nebaneba

[torakris]

nebaneba translates into English as sticky, slimy, gooey, etc, the thing is in Japan these are all good things, at least when it comes to food.

When I am reading western cookbooks they always give special techniques for making naturally slimy foods like okra to be ans not slimy as possible. Personally I love the slime! The Japanese take something like okra and mince it up into little tiny pieces to make the slime even more pronounced. Sometimes they even take a bunch of slimy foods and mix them all together to make a slimy dish set for kings.

Yesterday for breakast we had a dish of two slimy foods, nattou and melokhiya (a green)

what are some of your favorite Japanese slimy foods

favorite combinations?

[helenjp]

"Ika-oka" - sashimi-grade squid minced or shredded up with fresh okra. Looks pretty, too.

[therese]

Natto with yamakake.

And I don't have to go to Japan to get it!

[Hiroyuki]

Natto with okra.

[Hiroyuki]

And of course,

mulukhiya (Jew's marrow)

I just boil it in water, drain, and eat it with ponzu and dried bonito flakes (katsuo bushi).

[torakris]

let's not forget about mekabu:

http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~kairakus/mekabu.JPG

and nagaimo/yamaimo:

http://www.yamasyoku.net/yamakake.jpg

[helenjp]

A new slimy food! Okra blossoms! (Hana-okra, tororo-aoi)

okra blossoms

[Suzanne F]

Well, someone has to say it:

Does Peter Pan know that Japan is nebaneba land?

Sorry.

On the brighter side: I had natto in sushi while on vacation, and I kind of liked it!

[torakris]

A new slimy food! Okra blossoms! (Hana-okra, tororo-aoi)

okra blossoms

I have never heard of this before!

I think I am shopping at the wrong places!

[torakris]

let's not forget about mekabu:

http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~kairakus/mekabu.JPG

and nagaimo/yamaimo:

http://www.yamasyoku.net/yamakake.jpg

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and this is what happens when you toss them together

[Hiroyuki]

So-called nebaneba shokuhin (slimy food) are known to have various health benefits.

According to this webpage (Japanese only),

the main components of slime are mucin, alginic acid, pectine, and chondroitin sulfate.

I found a webpage describing mucin:

http://us.healthsupplementfood.com/info.php/91/

[mascarpone]

And of course,

mulukhiya (Jew's marrow)

I just boil it in water, drain, and eat it with ponzu and dried bonito flakes (katsuo bushi).

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Out of curiosity, how did this dish get its name (Jew's marrow)? Forgive me for saying so, but this name is quite odd, to say the least.

Edited June 13, 2005 by mascarpone (log)

[JasonTrue]

And of course,

mulukhiya (Jew's marrow)

I just boil it in water, drain, and eat it with ponzu and dried bonito flakes (katsuo bushi).

←

Out of curiosity, how did this dish get its name (Jew's marrow)? Forgive me for saying so, but this name is quite odd, to say the least.

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I think molokhiya or melokhiya isn't usually translated this way.

It's most popular in Egypt. It's probably just usually explained, rather than translated, as Egyptian greens or an Egyptian stew. I've heard it translated as "royal greens" or "bush okra." Jew's Marrow is probably a strange corruption of "jute mallow".

[torakris]

Melokhiya thread in the Africa and Middle East forum

[sanrensho]

nebaneba translates into English as sticky, slimy, gooey, etc,

In defense of all things gooey (melted chocolate, Nuttela, etc.), I must insist that it be excluded from the "nebaneba" list.

Just so nobody gets the wrong impression, "nebaneba" implies more of a sticky or viscuous texture. Of course, some gooey foods do happen to be sticky, but not all.

Favorite nebaneba food: yamaimo.

Edited June 13, 2005 by sanrensho (log)

[torakris]

nebaneba translates into English as sticky, slimy, gooey, etc,

In defense of all things gooey (caramel sauce, melted chocolate, Nuttela, etc.), I must insist that it be excluded from the "nebaneba" list.

Just so nobody gets the wrong impression, "nebaneba" implies more of a sticky or viscuous texture. Of course, some gooey foods do happen to be sticky, but not all.

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gooey is now officially excluded!

I actually think slimy is the best description but it also sounds the worst...

[peter_nyc]

Is there a distinction between yamaimo and namaimo?

[JasonTrue]

Yamaimo are usually small, varying in size between that typical for yukon gold potatoes down to the size of baby or new potatoes. They aren't often found in US markets, at least in Seattle. When I saw them in Japan it was often from a roadside (well, train station side) vendor in a rural town.

Nagaimo are long tubers that can be a good meter in length, but are usually cut smaller in supermarkets.

The texture and starchiness is similar.

Is there a distinction between yamaimo and namaimo?

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[torakris]

Is there a distinction between yamaimo and namaimo?

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namaimo or nagaimo?

namaimo often written as　生芋　literally means "raw potato" though you don't see it used all that often. It can also be used to refer to the "potato" used for making konnyaku, either as the name of the potato or the process by which the konnyaku is made. The latter is a more common usage. You may see konnyaku labeled as namaimo konnyaku, this means it is made the old fashioned way by grating the raw "potato" (imo) this gave it the gray color. Modern methods use coloring from sea vegetables such as hijiki to give it a grey color.

Recipes for making konnyaku from scratch call the "potato" (imo) different things, most commonly konnyaku-imo but also namaimo and 生玉。I am not sure of the reading of the last characters but possibly ikutama? (namatama, sounds funny ) Anybody?

now if you actually meant nagaimo.....

[torakris]

here is a post from the mountain potato thread that describes the various types with a link to a site that has pictures.

[peter_nyc]

Yes, I meant nagaimo, silly me Sorry for the confusion, but thanks for all the great info!

I'm desperate to make myself yamakake.. I've been eating since I was 8 and absolutely love the stuff. Mostly the variety where the nagaimo is grated to a slimy goo, but recently I've fallen head over heels for the matchsticked-variety. YUMMMMMMMM.

[torakris]

Yes, I meant nagaimo, silly me   Sorry for the confusion, but thanks for all the great info!

I'm desperate to make myself yamakake.. I've been eating since I was 8 and absolutely love the stuff.  Mostly the variety where the nagaimo is grated to a slimy goo, but recently I've fallen head over heels for the matchsticked-variety.  YUMMMMMMMM.

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the two are really interchangeable, I usually use nagaimo because it is cheaper and find the size easier to grate.

[peter_nyc]

Now for the $25,000 question: I am familiar with the term yamakake, but is there such a thing as nagakake or even namakake?

[torakris]

Now for the $25,000 question:  I am familiar with the term yamakake, but is there such a thing as nagakake or even namakake?

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no

Which ever type of mountain potato you use it will still be yamakake.

[jeniac42]

I will admit that I have some texture issues with food and am still working hard to overcome my inherent dislike of slimy foods. I do like okra when it's fried but not sure about a preparation that would emphasize its slimy texture.

I was eating some miso soup with wakame a few minutes ago and have to admit that I even find wakame a little too slimy when I eat a lot of it at one time.

I wonder if there is a good way to get used to this type of texture?