helenjp

That first-attempt fukuro-ni looks incredibly good! I'm also a fan of simmered aburage, but think I might try making surprise egg pouches for the kids...drop an egg into an aburage pouch, close with a toothpick or whatever, and drop into broth to cook. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to drop a little miso or kochujang into the pouch before the egg goes in...

I forgot to mention the bugs...too many factors to pinpoint, but 1) If plants are in poor health, bugs home in on them. With shiso, the most likely problem would be that they are too dry (especially if in containers). Also, hazarding a guess from my experience, shiso seems to like more sunshine than you might expect from their soft leaves...I grew some in light shade under an ume tree, and it wasn't happy at all. 2) Lack of ventilation - if plants are overcrowded or they are over-protected from wind, bugs seem to feel particularly at home!! However, shiso won't tolerate a LOT of wind. 3)Some other plant growing nearby is a bug haven, and the bugs just take a stroll over to the shiso from time to time... Shiso seed is notoriously picky about germination conditions, and will not germinate well unless fresh (but packaged seed these days is vacuum packed, so that helps). If you get some growing, encourage it to self-seed every year.

At the risk of grossing everybody out, I think I saw evidence of what may be the WORST EVER in convenience-store take-out dinners...a torn Baby Star Ramen wrapper and an empty can of Chu-hi shochu cocktail, on the floor of the ladies' toilets at my local station. click for more on Babystar Ramen and canned hyouketsu chuu-hi

Yuzu...this is a bit of a head-scratcher. Yuzu is remarkably cold-hardy, and I imagine that this would make it a slow-maturing tree. (I think I wouldn't plant a yuzu outside if winter temperatures drop below zeroC (32F), however...). Counteracting this, though, is the tendency of trees to mature faster when planted in containers. So my GUESS is that you might get lucky and have fruit from a non-grafted seedling around 5 years, but you might have to wait 10... and of course, that's going to depend on how happy it is in its container, location, and climate. Some containers (such as concrete) will make the soil rather alkaline, but no citrus that I know of likes alkaline soil, so don't use a pre-limed potting mix, and don't use an ordinary old fertilizer - buy an acid-loving plants formula. I come from a warm-winter climate, and I regularly kill plants by underestimating the dryness of Japanese winters...so I can't offer any guidance for raising a tender plant like a citrus in Japan or a North American climate!

Wasabi From my students Wasabi is a very sensitive crop which is especially susceptible to the heat of summer. Therefore wasabi is suitable for a comparatively cool place, but not too cold. A good annual mean temperature is about 12-15C (55-60F). Moreover, wasabi is affected by the water quality. You should pay a lot of attention to the cultivation of wasabi. Because it is difficult to raise swamp or hydroponic wasabi, I recommend growing soil-raised wasabi. Soil-raised wasabi is planted in soil with good drainage at intervals of 25cm. You must provide about 60% shade in summer. You sould apply oil cake and compound fertilizer in winter. If you live in a cold area, you must apply a mulch of straw in winter. Pests are controlled with DEP emulsion and dimethoate granules. Wasabi can be harvested around 18-24 months after planting. In Japan, the Wasabi Federation in Shizuoka consigns wasabi seedling production to Hokkaido , where they are grown in greenhouses. This is because summers in Hokkaido are very cool. Greenhouse seedlings are started from test-tube cultures. This way, they can produce healthy seedlings which share the same genetic information, so they are uniform in shape and size. The advantage of greenhouse cultivation is that we can run nutrient-laden water regularly under the containers automatically, and shade the greenhouses with shadecloth. When the seedlings have grown sufficiently, they are returned to Shizuoka and raised in fields. I think that wasabi cultivation is very difficult. I am praying for success in your cultivation of wasabi. The management of temperature and water is the most important thing. You will grow delicious wasabi if you do your best!

Gobo/burdock Sorry, can't comment on differences between Japanese and Nth American varieties. From my students... Gobo varieties are takinogawa, hagi, oura, echizen, shironohagi, watanabe, and yamada shiroguki etc. Takinogawa, yamada, and watanabe etc. have slender long roots and red petioles. These long-rooted gobo are difficult to cultivate. Oura, hagi and echizen shiroguki have thicker and shorter roots. The Hagi group includes Hagi and Hyakunichishaku. They are easier to cultivate than long-rooted gobo. You can get a catalog from Kitazawa seedsKitazawa seeds. The catalog isn't flashy and the seeds are a bit expensive. Gobo will need about 4-5 months to harvest (depending on when you sowed the seed - up to 6 months if you sowed seed in autumn for early summer harvest). Early-maturing varieties have one disadvantage - they quickly become tough and webby inside. Gobo is a determined feeder, and will do best in a clay soil, but that can make harvest even more difficult, so it is often grown in quite sandy soil. It can be grown in plastic bags, which need only be cut open to harvest the roots.

camellia cultivation It's a long time since I've grown camellia species (small scented camellias) in containers, but I recall that they did best with a mulch, which allowed me to keep the soil moist but not sopping. The URL above has some suggestions on soil mixes which should suit tea.

Mitsuba and shiso... from my students Mitsuba is one variety of Japanese parsely, and there is only the one variety. However, from the point of view of cultivation, we can cultivate it as root Mitsuba, blue Mitsuba, and cutting Mitsuba (the most common variety). When cultivating it at home you should raise it in light shade, because if you raise it in full sun, the leaves will grow too stiff. Shiso It is best to manage the temperature at about twenty degrees (celsius - 68deg.F) in order to grow perilla well. If the minimum and maximum temperature vary widely, seed pods will develop and the leaves will not continue to grow. Since perilla is susceptible to wet soil, well drained soil is best. A mixture of crumbly clay loam (akadama-tsuchi) and leaf mold (fuyoudo) is good. Once the seedlings have two mature leaves, make sure they get sun and warmth. Harvest leaves from the bottom up, as new leaves will grow from the top. From the end of August or so, flowers will bloom. If you grow perilla as mentioned above, it will grow perfectly! One thing to note is that grassy, leafy annual herbs hate to be transplanted. They will either die, or promptly set seed -- so make a seed bed right where you plan to grow them, and thin the seedlings if necessary. If you do happen to find seedlings, you should probably avoid them and buy seeds instead.

Oooh, can't believe how behind I am with these replies... Susan, about your garlic... Garlic likes soil that holds moisture but which also drains well. This means that the soil should include some organic material such as compost or humus. Garlic is a greedy plant, so the organic material provides both moisture and nutrients. The container should not be TOO shallow, or the greedy garlic will suck up the water too fast. If you already have plants in the container where you planted the garlic, try mulching the soil lightly to improve it. Garlic likes very slightly alkaline soil, so it will grow nicely with parsely and chives. However, it may not be happy in the slightly acid soil which pansies prefer. As you know, garlic likes a long growing season. If you live in a cold area, Spetember or Ocrober is a good time to plant garlic, but in a warm area, you can plant garlic until winter (probably even now). Garlic needs to experience low temperatures in order to create new bulblets -- otherwise the original bulb will simply get fatter, without making a new "bulb" of garlic. If you grow garlic indoors, it may not get cold enough for the bulblets to form. Garlic only needs slightly moist soil over winter and spring, but will appreciate more moisture as it grows - at this stage it will grow well with other leafy herbs. However, when the mature bulb begins to ripen, the moist surroundings created by the leafier herbs may cause the bulb to get moldy. Of course, if you just want to trim the shoots, that won't be a problem. If you intend to harvest the bulb, wait till the lower leaves are brown, and let the harvested bulb dry for a few weeks before you use it.

Chestnuts...not so difficult Wasabi...difficult Will get back to this topic over the weekend

Get it fresh. It smells TOTALLY different from dried powdered turmeric. It looks like malnourished ginger rhizomes, but the flesh is yellower (though nothing like the yellow of dried turmeric). It even has a flowery spicy smell like ginger, but with that added bite and "clean" taste of turmeric. I used to panfry kingish (=yellowfish) with freshly grated turmeric...when I could get it. They were born for each other

I don't understand this one...for me the issue is not washing sponges, but using them! Try a nylon scouring pad - the kind that looks like open steel mesh...no way that can hold on to festering liquids. Alternative...polyester crochet cloths, which also have enough texture to scrub, but don't stay wet. For wiping up, I use clean rags, and they go in the wash about as fast as they get wet...

I was reading a Japanese book about coffee when I spotted an illustration of the cover of the Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674 and was fascinated to find the whole text on the internet. I thought that cocoa was regarded as something of an aphrodisiac, and was surprised to find coffee given such a limp reception...

Kikkoman song There are better versions out there of this only too well-known Flash animation "Show me, Show you Kikkoman" song...just in case you want a little something to hum to yourself as you pour the shoyu over your fried egg of a morning...

Hiroyuki, I don't know that ponzu (and it's something like 25 years since I was in Osaka ), but it does look good. My first husband's family came from Shikoku, so whenever possible, they would make their own ponzu from sudachi, which are Japan's answer to limes. I like ponzu as a substitute for soy/sugar flavorings in stirfry or simmered dishes - the very best of low-carb Japanese cooking, and fast enough for bento food! Cooking vinegar enhances its sweetness. Now maybe miso-pon would be a good variation on garlic/soy/vinegar simmered chicken and pork dishes. Miso-pon and all its friends are great salad dressings, but I'm sure they could be so much more...

Since I discovered that using dried persimmons in namasu is a Tohoku thing, I've been planning on making some....just had to wait a while for my family to forget that I ever mentioned such a combination. Finally perpetrated the deed, after I found a recipe on the Internet which was more salad than namasu. gotcha The base ingredients included mitsuba as well as the shredded daikon and dried persimmon - and that turned out to be a very nice trio. The dressing included ground sesame and a dash of sesame oil as well as the sweetened vinegar mix used for namasu. One problem remains...I rarely made sunomono in the past, because we had a live-in relative who went into coughing fits over sharp or hot flavors, so my kids aren't used to the "bite" of even the mildest raw daikon. Husband and I didn't think the namasu was even mildly peppery...but our kids, who will eat quite spicy food, protested. Any ideas for taming raw daikon without actually murdering it???

The least salty misos are the white (or yellow "Yamabuki" style) and the dark red aka-miso (but make sure you don't buy the seasoned akadashi miso) Most miso sweets I have had have had only a hint of miso, and I think it is often used to add complexity rather than as a "miso" flavor. I have made miso cakes, and think that the full flavor seems to go with a soft texture - hence the traditional steamcakes and manju? It's worth making your own, because as Torakris says, too much sweetness is not pleasant with miso. How about steamed custards with a caramel/red miso layer? Pale miso mixed with chestnut purees... Pale miso with yuzu or sudachi peel or clean-tasting herbs...icecream? Mild, faintly miso-tasting steamcakes or spongey cakes with a sugary red miso/walnut topping... Red miso and ginger...

White bean soups....mmmm.... I don't normally find much use for soup recipes, but Georges Lang's "The Cuisine of Hungary" is an exception. My copy falls open at the recipe for Serbian Bean Soup...just a hint of tomato and garlic, with plenty of paprika, and finished with yogurt and vinegar.

It's been so long since I've been in Nara that I had to cudgel my brains over this one... somen...famous product of Mt. Miwa in southern Nara. I think that, like Koya-dofu (freeze-dried tofu from Mt. Koya in nearby Wakayama), the mountains of southern Nara created the coldest winter temperatures in the Kansai region, so all kinds of dried foods are produced in this area. Persimmons are famous, dried or fresh, though I mostly recall fresh ones scooped out and filled with various dressed ingredients. The dried ones I had were part of Obaku sect zen cooking rather than Nara traditions. Cha-gayu - rice congee cooked in tea - is also a specialty of Nara township. When I think of leaf-sushi, herb mochi, and tea congee, I recall the green "wakakusa-yama" of Nara, and think how characteristic the color green is of the area (or it used to be, until the computer companies moved in...). Talking of leaves, how about houba-yaki - titbits, especially miso specialties, grilled on leathery "hou" tree leaves (a type of magnolia). All these dishes seem to be related to the old, old, traditions that go back to before rice cultivation took hold of Japan - the reliance on nuts and seeds and herbs, in particular. On the other hand, maybe dishes featuring poppy seeds have more to do with Chinese temple cooking than old native traditions... Nara prefecture has many rivers, and some of the river fish popular in Kyoto are also eaten here. And the Yoshino mountain and river area is also famous for "kuzu" or arrowroot dishes, another ancient food. Temple cooking has kuzu-thickened vegetarian dishes, sweets are often coated with kuzu, and many Kansai people still love "kuzu-yu", a thick, sweetened arrowroot drink often flavored with yuzu, tea, bean jam or other flavors. I really have to stop now...just too nostalgic

Kiem Hwa, that video was so nostalgic! It was worth watching it twice - ran much more smoothly the second time. It confirmed a suspicion I had - that kusa-mochi (yomogi-mochi) seem to be very popular in Nara. When I was a young student, friends used to buy huge quantities of them from a shop in southern Nara prefecture.

I haven't seen this particular title, but I grew up entirely and most unsuitably educated by many of Ronald Searle's drawings...anybody care to confess to having their wine appreciation warped by this book...plenty of details, please?

Sons1 and 2 made dinner tonight. Their miso soup was an iriko dashi-sachet (the teabag type), simmered with shredded aburage (fried tofu) and hakusai heart (Chinese cabbage). To finish, they added some briefly soaked wakame, and a medium-salty brown miso. Yum!

I made a sugarless batch a few months back. It's now a great little chaser to full-bodied winter beers. It would need sweetness drunk alone, but in this combo, the dryness piggybacks nicely on the mellow beer.

Shimeji mushrooms Shimeji, lightly sauteed, are one of my favorite vegetables with salmon.

Torakris, I'm curious...did your flavored instant oatmeal taste funny? A kind of harsh smell, as if it had been sitting next to the bath salts in the warehouse?? Or is that just the way that stuff tastes??? Luckily my kids are a bit older, so that they voluntarily mixed the plain packets into the flavored packets. Unforunately, they are also old enough to prefer steel-cut oats, so they only eat the instant if they can't drag me out of bed on Saturday morning! What about adding grated apple or raisins to the plain items? And what about oatmeal hotcakes or scones?