tokyotogo's Profile
How to find great miso?
I live in Japan and use Aka Miso (red miso) regularly. Aka miso is a medium reddish brown. I usually don't buy the kind with dashi already added but my Japanese husband almost always gets it because that is what he used when he was in college. I usually make my own dashi from kombu, dried shitake or dried daikon but will use dashi granules when I'm felling lazy.
I don't have any specific brand recommendations but I prefer the chunkier kind of red miso. But if you want want easy miso you can buy the Japanese kind that says だし入り (dashi added, or dashi iri). Right now in the fridge the brand of miso we have is Marukome マルコメ there is a small picture on the top of a bald boy holding a bowl.
Pickle Juice
My grandmother uses a splash of pickle juice when she makes deviled eggs. She mixes it in with the yolk, mayo and mustard. Her deviled eggs are the only ones I like, I can't stand the sweet deviled eggs. I usually mix it in with egg salad too.
Your favorite Le Creuset color
I saw the pink in a Le Creuset outlet store in Michigan once last year. They also have a powder blue color here in Japan. I think the colors are made to appeal more toward Japanese ladies as there are lots of pastel colored kitchen appliances. I wanted to buy some more Le Creuset when I went home last year but my husband wouldn't let me. He said that Le Creuset adds some kind of coating to the bare iron part of the lid and lip of the oven to keep it from rusting in the humidity here, because Japanese ladies were buying Le Creuset overseas and complaining that it was quickly rusting in the Japanese humidity. The coating must be clear because I can't see it on my pot.
Grocery store-friendly Italian/Japanese/Chinese cookbooks?
For Japanese food I like "Japanese Cooking, a Simple Art" There are not many photos but the explanations of the cooking techniques are the best I've seen for Japanese food. I'm not too fond of the way it is organized though. Generally Japanese cooking uses rather simple ingredients. The flavor bases are sugar, salt, vinegar, soy sauce, and miso. For Japanese cooking you need Japanese soy sauce, Kikoman is a good brand. Dashi is also used in just about everything and if you can't find it in the grocery you can get it on Amazon along with the miso and everything else, a lot of recipes will call for mirin or sake or two different kinds of miso and soy sauce but in general you don't need them. If a recipe calls for mirin and sugar, just cut out the mirin and use a bit more sugar. The basic food Japanese eat at home usually different from what you find in Japanese restaurants. Home food is rice, miso soup, some kind of simmered vegetable and some kind of protein, in my house it's usually tofu or fish and some pickles. The cook book I mentioned will cover pretty much everything you might want to do from fancy dishes to regular home cooking. I have Harumi Kurihara's cook book which is beautiful but I think some of the specifics on cooking techniques are lacking.
Your favorite Le Creuset color
I have a cherry red French oven and a dijon frying pan. Of the two the dijon is my favorite. I try to keep the furniture and walls in my kitchen neutral and use the small appliances and cookware for color accents. Here in Japan the lavender and cherry blossom pink are pretty popular and they even sell a cherry blossom shaped French oven. But I'm currently in love the the new rosemary color that is being sold. http://www.lecreuset.jp/index.php I'm saving up for it now.
Le Creuset Skillet - Seasoning
I have the Le Creuset skillet and second Normandie's recommends. I usually don't wash it though just give it a good wipe with a paper towel. The only time I have sticking problems is when I get too anxious and throw the food in the pan before it is properly heated. I only use medium low as well.
Bosch Kitchen Machine
I'm thinking about getting a stand mixer but I don't have very much space so I was interested in the Bosch Kitchen Machine. If I had more space I would go for the Cuisinart stand mixer.
I haven't been able to find much info about the Bosch. I mostly want to use it for making dough for 1 or 2 loaves of bread at a time.
So does anyone have this machine? If so which version of the machine would you recommend?
Thanks.
Rice Cooker advice
I have a Sanyo model (ECJ-HC55S/H) that I use daily. The manual says micro-computerized which I think means "fuzzy logic". I wanted an induction but I couldn't justify the cost, however I am very happy with my Sanyo. My husband is from Japan and he loves it. He also wants to take it back to Japan with us when we move back next year.
It has a slow cook setting, steaming setting and tofu setting. We use it mostly for rice but about once a week we steam eggs and make soup. I've tried the tofu function but I'm still experimenting with it.
It also has different rice settings. It has a porridge setting that might work for grains.
The cooker came with 2 upper inner lids, 1 slow cooking and 1 for rice, same for the bowls, 1 for slow cooking and 1 for rice, a rice spatula, a steaming tray that has indents for eggs and a square tofu making bowl. The steam vent on the lid is also really easy to remove for cleaning.
It's going on Amazon for $120 now.
