Do you know what the “red mustard” is in Japanese. It’s not a tsukemono vegetable/herb I’m familiar with and I can’t work out what it would be.

Edit - I suspect it’s 赤大葉高菜（あかおおばたかな) Aka Obaa Takana, Red (big leaf?) Takana.
I only know Takana as green, perhaps the red is best pickled in some way as red shiso (red perilla) is.

I think it's a "karashina" - Varieties on this page include "Red Leaf Mustard"
https://foodslink.jp/syokuzaihyakka/.../karashina.htm

I don’t think I have enough years of life left in me to get to try, let alone feel any familiarity for, all the Japanese vegetables. As I make discoveries, more pop up. And then you find out that a certain farmer has successfully started a small business introducing or re-introducing another amazing crop from somewhere else in Asia and another has re-kindled interest in a historic but forgotten kind.

Last year I got to find out about this vegetable which was eaten in Kyushu - but it was a vicarious experience, never had the chance to eat it myself. Problem is that I identified it, relayed the information, found out that it was a water vegetable picturesquely and laboriously harvested by hand from a raft, and now I can’t remember the name.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5b35bb60d.jpeg

(Tsuburina was a different vegetable I tried in Tokyo, gorgeous, looks like it’s frosted with ice)

EDIT - floating vegetable is junsai ジュンサイ, watershield in English.
https://visitshirakami.com/blessings/a-guide-to-junsai/


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...86f1cef15.jpeg

Curry Udon (カレーうどん)
 

When LapLap started this topic one year ago who would thought we will be still doing this a year later.

Now, I made curry udon this time, my favorite dish! I know this is not a fancy dish by any stretch of imagination but I will never say no to curry udon. Curry udon is so easy to make especially if you have left over Japanese curry. First, the ingredient:

Japanese curry (reference post #58 of this tread ;))
Soba/udon soup
Thick udon (my preference)
Long onion/scallion (for garnish)

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...13d30cde0a.jpg

Soup for curry udon is so simple. Make soba/udon soup as a direction on soup base or soup concentrate, then mix Japanese curry and soba/udon soup 50:50. That is it, simply heat the content.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...65559bab6d.jpg

Cook udon noodle, follow the direction on the package.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7915e5500a.jpg

All cooking is done. In a bowl place soup, noodle, and long onion/scallion for garnish.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...da39206abb.jpg

Again, this is my personal favorite. Also, it is my personal preference to use thick udon noodle, not soba noodle which is thinner noodle. I personally think thick noodle go so well with curry soup. Personally curry udon over curry soba, thick Sanuki type udon noodle over thin Inaniwa type udon noodle.

Last year I was at Shinjuku station heading to my afternoon appointment. It was a good time to grab lunch and had an urge for curry udon. There is stand up soba shop at JR Shinjuku station at South entrance, Lumine side, which this soba stand is there at that location as long as I can remember, I think the shop is there from '70s and before, Wen up there and I found out ownership change and name of the soba shop changed, and now they only serve soba noodle, no udon noodle. How can I have curry soba!? Could not believe they no longer doing udon and could not have curry udon! I was so disappointed. :(

I know, this is my personal preference. There are people who will rave curry soba.

Do you know the history of curry udon? I've read various theories - that it started in the Meiji era, or in the post-war years. I find it interesting that the British are supposed to have introduced curry to Japan. Noodle curry is hardly known in Britain, but in the south of India and Sri Lanka, it's a popular dish, with rice noodles:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...sala_Curry.jpg

I ordered some fresh ramen noodles from Sun Noodles and they arrived today. Very excited to put a delicious pair of bowls together tonight for my wife and I.

One of popular story seems to be curry udon started at a soba shop Sanchouan (三朝庵) at Waseda in Tokyo, unfortunately this shop closed on 2018. Widely accepted story is that around 1904 the owner Sanchouan started curry flavored udon soup dish.

When Meiji Era started on 1868 Japan opened its border to outside, suddenly European and the U.S. culture flooded into Japan and anything European and the U.S. became very trendy, Traditional soba shop like Sanchouan was loosing business to more trendy European/the U.S. type establishments. Story has it that the owner of Sanchouan made curry flavor soup for udon and became a hit among young college kids form near by Waseda University.

But I also heard somewhere that the owner of Sanchouan was not the person who came up with curry flavor soup for udon. Other were already doing similar kind of thing and the owner of Sanchouan has decided to make own, some say that the owner of Sanchouan is credited for making curry udon popular.

P.S.
The owner of Sanchouan is also credited for katsudon. Story has it that Sanchouan was located at a college town of Waseda so the owner of Sanchouan frequently tried to come up with dishes liked by young college kids.

Perhaps they've been around forever, but I have only just discovered Shio Lemon Kaki Peanuts. Worth trying:
https://r.r10s.jp/ran/img/1001/0004/...30022697_1.jpg

A picture speaks a thousand words. After seeing this photo and much deep reflection, I think I may have been overly harsh in my previous criticism of Japanese curry in the 冷やし中華 thread. Although I prefer Indian, Sri Lankan, and most other Asian curries to those of Japan, Japanese curry has improved over the years (there are many more varieties now) and curry udon, as pictured here, may be Japan's crowning curry achievement, if I only had a beer to go with it. What can I say, perhaps it stimulates my dormant umami receptors in a way that other Asian curries do not. Although I'm not familiar with the soba shop you mention on the Lumine side, there was also a standup soba shop (that's been in existence since at least the early 1970s) at the underground entrance to the Kinokuniya Bookstore between Shinjuku Sanchome Station and Shinjuku Station that I believe offered a similar dish.

The name of the Japanese grocery store in Central Square (on the corner of Prospect Steet and Mass. Ave) was Yoshinoya, IIRC. I used to live within walking distance from it in the early 1970s when I lived in Cambridge and Boston before heading to Japan and shopped there occasionally. Does anyone know when it closed? When my wife moved back with me to Boston for a few years she avoided Yoshinoya due to high prices and bought most of her Japanese groceries in Chinatown. Back in the early 70s, other than Yoshinoya, the only other outlet for Japanese groceries to my knowledge was Erewhon (owned by Michio Kushi) on Newbury Street. Although a Macrobiotic store, they were one of the earliest importers of Japanese foods such as adzuki beans, soba/udon noodles, green tea, ban-cha, hoji-cha, and mugi-cha. Of course, they did not offer much in the way of processed foods other than furikake, miso, tofu, tamari soy sauce, natural instant ramen, and boxed cereals (in later years). Their brown rice though was sourced in the US, mainly from an organic grower in Texas.

The Japanese restaurant scene in Boston has changed a lot over the years. The only Japanese restaurants (if you can call them that) I can remember existing around 1971-72 were those that were part of Michio Kushi's macrobiotic empire, namely, Sanae on Newbury Street and The Seventh Inn on Boylston Street. Of course, they did not serve white rice, so I don't think that many Japanese expats or tourists ate there. However, they were pioneers in natural food cuisine and I can remember eating tofu cheesecake and tofu salad dressing in Boston and NYC macrobiotic restaurants decades before I ever saw them served in Japan. IIRC, there was also a Benihana operating around this time not far from the Arlington Street T stop (I think in the old Statler Hilton Hotel). A high-class Suntory restaurant opened in 1976-7 on Newbury street across from Charlie's Saloon (which was next to Erewhon). Other Japanese restaurants opened up over the years, many of them Korean and Chinese owned. I don't get back to Boston that often anymore, but I have visited the Japanese restaurant court in Porter Square several times and know one of the restaurant operators there. Is anyone familiar with the old Tenmi macrobiotic restaurant in Shibuya (which used to be located next to the train tracks)?

I live in Boston many years ago, so I don't remember a lot of things. But I think you're right that it was called Yoshinoya. I believe it closed a few years before I left Boston, so I want to say they closed maybe 13~15yrs ago. When I was there, they had Yoshinoya (Central), a market in Porter Sqr, and a little place called Cherry Mart on Newbury. I remember Cherry Mart for some reason even though I don't think I ever went inside. The one in Porter Sqr was definitely the busiest but also expensive. But I recall Yoshinoya being cheaper. The cheapest was this place called Reliable Market or something in Somerville, which was 1/2 Korean, 1/2 Japanese. During my Boston years, the Japanese grocery business seemed to be pretty tumultuous as Yoshinoya's closing was followed soon by the Porter one's closing. Cherry Mart had closed somewhere along the way. And Boston didn't have any purely Jpn market until two new ones opened up right around the same time - one in Medford, another in Brookline Village. The one in Brookline Village was very convenient to Longwood Medical, but for some reason it never seemed to take off. The Brookline Village one closed pretty quick. I guess the one in Medford's still operating. I think AlwaysAisle mentioned somewhere upthread there's a new place now.

The link below confirms the name was Yoshinoya. According to one Yelp review, Yoshinoya closed in 2007, about 14 years ago, so you were right about that.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/yoshinoya-cambridge

Matsusaka Beef
 

I understand this thread is about having meals at home when we are restricted from going out during the pandemic. But I did not want to start a new thread and this thread has been going strong about food.

Looks like people are moving again domestically in Japan, although international visitors to Japan are still restricted. I made this trip to Matsusaka in Feb. 2020, things were starting to slow down but things were not shut down yet.

I like food and when traveling I tend to choose a local flavor. This post will be about a fancy meal, although I have not posted about fancy meals here at FT. There are enough people who post about Michelin starred restaurants here, and I do not fancy Michelin starred restaurants so never felt like posting about fancy meals here at FT. But I will try this time.

I was at Nagoya and had a little bit of free time to myself. I decided to have Matsusaka beef sukiyaki at Matsusaka. Matsusaka beef is as good as Kobe beef, but I think even among Japanese Matsusaka beef maybe a little less known. For sure outside of Matsusaka, Matsusaka beef may not be readily available compared with Kobe beef. I am sure I could have found a place around Nagoya station for Matsusaka beef, but I had little time for myself so decided to take a side trip to Matsusaka. Matsusaka is a city little more than 100 km south of Nagoya in Mie prefecture. Matsusaka is located at the entrance to Ise Shima region of Mie. From Nagoya it is choice of JR Line or Kintentsu Line to Matsusaka. For me it is no brainer, Kintetsu Limited Express to Matsusaka. Who can say no to Kintetsu Limited Express? More about Kintetsu Limited Express on this website.

Kintetsu Limited express train I took from Nagoya to Matsusaka was ran by Urban Liner.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f8988b3cb4.jpg

Urban Liner used to run on Nagoya - Osaka (Tsuruhashi, Uehonmachi, and Nanba) non-stop limited express service. But now Kintetsu has introduced new Hinotori trains on this route that Urban Liner is now serving other limited express services in Kintentsu Line. Urban Liner has a Deluxe Seat, a regular seat is 2x2 seat but Deluxe Seat is 1x2 seating with 320 yen additional from a regular seat regardless of distance. Of course, I went for Deluxe Seat. :)

The picture of Urban Liner train is at Kintetsu Nagoya station. Next to it is an ad for Matsusaka beef sukiyaki restaurant Gyu-Gin Honntenn (牛銀本店, website in Japanese only), 15 min. walk from Matsusaka station. This is a nice restaurant which was established in 1902 specializing in beef dish. This is not where I had sukiyaki but this is not a bad place either. For this resturant advance reservation is recommended and there is 2 people minimum.

Limited Express ride to Matsusaka is 1 hr. and 7 min. from Kintetsu Nagoya. Urban Liner at Matsusaka station.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1166bb086a.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b340afdead.jpg

I decided to go to Matsusaka at the last minute, so I did not have any specific Matsusaka beef restaurant in my mind. There is a small tourist information center next to the station and there I ask for a recommendation for Matsusaka beef sukiyaki place with no reservation and will take one person. The tourist information suggested Taiya Ryokann (鯛屋旅館, website in Japanese only) which is a small ryokan which serves lunch and 5 min. walk from the station. This ryokan dates back to 220 years ago, it is not fancy at all compared with Ritz-Carlton but typical Japanese ryokan. Pretty much everything is in Japanese only, meals at tatami room (sitting down on a tatami floor with low rise table). This may not be for everyone, but was a very nice place and I had no problem.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c35eed0a25.jpg

I came all the way to Matsusaka so I decided to splurge and went tokujo (特上) sukiyaki lunch. Not like I will do this often. First, otooshi (お通し), a small dish appetizer.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4e59723012.jpg

Soon followed by Matsusaka beef sukiyaki.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f4d5b32d21.jpg

A server will assist you in cooking sukiyaki at the table.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d28de3cab6.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6b86bd97f2.jpg

Having sukiyaki with raw eggs, the standard for sukiyaki.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...da2aa4f09d.jpg

Some who had sukiyaki in Japan may notice there is so little sauce (soy sauce + mirin + sugar) in a pan. This is Matsusaka style sukiyaki cooking. "Yaki" of sukiyaki is 焼き which means to grille but you may have seen sukiyaki with a lot more sauce in the cooking pan, where looks more like simmering in a sauce rather than grilling on a pan. The server who served me at this place told me that "simmering in a sauce" type sukiyaki cooking has become so popular in Japan that there was a period many sukiyaki restaurants in Matusaka have switched to "simmering in a sauce" type cooking. But lately, there is a move to go back to Matsusaka style sukiyaki cooking in Matsusaka where a minimal amount of sauce is used just for flavoring and actually grill meat on a pan.

This was very fine sukiyaki. Glad I made a trip to Matsusaka. Matsusaka is not a tourists place like Ise Shima region of Mie prefecture. Compare with Tokyo or Nagoya there will be minimal non-Japanese spoken and menus at restaurants will be likely in Japanese only. But it is nice to be at a place like Matsusaka, getting out of big city of Tokyo, Nagoya, or a tourist place like Kyoto. This side trip to Matsusaka was a nice way to get out from the city and same time have nice Matsusaka beef sukiyaki. It was time to head back to Nagoya. The next Kintetsu limited express train to Nagoya was by Ise-Shima Liner, lucky me! Went for Deluxe seat again (additional 320 yen). Ise-Shima Liner is a train made as a tourist train between Osaka/Nagoya and Ise Shima area. Beside Deluxe seat, there are group compartment type seating. Small snack stand and smoking room.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cd1039fa67.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a8a2dfdb35.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d1f29cd669.jpg

Back to Nagoya, this is JR Central Towers at Nagoya station where headquarter of JR Tokai is located. One of the towers from 15 fl. up is occupied by Marriott Hotel. Lower floor is Takashimaya department store. Can go up to 15-18 fl. area and have a view but there are high rises around Nagoya station where the view may be blocked by high rise nearby.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...416ef078e0.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ce2303f47f.jpg

This was a nice side trip I had from Nagoya. People are starting to move again, ANA and JAL are increasing domestic flight frequencies although not back to the pre-pandemic level yet. Cannot let the guard down yet but hope we are slowly moving back toward what used to be.

A bright side of the pandemic is that there is now a website that will ship Japanese (and other Asian) sundries overnight to us. They stock shokupan, natto, yuzu, a whole slew of sweets/chips, pantry items, fresh/dried noodles, frozen dumplings/snacks and hard to find vegetables.

Thank you AlwaysAisle! Was just thinking about this thread as I placed an end of the year Amazon.jp order for various items including calendars.

MSYtoJFKagain, which site are you using? I've noticed increasing missing items at the local Asian groceries.