smallworld

I like that show! I didn't watch this Saturday because they were making 'nanban-zuke', a dish I'm not crazy about. The host (I forget his name) is very congenial- I've seen him in person when I was part of the audience (all of us foreigners) for a show he was filming, and he was nice and jokey with us all and kept apoligizing for taking so long. Nice guy. There's another cooking show that invites three brave female 'talents', usually very young and obviously not used to cooking, to compete with a real chef and cook a few dishes. Can't remember what it's called or when it's on, but it's fun to see how completely useless most of these girls are in a kitchen!

I saw on a TV show last night (NHK's 'Gatten'- the show is recapped here for those who can read/view Japanese characters: http://www.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2003q2.../20030514.html) that making curry in a wok instead of a pot is better. Apparently the wok is almost identical to the pot used by Indians to cook curry sauce, called a 'kahrai' (spelling?). They did a taste test and also used some lab equipment to test the tenderness of the meat, and it was 'proven' that the wok curry tasted better. I'll be using a wok next time I make curry for sure!

This is an old thread, but I think it's important to note a few things. First, that green tea (or wasabi, or ginger) ice cream is to Japanese restaurants as fortune cookies are to Chinese restaurants. Not very authentic and not at all a necessary part of the dining experience. Yes, green tea ice cream is now fairly popular in Japan, but it's a rather recent favourite- vanilla is still the hands-down favourite. If you order ice cream in a restaurant in Japan, there will be no choice of flavours- you will get vanilla (unless it's an ice-cream shop of course!). When Japanese tourists order ice cream at restaurants overseas, offering them a choice of strawberry, chocolate of vanilla is likely to confuse them (or maybe that's just my students!). And I've yet to meet a Japanese person who has tried (or even heard of) wasabi or ginger ice cream. Next, there is traditionally no dessert course in Japan, and although recently desserts are common, sweets are still more likely to be eaten as an afternoon snack by themselves rather than to finish off dinner. At most traditional restaurants in Japan dessert is not even on the menu, although at pricier places a piece of seasonal fruit or a small bowl of ice cream (I've had vanilla, black sesame, azuki, and yuzu- never green tea) might be offered at the end of a meal when a course is ordered. Japanese restaurants overseas are likely to be owned or staffed by people for whom dessert is no more than an afterthought- necessary for American (or whoever) diners, but certainly not something to actually put any thought into. Finally, ice cream is unlikely to be actually made at a Japanese restaurant. It's ordered from an ice cream company, and the restaurant staff may have no idea what good green tea ice cream is supposed to taste like. So the ice cream served will not reflect the food of the restaurant or Japanese cuisine in general. My advice- if you like green tea ice cream, find a shop or brand that you like and buy it there. Abd skip dessert when dining at a Japanese restaurant (unless something really special is available). You won't be missing anything!

Interesting link and a great description of Inaka-ya. I've long wanted to eat there but it's just so expensive. The meal described in the link probably went well over 15,000yen (and he didn't mention what he was drinking). Maybe when my parents visit me here in September I'll go all out and take them there. I've never tried robata-yaki at all. Kristin, can you recommend any robata-yaki places? I've always wanted to try it. I thought his comments about Almond were funny. Sure, it's famous, but I guess nobody told him it's famous only as a meeting spot- you're not actually supposed to go inside!

I love yoshoku! Cabbage rolls and hamburgers are two foods that I never liked back in Canada. But I love the Japanese versions- roll-cabbage and hambagu (especially the wafu kind, as described by Kristin above) are much better than the originals. I also love croquettes, Japanese steak, curry-rice omu-rice and hayashi rice. Curry was introduced to Japan by the English navy in the 19th century, so it's a Japanized version of an already mild and watered down English curry. A very interesting history, with two cities in Japan claiming to be the first place curry was eaten. One of the cities, Yokohama, even has a curry museum. Not all yoshoku have a history like curry, but they've all been modified enough so that I don't think they should be directly compared to their originals (although I just did, didn't I!). They are definately unique unto themselves. Of course, some yoshoku are nasty, like napolitan spaghetti (and omu-rice or hayashi rice made with too much ketchup). Not bad compared to their originals, just bad by themselves. Mostly this kind of cheap ketchupy yoshoku is for kids. PS, Margaret is that a pumpkin on your bunny's head?

I like hokke a lot, but it's not always good. I have no idea how to identify good hokke, but I always keep trying. I also like mirin-zuke (also sometime called mirin-boshi, which is also the name of small dried fish snacks), which is himono that has been brushed with a marinade of mirin, soy sauce and sesame seeds (I think) before being dried. Aji and sanma are my usual choices, I've tried saba this way but it was just too rich.

Cherrypi, I'm glad the curry turned out. Carmelized onions sound great, I'll try that next time.

That's 'omu-rice', an omelette enclosing or on top of flavoured rice. The rice is kind of like a pilaf, and actually is flavoured with ketchup, so including the stuff you saw on top it's a really ketchupy dish! I like omu-rice, but prefer less ketchup- I tried one once with Chinese fried rice inside and some kind of oyster sauce kind of sauce on top. Yum! Ketchup is widely used in western-style cooking, unfortunately. A really old-fashioned pasta dish here that I've (fortunately) never tried is called Napolitan (also pictured in the link) which seems to be basicly ketchup on spaghetti. Eeeew!

Yeah Margaret, I wish real juice was more widely available. I will NEVER outgrow the sweetness of ume-shu! I do find that a lot of the ume/anzu-shu available is way too sweet and often artificially flavoured (especially at cheap izakayas and karaoke boxes), which is why I prefer homemade. The trick is to drink ume-shu to start or finish a meal, or on it's own. Not with the main course!

Great, I've been inspired to make pizza tonight. I'm thinking if there's leftover dough we'll finish with a dessert pizza, something I've eaten but never made at home. I might brush the crust with melted butter and top it with apples slices lightly sauted with cinnamon. No idea if that would be gross or not. Any ideas?

What? Ramune is great! So much messy fun and so tasty. The plastic ones (not as heavy as the regular glass ones) are great souviners from back home too.

Renkon and takenoko are my favourites. And Japanese cucumbers and eggplants are much better than western ones. Kristin, you are right that everyday home-cooked meals have lots of veggies. There is a big difference between eating out, especially at Japanese restaurants overseas, and eating at home. Most of my meals are based on vegetables, and even the protein- tofu, fish, or pork usually, is rarely served without somekind of veggies mixed in. Pirate- do you mean Chen Kenichi's outpost and the French restaurant at the Park Hyatt? Or the Cerulean? I have been to the Park Hyatt's New York Grill and am dying to go back again, or to try Kozue or Girandole (I think that's the Italian place you mentioned), but I didn't know anything about French. Sigh, I have to start saving my yen, there are just too many good places to try. So next time you're in town you're taking Kristen and I out, right? Kristin, check out the Park Hyatt's website for something to dream about: http://www.parkhyatttokyo.com/ I don't know how to link directly to the restaurant pages, so click “ú–{Œê@ithe Japanese site is way cooler than the English site), then ŠÙ“àƒKƒCƒh, then ƒŒƒXƒgƒ‰ƒ“•ƒo[.

Yuck. The Kirin in Japan is definately better than Bud. But it's not very good either. I think I've read on another thread that most Japanese beers sold in the States are also brewed there. Which might be one reason why not that many Americans like Japanese beer.

I wish I read this thread earlier! I received some gyokuro tea as a souviner yesterday and decided to try it last night. I followed the directions that came with the tea but I must have misread because I used the regular amount of water. So the tea was really weak and not at all special. I'll try it again tonight properly- thanks for the link! I didn't like mugicha at first either, but it's grown on me. My favourite (hot) tea is genmai-cha, and I also love soba-cha (not really a tea, I think it's just roasted buckwheat) and houji-cha. But cold green tea is the best!

Himono I love, but not for breakfast- I don't have the dexterity to remove all those tiny bones so early in the morning! I eat Japanese-style breakfast only a few times a year- while at a ryokan or after an all night drinking binge (that's when I order Yoshinoya's breakfast set with natto, raw egg and grilled salmon). The serving is just way too big for breakfast, and it takes so long to prepare. Miso soup can be a great breakfast, we usually have that when camping- goes well with wienies roasted in the camp fire. I was surprised to see that cereal wasn't even mentioned in the breakfast survey- I LOVE cereal! But it's just not popular here, especially amoung adults. A big bowl of genmai (brown rice) flakes topped with raisins and sliced almonds is my favourite breakfast.

Aargh! I got confused from reading your post. Meant to type Ebisu (sometimes called Yebisu). Will go edit it now.

I can't say I love vending machines. I've also heard the 1 vending machine per 23 people statistic, and it's horrible- these things are using electricity 24-7. I mean, good luck finding a park bench, water fountain, or public restroom in Japan, but a vending machine? No problem- they're on every corner! I mean, I use them, but only because they're there- if they weren't I'd have no problem finding my drinks at an actual store. Only about once a year do I find them really convenient, when I have a sudden craving for diet coke or something (my husband is a different story, he's a smoker and can't live without cigarrette vending machines). Plus, the cigarrette and beer vending machines are a perfect guarantee that kids start drinking and smoking early here. I usually buy diet coke or canned coffee for a quick burst of energy, or just water or cold green tea when I'm thirsty. The vending machines usually don't carry all the cool new drinks that can be found at convenience stores, so I never buy anything exciting from the machines. Strangest things I've seen? Just like in the link, there is a vending machine selling (renting?) porn videos near my place. I've also seen a vending machine that rents regular videos, which I think is great- wish they'd trade the local porn machine for one of those! And in my neighborhood, the rice shop has a vending machine in front for after-hours sales, and the electonics shops have vending machines selling batteries, just like in the link. It's quite common, I think. We also have lots of little farm fields around here, many with little stands selling the produce. Most still just use the honour system- you can take what you like and drop some coins in a box, but some keep the veggies in little lockers that can only be opened by dropping in the correct coin. That's kind of a vending machine, right? I buy some fantastic tomatoes this way in the summer.

-Sake. But I'm intimidated by it- I have no idea how to tell if a sake will be good just by reading a label or menu. Which means I never drink it at home- don't want to end up with a whole bottle of sake I can't drink. -Ume-shu (For some reason it's called 'plum wine' in English, but it's actually a sweet liqueur made from Japanese apricot). I made some the first spring after I got married, and since it improves with age we plan on drinking it on all our major anniverseries. Don't know if it'll last that long though! By the way, the ume-shu that was available in Canada was disgusting crap (as was most of the sake). If anyone has a chance to try real home-made ume-shu, don't pass it up! -Ebisu Beer. Jason, this is a little hard to find sometimes even in Japan, but if you came accross it somehow hopefully you'd agree that it's the best Japanese beer (at least amoung the major brewers). As for soft drinks, the variety is AMAZING and there are so many I like. But most products come and go so quickly. Right now I really like this fizzy peach ice tea drink (The one advertised by a go-going Britney Spears, for anyone in Japan now). I only tried it a few times and now I can't find it again! The cold teas in plastic bottles are great, all of them, and I think canned coffee is a wonderful invention (I'm surprised to see so many people here who like it, since I've met so many non-Japanese who think canned coffee is an abomination!).

Actually, as a way to use up both leftover curry and leftover spaghetti it doesn't sound like a bad lunch. I do the same with somen! Cherrypi, I don't know how to post in the recipe archive so I'll post the recipe here. This is based on the recipe for 'Minced Meat Curry' in 'Stone Soup' (one of my favourite Japanese cookbooks!). It makes lots- enough for a few days, which is great because it always tastes better the second day (sometimes I 'cheat' and make it early in the day, stick it in the fridge for a few hours, then reheat to get that second day flavour on the first day!). But if you don't want to eat curry for days then you can half the recipe. 3 large onions, chopped 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 knob ginger, peeled and grated 1 Tbsp (approximately) spices- I use a mix of curry powder, turmeric and cumin. 400g ground pork (or beef) 400ml beef bouillon 400ml tomato juice 2 bay leaves 160g curry roux (a full box, a spicy kind is better than a sweet one) salt, pepper and more spices to taste Saute onion in oil for a few minutes, add garlic, ginger and spices, saute until fragrant. Add ground meat and saute until browned. Add bouillon, tomato juice and bay leaves, simmer about 10 minutes, skimming the foam from the top from time to time. Turn off heat and add the curry roux, stirring until the roux dissolves. Turn heat back on, taste the curry and add salt and pepper if needed. More spices can be added too, but be sure to simmer for another 10 minutes or so. Curry can be eaten when heated through, or it can be simmered for as long as you wish to make the spices smoother and milder. Good over rice, great with nan, and can be frozen.

I love my suribachi and it is another Japanese utensil that gets use in non-Jpanese ways as well. From Sout East Asian style curry paste to Italian/Spanish garlic and herb pastes. Once before i had a coffee grinder I accidently bought coffee beans and then tried to "grind" them in my suribachi, it doesn't work! The Japanese can get so many different dishes on the table because 4 of them are purchased at the depachika! Well, I'd love to use my suri-bachi to mash spices and herbs for an Indonesian feast, but my husband can't stand South East Asian food. That's one of the hardest things about being in Japan for me- I love eating and cooking this stuff, yet I can't cook it at home and when I eat it out it's always watered down for Japanese tastes. Even if I did find an authentic place, none of my friends can handle real spice so I'd have to go alone. You know the Okinawan feast we're going to get together for? We'll have to include ramen and South East Asian food too. Think we can find a place that serves all three? Those Italian/Spanish herb pastes sound intriguing- can you tell me more? Is it important that the herbs actually get crushed in the suri-bachi (as opposed to merely being pureed with a hand mixer)?

What are the drinking rules? Alcohol is always drunk with some kind of snack, never by itself. There are a huge range of drinking snacks, called tsumami, like dried strips of squid, kimchi etc. Salty and spicy stuff especially. I love all these snacks but sometimes I just want to enjoy a cold bottle of beer or nice glass of wine all by itself. When the snacking becomes a meal and rice is served, alcohol should be replaced with tea. It's been explained to me that since sake is made from rice, it shouldn't be drunk while eating rice. Why this rule is extended to include all other alcohol is beyond me, but many people absolutely can't drink alcohol and eat rice at the same time! (Yet everyon makes an exception for sushi.) Other drinking habits, like using cute little thimble-sized cups, or constantly refilling others drinks, can be either charming or annoying depending on the occasion. A great beer can be ruined by constantly being poured into tiny glasses- the beer in the glass doesn't get a proper foam, and the beer in the bottle is jostled around and looses its carbonation. A wastefull habit, but since most Japanese beet is not that great anyway, I don't mind too much. But I really do like the alcohol in Japan, not just the native sake, shochu, ume-shu etc, but imported stuff as well. Prices and selection are good- for example, champaign and sparkling wine is far cheaper here than in Canada, and the selection can be better too.

So you've never sprinkled some grated mozzerella on top of curry rice? Try it! If you don't like it, your kids definatley will...

I agree with Torakris- tobiko is not nearly as common here in Japan as it was back home. Come to think of it, I've never ordered or seen it in Japan! But I've only ever been to a 'real' high-priced sushi restaurant a few times, we usually just go to kaitenzushi or get take-out/delivery. Tobiko is so pretty, mild and crunchy- it might be a favourite if I ate it more often.

I like pretty much all kinds of Japanese spaghetti. Except when they go and put mayonnaise in it!

Hmm, I've never thought of using my do-nabe for anything other than nabe or okayu. I'll have to try something new. I just realized another change- I drink way less pop (I'm a former Diet Coke addict), mostly because it's too heavy to carry home from the store. Now I drink more healthy drinks like green tea, oolong tea etc. Except on weekends when we rent videos. For some reason I just can't watch a movie without a tall glass of icy cold Diet Coke and a giant bowl of popcorn. That's one habit that will NEVER change! Also, I love oshibori (damp hand towels) and use them every time we eat something messy. There are some Japanese habits that I'll never take up: -I don't follow the drinking 'rules'. I have no problem with drinking alcohol at the same time as eating rice, or drinking alcohol with no food to go with it. -My suri-bachi (sesame grinder) hasn't been used for years. When I need big amounts of ground sesame I just use my coffee grinder (well cleaned first, of course). -I'll never be able to churn out a full 5 or 6 dish meal in a typical Japanese kitchen with about 50cm of counter space, two gas burners, a little oven toaster and a rice cooker. It seems physically impossible to me, yet Japanese housewives seem to have no problem.