Daily Nihongo (2005 - )

[Hiroyuki]

Some more information about decoy fishing (tomozuri):

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/lens/lens014.htm

http://www31.ocn.ne.jp/~ayudoraku/ENGLISH.htm

http://www.kansai.gr.jp/KansaiWindowHtml/N...00621_NEWS.HTML

(7th story)

But in recent years ayu fishing in Kansai has been in danger due to environmental disruptions, such as pollution of river water and the pavement of river banks, as well as the spread of bacterial infection.

[torakris]

5/7:

ayu can also be deep fried in a couple of ways

ayu tempura

ayu furai (fried aji)

ayu no karaage

[torakris]

5/9:

you can also drink your ayu..

ayuzake (ayu sake)

[Pan]

That looks weird to me. Have you tried it? Has any other member? How does it taste? I can't resist interjecting that that's a different kind of pickled fish than I'm used to.

[torakris]

I don't drink alcohol so have never tasted it but I was with my husband many years ago when it was served to him and he liked it....

[Hiroyuki]

I'm not familiar with ayu zake, and I'm not much of a sake drinker, but I think there are many Japanese who like hire zake (grilled fugu fin + sake), surume zake (grilled surume (dried squid)), and kotsu zake 骨酒 (grilled iwana + sake).

Hire zake (Japanese only)

http://www.tec-tsuji.com/recipe2002/chef/j...5/hiresake.html

Surume zake (Japanese only)

http://blog.so-net.ne.jp/bubu/2004-12-15

(2nd photo)

Kotsu zake

http://www.nhk-chubu-brains.co.jp/DDT-E/gi...tori/iwana.html

http://www.shio.org/diary/970302-04/

http://www.geocities.jp/wakabayashi3990701/ekeiryu1.html

[torakris]

9/2:

人工いくら

jinkou ikura

These are artificial or man-made ikura. If you see a dish that has ikura in it and the price seems to good to be true, it probably is.. You may find them sold on their own or mixed in with some "real" ones. It can be hard to tell them from the real thing. They are often made from some kind of oil and a seaweed extract and sometimes carrot juice for the coloring. You can try sniffing them out as the fake ones don't have that nice ocean smell , but the best test is to pour some hot water on them. If the surface turns a cloudy white you have the real thing!

[torakris]

9/3:

いくら丼

ikuradon

a donburi (oversized bowl of rice) topped with ikura, one of the most delectable dishes on earth.

ikuradon

[torakris]

9/5:

燻製

kunsei

smoked

When you see salmon referred to as kunsei it is usually hot smoked.

kunsei

[torakris]

9/6:

スモークサーモン

sumooku saamon

smoked salmon

If you see this on a menu or in the store, it will most likely be of the cold smoked type. Though quite a bit is imported, the Japanese also make their own.

smoked salmon

[torakris]

9/8:

鮭フレーク

sake (shake) fureeku (pronounced foo-ray-koo)

flaked salmon

This is a very common convenience food that can be found in smal glass jars almost anywhere. The most popular way of using it is probably in onigiri (rice balls) but it has a variety of cooking applications. It is quite moist and also lightly seasoned.

sake fureeku

[jeniac42]

9/8:

鮭フレーク

sake (shake) fureeku  (pronounced foo-ray-koo)

flaked salmon

This is a very common convenience food that can be found in smal glass jars almost anywhere. The most popular way of using it is probably in onigiri (rice balls) but it has a variety of cooking applications. It is quite moist and also lightly seasoned.

sake fureeku

←

This is not really a food question, but I am curious about the "shake" pronunciation. Is it dialect-related? (Since I have been taking Japanese for all of two weeks, all I know is that we've been told that "si" is really "shi" but I haven't heard yet that "sa" becomes "sha", so I was just curious.)

Anyway, now I want some onigiri!

[JayBassin]

I apologize if this has been covered before, but what is the difference between "arare" and "o-sembe" rice crackers?

[Hiroyuki]

I apologize if this has been covered before, but what is the difference between "arare" and "o-sembe" rice crackers?

←

As I stated here, arare is made from mochi gome (glutinous rice) while sembei is made from uruchi mai (regular Japonica rice).

[torakris]

Sorry for the delay in posting, I somehow lost the paper I had all my notes on....

9/13:

石狩鍋

ishikari nabe

A speciality of Ishikari City in Hokkaido, this is a hotpot of salmon and vegetables in a miso seasoned broth.

ishikarinabe

[Pan]

Yum! I want some of that!

Do people in Hokkaido usually save the hotpot for the cold times? (Hmm...is early September already cold there?)

[torakris]

Yum! I want some of that!

Do people in Hokkaido usually save the hotpot for the cold times? (Hmm...is early September already cold there?)

←

Hotpots are almost always winter food, I don't know anyone who would pull out the nabe in the summer. September is still pretty hot, maybe October.

[jeniac42]

I want some Ishikari nabe now! It's still way too hot to eat anything like that but I'd love to find a recipe for the winter.

Edited: Oh! I just found smallworld's excellent post here. I will definitely try this out on one of the first cold days.

Edited September 14, 2005 by jeniac42 (log)

[torakris]

9/14:

チャンチャン焼き

chan chan yaki

This is dish of salmon (often a whole side of it) and vegetables all covered with a miso sauce. This is a very popular food for BBQs and the vegetables can be anything you have on hand though they usually include, onions, carrots and bean sprouts and other things like cabbage and mushrooms. The salmon is placed on a plate in teh middle of the grill and the vegetables form a circle around it, the sauce is placed on top and everything is cooked until done. It is then often mixed together just before eating.

chanchanyaki on the grill

and in a hot plate

[torakris]

9/15:

三平汁

sanpei jiru

This soup is another speciality of Hokkaido. It is made with salted salmon, daikon, potatoes, carrots and onions, though other vegetables can be added as desired. The broth can be seasoned simply with just salt or with sake lees, I have even seen a couple recipes for miso.

sanpei jiru with sake lees

and with a simple salt flavored broth

[torakris]

9/16:

どんがら汁

dongara jiru

This is a speciality of Yamagata prefecture that can be made with salmon. It is similar to sanpei jiru but the other main ingredients tend to be tofu and scallions and with a miso base.

dongara jiru

[torakris]

9/18:

鮭茶漬け

sake chazuke

Also called sake ochazuke, this a great way to use up a bit of leftover cooked salmon. For those unfamiliar with ochazuke this is a dish of rice with some simple topping that hot green tea is then poured over.

the ochazuke thread

sake chazuke

[torakris]

9/19:

はらこ飯

harako meshi

This is a donburi style dish of rice topped with salmon and ikura. Harako is the term used in the Northern parts of Japan to refer to the salmon roe. This dish is a speciality in the North and is often jsut referred to as Sake no Oyako-don in other parts of Japan. Oyako-don (literally parent - child donburi) usually is made with chicken and eggs.

harako meshi

[torakris]

9/20:

トロサーモン

toro salmon

This is the belly cut of the salmon, the same as maguro's (tuna) toro, and is almost always used in raw applications. Similar to the toro from maguro it is very tender with a melt in your mouth quality.

toro salmon

[torakris]

9/21:

炙り

aburi

This is something that has been seared, and most likely over a direct flame. This is a popular technique used with the fatty fish that heightens the flavor while leaving a hint of smokiness. Toro salmon takes very well to this treatment and is a common dish (or nigiri sushi) in many places.

aburi toro salmon