goyatofu

good thing I didn't buy any carbon knives at douguysan-doori then! The store I went to was called "Ichi-monji" and that's their own brand. I was salivating over the deba, very close to buying one and I stopped myself. I wouldn't know what to do with the rust! Although the lady at the store swore up and down that carbon was better than stainless steel, she said all you need to do is rub it with a wine cork to remove the rust....

Yeah, those Shu-Hi's look all pretty and benign but packs quite a punch! I usually quite enjoy Calpis but found the Calpis Shu-Hi very medicinal tasting. I prefer grapefruit or peach, apple is good too (on the rocks!)

Being a bona fide "Chiu Chow Mui" (that's Cantonese for Chiu Chow girl)...have to pipe up o.k. so I'm not full-blooded Chiu Chow (my mom's side is from Hong Kong before it was even called Hong Kong, like a native!), but you always "follow" your dad's heritage. "Teo Chew" is the pronunciation of the area name using the dialect in that area. The dialect is very different from Cantonese, my dad speaks it fluently and often boasts that he can use it to communicate with a large percentage of people in Malaysia/Indonesia (I'm not sure if it's one of those tall tales that all dads tell or what). He calls it one of the 4 main dialects in China: Mandarin, Shanghainese, Teo Chew, and Fook Jiang. (again, maybe this is just his Teo Chew pride speaking) Chiu Chow Food: good goose! good tofu! but my favourite has to be the pickles! You see them served in a small plate in all Chiu Chow Restaurants. We used to polish them all right away and ask for more.

Just returned from a 2 week vacation in Japan...perfect time to reminece about the drinks... I tried the Fiber beer, it just tastes like regular beer!!! I'm all for putting some nutritional value back into beer! One can is equivalent to 1/4 of your daily recommended intake....so drinking 4 would be doing your bowels a favour, no? As for Yebisu, more than one person has raved about it, but it was quite disappointing. I think because it's got a fuller body (like wheat beers you can get here : Big Rock and Grasshopper comes to mind) that it's "different" from most dry Japanese beers...Is it the regular Yebisu or the Black Yebisu that's all the rave? CC Lemon!!!!! I'm just glad they make it in dried packets so my sis can send me care packages! Shu-Hi---basically Sho-Chu with flavour added; all the rave whereever I went....in all kinds of flavours: Calpis, Peach, Grapefruit, Grape, Lime, even Oolong Tea flavour!! Royal Milk Tea!!!! I must have drank it every single day on my trip.....so good. Any cold green tea.

sorry if I'm reviving an old topic...but I just returned from Japan on a quest of finding knives. One obstacle I ran into: finding export knives. Apparently they don't sell export knives (duh on my part) someone had asked me to find them a "Kasumi" brand knive (not the knive-making process; the brand). When I asked about this, the guy said "never heard of this brand". And when I said it was sold in North America, he said, "we don't sell exports here in Japan, they are second-rate stuff, so we ship them overseas." I don't have the nerve to tell the person who wanted this knive what they said.... I was able to get my hands on a Misono UX10 for 30% less than US price...but I'm wondering if they're secretly laughing at me because this model is also for "export"...sigh..I guess at least I got what I went for. I also swiped a Kyocera ceramic for only $30 US!! Now that's a deal!

I enjoy agedashi tofu alot, although being chinese, I have to say the Chinese know how to make tofu. From the silken soft tofu to the brown-colored dried tofu which you can julienne and put into stirfrys....hmmm I also like "tofu-steak" which is soft tofu dipped in egg and pan fried, topped with bonito and tokatsu sauce. It's very "neighbourhood restaurant" stuff, but a very nice indulgence.

put parchment paper in the salamander...... actually, this happened during class, one of my classmates laughed at me when this happened, and proceeded to do the exact same thing.......so did 3 other students....

I once threw a wonton party at home, invited people over to make their own, many of them have not even eaten them before. They really enjoyed the whole experience. A co-worker brought his fiancee with her (whom I've never met) and they arrived late, and when I asked if they had eaten yet, they said no. I proceeded to make some wontons for them. Imagine my horror when I found the bowl untouched and left on the table at the end of the night. A friend later told me that she asked the fiancee why he didn't eat the wontons, he replied "I don't eat chinese food." I would have been more than happy to whip up something else for him, but wasting the food was so disrespectful! Why show up at a wonton party when you don't eat chinese food?

I've always enjoyed the simplicity of "plain" white congee. You have to make it with dried scallops and ginko nuts, sometimes added "fu chook" (dried bean curd sheets) is nice also, this gives you a nice base to add whatever flavours you want on top. Salted pork is always a good standby as the base flavour. My favourite when I go out to eat is "gold-silver egg" congee, which has both the preserved duck eggs and thousand-year eggs. To get the Cantonese consistency, my mom always taught me to "wash" the rice with coarse salt and oil. good luck experimenting.

My mom used to get the "Seven stars accompanied by the Moon" box, which has a HUGE mooncake in the middle with 7 (count them) yolks in it. Surrounding it in a circle were seven smaller ones with 1 yolk each inside. My mom loved the yolk, it's great sharing with her cuz I don't like the yolk, and I'll just get the paste part. But I have to admit, the dosage for mooncakes is 1/8 to 1/4 part per year.

gyoza....hmm....I think I truly can have this for lunch and then have it again for dinner! that addictive.

Thanks JC and Kristin, I'm looking for a Asian-size Western Style Chef's knife. My budget would be around $150 Canadian (what one would fork over for an 8" Wustof or Henckles Chef knife) Any suggestions? SugarToad, Chinese Cleavers I would suggest you go shopping in Chinatown, and pick up a wetstone there as well, because it's much cheaper also.

JC, Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it. Do those stores at Doguyasuji allow you to try the knives? or are they looked up in a display case? Any recommendations on which brand to buy? Any brands with skinny and short handles? thanks!

niku-man!! (do they still sell them on the street?) I remember it's usually attached to a restaurant.... :

Thanks Kristin, I'm heading to Osaka and am hoping that I'll be able to find knives at "Doguyasuji" this kitchen street in Namba. Apparently they sell kitchen wares (e.g. plastic food models) and stuff. I've got really small hands and find European chef knives really difficult to handle, I can't wrap my hand completely around the handle, when I chop the end of the handle hits my wrist. I need a knife with a very slim and short handle. Hoping that I'll find a japanese knife with a smaller handle. http://www.doguyasuji.or.jp/

reporting back on the cheesecake caramel corn....too sweet, can't taste any cheesecake ahhhh, royal milk tea....brings back good memories of kobeya croquette sand-o and piping hot cup of royal milk tea

I have a question....where would you go to purchase knives in Japan? (sorry, have been to Japan several times but I wasn't shopping for knives those times). Is there specialty kitchen stores? All I remember is that Tokyu Hands carry Global (but I really don't want to buy Global) thanks!

I think the song with women singing "Rocco cook my food" (or something like that...) was over the top cheesy!! Anyone else think that Mark Burnett was in Canada and watched some episode of "Opening Soon" and just decided to copy the idea?

Do you mean "Caramel-Corn"? The ones in a red packaging? They are really good! The original flavour I was totally a slave to for years. Now they've come up with Cheesecake flavour....I've bought it but I haven't tried it yet.

I've always loved the little ritual that you receive when you arrive at a ryokan. They offer you a hot hand towel, a nice cuppa green tea and a wagashi. I think the whole experience will be wrecked if they offered you a slice of cheesecake and a coke. Wagashi is more art than taste if you ask me. Certainly prettier just to look at than eat.

thanks! that market does look like fun. I also want to go pick up some Japanese knives at Doguya-suji in Osaka. Has anyone been? Do they carry brands like Masamoto, Nenox, or Misono?

Hi all, Will be going to Kanazawa, Osaka, Nagoya end of August to early September. I've been to Kansai twice already, but have never been to Kanazawa. Any recommendations on where (or what?) to eat, must-sees (must-eats)? appreciate any help you can give...

Calbee Karl (that farmer dude with the frog) Corn Potage flavour....soooo gooood For a few years, I was addicted to "Obasan's pota pota yaki"..the trick is to eat it sauce side down...hmmm Meiji also makes this macademia nut covered with chocolate....I can go on...but it will just make me run out and raid the nearest asian mart.....

I went to the Sapporo Beer Garden in Sapporo, Hokkaido for tabehoudai of yakiniku and beer! It was loud, smoky, and you leave smelling like your dinner! At the table next to us, were a bunch of grad students. All of them were beet-red drunk. One of them had his head on the table the whole time and would occasionally get up to go throw up. Another one was swaying non-stop on his seat. Every 5 minutes, they would all get up and sing a song. It was great fun...they were planning to ride their bikes home, all I could do was wish them luck. I think the all-you-can-drink beer was the draw here, but the yakiniku was good. I think it's the "let loose" atmosphere at these places which make them special.

congrats, Louisa, best of luck!!