Get things in the UK

I'm so glad that the Waitress store have opened near my house last April. It only takes for 15 minutes to the shop by car. Actually the nearest superstore is Asda, Whitchurch. Only 10 minutes. 

And I found that the Waitrose price is not such expensive as quite many people say or believe. Of course, there are many products are quite/very expensive, but very very good quality and the daily stuff I need the most don't cost me a lot. Especially the Essential series products are very reasonable price, but kept the quality, though.

Some people decided thinking only of the image, like Apple hatred. I think that you can only say things are good or not, when you actually tried them once. 

The cheap products have the reasons to be cheap, for example the company don't pay enough price to the producers and wages to their stuff then use the crap materials and ingredients. Cheap = bad quality!! Cheap = greedy company sometimes!!

I would prefer to pay for the quality.

So, I found some nice stuff at Waitress in Kaynsham, B&NES. 

Dashi is a stock of Konbu, shiitake-mashroom and bonito flakes (in general). 

Panko is a breadcrumb, Tenpura Batter is the batter for tempura as you read.
All Japanese ingredients.  

Some of the big superstores also have the corner for the oriental food. It's worth to try one of those products. For me, the size/quantity of the most products are too small for the daily cooking.

Sainsbury's

Asda

Sorry for I didn't know about Tesco, because I stopped going to Tesco for years ago.

If you are a bread lover like me, Waitrose's breads are the best. The second is both M&S and Morrisons.  Lidle would be good for continental stuff. I don't like Aldi and hate Tesco.

I only buy meats and fish at Waitrose and M&S or Co-op.

Unfortunately, there's no small local shops near my house. So as a result, Waitrose is the best choice for the daily shopping for me. 

Sushi starter

It's a good idea offering a Sushi plate for the starter at your dinner or party. 

I made some variety of sushi for our family Christmas dinner last year. Put them into a kind of Japanese bento boxes called jubako （重箱)．
One of our guests have never ever tried any sushi before. He said he didn't eat anything, before he join us, because he and his family had a big Christmas dinner later.  However although he was quite skeptical before he ate one of sushi. Then he became a sushi lover in the end. He asked me some questions about Sushi and Japanese culture. He had no clue of Japan at all. As a result, my relatives and friends really loved my sushi starter!!! We had a very traditional Christmas dinner later, except using the Charcoal kettle BBQ for the roast Turkey. 

Hoso-maki（細巻き）Smoked Salmon, Egg, Carrot/Shiitake, Tuna mayo and Cucumber
Temari-zushi（手毬寿司）Smoked Salmon, Egg sheet, Italian ham

Hoso-maki, Temari-zushi and Nigiri（にぎり）jubaco box

Sushi making needs some techniques, but not so difficult. And fun too!! So if you lived near Bristol, I can offer a plate of the sushi starter plate or box for your dinner or party. Most of the ingredients are from the UK and you don't need to use any raw ingredient. Total vegetarian sushi plate is not very difficult to make.  

And also I'll start a Sushi making classes very soon. I will come to your home, if you wish. You can have a sushi night for your friends. 
If you really interested in making sushi and can't wait for the classes open, just let me know, I'll arrange the private class or a sushi night for you.

   
Contact: masuyo.newman@gmail.com  Copy and paste then send me your message, pls.

Basic table setting

This is the very basic Japanese table setting. 

When you are looking for a nice Japanese restaurant in your town, you can easily see that this restaurant would be offered the authentic and traditional meal or not. Just examine the display of the tale setting. 

The display of the chopsticks is the key to think of good meals they would offer you or not. 

If the chopsticks were displayed vertically, I don't think it's good restaurant for Japanese cuisine.

A bit shorter chopsticks with pointed in the picking side are displayed horizontally in front of you, this is what I expect in the authentic and traditional Japanese restaurant. 

Korean use a pair of metal chopsticks and a spoon, whilst Chinese use very long chopsticks, which quite slippery for picking up the food for me, so they display the chopsticks vertically. But NO WAY in the Japanese culture, we never ever do this way. In my opinion, if you called yourself a chef of the Japanee cuisine, you should know the cluture well. 

When you are in Japan and go to the Chinese or Korean restaurant, they would be displayed them in the Japanese way. Different approach in a different country, isn't it?

Very important part of the Japanese cuisine would be the RICE. It's very very different to the other Aisin cuisines. They use non sticky long grain rice, but the very sticky short grain rice called "Japonica rice" for the Japanese meal. also the quality of the rice is very important, especially for Sushi. 

When you had the long grain rice, might be dry, in your meal, I don't think you can get the quality Japanese food there.

Those two points would be the huge success to have the quality dinner in a Japanese restaurant or if you think of establishing the Japanese restaurant in the future. 

Anyone want to own a Japanese restauran, which is the proper, authentic and traditional one, I'll be able to help you? Actually I can't find any good Japanese restaurant in Bristol area. Sad, isn't it?

very Happy New Year, 2015!

My blogs (in Japanese language),

「英国通信」http;//ids-mnewman.blogspot.com

「英国歳時記」http;//masuyo-no-eikokusaijiki.blog.jp

「マスヨのキッチン」http;//masuyo-no-kitchen.blog.jp

Facebook page  -  Masuyo

It'll be a very very good year this year for all of you, my friends!xxxx

Japanese Rice

The sushi lunch pack is now quite common, isn't it? 
I think most of the people experienced having a pack of sushi once their life time?  Do or did you like it? If you're a real sushi or Japanese food lover, I don't think you do try another one again. I had a some packs myself before, they were just OK. But I don't think they're not Japanese food. Actually the sushi packs from Waitrose are the best I had ever eaten.

Firstly, the packs are kept in the open fridge, we never put the cooked rice in the fridge. It's getting so dry. Dry cooked rice, NO WAY! You can freeze the cooked rice in a air tight container or freezer bag, though.
Secondly, the quality of the rice (because kept in the fridge for a long time?). And the toppings or the fillings are far from Japanese ingredients sometime, however, I don't mind using any ingredients for sushi. You can use anything, if you wish. That's not the problem at all.

「Ordinary Japanese rice, or uruchimai (粳米), is the type most commonly grown, and is the staple foodstuff of the Japanese diet. It consists of short translucent grains. When cooked it has a somewhat sticky texture such that it can easily be picked up and eaten with chopsticks. Outside of Japan it is sometimes labeled as sushi rice, as this is one of its common uses. It is also used to produce sake.」

from Wikipedia

So, the rice is very important part of the Japanese cuisine. You cannot replace another type of the rice. You have to use only Japonica rice. But if you cannot find a proper one, you can buy a Korean or Italian risotto rice. Do NOT use a pudding rice for the Japanese meal!

 Japonica (short) rice and long grain rice - Wiki

How to cook the proper Japanese rice?

I usually cook my rice in the small pan (pic).

2 cups each time for the 2 night meal. Enough for 3 people. (My husband, daughter and me)

If you could buy the real Japanese rice from Japanese store. The rice imported from Japan, is very very expensive. Over £ 35.00 per 10Kg!!   1 cup of rice = 1 to 1.1 cup of water. No salt please. I usually buy a 10Kg of Italian made rice in a Chinese shop in Bristol at £ 18.00 -ish. I don't like the Californian rice, because they use too much pesticide in America, don't they?   1 cup of rice = 1.1 to 1.2 cup of water.

If you like soft rice, add a bit more water.

Rice the rice quite well before you cook. (See picture, the water is quite clear, isn't it?))

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the water absorbed.

Turn the switch off and give it a good light stir. Then leave the pan on the hob at least for 10 minutes. Steaming the rice is very important. Otherwise, your cooked rice is still hard inside.

If you have a Rice cooker, no problem at all, you just need to mesure the water properly or as you wish, basically it is the same as the cooking in a pan. 

My other blogs in the Japanese language, 

英国歳時記 and 英国通信 and マスヨのキッチン

Long time no see you!

How are you everybody? Hope all you are alright!!

Sorry for I haven't uploaded this blog for ages. My Macbook have finaly dead! Using my husband's Window 7 machine doesn't give me a proper work, unfortunately. Maybe I can't managed the machine well? Too slow as well!!!!!

So I bought an iPad mini and also got an iPhone 5C from Virgin Media recently. Those gadgets aren't newest and the cutting edge models, but still work well. I'll buy a Macbook Air some day. I need a proper machine!!!!!!! Actually and luckily my daughter has a Macbook so I can use hers very occationally. (She's back from London.)

You hear so many time the word "UMAMI(うまみ or 旨味)" nowadays, though, you don't cook much. As pleasant savory taste, one of the five basck tastes as sweet, sour, bitter, salty. Umami is conbined the word "umai(うまい) delicious" and mi(味)taste.

Japanese couisine "Washoku(和食)" as you know now, the stock-making(Dashi だし取り)is very very important part of the cooking. It's quite a time-consuming work so not many Japanese people do this nowadays. There're many instant Dashi-stocks in Japan.

If you do proper way, yes, it't quite complecated, but I give you a tip that more easy way to make dashi-stock. This is suit for all people including vegans.

Konbu and dried Shiitake ms

just soak over night

That's it! No hastle at all. 

After soaked, you can cook them with your ingredient as usual. It would work parfectly using only Konbu or Shiitake. 

Those dried stuff can be buy in an oriental super store. If you're lucky to live near London, go to a Japanese food shop. Expensive, but the quality is really good.

If you live near Bristol, I can help you to buy Japanese goods. 

New year, 2014!!!

This is the first up date for this year!!

Have you read this article as below, that was on the newspaper in the very beginning of this year.

Japanese cuisine gets UNESCO heritage status / Telegraph

Japan will become only the second nation after France to have its national cuisine designated heritage status.

The decision to protect Japan's traditional cuisine, known as "washoku", was made against a backdrop of rising concerns that fast food and western dishes are increasingly eclipsing the nation's culinary heritage. With its emphasis on harmony and the passing of the seasons, the art of washoku has been compared to writing haiku poems and normally consists of separate bowls of white rice, miso soup and pickles alongside main dishes. Other characteristics that have traditionally defined washoku include minimal meat, plenty of seafood and often the use of a fish stock base known as dash. Its new status was confirmed exactly 1,000 days after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered the on-going Fukushima nuclear crisis, shattering global confidence in the safety of the nation's previously respected food industry.

This news is so fantastic for me as a Japanese person. My cooking career is more than 20 years since I started to cook the meals for my family using the special ingredients suited my daughter. She had a allergy to the daily products, cheese, milk etc., but luckily not to the soya products. No additive products neither, of course!! I cooked every meals from scratch.

My cooking techniques had been developed spontaneously.      

I had a a chance to open my Japanese food shop when we lived in Luxembourg. My daughter was just born! So I could learn how to run the Japanese food shop. Very good experience, wasn't it? Actually my parents run a small convenience shop in a small village in Japan. Some times I helped them. It helped me to establish my base career. In both the management and cooking field.

After we came back to England, I didn't have a chance to do the same sort of business. Instead, I gain the diplomas of the therapies. It sound like totally the different area, but for me, it's nothing different at all. Therapy would help to make the high quality life and Japanese food is one of the healthiest foods in the world. 

Last year, I helped to establish a Japanese restaurant in Bristol. I had worked for the owner, mainly to offer some ideas of the menu, culture club and many more. 

There're, I think, five or six Japanese restaurants in Bristol area, but none of then are not a standard at all, unfortunately. The restaurant that I helped is better than others.

So I really want to have a very nice proper Japanese restaurant here, not only here but anywhere, if anybody need me to advice to establish the cafe or restaurant or even in the home cooking, Just call me loudly. I would come to you! E-mail me or Skype me!!!

My business card is here!