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Kewpie make an orange-colored pureed 5-vegetable dressing - no other big players seem to make a commercial carrot dressing. FWIW, Amazon Japan lists the top 5 best-selling dressings as: Cobb Salad D., Toasted Sesame D., Vegetable Salad D w sesame seeds, Caesar Salad D, and Pureed Onion D. All but one of these made by Kewpie.

Do you read Japanese? Cabbage rolls: cabbage itself is not a traditional Japanese food, and the flowering garden types are older here than the eating types. According to several sites, cabbage rolls really became popular in Japan as a part of oden. Some parts of Japan (interestingly, especially the western coast that faces Korea and Russia) include chunks of cabbage in oden. The idea of serving oden in soup is a mid to late 19thC Tokyo innovation, and the idea of serving it in a thin, clear soup is thought to have been influenced by western soups as the Meiji period got well under way. However, I have not heard specifically that cabbage rolls were a popular ingredient from that period, and I suspect that they didn't really make an impact in Japan until white Russians started arriving in Japan in large numbers around 1920. As for dishes with cabbage rolls in tomato-flavored dishes,I'm guessing they would be later again. Canned tuna is definitely an American thing, and I associate it with postwar Showa recipes. Certainly haven't seen anything like as many recipes for it from the 1990s on. Commercial oil-based dressings weren't common in Japan for almost a generation after mayonnaise was first produced commercially here in 1925, although "salad oil" (as distinct from frying oil) first went on sale here in 1924. I hardly ever buy premade dressing, so I can't tell you much about the history of carrot dressing. I am guessing that it is a technological innovation as much as a taste innovation, because the first premade oil/vinegar dressings included only dried herbs, not vegetable purees. Shredded carrot salad, daikon salad, and new onion salad recipes are common in postwar Showa cookbooks...maybe why those three ingredients are so popular in puree-style dressings? Curry - some people say that the Portuguese may have brought "vindaloo" style curry directly to Japan along with other foods which have become standard items in Japan. I have long thought that Belgian and Dutch food had an influence on Yoshoku, directly or indirectly, especially tasty fried snack foods that could be adapted to local produce and quite quickly produced without an oven.

Malt cookies My family recipe always included raisins - both raisins and malt syrup burn rather easily, but the result is worth the worry! They are usually very crisp, but should not be crumbly. These are not malt thins - the recipe is a melt and mix soda-raised cookie. 1.5 cups of flour = about 7.5 oz., because a NZ standard cup is 250 mls or 8 oz. However, although NZ "plain" flour is a lowish protein flour intended for baking cakes or cookies, the protein level is probably lower than a similar American flour, so you may need less flour than the recipe states.

In Japan, it's not legal to ferment alcoholic drinks at home, so people make the "soak in high-alcohol spirits" type of liqueur. All you strictly need is a flavoring agent and the liquor - adding sugar makes a mellower drink in a shorter span of time, but in my experience, you can avoid adding any sugar at all, if you want, and if you are prepared to wait several years for the flavors to mellow and blend. However, the lack of sweetness may make it hard to taste some of the flavors. Here's a handy digest of nut liqueur recipes which suggests that toasting and shelling (in whatever order) is common for liqueurs using ripe nuts. This recipe for chestnut liqueur is slightly different, but is probably quite relevant to acorns. The big question is, what aromatics would go will with acorns? I saw a chestnut recipe with bayleaf and cloves, another with aniseed...I think aniseed might be quite good with acorns. Orange peel? Apples? Some Japanese guy went to a nut festival in Portugal and took photos of acorn liqueur. He didn't want to buy a whole bottle, so was unable to taste any of the nut liqueurs. Since the Spanish acorn liqueur seems to involve germination, maybe some adventurous person would like to try malting acorns?! Germination reduces tannin levels as well as soaking. Japanese commentators say that acorns taste like a blander chestnut. I've eaten several types, toasted, but the flavor is not that memorable. If they were toasted more thoroughly to bring out the taste of the oils, they might have a stronger flavor. I know nothing about fermenting alcoholic drinks, but if there is enough amylase in acorns (or horse chestnuts or chinkapins etc) to make miso, presumably you can make beer or cider, especially if you start with only about 20% acorn. Certainly western homebrew forums talk about acorn beer. I found a miso recipe that suggested replacing 20% of the usual ingredients with acorn flour (peeled, cracked, cooked in a pressure cooker, dried, ground into flour). Normal cooking method for acorns here is to roast or dry-fry them, turning or shaking now and then, until the shells crack, then hull them and either eat or grind for other purposes.

Try "dotorisul" or "dotori sul". There are a couple of reviews on Japanese sites, but they are not very complimentary, and in all cases that I saw, the bottles were bought in PDRK itself. Japan also makes acorn shochu in northern Kyushu and in Tottori, both places with strong historical links to Korea. The Kyushu brand is called "Nakoku no Utage", and the Tottori brand "Hakuho no Sato" - neither are that easy to buy even in Japan, it seems. In Japan, chestnut shochu e.g. Dabada Shochu　is maybe better known than acorn shochu. In Japan one of the favorite acorns for eating is "matebashii" (Lithocarpis edulis), and that's the one used for acorn shochu here. I imagine that it would be the favored type of acorn for Korean acorn soju too, but I don't know. Some types of Castanopsis (chinquapin) and a couple of varieities of Quercus (what we would think of as an actual oak!) are eaten here too - none of these are the same as the Spanish acorns used to make Bellota, either!

If ayocote belong to the runner bean family, then yes, I imagine that driving back and forth over them for hours, followed by prolooooonged soaking and cooking at high pressure would all be beneficial! The fact that people do all (well, some) of these things tells you how tasty they are, though. However, if you really want to make your pressure cooker earn its living, try cooking dried broad beans in it. The time is going to depend on whether you want cooked beans with a definite, chewy skin, or soup, of course. And if you have a modern spring-loaded pressure cooker, then Grandma's times will overcook the beans. I've seen anything from 6 to 40 minutes in Japanese recipes for SOAKED fava beans. I don't have any dried fava beans to hand (hard to find here in eastern Japan) but they are sometimes parched (shaken in a dry frypan until lightly scorched/starting to crack) before soaking and finally cooking, which is tasty as well as time-saving. If you are using solid-color dried runner beans, it may be worth trying this technique. I've heard that problems that cannot be mentioned before or experienced by ladies of delicate upbringing can be overcome by simply eating more beans, so that your digestion gets used to them. But it's a risky procedure - a kind of baptism by, er, fire.

Thank you for that restaurant recommendation Tere!

To be honest, I can't be entirely sure, because I've never cooked black soybeans except in this dish. I think that trying to prevent the beans from bursting is one reason to cook them for so long (at a low temperature) but then, even ordinary soybeans cooked in plain, unseasoned water for miso are cooked for a very long time - I've cooked them for 5 or 6 hours. When I have made them in the pressure cooker, they have not always burst, but they tend not to plump as much in cooking - once they cool, they wrinkle. Of course, some people deliberately cook them so that they wrinkle!

Did you try it? It's one of my favorite cooking techniques, especially for bento, because it's fast, keeps well, doesn't need to be served hot to be tasty, and is not greasy. The recipe given is quite an elaborate one - plenty of people just mix mirin, soy sauce and a dollop of rice vinegar for the marinade. You can also grill the fish instead of frying it.

Hi Blue Dolphin. We make kuromame every year for New Year, but I must admit I don't always follow the same recipe.　And yes, they are black soybeans. I like the kind of recipe where you soak the beans with the seasonings - for example, one of the recipes on the NHK Kyou no Ryouri cooking site gives (for 300g dry beans) 2 liters of water brought to the boil, then 250g sugar and 50ml soy sauce dissolved in that, with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Soak overnight, and cook rather gently for 8 hours. I think adding all the sugar at the beginning could make the beans harder, but the baking soda softens them. I haven't found the perfect timing for doing it in a pressure cooker, but a slow cooker works quite well, especially if you are prepared to strain off the beans and boil the syrup to reduce it a bit. then combine beans and syrup again. I like to add ginger when I cook mine too.

You got a wine qualification while in Japan! Gosh....by the way, did you find any Japanese wines that you enjoyed? I keep looking, but they seem very expensive for what you get. I'm very jealous about the blackberry whisky.

I agree, and if you don't have good brandy available, apple brandies make good Sidecars too.

Pineapple with lemon balm leaves sounds good.... I am just about to make an orange and rosemary vinegar. I've thought of using kiwifruit and lemon, but wonder if the vinegar would bring out the harshness in the kiwifruit seeds. Has anybody tried a kiwi shrub or vinegar?

That's the stuff. Corn syrup is likely too light. You might be able to find stuff called "rice malt" or "barley malt" in health food stores. It wouldn't be clear but would probably work.

There are two types - the toffee-apple type, and the dip-type. The dip-type has one disadvantage - if not consumed pretty much on the spot, there is nothing to stop the cut fruit and syrup combo from fermenting on a hot day. Fruit - ideally something with a sharpish tang, and/or marinaded in sweetened vinegar. Cut into bite-size pieces and insert a skewer (not too sharp, if serving to children). Strawberries look pretty, but they can easily go mushy when dipped into very hot liquid candy - practice run might help! Canned fruit needs to be well drained. SUGAR　&　SYRUP HARD CANDY COATING TYPE 5 parts sugar (weight) 1 part corn syrup or mizu-ame (20% of sugar by weight, that is) 1 part water (main purpose is to make sure the sugar dissolves - more water means less danger of crystallization, but also longer cooking time)) Stir sugar and water very well together, heat till at least 140 deg. C. , preferably 150 deg. C. Dip fruit and cool as rapidly as possible (ice, fan, etc.) so that fruit doesn't continue to cook and shed liquid inside the candy coating. MIZU-AME SOFT CANDY DIP TYPE Drained fruit, cut and skewered Block of ice with depressions made with a hot spoon Mizu-ame Spoon mizuame over skewered fruit, drain excess briefly before transferring to ice, Pass to customers on a monaka (wafer) shell or ice-cream cone. You can color the mizu-ame, add sprinkles....http://ima.goo.ne.jp/column/article/1513.html go crazy! NERI-AME The type of soft candy that is served on two sticks, which you spin around until the candy is thickened and aerated. It *should* be pure mizu-ame (violently colored and flavored if possible!!!) but I suspect it often has cornstarch and candied sugar syrup as well - don't have any recipe, sorry.

What to do with herbs, LizD? The answer is...make friends! Ever since I was a single girl with a stately avenue of parsley plants, I've had "cut and come again" friends who know they are welcome to drop by with scissors and a plastic bag! In my single days, having herbs in my garden made it no chore to cook my way through a family-size pack of fish, meat, or vegetables. Apart from the usual suspects, I like to grow hyssop. It's easy to grow, and interesting to add to both vegetables and meats. These days, my interests are focused more on low maintenance. In summer, I'm particularly fond of mini-tomatoes and yard-long beans, because they are so resistant to disease and pests. Salad greens are more of a challenge, but nasturtiums are a good start!

Amazed by that collection, Anna - haven't even heard of most of them. Didn't know about that Japanese pickles book that came out last year. I second the Fuchsia Dunlop choice - considering how little time I have to cook these days, I'm surprised at how often she's out of the bookcase. Apart from that, my Italian books are pored over by my younger son. In English, Hazan, and in Japanese, a series of books put out by Girolamo Panzetta, a celebrity here in Japan...but the recipes are GOOOOOOOD!

A few years ago, I found a good source for South American beans in Japan. Ever since then, I've been trying to decide which I prefer: the little white Panamito beans or the yellow Canary beans (Mayacoba, Peruano are the same beans I think). I end up ordering and using them both. Panamito will cook down into a mush that can be used as a spread or a base; Canaries have a full but mild flavor without the dry grainy texture that Pintos sometimes have. These days my bean larder is kidneys, azuki, garbanzo, Panamito, and Canaries. And occasionally small amounts of tora-mame (Concord Pole Beans), just because they DO have a drier texture, Favas, and scarlet runners, because they are *not* meek and mild, but stick up for themselves in a stew!

I have never eaten fresh turmeric uncooked, but have not had any reactions from cooked fresh turmeric. As for uses, it's my favorite flavor with white or oily fish. It has a flowery aroma that doesn't seem to be there in dried turmeric.

Curious, Chris - unfiltered sake is usually a late winter drink in Japan (just coming out now, actually)...it does have a cooked rice porridgey taste to it that doesn't seem very summery. Have you tried unfiltered sakes in colder weather? Cool-weather room temperature, or even slightly warmed... Also wonder how old it was - I'm no sake expert, but some unpasteurised sake seems awfully quick to develop off-flavors, to me.

Thanks. I was reasonably pleased with it too, and I now recall that I had a fair amount of onion in that sauce, which may have caused the stability problem. BTW I have made cream sauces with low-fat milk - here in Japan that's 1.2% milkfat.

I read this with interest - Japan is undergoing yet another butter shortage...again...and I experimented with olive oil bechamel. It was considerably thinner, but interestingly, it was also less stable. When I added some powdered cheese to one portion of the sauce, it started to separate. I wonder whether milk fats/other milk solids behave differently from vegetable fats?

Gosh, a year has passed, and it's birthday cake season again in my family! I made a fatless sponge for the first time in ages, and was really surprised at the different ratios people use - somehow thought that fatless sponges (Biscuit de Savoie, hotwater sponge cake etc.) were the least variable of all the sponge cakes. Quick check of my recipes shows: per 50g or larger egg - from 20g to 35g flour, with modern recipes using less flour (maybe because of mechanical mixers???). Sugar typically over 30g per egg, but surely 20g would do the trick, especially if the greased pan is sugared and floured. Oven temps - 150degC (350F) to 190degC....I like lower, but in my very small oven, 150 seems too low - probably lose too much heat when I put the cake in. I DO like the effect of a little hot or warm water on the texture. I don't know whether that just means I'm a sloppy baker. Additives - I used the zest of an orange plus the tiniest bit of finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus some vanilla to smooth things over. Like this better than my usual lemon zest! Fatless sponges - what are your golden rules?

I have made it, but it was a long time ago! As long as you are careful with hygiene, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't nibble. We used to eat ours after about 2 weeks mostly - if it sits for 6-8 weeks, it may be very salty if you are not planning to eat it with rice (or beer!).

Nourishing Traditions came along a bit late for me -I'd already encountered most of the ideas elsewhere - but it's well worth seeking out if you haven't already really dug into this area yet. Surprisingly a lot of good information on the internet, especially in some of the university extension websites in "fermentation homeland" states. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can6a_ferment.html Some of my favorites are things that are only partially fermented, such as Turkish pickles - not designed to keep for long periods.