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eG Foodblog: torakris - a week of fun in Japan

torakris

By torakris
in Food Traditions & Culture

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Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

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Posted
I will drink instant coffee if it the only thing available. :biggrin:

I keep an instant espresso on hand for baking and prefer this over any other instant coffee I have ever had.

I use both pre-ground and whole bean (I have a mill), but have been using pre-ground almost exclusively since I started using the Toddy method cold brew.

Thank you for your reply.

By the way, how is the weather in your area? Here in Shiozawa, it's not windy but it's raining. My son and I cannot go mushroom gathering today. :sad:

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Dejah

Dejah

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Kris,

Please explain about the squid fermented in its own guts! :shock:

Are the squids raw? How long have they been fermenting? What else is in the mixture?

How do you eat it?

Edited by Dejah (log)

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

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torakris

torakris

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Thank you for your reply.

By the way, how is the weather in your area?  Here in Shiozawa, it's not windy but it's raining.  My son and I cannot go mushroom gathering today. :sad:

We too have a lot of rain, but not too much wind. It should hit our area about 3:00pm, about 8 hours from now.

IOt looks like it will pass over pretty quickly and Sunday is forecast as sunny! :biggrin: with a high of 30 C (about 85 F), it always gets really hot after a typhoon, I prefer it a little cooler for the undokai, but shoganai. (shoganai = it can't be helped)

I hope you can get out mushroom picking later this weekend, I'd love to see pictures of what you find.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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Kris, the nabe looks wonderful.  What kind of broth do you use?

I don't normally use a broth for kimchi nabe, but this time I tossed in some instant Korean beef stock with some sake, soy sauce and kojuchang.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Susan in FL

Susan in FL

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Kris, I enjoyed the article about sake in the current issue of Food & Wine and I thought of you. I haven't seen a mention of matching up sake, wine, or beer with your beautiful foods. What beverages do you enjoy with dinners, and what are some of your favorite pairings?

Edited by Susan in FL (log)

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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torakris

torakris

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Kris, I enjoyed the article about sake in the current issue of Food & Wine and I thought of you.  I haven't seen a mention of matching up sake, wine, or beer with your beautiful foods.  What beverages do you enjoy with dinners, and what are some of your favorite pairings?

I don't, I should say can't, drink alcohol. Though I cook with it, I don't really care for the flavor of it straight and it will send me to the toilet vomiting in a couple of hours anyway.... :angry:

I drink only water with my meals, though if I am out I may have an unsweetened iced tea, I find other drinks "interfere" with the flavors. :blink:

I am also one of those people who doesn't like my food to touch.....

My husband will have a drink with most meals, occasionally beer, but mostly wine or shochu mixed with something like a juice. He isn't a sake drinker either.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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Kris,

Please explain about the squid fermented in its own guts! :shock:

Are the squids raw? How long have they been fermenting? What else is in the mixture?

How do you eat it?

Yes the squid and te guts are all raw, the only other thing added to this particular one is salt. I am not sure on a fermenting period, everyone may do theirs differently. My FIL's version is eaten after a couple of hours, though my husabnd is eating it now 48 hours later and he says it tastes the same...

we had a thread on various uses for fish guts (mostly shio-kara talk) here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=34446

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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Saturday breakfast:

I cooked up some sausages for the kids

gallery_6134_184_1097277348.jpg

(I also had one)

and they had rice with furikake (rice sprinkles), my son insisted in buying a variety pack that has the deka-ranger (like Power rangers) show characters on it. I think there were 5 different flavors.

gallery_6134_184_1097277371.jpg

sorry blurry pictures again...

My husband, who took the day off because of the undokai, had a 2 large bowls of rice each mixed with a raw egg and some soy sauce and then topped with the leftover squid in its guts.

I am enjoying my iced coffee and am contemplating a banana...

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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tejon

tejon

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Are the sausages similar to hot dogs? I've seen many pictures of bentos for children with sausages that look the same, so I've wondered if they were the same general product or just all have the same size and appearance.

Kathy

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. - Harriet Van Horne

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torakris

torakris

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Are the sausages similar to hot dogs?  I've seen many pictures of bentos for children with sausages that look the same, so I've wondered if they were the same general product or just all have the same size and appearance.

This is the typical size of sausages in Japan. The flavor can vary depending on the brand, I prefer the arabiki style. Arabiki simply means coarsely ground (and can also refer to things like coffee grounds or black pepper), these are a little "chunkier" in the filling than the smooth American style hot dogs. they also contain more fat and it may sound strange but the skin is tighter. :blink: So when you bite into it, the skin actually snaps and fatty juices flow into your mouth, and dribble down your chin. :biggrin:

In the US, my Japanese friends always used to buy cocktail sausages...

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

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My husband will have a drink with most meals, occasionally beer, but mostly wine or shochu mixed with something like a juice. He isn't a sake drinker either.

beer? You probably mean happoushu (low-malt beer), right? Or, real beer? Then you must be rich!

As for vienna sausages, I sometimes make them into octopus shapes (with four legs, though) for my children.

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torakris

torakris

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beer?  You probably mean happoushu (low-malt beer), right?  Or, real beer?  Then you must be rich!

Sorry, yes it is happoushu he drinks, I'd never let him drink the real stuff! :biggrin:

We refer to to all as beer... :blink:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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The phone message from the pre-school has made its rounds ad the undokai has been postponed to Monday the 11th, they are worried that the grounds will be too wet tomorrow....

I guess I won't be making the trip to Kappabashi with the other Tokyo egulleteers.... :sad:

Since Sunday has opened up, my in-laws have invited us to go eat brunch at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo, this is an American military hotel and they have a quite good Sunday Champagne buffet brunch, we go with my in-laws almost once a month. My FIL who has absolutely no connection to the US military/government has somehow managed (through good connections I guess) to receive a VIP pass that allows him entrance. So we go as his guests....

The hotel and its restaurants is for military and their families only.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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gus_tatory

gus_tatory

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you said: "My husband...had 2 large bowls of rice each mixed with a raw egg..."

Kristin: is salmonella not a concern there with the raw eggs? or are North Americans just being paranoid, or both?

:biggrin:

i know raw quail eggs go on top of a lot of things, but are raw chicken eggs used as well?

thanks, :smile:

gus

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the ocean."

--Isak Dinesen

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torakris

torakris

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I don't get it.. Is beer crazy expensive there? Like how much? :blink:

An average price on a 500ml can of happoushu is about $2,. while "real" beer is about $3, so unless you aer a very casual drinker it can start to add up.

You can get it cheaper when you buy by the case of 24 cans, my MIL buys the real stuff for about $40 for 24 cans and my husband buy the cheap stuff for about $20.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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you said: "My husband...had 2 large bowls of rice each mixed with a raw egg..."

Kristin: is salmonella not a concern there with the raw eggs? or are North Americans just being paranoid, or both?

:biggrin:

i know raw quail eggs go on top of a lot of things, but are raw chicken eggs used as well?

thanks,  :smile:

gus

North Americans are just paranoid. :biggrin:

just kidding! I have never really heard about salmonella problems here, occasionally I see something about the elderly or very young should not eat raw eggs, but I have friends whose kids have been eating them almost daily since about the age of 3.

The Japanese use both raw quail eggs and raw chicken eggs.

We dipped our nabe into raw eggs last night and they will go into the Ceasar salad dressing I will make for dinner tonight.

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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for lunch today I took the leftovers from last night's chige, added the leftover rice, cracked open two eggs and stirred them into the pot and ended up with a zosui (rice porridge like dish).

This is a common way to finish up hotpots, by adding things like cooked rice or cooked noodles (usually udon) and eggs or other ingredients. Many people do this at the end of the meal, but I like to save it for the next day, so it makes two meals! :biggrin:

gallery_6134_184_1097295754.jpg

the kids ate the leftover ton-jiru, I made extra last night just for this purpose. :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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torakris

torakris

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Ended up going out to the store today to buy my rice, since we are going to be gone most of the day on Sunday I figured I should just get it out of the way. My husband was also out of shochu, so we went to cheap liquor store chain called Yamaya that has good prices on things. I also stocked up on 100 yen ($1) bags of 500g of pasta, 100 yen cans of coconut milk and 100yen snacks for the kids to take when they go to their friend's houses.

On the way home we decided to stop in at a cake shop owned by a friend of ours, we only go here about twice a year because cakes can be very expensive in Japan.

gallery_6134_184_1097295773.jpg

Mia got teh cookies, Julia got the roll cake, my husband got the chocolate cake, Hide the cream puff and I had the fig tart (it had a pistachio mousse under the figs)

the stores homepage:

http://www.ange-japon.com/

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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