Japanese foods-- yasai

[Sinbad]

Though they seem like a free dish (since you don't specifically order it) in most restauants in Japan you will be charged for them.

I always considered them to be more like a cover charge, or included in the cover charge, since they tend to come with the first set of drinks while deciding what to order. Can't really decline it.

[herbacidal]

Another debate is stringing beans and snowpeas. Do you do it?

I think all the beans back in Canada have had the strings bred out of them, so stringing is no longer necessary. What about in Japan?

And snowpeas- it seems you're supposed to string BOTH sides of snap peas, which I haven't been doing. Is this true or is my husband just a sadist?

interesting contrast.

i've never known anyone doing chinese food to take either end off bean sprouts.

however, we always take the ends off string beans and snow peas.

[helenjp]

Ummm...well I think the rootlets of moyashi taste bitter. I start out thinking I'll just snap a few off, and end up working grumpily through the whole bag.

However, if I soak the whole lot in plenty of water for an hour, the taste is considerably improved.

I hear that you should keep moyashi in water in the fridge, and change it every day. I think it improves the taste, but I rarely bother to do it.

[torakris]

I hear that you should keep moyashi in water in the fridge, and change it every day. I think it improves the taste, but I rarely bother to do it.

I think I will try this!

Whenever I buy moyashi they never seem to last for more then a day, they start to get slimy.

Maybe putting them in a tupperware container with water will make them last longer.

They are on sale this Sunday for \10 (about $.09) a bag and I wanted to pick up a couple bags, but can't use them all in one day!

any other storage tips?

[dornachu]

I just bought some okra, and frankly, i've only had it in soul food restaurants (deep fried).

Care to share some of your recipes?

[helenjp]

chopped with natto!

Chopped with a little bit of umeboshi and served on top of cold silken tofu with a nice thatch of katsuobushi and a drizzle of soy sauce/mirin mixture. Add a spot of mountain potato to the okra mix if you like.

or...in fine rings with squid sashimi.

It tempuras quite well.

It goes well in Japanese-style curries.

I like it in miso soup - blanch and pull it out before the bright green color fades, put it in your miso bowl and then pour the completed soup over it later.

Edited June 20, 2005 by helenjp (log)

[cathrynapple]

i can't like okra. it is slimy. :(

[torakris]

I love okra

The easiest and one of the best ways I serve it is with a simple wasabi-joyu. Just barely blanch the pods then slice them and tos them with a bit of soy sauce that has been mixed with wasabi.

Also I love it mixed with other slimy foods like natto, or nagaimo/yamaimo, the picture below is okra (blanched then sliced) with grated nagaimo seasoned with a bit of miso, soy sauce and mirin.

another favorite is minced (blanched) okar mixed with ginger and a bit of soy sauce then eaten with tofu, tomatoes make a nice addition to the dish

[Pan]

For some more ideas, look here:

The Okra Thread

[dornachu]

Nagaimo and Okra combo really scares me...

I cannot get use to nagaimo, had it twice, didn't quite like it.

[prasantrin]

I know there's a satsumaimo thread, already, so if you think this belongs there, feel free to merge me! (I also posted in the Cooking thread, but no one wants to help me there )

I've been craving sweet potatoes for some time, now. But not satsumaimo--the bright orange ones sometimes called "yams" in the US and Canada. I have not been able to find raw ones, so it seems if I want some, I have to get canned.

Has anyone here tried the canned ones? FBC has two types availalbe--Princella and Springfield. I'm going to have to buy a case regardless of which type I buy. I mostly just roast them with butter, brown sugar, and pecans or walnuts, or I mash them.

Or has anyone ever found some of the raw ones here in Japan? I'd even consider finding my way to Tokyo to get some!!

[torakris]

Rona,

This is one food I have been searching for for almost 11 years...

There are some orange fleshed sweet potatoes on the markets in recent years and I buy them as soon as I see them but none have been the same yet.

I remember buying a can many years ago and being disappointed. Now I just get my fix on trips back to the US.

[Hiroyuki]

I know nothing about American or Canadian varieties, but how about annou? Is it similar in color, taste, and texture? Have any of you ever tried it? Me? No.

http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~seed/veget.htm

Fourth one from the top

[torakris]

Annou is the closest I have gotten, but it doesn't have the depth of flavor.

Scrolling down that link a bit the ninjin-imo looks similar to the American one we are dreaming about. I have never seen that one before.

this is what an American sweet potato looks like

[prasantrin]

I know nothing about American or Canadian varieties, but how about annou?  Is it similar in color, taste, and texture?  Have any of you ever tried it?  Me?  No.

http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~seed/veget.htm

Fourth one from the top

←

I bought one of those once. It just wasn't the same.

Like Kristen said, the ninjinimo looks pretty close. I wonder if I could grow potatoes in pots...if I could, I might try to grow some of those next season! (Whenver that might be--I can only read well enough to see that it's not available now.)

I guess I'll have to wait till the next time I'm home, too. I usually only get cravings for sweet potatoes during fall/winter, though, and I only go home during summer. Bad luck for me! I might try to find a single can somewhere, just to get the craving out of my system. Who knows, if the canned stuff is really bad, I may never crave them again!

[Salli Vates]

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone knows exactly what this "shikora" is. I bought the vegetable at a Japanese grocery store because I initially thought it was a scallion, but now I'm wondering.

[Hiroyuki]

Are you sure it's a Japanese vegetable? I've never heard of such a vegetable .

[Salli Vates]

Are you sure it's a Japanese vegetable?  I've never heard of such a vegetable .

←

Hmm. Maybe Shikora is the brand name?

They taste more garlicky that oniony.

[Hiroyuki]

"Shikora" doesn't sound very Japanese to me.

Does it look like any of the following?:

bannou negi

wakegi

asatsuki

Or, can it be nira?

[torakris]

I too had never heard of this and tried searching online thinking maybe it was a regional term, but no luck. I even tried various spellings...

you say it was garlicky?

how about ninniku no me? often translated as garlic sprouts or garlic stems.

It sounds to me like either this or nira (that Hiroyuki posted a link to).

[Salli Vates]

Thank you! My apologies, I read it wrong, it is indeed "nira." So, apparently this is a kind of chive?

Edited March 7, 2006 by Salli Vates (log)

[torakris]

Thank you! My apologies, I read it wrong, it is indeed "nira." So, apparently this is a kind of chive?

←

Chives and nira are both relatives in the onion family.

Here is some good information about them.

[Salli Vates]

thanks so much for the information!

Edited March 7, 2006 by Salli Vates (log)

[Culinista]

I sometimes put them into my gyoza stuffing

[sanrensho]

Kristin, maybe you could append the thread title to include "Nira." That would avoid confusion when somebody does a search in the future.