudweed). I made a thick okayu, as shown on the bottom right. This should be a simple meal but we kind of went nuts and added a few toppings for the rice as well as some side dishes... We ate the nanakusa-gayu plain for the first helping, and with eggs for the second (and third!):

I don't have a toaster oven either. I still don't know why they're so common in Japan- they use so much electricity and take up so much precious counter space. And besides, everyone has a convection oven and that little fish griller in the gas stove. Seems to me like that's enough.

Hmm, for some reason I can't edit my post above. Too old? I had meant to say that I made tarako spaghetti with Hiroyuki's recipe. Rather than bragging about my cooking skills I was trying to compliment Hiroyuki...

This is the o-zouni made by my mother-in-law in Osaka. Clear chicken stock with hakusai, naruto, fu, chicken and mistsuba, with a square of mochi. The mochi is made by my sister-in-law's in-laws in Chiba and was sent to us in a flat block, which was cut by my husband. Which is why the mochi isn't round as is typical in Kansai (like Hiroyuki said, location is less important than family preference, so this is not a typical Osaka ozouni). The mochi is first boiled or cooked in the microwave. This is the ozouni served on the first and third days of the year. It's delicious enough, but the ozouni on the second day is even better. The stock is made from the bones of the grilled tai served the night before. It is just heavenly.

I like the miso ladle thingy- I think it's called a "miso-koshi"- is really useful for making miso soup. It's a deep sieve with a vertical handle and comes with a small flat spoon. You scoop the miso from the tub with the spoon, then submerge the ladle into your soup, put the spoon in the ladle and stir until all of the miso is dissolved. This will leave you with perfectly dissolved miso- no lumps. But I have way more western-style gadgets in my kitchen than Japanese ones. Speaking of which, are the mandolines, slicers and peelers shown above really Japanese gadgets? I kind of assumed they were European.

Matsutake don't really have a strong flavour to start with- it's their subtle aroma that makes them such a delicacy. Even if your matsutake were really good ones, their charms would have been lost in the sukiyaki broth. I don't think there is anything wrong with domestic matsutake. Japanese people like to claim that theirs are the best, but it's really hard to test that theory since freshness is so important. Imports (to Japan) tend to be older so don't seem as good. If you want to find out if those cheap alleged matsutake are the real thing, go back and buy some more and prepare them really simply- try grilling them and eating with a sqeeze of citrus (I think sudachi is traditional but lime will suffice). I'm not much of a matsutake fan but this thread really makes me want sukiyaki!

We did ours a few days late. The usual gomoku (five-ingredient) takikomi-gohan. I added konnyaku, gobou, carrot, abura-age and shiitake. Pretty good but not a huge success- unfortunately I shaved the gobou so thin that it lost all of its texture, and since it was shin-gobou (new gobou) it added very little flavour. And as usual I got the amount of liquids wrong and the rice ended up a bit too wet and sticky. I'll never get the hang of it...

OK, here's the recipe: Ground Chicken Rolls ( 鳥ひき肉のいそべ煮 ) 200g ground chicken 10g carrot 1 large shiitake cap (the big puffy pale brown type) 2 sheets toasted nori 1 Tbsp oil 1 pack kaiware-na Seasoning A: 1 egg 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce 1 Tbsp sake 1 tsp katakuriko Seasoning B: 1/2 cup sake 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 Tbsp mirin Finely chop carrot and shiitake, add to a bowl with chicken and seasoning A; mix well. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more katakuriko. Divide the mixture into two, spread on nori, roll (as for making maki-zushi). Heat oil in a fying pan, carefully add the rolls, "seam" down. Fry for a few minutes, rotating to rolls to ensure they maintain a round shape and cook evenly. Add seasoning B to the pan, bring to boil, cover and reduce heat. Cook until liquid is nearly gone, remove rolls to cutting board and reduce sauce. Cut the chicken into rounds, garnish with kaiware-na, drizzle sauce on top or on the side. From "Quick & Easy Japanese Cooking", which, except for this recipe, is not at all notable.