The new Japanese Cooking Thread: Now With 72% Less Pocky and Instant Ramen.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The new Japanese Cooking Thread: Now With 72% Less Pocky and Instant Ramen.

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Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Obeast posted:

I've been curious about Japanese cooking and snack foods for some time now, but (AFAIK since I haven't done a lot of looking or asking around) there aren't any real good Japanese/Asian markets in my immediate area and all the grocery stores that have Asian food aisles don't have much to begin with outside of the usual rice noodles, soy sauce, panko, and Pocky. Outside of third-party sellers on Amazon who seem to charge $5 for shipping (which probably isn't bad assuming you buy a lot from one seller), are there any good sites to buy Japanese food and ingredients from?

Where are you located?

# ¿ Sep 1, 2014 00:40

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:01

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Obeast posted:

In a small town in California's Central Valley (aka the agricultural area of the state). I actually live a few hours from the Bay Area, which I know has some pretty good Asian markets, but I don't want to use up gas to go there just to go shopping for Japanese food stuff. I do go to Salinas every week or so for family stuff, but the Asian markets there I found on Yelp are too far off my usual path, and/or close at 5 PM, which is about the time I usually start headed home. But, if any goons know of any good places in that area, I'll take recommendations.

Hunh. This article is a bit dated, but maybe you can find somthing on here: http://justhungry.com/handbook/just-hungry-handbooks/japanese-grocery-store-list/united-states/ca

# ¿ Sep 1, 2014 10:25

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Obeast posted:

Thanks! I'll probably check out the place in Modesto since that's the closest that I've seen. A couple people in the comments section on bringmyfishback's link mentioned Stockton and Modesto, but those are a little farther off than I'd like (although everything feels far around here since the towns and cities are pretty spread out). Still, it's good to have an idea of where these stores are located so I can check them out whenever I'm in the area.

I discovered Cooking With Dog a few days ago and I've been watching these episodes like crazy... Earlier today I saw the recipe for Daigakuimo and it looks like something that would be super easy to get the ingredients for since it's pretty much sweet potatoes (I assume any sweet potato would work?), sugar, oil, and black sesame seeds.

If you can get to Stockton, you might as well go all the way into SF, frankly! And then your life is nothing but Japanese everything.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2014 13:55

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Philip Rivers posted:

I made maki!

I live at a coop that's all vegetarian, but one of the really nice things we buy is junk from the local Asian store. We always have nori and a bunch of nice rolling mats, so I decided to pick up some sushi rice and veggies at the food coop in town. These guys are stuffed with carrots and mushrooms I sautéed in sesame oil, avocado, and Japanese mayo. Stoked they came out so well, this is only the third time I've ever made maki. The best tip I found was to make sure that your knife is wet when you cut the rolls so you don't crush them (which is what happened to the last roll I made).

It also helps to use a water/mirin/rice vinegar mix to wet your knife! :science:

# ¿ Oct 26, 2014 08:03

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Golden Curry is friggin' great. :colbert:

But for my money, Coco Curry is even better than any homemade curry ever.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2014 11:41

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Fooley posted:

Can you do anything with natto besides eat it over rice and natto jiru? Now that I'm over the smell/texture I'm interested in cooking with it, but those are the only ways I've seen it used.

Roll it in maki, eat with eggs/in an omelette, add it to your okinomiyaki.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2014 01:19

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Lawman 0 posted:

I have some dried nori sitting in my pantry what should I do with it?
Also I don't like/don't want to make sushi.

Dried nori is tasty sprinkled into chicken soup!

# ¿ Feb 21, 2015 12:13

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Philip Rivers posted:

I made some onigiri stuffed with umeboshi tonight. So good and easy. Anyone have any other vegetarian fillings they like in onigiri?

Kombu (marinated in vinegar/dashi/soy), cheese, shiso paste (add shiso to your umeboshi!!!), tamagoyaki cubes, kanpyo, all kinds of tsukemono, cooked butternut squash...pretty much any vegetable that is easy to bite and not messy is great in onigiri. Don't neglect the plain rice kind that you cover in furikake/sesame seeds, either!

# ¿ Jan 17, 2016 11:44

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

One more onigiri filling idea: curry! This is especially good if you have leftovers. You can do it with Thai and Indian curries, too, provided they're not too liquid-y (strain out some chunks of curried veg [or meat]).

# ¿ Jan 20, 2016 15:14

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Pegnose Pete posted:

Y'all have me inspired to try my hand at kimchi for the first time. I live in Japan so most of the stuff shouldn't be too hard to find.
The most common pickling tubs I have seen here are those big plastic yellow ones, but I really want to try making it in an earthenware pot.

If you're in or around Tokyo, hit up pretty much any grocery store in Shin-Okubo.

Also, literally every Korean person I know under the age of fifty uses Tupperware or similar. The onggi pots are cool as gently caress, but in my dirty waygook opinion, it doesn't really make a difference.

Pegnose Pete posted:

Right now the markets are mostly selling hakusai (nappa) in quarters anyway. The whole small fridge/shopping every day or two thing. I was kind of looking forward to tearing the cabbages in half by hand, seems like it would totally alter the texture.

If you want, you CAN chop up the cabbage into bite-size pieces, rather than stuffing goop between the leaves. That's what I always do, and I am currently enjoying a very fine batch of homemade kimchi that I roasted with chicken, tofu, broccoli, and bacon.

Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Apr 5, 2016

# ¿ Apr 5, 2016 14:35

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

OH BY THE WAY if you don't have cheesecloth, buy some pantyhose.

Really.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2016 15:52

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Pegnose Pete posted:

I live in a subburb in Nagasaki, so I don't have a lot of options other than shopping online.
Good to know about the tupperware though. I wasn't sure if an onggi would make a difference or not. Thanks!

You could try checking the international food section at Don Quijote; the Tokyo and Fukuoka ones occasionally had Korean food IIRC. I just checked Rakuten and they've got Korean food, too.

I feel like the hometown of jjampong/champon should have at least one Korean grocery, though!

# ¿ Apr 7, 2016 15:57

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Subjunctive posted:

Why not buy some cheesecloth?

drat WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT :downs:

It's very hard to find outside of Europe and North America, in my experience.

e:fb ^^^

# ¿ Apr 8, 2016 10:05

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Grand Fromage posted:

Anyone have any particular favorite Japanese curry roux brands? I like hot, not sweet. I only have a couple brands available to me where I am (the generic ones, House and uh... S&B?) but I'll be in Japan on vacation and want to bring a few different ones back.

Buy the Coco Curry ones. But only for me, you don't get any.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2016 14:51

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Grand Fromage posted:

Do they sell them at Coco Curry or grocery stores? I just found a wider variety at a new store here and picked up Java to try. Also a lot of honey and apple ones, apparently it's a thing? I didn't know there were so many Jews in Japan.

IIRC you buy them only at Coco Curry itself. There should be a display next to the cash register.

Honey and apples are both pretty common ingredients in curry. I never add honey when I make my own roux, but I will occasionally use apple because it's not overwhelmingly sweet.

# ¿ Dec 13, 2016 04:07

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

ALFbrot posted:

Really hosed up making a pizza guys, pretty upset about it

- didn't have dough so i used a tortilla
- cheese went bad so i threw it out and just put mayo on the tortilla instead
- didn't have sauce or any actual kitchen tools so i just smashed a tomato onto it with my face
- oven was full of garbage so i just left it out in the sun for 4 hours

I'm thinking that pizza just can't handle substitutions very well, does anybody see where i went wrong

You forgot the dashi.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2017 14:33

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

I miss Shiso Pepsi...

# ¿ Feb 21, 2017 04:16

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Yeah, I'm jealous. Stock is something I always gently caress up, somehow.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2017 10:04

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Kevin DuBrow posted:

Last time I visited Japan there were Coco Curry Houses everywhere which looked extremely appetizing but I admit it's not exactly highbrow and it wasn't possible to convince the family to go to to the Olive Garden of Japan during a limited vacation.

How loving dare you.

Anyways, Saizeriya is the Olive Garden of Japan.

Seriously, though, any vegetables you would put in a beef stew are good in a Japanese curry, but I would replace the bananas with apple because bananas are goddamn disgusting hellmonster fruits.

Japanese curry is also good with okra, spinach, tofu, squash, zucchini, corn, eggplant...anything sturdy enough to take a thick sauce (lol).

# ¿ Apr 17, 2017 09:37

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

22 Eargesplitten posted:

My onigiri are falling apart after sitting in the fridge overnight. I'm using calrose rice, my wife says it's because I'm salting the rice. Is she right? How do you season it otherwise?

Vinegar.

Are you salting the rice and then forming the onigiri or is it on the surface, like in a furikake or something? If it's the former, I think your wife may be right. You might also not be packing it firmly enough, or your rice might not be sticky enough. Is this something that happens every time you make onigiri, or is this the first time?

# ¿ Apr 19, 2017 02:54

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Smudgie Buggler posted:

I have a drat rice cooker, this is what's giving me the shits! I can cook literally any kind of rice but sushi rice and it's frigging perfect. But it doesn't seem to matter how much water I put in there with the grains (I've been up to 1.5:1), it ends up loving burnt! I'm a competent cook, but Japanese rice makes me feel like a complete imbecile.

If my god-drat poo poo-loving rice cooker can't get it right, I have no reason to think it's going to be any less stuck-to-the-bottom godawful gross if I do it over a flame, but I suppose this is my only option. I'll just have to baby it I guess.

Would rinsing the rice first help? Or do you already do that I can't read? (apologies if so)

# ¿ Apr 27, 2017 01:18

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

emotive posted:

Is there a good source online for buying hon-mirin? I checked two Asian groceries near me today and one had none at all, the other an asinine amount of Kikkoman aji-mirin.

Whole Foods had Eden brand, but $12 for a 10 oz bottle seems insane.

I honestly just use any cooking wine labeled as being rice-based and add a tiny amount of sugar if I want it sweeter, although I don't usually.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2017 07:10

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

POOL IS CLOSED posted:

Semirelated, I guess...? It's not cooking but it is about tea implements. I recently acquired a chawan. Is it cool to post about chanoyu in here or should I dig up the drinks thread?

Do it!

P.S. Replace the potatoes in your nikujaga with chunks of lotus root and daikon, y'all. It is goooood.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2017 11:08

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Grand Fromage posted:

Why not both

don't tell me how to live my life, you cheese tea

# ¿ May 1, 2017 04:21

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

POOL IS CLOSED posted:

Momiji oroshi iirc. The name refers to red maple leaves. I've mainly had it in ponzu sauce with sashimi. You pierce a daikon and insert rehydrated chili peppers (poke em in with a chopstick). Then grate and drain before serving.

Okay, here's my newest piece of tea ware. This is a bizen style tea bowl made by Mori Tozan. I've included the box since it's also an important component. Sorry that it is currently untied!

There's a specific way to tie the box ribbon. The indigo cloth is for wrapping the bowl and makes it a bit easier to take out, since there isn't too much spare room inside.

Today I finished preparing the tea bowl for use, so it's just drying out a bit more before I whisk some thin tea in it for the first time.

Here's Mori Tozan's signature. Mori is the potter's family name and Tozan is his pottery name. He specializes in bizen ware.

e: I decided I should expand a little on the subject. Recently I've returned to studying tea, and during my honeymoon I got to attend an urasenke style ceremony. Not the full blown four hour formal type, but a shorter two hour demonstration including arranging charcoal and heating the iron kettle over it -- a rarity these days when most practitioners use an electric heat source or kettle.

Many practitioners will say that practicing the Japanese tea ceremony will let you understand everything about the culture, since the ceremony incorporates so many different arts as well as a particularly close relationship with Zen and with the nation's history. The school of tea I mentioned, urasenke, is the biggest of the three main schools that came from Sen no Rikyu's successors. Sen no Rikyu's is a pretty notable historical figure and well worth reading about. You could say he is at least partly responsible for the wabi sabi aesthetic -- which is what the above tea bowl is all about.

The "thin tea" I mentioned is made with matcha powder. It's also what I was served during the demo and is commonly served during these more truncated and casual tea ceremonies. The type of matcha used in these events is much higher quality than what is typically used for flavoring cakes and lattes; the food grade matcha would wind up unpalatably bitter for most people. Matcha is still one of those things where a higher price mostly goes hand in hand with higher quality. The better grades of ceremonial matcha are less bitter and more floral, and well worth exploring without going all in on the ceremonial side.

Thin tea generally has about two scoops of matcha from a small bamboo implement called the chashaku. It's still much thicker than steeped tea! Thick tea uses about three times as much matcha. Both are whisked with a bamboo whisk called a chasen. Getting a good foamy head is pretty important and the process also helps cool the scalding hot water a bit for the guest.

Anyway that's not much of an overview, but gently caress it I hope someone found it a bit informative!

This was a cool post.

al-azad posted:

I need to know of this condiment and "hot daikon" isn't doing much.

I think they mean karashi. I love karashi renkon (karashi stuffed in lotus root).

# ¿ May 3, 2017 13:44

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Grand Fromage posted:

I brought a bunch of fancy misos back from Japan and don't want to waste them. My impression is miso lasts basically forever if it's not opened and similarly forever if it's open but in the fridge, as long as it's not moldy it's fine. Am I correct in this?

Miso-butter brussels sprouts biiiiiiiiiiiiiitch

# ¿ May 7, 2017 04:28

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Counterpoint: bonito flakes are loving disgusting and make me want to die. I know everyone will want to fight me on this, and I accept that I an inherently broken and wrong and also a hypocrite because I am not grossed out by fish-based dashi.

You can put whatever you want in okinomiyaki. Cabbage, batter, mayonnaise, bulldog sauce- except for the katsuobushi, everything else is more or less optional

# ¿ May 11, 2017 08:38

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

everythingWasBees posted:

Rice is cheap and I have wierd dietary restrictions, so I'm planning on making really simple rice dishes with the few things I can eat. However, I'm curious about how to safely prepare it and keep it and whatnot. I know that letting rice cool to room temperature can be bad (fried rice syndrome,) but also japanese bentos seem to be nothing but room temperature rices?
Is this something I should wake up early to make every morning for breakfast and lunch, or can I do it the night before? Should I make it and let it cool, keep it on warm, refrigerate it? I imagine that, given the popularity of bentos, there's a good safe way to do all this.

I'm sure there's also a specific entry for rice, but this JustBento article has a lot of info on food safety in bento.

# ¿ May 30, 2017 12:39

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

hallo spacedog posted:

It makes sense for those purposes, just thinking of other threads in GWS, and if it comes down to a lot of people who maybe read these threads but don't post feeling intimidated about even trying to make some basic Japanese recipes for the first time because they don't have konbu and bonito, or can't get hon mirin, I'd rather encourage them to try by letting them know that it's not a huge difference and a large portion of Japanese home cooking uses dashi powder and aji mirin.

Totally agree with this.

I think when you first start to cook an unfamiliar cuisine, especially one like Japanese that can be very ingredient-specific, most people err on the side of being too cautious. "Oh, I can't use La Choy soy sauce because it's Chinese." "I can't find mirin!" "I don't know where to buy Kewpie mayonnaise, so there's no point in even trying to make okonomiyaki." Why not experiment with what you have, or what you can get, and worry about the specifics once you've made the thing? You might save a little time and money. And remember, even Japanese people who cook don't do everything from scratch. Using curry blocks is no worse than opening a jar of pasta sauce.

The above not inspired by anyone in this thread in particular, just something spacedog's post sparked in my brain.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2017 12:17

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

everythingWasBees posted:

Has anybody been lazy and done oyakodon minus the chicken?
Basically I just want a good egg and rice dish beyond plain eggs and rice.

Just a poached egg on rice with a little mirin, soy, and sesame oil? I'm down. Throw some chopped spinach and togarashi and you're in clover.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 02:36

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

hakimashou posted:

Also before I actually go look it up does anyone have a good recipe for the japanese rolled pork belly thing that goes on ramen, made with sous vide?

I got a bunch of pork belly to make different stuff out of and i figured i'd give that a try. Is it just pork belly braised in dashi/mirin/soy traditionally?

For that matter any good Japanese sous vide recipes? I have been trying to think of Japanese foods that would be amenable to sous vide cooking and drawing a blank. I suppose pasteurizing raw eggs and then putting them on rice but I don't like japanese stuff with the phlegm texture.

E: I bet sous vide would make fantastic chawan mushi!

Sous vide nikujaga?

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 03:20

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Grand Fromage posted:

Anyone know what the sauce is for the generic shredded cabbage salad, the kind of thing you always get with tonkatsu?

Is it that creamy sesame stuff? I can't remember.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2017 09:42

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

POOL IS CLOSED posted:

Cheese. Negimiso. Pickles. Leftover meat. The powder is yours!

# ¿ Jun 18, 2017 12:49

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Grand Fromage posted:

Ramen is a Chinese dish originally and so is chashu, screw your brother.

I don't think it's fair to issue incest-related mod challenges.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2017 16:35

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

There's also a Kewpie mayo recipe on Serious Eats.

Just Hungry's take (with Kewpie-ification recipe towards the bottom).

# ¿ Jul 30, 2017 10:35

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

I use arborio/risotto rice if it's cheaper.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2017 22:37

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

large hands posted:

made some chashu to eat with miso ramen

This looks delicious!

# ¿ Aug 14, 2017 16:48

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Yeah, I always just add spices to the roux. I've followed Maki's instructions to make curry powder before and been underwhelmed. I know I used good-quality spices, too.

I am literally sad every time I make curry and it doesn't taste like Coco :smith:

# ¿ Aug 19, 2017 08:09

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

ALFbrot posted:

My secret recipe is that I have a friend who comes from Japan once a year or so and I make him bring me boxes of Coco roux

I tried that, but apparently my friend could only find the bagged kind that already has beef in it. :mad:

# ¿ Aug 22, 2017 17:27

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:01

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Grand Fromage posted:

How long does a tamagoyaki stay good in the fridge? I'm going to start making work bentos and I only want to cook on Sunday. Most things can be frozen in portions but I'm sure freezing would ruin a tamagoyaki.

It doesn't take that long to make but I'm lazy. Also I don't want to eat an entire one in every lunch.

This site has tips!

# ¿ Sep 5, 2017 14:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The new Japanese Cooking Thread: Now With 72% Less Pocky and Instant Ramen.

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