shun no mono -- aki

[Hiroyuki]

I wonder if only Japanese consider eggplant a fall food. ... In Europe eggplant was considered a quintessentially summer food. When I went to China several times in 2002, one of the trips was in the early fall, and I asked some colleagues for an eggplant dish when we went out to dinner, and was advised that the eggplant was not so good that time of year

←

Interesting!

Here's a wellknown proberb regarding akinasu:

Akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna

秋茄子は嫁に食わすな

Don't let your daughter-in-law eat akinasu.

There are at least three possible interpretations of this proverb:

1. Akinasu are so tasty that you just can't let her eat them.

2. Akinasu are seedless; don't let her eat them, or she may become infertile.

3. Akinasu cool a human's body; eating them is bad for her health.

I think that interpretation 1 is correct while 2 and 3 are just pretexts for not wanting your daughter-in-law eat them.

[Kiem Hwa]

JasonTrue,

Your nagaimo-dango looks so fun and interesting! Definately let us know when you find a perfect recipe! What else can nagaimo-dango be used in besides soups?

I am always trying to think of new ways to eat my nagaimo....too bad my BF wont eat nagaimo or eggplant.... so much for my plans of aki-nasu

As fall as autumn flavors, I love kuri (chestnuts) the best!

[JasonTrue]

My own daigaku-imo.

Details and bigger photo on my blog

[JasonTrue]

More conventional food...

Kabocha no nimono... simmered squash. The squash is just turning pleasant in color and taste now in Seattle; as of a week ago, the color tended to be a little pale, but it's getting better.

Kabocha no nimono

This is one of my favorite fall dishes.

[torakris]

My neighbors and I decided to get together and have a Fall BBQ party, there were about 50 in all (all women and children).

The menu:

grilled salted saury pike (sanma no shioyaki), they may not look really good but they were burned to perfection! These were really good.

we also roasted sweet potatoes (satsumaimo) that had been wrapped in wet newspapers and then foil and placed in the coals. These disappeared as soon as we pulled them out so I never got a picture.

the grill was also used to make grilled rice balls (yaki onigiri) with various toppings

My dish, three with soy sauce, one with miso and one with kochujang and wrapped in shiso

and finally we made three large pots of tonjiru ( a miso soup with pork and various vegetables)

[Hiroyuki]

I received a large box of chestnuts from my parents today, who live in Kimitsu city, Chiba prefecture.

My wife made kuri okowa (not kuri gohan), which is a combination of chestnuts and glutinous rice (mochi gome).  All my family love it.

We have to do osusowake (gift sharing) again...

←

This year, I got chestnusts from my parents today.

It took me more than 50 minutes to shell about 40 of them, even though I used the special gadget called kurikuri bozu. We are going to have kuri okowa tomorrow!

[torakris]

I can't believe it is autumn already! I leave Japan for 7 weeks and I come back to find the store shelves filled with chestnuts, matsutake and Asian pears. I feel like I missed the whole summer season. 50 minutes to peel all of those?? That is one of the reasons I started to buy the packs of prepared chestnuts for kuri-gohan.

[Cheeko]

I can't believe it is autumn already! I leave Japan for 7 weeks and I come back to find the store shelves filled with chestnuts, matsutake and Asian pears. I feel like I missed the whole summer season.   50 minutes to peel all of those?? That is one of the reasons I started to buy the packs of prepared chestnuts for kuri-gohan.

←

I am envious - I can't wait for Autumn to show up here in Florida. I'll have to wait until late September to mail order chestnuts and then in November, the dried-up bitter ones will show up in the stores ... but I can't wait to smell kuri gohan again!

I've been very lazy about making takikomi gohan from scratch, partly because of the selection of mushrooms in my area. I've resorted to kamameshi mixes by Yamamori - not bad and on occasion, I'll get a big slice of matsutake...but since I've never eaten a fresh or "proper" matsutake, I couldn't tell you how it really is

Thinking about what to do for Tsukimi this year... I think there might be a potluck in store for that evening. I noticed that McDonald's has already announced the return of the tsukimi burger

[rykomatsu]

A smidgen early but nabemono I had yudofu yesterday with some matsutake...it was chilly for september in San Jose last night

[Hiroyuki]

Sanma are in season! I bought three of them today for the first time this fall, for 77 yen each. (I had to finish off the 29 rainbow trouts that my children caught in late August first). The cheapest ones have been 68 yen each so far around here.

Most Japanese would laugh at me when I said I hate the bitter innards of sanma.

I grilled them in my reliable toaster oven for ten minutes first and then for another five minutes.

Looks yummy, huh?

My family had them with bottled sudachi juice. I omitted grated daikon this time, because my children hate it.

[helenjp]

Sudachi go so well with sanma, and handily just in season at the right time!

Sudachi rind and juice go well with grilled chicken too.

I was given a nice big bag of them, and am trying to think of special things to do with them.

[smallworld]

I was given a nice big bag of them, and am trying to think of special things to do with them.

←

Me too. In years past I would slowly use them one by one until I realized the remaining ones were all dried out. I don't want to waste them again this year so am thinking of ways to use them up all at once.

Ponzu maybe?

[helenjp]

I guess ponzu it is. It almost seems a waste, though it's very good on grilled shiitake (the big, thick ones).

I just remembered, sudachi is good instead of yuzu in this type of Sanuki (Shikoku-style) udon. I don't know if this is how people make it now, but the way I learned it was to boil up the noodles, serve them out, pour over a little of the water they were boiled in, and at the table add any or all of grated ginger, negi, yuzu peel, and sesame. Drizzle with shoyu, and down the hatch! When using sudachi, I usually use the juice as well as the rind.

Sudachi chuu-hai? Sudachi jam?

[Hiroyuki]

The other day, I found an intriguing fruit sold at the supermarket, and I just had to buy one pack of two for 380 yen.

The fruit is called Wassa (sp?), ワッサー in Japanese, and is natural crossbreed of a pear and a nectarine.

The fruit was good enough, but I prefer nectarines.

[nakji]

Do they differ significantly in looks from a Japanese peach? Because the interior looks like the "peaches" I (thought I) have been eating for the past two weeks. I buy my fruit from a discount shop that doesn't have much in the way of labeling or packaging, so I just assumed they were peaches.

[Hiroyuki]

Do they differ significantly in looks from a Japanese peach? Because the interior looks like the "peaches" I (thought I) have been eating for the past two weeks. I buy my fruit from a discount shop that doesn't have much in the way of labeling or packaging, so I just assumed they were peaches.

←

Not so significantly different in looks from a peach, as you can easily see from the photos, but the flesh is firmer and is sweet and sour. It's more like a nectarine than a peach.

[Hiroyuki]

Today, I got a box of 11 nectarines for 680 yen. They are rated "B" and are cheaper than immaculate ones.

I don't care if they are flawless or not as long as they are as good.

[nakji]

Today, one of my students brought in a small bag of chestnuts that she'd boiled in a sugar syrup. She also brought in some plates and green tea, so we started our lesson in a most civilized way! I had a hard time explaining why chestnuts aren't so common in Canada - Chestnut Blight is hard to explain. We still have some chestnut trees around, especially in my hometown, Halifax - but I'll be darned if I ever saw anyone eating a chestnut. It's a shame, since they're so delicious. I used to buy roasted chestnuts on the streets of Seoul - what a great treat! But that doesn't seem so common here in Japan.

I also had happened to pick up a supermarket bento for lunch - from an okowa specialist. They had several to choose from, and I chose takikomi gohan and kuri gohan. They were so incredibly delicious! I've made takikomi gohan before, but never with sticky rice. Can anybody give me proportions for these dishes? I don't have a rice cooker, I just use a pot on the stovetop.

One more question - the takikomi gohan I had had some sort of chicken in eat - it looked like it had been braised or simmered in shoyu. I've had this before in other preparations before, too - notably a table charge salad at my favourite izakaya. Can you tell me a method for making this? It isn't sticky or sweet - it's slightly dry chicken tinted brown from soy.

[torakris]

. I used to buy roasted chestnuts on the streets of Seoul - what a great treat! But that doesn't seem so common here in Japan.

I also had happened to pick up a supermarket bento for lunch - from an okowa specialist. They had several to choose from, and I chose takikomi gohan and kuri gohan. They were so incredibly delicious! I've made takikomi gohan before, but never with sticky rice. Can anybody give me proportions for these dishes? I don't have a rice cooker, I just use a pot on the stovetop.

One more question - the takikomi gohan I had had some sort of chicken in eat - it looked like it had been braised or simmered in shoyu. I've had this before in other preparations before, too - notably a table charge salad at my favourite izakaya. Can you tell me a method for making this? It isn't sticky or sweet - it's slightly dry chicken tinted brown from soy.

←

Another thing to look forward to in Korea!! Roasted chestnuts! The only places I see them in Japan are in Yokohama's China Town and at rest areas on the freeway.

Don't forget to check out the Takikomi thread.

There are a lot of recipes there. I often make takikomi with sticky rice by using 1/2 cup of sticky rice with 2 1/2 cups of regular rice, I find this gives me the best texture.

I am usually too lazy to season the chicken when I add it to takikomi but my MIL often gently simmers it in some dashi-soy-sake-mirin before adding it to the rice cooker.

[Hiroyuki]

I've never thought about the mochi rice-to-water ratio because I always use a rice cooker.

One recipe results in a mochi rice to water ratio of 1:0.55, while another results in 1:0.625. Anyway, the amount of water should be lower than that for regular rice.

I'm not sure what you mean by your description of chicken, but I guess it's easy to make. Simply combine mirin, soy sauce, and sake (plus additional water, if required) together in a pot, add chicken, simmer for some time, and drain. Let the liquid cool and add it to a (rice cooker) pot that already contains washed rice. When the rice is cooked, add the pre-seasoned chicken. I follow similar steps when making takikomi gohan with mushrooms. I don't want to cook the mushrooms together with the rice and other ingredients (carrots, abura-age, etc.) to keep their flavor and texture.

[Hiroyuki]

I made kuri okowa for supper tonight. I measured the amount of water required for 4-go mochi rice after I put water to the 4-go level for okowa. The rice to water ratio was 1:0.7.

Edited to add:

4 go (= 720 ml) mochi rice and 500 ml water.

500/720 = 0.69

Edited October 18, 2008 by Hiroyuki (log)

[SheenaGreena]

Today, one of my students brought in a small bag of chestnuts that she'd boiled in a sugar syrup. She also brought in some plates and green tea, so we started our lesson in a most civilized way! I had a hard time explaining why chestnuts aren't so common in Canada - Chestnut Blight is hard to explain. We still have some chestnut trees around, especially in my hometown, Halifax - but I'll be darned if I ever saw anyone eating a chestnut. It's a shame, since they're so delicious. I used to buy roasted chestnuts on the streets of Seoul - what a great treat! But that doesn't seem so common here in Japan.

I also had happened to pick up a supermarket bento for lunch - from an okowa specialist. They had several to choose from, and I chose takikomi gohan and kuri gohan. They were so incredibly delicious! I've made takikomi gohan before, but never with sticky rice. Can anybody give me proportions for these dishes? I don't have a rice cooker, I just use a pot on the stovetop.

One more question - the takikomi gohan I had had some sort of chicken in eat - it looked like it had been braised or simmered in shoyu. I've had this before in other preparations before, too - notably a table charge salad at my favourite izakaya. Can you tell me a method for making this? It isn't sticky or sweet - it's slightly dry chicken tinted brown from soy.

←

yep, nothing's better than roasted chestnuts. I came up with the brilliant idea on friday that my mother and I should grill on charcoal. We marinated some squid in the marinade that is used on both nakji bokum and ojingeo bokum. Good stuff. Well after we were done I said why not throw some sweet potatoes on the grill? They were perfectly done after an hour, but weren't as sweet as they could've been. We also wanted to do some chestnuts, but had to save them for my little sister ): She's flying in in 2 weeks and wants us to save some so she can eat them. Luckily we have a family friend with a chestnut tree who brings us bags of them in the fall.

The other week I even tried a Japanese recipe with my mother where we added chestnuts to sweet glutinous rice. She is not a big fan of eating non Korean food, so she was skeptical, but she loved it. We even added ginko nuts to it that we had picked ourselves. STINKY stuff.