# Identify this dish...



## cipher (Feb 16, 2006)

Can someone identify this dish for me?  I think it's Japanese.


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## jennyema (Feb 16, 2006)

Oyster 

egg

Flying fish roe

Seaweed

That miso gelatine stuff

Yellow glop .....???

*I have never seen it before, but it looks really good to me!!*


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## marmalady (Feb 16, 2006)

I have no idea what it is; looks like someone's idea of a shi-shi Japanese dish, rather than the authentic thing.  There's too much going on for it to be a traditional Japanese dish - IMHO!

And Jenny, lol - I think that 'yellow glop' is uni!


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## Phil (Feb 16, 2006)

*Quite frankly...*

... it looks dangerous. Someone gimmie a blow torch


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## Constance (Feb 16, 2006)

Raw oyster, raw egg, fish roe, some hot looking red pepper thingy, and maybe scallions? Looks dangerous to me too. I can't identify that glob of brown stuff...perhaps it's some kind of fish sauce. 

I love raw oysters, but can't handle raw eggs.


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## AllenOK (Feb 16, 2006)

I would agree, that looks like uni.  Also, those are either some really small egg yolks, or quail egg yolks.


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## pdswife (Feb 16, 2006)

raw egg... 
raw oyster....
red roe ...
yellow mustard...


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## cipher (Feb 16, 2006)

Constance said:
			
		

> Raw oyster, raw egg, fish roe, some hot looking red pepper thingy, and maybe scallions? Looks dangerous to me too. I can't identify that glob of brown stuff...perhaps it's some kind of fish sauce.
> 
> I love raw oysters, but can't handle raw eggs.


 
I can handle raw eggs...but not oysters.  I don't even like cooked oysters...never mind raw.  It's weird because I love clams and mussels.


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## auntdot (Feb 16, 2006)

If I have this right we have oyster, raw egg, sea urchin g'nads, red roe, green stuff (probably seaweed), and gelatinized miso stuff.

Would try it, love oysters but usually just as they are, maybe with a tad of hot sauce.

But folks have gotten us so wary of raw egg that we don't even make our eggnog anymore (it just isn't any good with those pasteurized things). Go with the stuff in cartons from the grocery.

Yes, I know you can get Vibrio vulnificus and fry your liver from the oysters, but some things I just won't give up.


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## ironchef (Feb 17, 2006)

cipher said:
			
		

> Can someone identify this dish for me? I think it's Japanese.


 
Looks like:

Oyster, obviously. I can't tell what it is by the shell but it looks like the same size and shape of a Kumamoto oyster. But Kumamoto shells usually have ribbed edges. 
Quail Egg yolk
Uni (Sea Urchin) roe
Tobiko (Flying Fish eggs)
Shoyu or some type of seaweed (konbu?) gelee, or perhaps kanten
Green seaweed or maybe scallion? I looks like scallion from the color but not the shape. It has the contours of seaweed.


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## Jikoni (Feb 17, 2006)

It's certainly a Japanese dish, but not very Japanese if the katakana writing on the serviette has anything to do with it. The Japanese use katakana for foreign words, they use Hiragana for Japanese original words.


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## buckytom (Feb 17, 2006)

ironchef said:
			
		

> Looks like:
> 
> Oyster, obviously. I can't tell what it is by the shell but it looks like the same size and shape of a Kumamoto oyster. But Kumamoto shells usually have ribbed edges.
> Quail Egg yolk
> ...


 
ic is dead on, as usual.

i'm not sure, but they are probably kumamotos, since the egg, most likely quail, is small, therefore the oyster would then be small, like a kumamoto.
i also agree about the gelatin, probably seaweed.

the green stuff is either scallion, or another sea veg that i can't remember the name. i've had it with baby octopus salad, korean style.


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## ironchef (Feb 17, 2006)

Jikoni said:
			
		

> It's certainly a Japanese dish, but not very Japanese if the katakana writing on the serviette has anything to do with it. The Japanese use katakana for foreign words, they use Hiragana for Japanese original words.


 
It's a generic brand chopstick wrapper is all.


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## buckytom (Feb 18, 2006)

ok, i remembered the last ingredient. i think the green stuff was chopped dropwort.
i've seen it as an ingredient on the lid of korean octopus salad, and the only thing i couldn't identify in the dish was the green stuff in it, so i assumed it was the dropwort.


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## ironchef (Feb 18, 2006)

buckytom said:
			
		

> ok, i remembered the last ingredient. i think the green stuff was chopped dropwort.
> i've seen it as an ingredient on the lid of korean octopus salad, and the only thing i couldn't identify in the dish was the green stuff in it, so i assumed it was the dropwort.


 
BT, can you ask the Koreans that you work with what the name of dropwort is in Korean? Thanks in advance.


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## buckytom (Feb 19, 2006)

will do ic.
unfortunately, koreans are a, shall we say, disciplined and formal society. most cooking (and just about everything else that matters around a home) is done by women, and they are strictly controlled by their, umm, regimen.
since the often gregarious and friendly men of the house know very little of the foods they eat, i think initial attempts to bridge a language gap might be difficult. even my korean friends, whom are very americanized, still live by these principles. i can't fault them for it, but only try to understand (against all decency towards women).
i have made preliminary inroads with the neighbors' elder women, trading veggies and the occasional helping hand. i think this spring when i'm turning and tilling my garden ,i'll run the big machine over to theirs to help out. they'll probably object, but when a gardener sees well worked fluffy soil, how can you complain. again, it's all about the soil. 
they're amazed that a man takes time away from "work" to garden - boy do they have their women snowed (how many soju at the after hours karaoke meeting today?)..., take care of the yard, cook, and help raise the baby.
i realize that i'm viewed by them down their noses, but it also scares them that they're being outdone. it is after all a macho society.
in a recent snow storm, 3 young guys in their late teens, early 20's stood around watching their dad try to back the car out of the driveway, spinning his wheels forever. after watching their futility, i walked over, grabbed the bumper, and pushed the car out into the street, like i was superman. it was like a miracle happened. embarassed thank yous followed.
then the men left, leaving a 20 inch snow storm for the two 80 plus year old grandmas to dig out. it was embarrasing, so i helped dig them out.

i'm hoping to be able to learn a whole lot about the nuances of korean cuisine, now that a kind of dialogue has begun. i love it, as well as many aspects of korean culture, but is needs to be done with the utmost respect for their system.
you don't survive a millenia of japanese cruelty by faking it, so i'm guessing i have a lot to learn.


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## Michael in FtW (Feb 19, 2006)

cipher said:
			
		

> Can someone identify this dish for me? I think it's Japanese.


 
Excuse me for stating the obvious - but, you could probably find the name of the dish wherever you found that photo - and possibly the recipe, too. I would certainly be interested in that info - the dish looks very interesting.


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## ironchef (Feb 19, 2006)

I think the Koreans that live on the East Coast are different that the ones that live on the West Coast/Hawaii. Some of the Koreans that I know are fairly traditional (both those born here and those born in Korea) but not nearly to the extent of what you've seen. I've seen quite a few instances where the women outrank the men, both in the family and in the workforce.


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## cipher (Feb 19, 2006)

Michael in FtW said:
			
		

> Excuse me for stating the obvious - but, you could probably find the name of the dish wherever you found that photo - and possibly the recipe, too. I would certainly be interested in that info - the dish looks very interesting.


 
The photo was posted by someone else at a another website who was wondering what it was.  So far he hasn't got an answer...


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## jennyema (Feb 21, 2006)

I will ask about the word for dropwort.


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## buckytom (Feb 21, 2006)

thanks jenny, that will help me a lot when i ask the grannies next door about it.

so far, 3 korean acquaintances - all men, have no idea about anything to do with cooking or food stuffs.


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## jennyema (Feb 21, 2006)

*It's "minari" or "japanese parsley"*

According to my reliable source on Korean cuisine: 

"its *minari*, and its not always used in the kimchi in which you are familiar. it is a watercress like vegetable that is used usually in the summer time with what we call mool-kimchi, which is a refreshing light side dish with less emphasis on the red chili pepper and more on the garlic. "


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## Michael in FtW (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks for sending me that link, cipher! 

Ok gang - the photo appears to have originated on a blog run by a young lady going by the name Marz. This was on her page titled Japango Omakase 

Her description of the dish is: "Fresh oyster with uni, quail egg and the dark brown one I believe was the preserved duck egg white." And, if you click on the photo it takes you to a larger photo with a description under it saying, "Appetizer - Kaki, Uni with Quail Egg" - so anyone who guessed raw oyster, sea urchin and quail egg are right about those ingredients.

The source of the dish was the _*Japango Sushi & Noodle Restaurant*_ in Toronto, Canada. Going from the info Marz provided on the location I was able to find their on-line menu on a website for an outfit that does restaurant food dlievery. I could not find a website for the restaurant itself.

If anyone lives in Toronto and wants to call them to see if you can get a name for the dish, and what other ingredients we're missing, their phone number is (416) 599-5557.


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## jennyema (Feb 22, 2006)

You, my friend, have a career as a private investigator!


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## buckytom (Feb 22, 2006)

lol, ya know, it's pretty close. just add the (fake?) beard and glasses that michael wears, and there ya go.

and jenny, as soon as i mentioned minari, a korean friend immediately knew what you were taking about. it's often used just as we suspected, as a garnishy ingredient like chopped scallion or watercress.
i would be interesting to find out if that's what's in the picture.


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## Claire (Feb 22, 2006)

Hey, Buckytom, you can move in next door.  I'm willing to concede that a man (especially one with a rototiller) can turn up that hard soil much faster, easier, and better than I can.  Hubby has limits to the help he can give me, so I just do less and less every year.  I've eaten Korean food in restaurants and homes all over the place (most often the DC area, Florida, and out west) (unfortunately the only Korean food around here is a Claire's house) and I think that how much people are willing to adjust their cuisine depends on who is going to eat it.  I had potato kimchee in Hawaii, which no one else I've met has ever heard of; it was obviously something the cook came up with when experimenting.  My favorite Koreaen place in Florida would put bulgogi on a bun and have the traditional sides for any hamburger or steak sandwich, and it was a to-go hit with the local business people who didn't care for their more traditional dishes.


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## glazzguy (Feb 22, 2006)

Egg yolk, oyster, fish roe, seaweed, and the orange stuff is either a fish liver??? or more fish roe


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## buckytom (Feb 22, 2006)

claire, i'll run the tiller over to your house after my neighbors. it might take a while tho. they're pretty slow.

every other year or so i rent a big front tine tiller for a day, and i turn the soil all the way down to the clay. it's a big machine and it weighs a ton trying to lift it into my truck. gotta remember to bring a coupla 2x12's to help roll it in the bed instead of lifting the darn thing.
it's pretty hard to handle. if i were to buy one, i'd get a rear tine. let the weight of the engine do the work, instead if feeling like you're standing behind a mule with a yoke on your neck.


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## Sue Lau (Feb 22, 2006)

Looks like an oyster with 4 kinds of eggs: quail egg, flying fish roe, sea urchin roe, salmon roe with a pinch of shredded seaweed for color.
A Japanese oyster shooter, basically.
~sue


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## ironchef (Feb 22, 2006)

mouse said:
			
		

> Looks like an oyster with 4 kinds of eggs: quail egg, flying fish roe, sea urchin roe, salmon roe with a pinch of shredded seaweed for color.
> A Japanese oyster shooter, basically.
> ~sue


 
There is no ikura or salmon roe in this dish, at least from the picture.


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