chrislehrer Sad to say, but this lovely old town requires some support. en-US Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:13:05 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/search.php http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-192 Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:34:03 +0000 rupert 192@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>you were right, i did get a reply! i hope i get another one... i would really really love to do this. the thought of not knowing a language and being immersed in it is a little daunting, i wont lie. but i think the fact that i could be learning something so traditional and in such a traditional way is actually quite humbling. i wouldnt pass it up ever...! looking forward to your next post! </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-191 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:34:24 +0000 peko 191@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Hello Rupert,</p> <p>Good choice!! </p> <p>I am sure that you will get a reply soon. You 'just' sent it, like today? </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-190 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:12:22 +0000 rupert 190@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>hallo again! i just emailed letter and my resume to kichisen attn: chef tanigawa. do you know how long it would take for a reply or how i should go about following up on this? anything is helpful. thanks! </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-139 Wed, 06 May 2009 16:01:32 +0000 peko 139@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Hello Rupert, Sorry, I haven't had time to rip that DVD yet.</p> <p>About female apprentices, I hear that Kichisen has a new female apprentice -- and a foreigner, no less! I understand that she heard about Kichisen via this very website and KyotoFoodie. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-135 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:47:34 +0000 rupert 135@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>any luck with that video yet? i am very interested in seeing it </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/best-localaffordable-eats-close-to-kyoto-station#post-110 Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:46:34 +0000 rikonick 110@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Dai-ichi Asahi ramen shop is the famous local favourite. Grotty but always full. When I went there to ask a few questions, one of the customers realised I was researching something and figured I was from Michelin. Maybe they'll do a "dives of Kyoto" guide. Incidentally - sounds like they're doing the real guide to Kyoto right now. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/vegetarian-vegan-and-visiting-japan-at-new-years#post-109 Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:40:37 +0000 rikonick 109@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>I found it amazingly easy to eat vegan food in Kyoto. First, most vegetarian food is vegan. There's not the stigma attached to veganism that you find in the West - because the frame of reference is shojin ryori, which is vegan. I checked out all the shojin and fucha places I know of - Ikkyu, Kanga-an, Shigetsu, Izusen - and none of them used dashi. But it's not really a vegetarian's best bet - I only know of one of them that's open later than 7pm. Some of them are memorable, but not really a way to sustain yourself in Kyoto.</p> <p>I also got vegan meals in traditional kaiseki places, as well as many other joints that carnivores don't realise serve veggie food. Chefs in Kyoto understand the term "shojin" and the best ones are enthusiastic to show what they can do. Harise is a traditional, very traditional, kaiseki place, but I had the best shojin ryori of my life there. What's more, the dishes all resembled my carnivorous companion's food, but made from entirely different ingredients. </p> <p>At Misogigawa on Pontocho I didn't even have to ask - they asked me straight off whether I was vegetarian or had any allergies. The chef there makes it his trademark to cook differently for each person. And the chef at Il Viale once trained as a vegetarian chef, so he can whip up a vego course without blinking. Same goes for Sasajima at Il Ghiottone, who uses the word "shojin" a lot. Tamaki, behind the Manga Museum, was obliging and produced a superb course lunch. On top of all that, I found around 15 proper vegetarian restaurants. </p> <p>In Tokyo, asking for a vegan version of a dish is like asking the chef to serve it with oven chips. In Kyoto you're spoiled for choice. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/woman-eating-alone#post-99 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:09:53 +0000 adania 99@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>A lot of the business hotels have started to offer wifi, or at least free ethernet in rooms. A notable exception is Hotel Fujita, which just has a terrible coin-operated terminal in their lobby for guests to use.</p> <p>Speaking as a woman who eats alone most of the time, what I find most important in choosing a restaurant is the counter. If there is a counter, and there are friendly looking people behind it or sitting at it, I feel better eating there than if I have to sit at a table all by myself. Kyoto bartenders and chefs are mostly really friendly, perhaps especially to single women, and usually will at least attempt to make conversation and keep you company. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/how-to-season-a-japanese-donabe-earthenware-pot#post-96 Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:40:37 +0000 Mora 96@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Hi, Paku, Peku and Miwa. I wanted to say Thank You! once again and let you know that the help you gave me for seasoning the donabe was a success. Now you're all part of my donabe muse crew! Check out <a href="http://www.japanlivingarts.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.japanlivingarts.com</a> to see a few pictures and my interview with Steve Beimel (Japan Living Arts). Between Steve's site and yours, I've got my daily Kyoto fix covered. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-95 Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:27:54 +0000 peko 95@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>I heard from a mutual friend last night that Tanigawa had a female apprentice at Kichisen a few years ago.</p> <p>He gives out this DVD to people with several TV programs about him. One is about his dojo. The TV program shows him hitting students quite a number of times. There aren't a lot of restaurants that 'teach' like that anymore, but he still does. He will tell you that is the way that he learned and it is indeed the traditional way of learning a craft in Japan.</p> <p>I will try to get the TV program up on YouTube in the near future. If anyone is considering requesting to apprentice at Kichisen, you would probably want to watch the video first. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-89 Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:16:38 +0000 ChrisLehrer 89@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>YES -- skim off that fat. Once the stock is cool, the fat should freeze more or less solid, making it much easier to remove. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-86 Sun, 08 Feb 2009 06:08:09 +0000 iamorlando 86@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Hi!<br /> I just finished making the soup for ramen, thanks for all your help! I will let yo know the details and how it turned out. One question though, Should I skim off the fat that appears after the stock cools in the fridge? </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/how-to-season-a-japanese-donabe-earthenware-pot#post-81 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:49:03 +0000 ChrisLehrer 81@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Oh, one more thing. When they say the bottom of the do-nabe must be dry, they mean the OUTSIDE of the pot, the part that will be on flame. The inside can be dry, moist, or full of liquid. But don't heat the pot totally dry for more than a second or two: have something -- quite a bit of something -- in the pot very quickly, or you could crack it.</p> <p>Honestly, they're very durable, so long as you avoid prolonged exposure to very high heat, and the usual way that's likely to happen is if you heat the pot without anything it, or if you try to deep-fry in it (bad idea: don't!). </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/how-to-season-a-japanese-donabe-earthenware-pot#post-80 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:46:15 +0000 ChrisLehrer 80@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Just a passing note: they now have these IH-capable do-nabe (i.e. ones you can use on induction burners), and these have to be pre-seasoned before sale. The result is that a lot of the more expensive do-nabe you see in department stores are pre-seasoned, whether they are IH-capable or not. Personally, I'd say make okayu first regardless, just in case.</p> <p>Second point: if you purchase a Chinese sandpot, you can use much the same method. First soak it in water, immersed, for 30 minutes or so. Dump out the water, wipe dry, and from there proceed as for a do-nabe. You should NOT see cracking with these pots. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/iori-staying-in-a-kyoto-machiya-traditional-townhouse#post-79 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:39:13 +0000 ChrisLehrer 79@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>I don't know this company, but my family is in a machiya rented in precisely this way. It's lovely, but... it needs some support, like Kyoto. Some tips based on our experience:</p> <p>1. Our kitchen came with 1 bad knife, 1 fridge/freezer, 1 toaster/microwave oven, 1 rice cooker, 1 water-boiler, 1 nonstick skillet, 1 small nonstick saucepan, 1 truly bad plastic cutting board. We had various and sufficient dishes for anything not excessively elaborate, though if you want beautiful dishes buy them here: this is a great place to buy beautiful ceramics. If you need more pots and pans than this, ask in advance or plan to buy el-cheapo ones at Kawabata Nikku or something, which is a pain if you're only staying a few days. I'd ask the rental company if there is something you need, but you'll have to do it in advance.</p> <p>2. In summer, find out in advance how much of the house can be air-conditioned. In winter, find out how much can be heated. Radiant floors are excellent and not all that common in machiya. In short, in summer these houses are hot and in winter they're cold, and if you're not prepared for this you may have an unpleasant surprise. You will however experience machiya the traditional way!</p> <p>3. Check on bath and laundry facilities in advance. Machiya have very small land-plots, and these things are commonly added to the back as extensions. This means that they may be extremely small, but not necessarily so: check in advance!</p> <p>4. If you are vegan or have other important dietary restrictions not usual in Japan, find out in advance where the nearest decent grocery store is. You don't want to waste hours and hours trying to find one when you'd rather be going to temples!</p> <p>5. Check on the towel situation in advance. Most machiya and furnished apartments do not come with towels. If you like big fluffy bath towels, BRING them: they are very hard to find here, and expensive.</p> <p>6. Remember: do not put any kind of shoes, slippers, or anything like that on tatami mats.</p> <p>7. Don't expect to get your deposit back on a longish rental. Machiya are rather delicate, so a rental company can always find things you've damaged and chalk this up against your deposit. A few days' rental should be OK on this score if you're careful. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-78 Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:27:01 +0000 ChrisLehrer 78@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>A ham bone will impart a very distinctive flavor that I have never encountered in ramen. I'd try it with minimal reduction of the stock: a ham-bone stock is intense. But I think it should be good... if not quite like Japanese ramen!</p> <p>As for dashi, the problem is the fish (katsuo flakes or niboshi or whatever), which makes the stock quite salty. Once there is significant salt in stock, you should not reduce it or you won't pee for a week, if you know what I mean.</p> <p>What you can do, however, is make kombu-dashi, but for this you must get kombu rather than using powdered or instant dashi. To make kombu dashi, there's the easy way and the perfect way.</p> <p>Easy way: Put a big piece (about 7cm square, give or take) of kombu into about 2L water and leave it overnight. If your kitchen is very hot, put it in the coolest place, but don't panic -- kombu is durable. In the morning, bring the water over medium heat to a bare simmer: bubbles should be just barely forming around the edge. Cool the dashi with the kombu in it. </p> <p>Hard way: Put a big piece of kombu in the water, and bring it to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees C). Hold it at this temperature, as precisely as you can, for an hour. Remove and discard the kombu, then cool the dashi.</p> <p>If you're going to make regular stock (chicken, pork, whatever) with this kombu dashi, it must be quite cold before you begin, or you will get cloudy stock. The best way is to cool the dashi at room temperature, uncovered, and when it's room temperature put it in the fridge, covered or uncovered as you like, until it's cold. Then use it to make stock. If your kitchen is hot, your first step is to fill two or three 1L strong freezer bags of water and freeze them solid. Drop them into the hot stock and stir until the bags of ice are bags of water. This cools the stock very fast. If you put a pot of hot liquid into a refrigerator, there is a real danger that it will grow bacteria as it cools, and/or pick up unpleasant odors from other things in the refrigerator.</p> <p>Using kombu dashi will give you a deeper, more complex flavor. Some ramen places do this, but not a whole lot, because (as you see) it's a pain: you have to make stock twice, in effect.</p> <p>One trick you might try, though. Soak the kombu overnight. Remove it and reserve. Put in all the chicken and whatnot, and then drop the kombu on top. Bring very slowly to the near-boil, as with regular stock, and when you've gotten to a bare simmer remove the kombu with tongs or chopsticks. Because you're raising the temperature slowly, and have pre-soaked the kombu, you should get 90% of the umami flavor out of the kombu by this means, and you don't have to disturb the stock much to remove it. (If you don't remove it, it will get slimy and produce an unpleasant texture in your stock.)</p> <p>Let us know how it goes, of course. I'm a stock crazy, and always interested in new experiments and attempts. I also like ramen, so inquiring minds want to know! </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-77 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:59:25 +0000 iamorlando 77@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Thanks Chris for this important information. I have a few questions I hope you can answer:</p> <p>1. I have a recently made Christmas styled ham. Do you think the bones from that will work? If they do flavor the broth, I realize it would be difrent, but thats what ramen is all about so I don't mind making some ham ramen my first time.</p> <p>2. I don't see dashi being used for ramen, is that correct?</p> <p>thanks a lot for your help </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/vegetarian-vegan-and-visiting-japan-at-new-years#post-76 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:43:26 +0000 ChrisLehrer 76@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>My wife has students who are pure vegetarians, though not vegans, and the general agreement is that Japan is a nightmare: everything you order that appears to be vegetarian turns out to have dashi in it.</p> <p>BIG thing to watch out for, you vegetarians: DO NOT EAT any prepared egg dishes except at western-style (yoshoku) family restaurants and such. It is usual to cook eggs with a little dashi here. That lovely roll of pure egg omelet? The egg itself has dashi in it: it's not rolled around fish, but is fish through and through.</p> <p>My own feeling, of course, is that bonito are plentiful and fast-breeding, so you can set aside all moral scruples when eating them in dashi, and that if Zen monks can eat something, so can you. But I recognize that this is not an entirely fair (or unbiased) sentiment. </p> <p>Me, I eat anything that doesn't run away fast enough. Most Japanese I know well are horrified at what I'll eat. Ants? Very good for you, with a pleasantly citrus-acid crunch. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/best-localaffordable-eats-close-to-kyoto-station#post-75 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:36:30 +0000 ChrisLehrer 75@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Please, whatever you do, don't break down and eat in Porta, the underground shopping area by the station. I have eaten at 5 different restaurants there, for various reasons of convenience, and they were one and all AWFUL. Not cheap, either.</p> <p>My suggestion is that you take the subway from the station to Karasuma-Oike, which will take about 8-10 minutes and cost 210 yen -- within your "walking distance" time-range. Exit the northeast side of the intersection. Walk one block east, then two blocks north, and look for the trees on the left side of the street as you face north. Enter. This is Honke Owariya, which your hosts the Kyoto Foodies do not praise sufficiently -- how could one praise it sufficiently? Order Kyo-yasai Ten Seiro, and get a big portion if you're hungry or eat a lot. Total cost about 1500 yen, and will kick your fundament good and proper: if you don't like it, you don't like Japanese food. Alternatively, walk directly north from Karasuma-Oike a block, turn right and immediately left into the restaurant of Tori-Yasu, and eat their Oyako Donburi. But I really prefer Honke Owariya. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/need-restaurant-recommendation-in-kyoto-for-3-days#post-74 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:29:33 +0000 ChrisLehrer 74@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>For dinner, you might try Yagenbori, which does country-style Kyo-ryori (if that makes any sense) at a surprisingly reasonable price. You must make a reservation, of course, but my recollection is that $50/person is definitely possible. It's in Gion:</p> <p>Higashiyama-ku, Gion, Sueyoshi-cho Kiritoshi-kado<br /> 東山区祇園末吉町切通し角<br /> Tel (075) 551-3331 </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/woman-eating-alone#post-73 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:14:04 +0000 ChrisLehrer 73@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>I understand, I think. The question is, as a woman alone, is there anything specific one ought to know about eating out, going out, being in places alone, etc.?</p> <p>Yes.</p> <p>1. Before you eat at a restaurant of any kind, at an ordinary meal-time, just look inside a bit -- a quick glance through the window or a briefly-opened door will do it. Here are your questions: How thick is the smoke? Are there any women? If so, are they young, smoking, dressed "hot," and with men?</p> <p>If there's minimal or no smoking, go ahead.<br /> If there are middle-aged women, go ahead.<br /> If there are women of any age sitting with one another, go ahead.</p> <p>If the air is thick with smoke and the only women are young, smoking, dressed for "action," and with men, give it a pass.</p> <p>Not that anything will happen, probably, but the atmosphere is not going to be super-comfortable. This is a bar-restaurant aimed at men and/or women who (at the moment) want to appear a bit wild.</p> <p>2. At lunchtime, restaurants divide into three groups: male, female, and mixed. Male means guys bolting ramen and running. Female means OLs (office ladies) or groups of non-working (at the moment, anyway) women having a fun lunch together. Mixed means a family restaurant. If you want good food, go for female: the salary men don't care. If you're starving, it doesn't matter, but a family restaurant will probably be more comfortable. Every terrific lunch at a non-super-expensive place I have had here has been at a place where I am pretty much the only male customer.</p> <p>3. The thing to watch out for is trains. If on a crowded long-distance train, there is probably a "ladies only" car. Use it. For some reason salary men on trains lose their marbles and grope women appallingly. It's one of the most disgusting phenomena in Japan, actually, so don't be on the receiving end. Outside of approximate rush hours, especially evening commutes out to the suburbs, it's not likely to happen, but keep a wary eye out for guys in suits moving toward you in a creepy way. Rape is extremely unlikely, but I doubt very much that you want to be mauled around.</p> <p>In general, I'd say this country is an excellent place for a woman to explore on her own. You might want to keep your question in mind as you travel, though, and see whether you spot some of the subtler ways in which discrimination occurs: quite interestingly different from home (wherever home is). </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-72 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:58:04 +0000 ChrisLehrer 72@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Rupert should be OK, though I'd bet speaking Japanese will be a great deal more important than Chef Tanigawa may think. But Ms. Rupertina? Good luck with that. The only woman I have ever heard of working in a professional kaiseki kitchen -- in Kyoto, I mean, not some knockoff weirdness elsewhere -- is or was at Kikunoi, and that's because Chef Murata has made it a personal mission to break a series of longstanding taboos and rules about kaiseki.</p> <p>Or do you have contrary information? </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-71 Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:50:53 +0000 ChrisLehrer 71@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Okay, a couple of suggestions beyond what Miwa has posted.</p> <p>1. If you want perfectly clear, light soup base, you need to cook slowly. Bring the pot to a near-boil, not a full rolling boil, and do so slowly: it should take about 45 minutes to come up to this heat. When it gets there, turn the heat down so low that you have to look closely to see motion below the surface. When you've finished cooking for 2 hours or so, strain coarsely (to remove chunks) and then very fine (to remove little bits of coagulated protein). Let cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate. When cold (12 hours or so later), remove any hard fat from the top. Now bring the stock to a rapid boil and reduce it by half. The result will be different, not necessarily superior, but this is something they talk about in passing in Tampopo.</p> <p>2. I would definitely add pork bones to the stock: straight chicken isn't going to get the flavor you're looking for. Tonkotsu ramen is usually all pork, but not always.</p> <p>3. Aku is coagulated protein, usually referred to in English as "scum." It is bitter and must be removed. The easy way is to use an extremely fine-meshed flat skimmer.</p> <p>4. After the first half hour, there will be very little scum rising, and any skimming will be removing fat. If you're going to do the cool and chill thing, the fat will freeze solid in a refrigerator and can safely be ignored.</p> <p>5. Another type of ramen stock is "milk stock," of which there are two kinds that I know of: with and without sweet white miso. To make milk stock, you must use some fairly large pork bones with marrow, regardless of whether you use chicken. Use twice as much water. Skim all the scum as quickly as you can. Add the floating ingredients, and then bring the stock to a rapid boil -- yes, a rapid boil. Put a lid on it. Now wait 1 hour, checking occasionally to be sure that the water level hasn't dropped below that of the ingredients, which is why you use the extra water. The liquid will be quite foggy, and should be reduced to the end-point, i.e. you should have removed about 3/4 of the liquid. Strain coarse, then medium, and only then fine -- and you may have some trouble getting it through a fine strainer. If you chill it, it will turn white and nearly solid. This emulsifies the pork marrow fat into the stock so that it will not separate out: very bad for you, but a wonderfully intense flavor.</p> <p>6. If meat is inexpensive, use meat as well as -- or instead of -- bones. A bone stock has a less rich flavor. I would suggest this especially with a miso ramen.</p> <p>7. Be very sure you are using fresh egg noodles: not everything labeled fresh ramen noodles has egg, and without it the whole thing will taste very unlike ramen.</p> <p>8. I would advise against the procedure in the recipe as far as adding the seasonings. Mix up the soy and whatnot liquids as their own mixture. Put a generous ladleful into a bowl, add just-cooked noodles, ladle on soup, and then garnish with roast pork, half a medium-boiled egg, and lots of thin-sliced negi or scallion. If you mix the seasoning with the broth in advance, I do not think it will freeze especially well, whereas the broth by itself should freeze admirably.</p> <p>9. Do freeze the broth, but don't keep it more than 3-4 months in a home freezer: a home freezer isn't cold enough to prevent bacterial growth longer than that, and since you're not freezing under a vacuum there will be oxidation as well.</p> <p>(In case you hadn't guessed, I'm sort of a soup wonk.)</p> <p>Oh, one last thing. NEVER NEVER NEVER stir the stock while it is cooking! This will release a great deal more scum, much of which is lightly stuck to the ingredients in the pot. This is why you don't want a rapid bubbling: the motion in the liquid releases yet more scum. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-70 Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:04:23 +0000 iamorlando 70@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Hi Miwa, thanks for your post and hard work translating. I will try to make ramen with your recipe this week and post pictures online so you can see it.</p> <p>Regards,<br /> Orlando </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/kaiseki-ryori-in-kyoto#post-69 Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:29:03 +0000 peko 69@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Additional Kichisen Links:</p> <p><strong>Kyoto Foodie Series:</strong></p> <p>Osechi: What is Kyo-ryori (Kyoto Cuisine)?<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/kyoto-kichisen-what-is-kyoryori/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/kyoto-kichisen-what-is-kyoryori/</a><br /> Osechi: Kyoto Kichisen Master Chef Yoshimi Tanigawa<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/kyoto-kichisen-master-chef-yoshimi-tanigawa/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/kyoto-kichisen-master-chef-yoshimi-tanigawa/</a><br /> Osechi: What is Osechi Ryori?<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/osechi-what-is-osechi-ryori/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/osechi-what-is-osechi-ryori/</a><br /> Osechi: Shopping for Osechi Fish at Kyoto Wholesale Food Market<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/osechi-kyoto-wholesale-food-market-fish/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/osechi-kyoto-wholesale-food-market-fish/</a><br /> Osechi: Shopping for Osechi Vegetables at Kyoto Wholesale Food Market<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/osechi-kyoto-wholesale-food-market-vegetable/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/osechi-kyoto-wholesale-food-market-vegetable/</a><br /> Kichisen Osechi: Midnight Final Preparation and Meaning<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/kichisen-osechi-final-preparation/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/kichisen-osechi-final-preparation/</a><br /> Kichisen Kaiseki: Japanese New Year Shogatsu Ryori<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/kichisen-kaiseki-shogatsu-ryori/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/kichisen-kaiseki-shogatsu-ryori/</a></p> <p><strong>Yoshimi Tanigawa on YouTube:</strong></p> <p>Iron Chef - Battle Pike Eel (1 of 5)<br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUsAkkCvJZU" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUsAkkCvJZU</a><br /> Iron Chef - Battle Pike Eel (2 of 5)<br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToFhpBJfm0o" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToFhpBJfm0o</a><br /> Iron Chef - Battle Pike Eel (3 of 5)<br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX082fHEKYE" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX082fHEKYE</a><br /> Iron Chef - Battle Pike Eel (4 of 5)<br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvEu4O80GkE" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvEu4O80GkE</a><br /> Iron Chef - Battle Pike Eel (5 of 5)<br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XFVbFG2S0Y" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XFVbFG2S0Y</a> </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/best-localaffordable-eats-close-to-kyoto-station#post-68 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:25:49 +0000 peko 68@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Yeah, the JR Kyoto Station neighborhood is not much to write home about. JR built that monstrous carbuncle of a station a few years back and it has lots of restaurants in it, but the surrounding neighborhood hasn't yet developed organically into something with a lot of interest and variety. Perhaps it never will. No one lives down there.</p> <p>You could take the subway Karasuma Line up two stops to Shijo-Karasuma. There are lots more shops and restaurants there. You could walk in about 20 minutes too.</p> <p>I do like Miwa's idea of getting take-out from the food court at Isetan Department Store though. Japanese department store food courts are out of this world! You could try a whole bunch of different things, get some beers or sake too and have one heck of a dinner party in your room for like what you would spend on a single meal at an OK restaurant. The Kyoto department stores have both local things and food from other regions of Japan. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/best-localaffordable-eats-close-to-kyoto-station#post-67 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:05:38 +0000 miwa 67@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Please try Takaraya ramen shop in Ramen-koji on Kyoto Station Building 10th floor.<br /> <a href="http://www.kyoto-ramen-koji.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.kyoto-ramen-koji.com/</a><br /> Their Toro-niku ramen is very good.</p> <p>はーべすと（Harvest) in Porta underground market street is nice too. All you can eat Japanese style household food for 1700 to 2100yen including drink and desert. Very good variety of food and very popular for locals.</p> <p>Isetan department store (connected to JR Kyoto Station) has great food court. If you are staying around that area, It will be fun to buy take away food from Isetan and try many kinds of food at your hotel or top space of the station building.</p> <p>I am still thinking for somewhere else,, but there is not very good food restaurant around the area. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-66 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:35:17 +0000 miwa 66@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>I was translating tonkotsu soup recipe, but it was too too complicated and takes so long time, so I found more realistic soy sauce and chicken base one, from somebody's blog that has ramen store in Osaka.</p> <p><a href="http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~taronaniwa/ramen.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~taronaniwa/ramen.html</a></p> <p>serve 1 (please calculate the amount according to serving people)</p> <p>1000 cc (1L) water<br /> chicken bones/carcass (1/2 whole bird)<br /> carrot (1/4)<br /> onion (1/4)<br /> dried sardine (niboshi, remove head and gut area) 10g<br /> leek 10 cm<br /> ginger 5 g<br /> garlic 1/2 clove<br /> soy sauce 1 tablespoon<br /> sake one teaspoon<br /> sugar one teaspoon<br /> salt one teaspoon<br /> black pepper 1/4 teaspoon<br /> lard as you like<br /> sesame oil as you like</p> <p>how to make</p> <p>1) rinse chicken bones and get rid of yucky blood and guts<br /> 2) cut onion and carrot in quarter.<br /> 3) break ginger, leek and garlic with side of knife.<br /> 4) cook chicken bones with high heat and reduce heat when started boiling.<br /> keep taking aku out. see the following article if you don't know what aku-tori is:<br /> <a href="http://kyotofoodie.com/learning-to-make-dashi-at-honke-owariya/" rel="nofollow">http://kyotofoodie.com/learning-to-make-dashi-at-honke-owariya/</a><br /> 5) add carrot, onion, leek,ginger and garlic at the heat in that ingredients dance around in the soup, for 1.5 hours and add dried sardine.<br /> 6) when soup reduced down to half, turn off heat.(It takes about 2 hours)<br /> 7) take bones out and filter the soup and bring back to the same pot.<br /> 8 )add soy sauce, sake, sugar, salt, and pepper and lard and sesame oil </p> <p>You should be able to make a large amount and freeze for future use. </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-65 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:15:05 +0000 iamorlando 65@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Hi Miwa. I can get just about all the necessary ingredients, including dashi and pork bones. Tonkatsu ramen sounds the most delicious, how do you make it?</p> <p>Thanks </p> http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/topic/good-receipe-for-ramen#post-64 Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:40:53 +0000 miwa 64@http://openkyoto.com/kyoto-support/ <p>Wow you are from Panama! OK, there are three types of Ramen, tonkotsu (pig bones), shoyu (soy sauce), and miso.<br /> To make soup, you need chicken bones, too. Which type of ramen you would like to make? Tonkotsu is the most popular in Japan, I think. Can you get pig bones? </p>