"Gerry" wrote in message
news:2007062912580216807-somewhere@sunnycalif...
On 2007-06-29 10:52:49 -0700, "Musashi" said:

May I ask how a "Japanese Style" lobster is prepared?
Rather curious as there are no lobsters (clawed) in Japan.

I have only rarely encountered lobster, live in the tank, at one of my
favorite Japanese restaurants. A very authentic place with lots of fish
from Japanse waters. The lobster we had twice over the past 8 years
were very large, and yes they had no claws, as best I recall. In any
case they were very different looking. I've forgotten how they were
done exactly, except the task was undertaken by an incredibly talented
young Japanese chef, with very good English, who was head-hunted away
to a shop in Paris.

He prepared the wealth of material into three separate dishes. One was
steamed, if memory serves and was decorated by a reduction sauce that
underscored the diverse background of the chef. I've forgotten the
details, but nothing was wasted.
--
///---


Yes, the indigenous "lobster" in Japan is the Ise-Ebi, a clawless spiny
lobster.
I know there are numerous ways to use it, but I've only had it as Sashimi
and
grilled.
The American lobster (clawed) is called Roma-ru Ebi , from the French
L'homard.
All imported since they don't exist in the Pacific most of them end up in
highclass restaurants
and served in many of the French styles and Japanese derivations thereof.
As a result, Japanese who come to NY, or better yet New England often really
enjoy the simple
take-it-apart American method of eating a boiled or steamed Lobster since it
resembles the way Japanese
usually eat several species of crabs.
M

"James" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jun 29, 1:52 pm, "Musashi" wrote:
"James" wrote in message

ups.com...

On Jun 22, 1:16 pm, wrote:
The trick with Todai is to go at lunchtime. They like double their
prices for supper and Sundays and holidays.

The only reason I don't go for lunch is no uni. Don't know if lunch
include yellowtail. Don't particularly like their yellowtail. Ikura
don't impress me.

I've discovered that I only like uni, salmon, yellowtail, and eel
(mostly for the sauce). When bluecrab are in season, the roe taste
like uni to me so I don't need to eat uni. I like my snow crab legs
hot not cold, I like Virginia oysters not Pacific oysters, I like my
lobster steamed not Japanese style.

May I ask how a "Japanese Style" lobster is prepared?
Rather curious as there are no lobsters (clawed) in Japan.


The closest Todai to me do serve uni but the plate is often empty as
they don't refill it as often as the cheaper stuff. If you ask for
some they give you 2 pieces at a time.

Maybe I should have said lobster Todai style which is frozen Atlantic
lobsters split in half, baked and with some kind of mayo like sauce on
top.


OK, sounds like some Japanese derivation of a French
recipe. I can picture this.

James wrote:
Maybe I should have said lobster Todai style which is frozen Atlantic
lobsters split in half, baked and with some kind of mayo like sauce on
top.

Atlantic lobsters would be a treat at a buffet. The only
lobsters I saw at Todai were Princess lobsters. Which may
be Atlantic lobsters, just little bitty ones, come to
think of it.

I have no problem with the grilled/broiled/baked prep.
The cooking time should be short enough in all of them
that the meat steams itself, mostly. If it isn't short,
then it's overcooked in any method.

--Blair

On 2007-06-29 16:27:23 -0700, Blair P. Houghton said:

James wrote:
Maybe I should have said lobster Todai style which is frozen Atlantic
lobsters split in half, baked and with some kind of mayo like sauce on
top.

Atlantic lobsters would be a treat at a buffet. The only
lobsters I saw at Todai were Princess lobsters. Which may
be Atlantic lobsters, just little bitty ones, come to
think of it.

I have no problem with the grilled/broiled/baked prep.

I'm not sure I could have a problem with any Lobster preparation.

The cooking time should be short enough in all of them
that the meat steams itself, mostly. If it isn't short,
then it's overcooked in any method.
--
///---

On 2007-07-01 06:29:18 -0700, Buddy why.wood.yew@bother said:

throwing caution to the wind, Gerry said:
On 2007-06-29 16:27:23 -0700, Blair P. Houghton said:

James wrote:
Maybe I should have said lobster Todai style which is frozen Atlantic
lobsters split in half, baked and with some kind of mayo like sauce on
top.

Atlantic lobsters would be a treat at a buffet. The only
lobsters I saw at Todai were Princess lobsters. Which may
be Atlantic lobsters, just little bitty ones, come to
think of it.

I have no problem with the grilled/broiled/baked prep.

I'm not sure I could have a problem with any Lobster preparation.
Quite a number of years ago, I was taken to the Clam Broth House in
Hoboken, N.J. and, with my aunt, shared an order of 'Lobster fra
Diablo.' It was delicious, but that's where it stopped. The lobster was
in its shell which was cracked a bit, but then a brown sauce was poured
all over the lobster which sat on a bed of pasta. It was the messiest
thing I've ever eaten. Delicious but daunting!

The cooking time should be short enough in all of them
that the meat steams itself, mostly. If it isn't short,
then it's overcooked in any method.


Sounds like the kind of rustic meal one actually gets in the old country...
--
///---

The closest Todai to me do serve uni but the plate is often empty as
they don't refill it as often as the cheaper stuff. If you ask for
some they give you 2 pieces at a time.


Hey, I didn't know that any of them did that! I'd gladly pay more if
I could get uni! Is it good uni? It's probably the stuff that goes
for $8-10 in those little wooden trays at the Asian markets. Can you
get more than two? Which Todai is yours?

The uni I used to get fresh from the Maine sea urchins was
incomparably superior to the stuff in the trays, which I still like a
lot, but I think those Maine unis are all going to Japan these days.
I haven't seen any in at least 13 years!

"It was the messiest
thing I've ever eaten. Delicious but daunting! "


Some food is a real hassle to eat, like this big ol' breaded fried
fish I had at this celebrated Chinese restaurant, also in Gerry's
phantastic phood neighborhood. You gotta pick the little bitty bits
of meat from out of ten million little bitty bones, and ya gotta be so
careful that you don't swallow even one little bitty bone and choke to
death or something. Well, it keeps you from overeating, I guess.

On Jul 3, 12:19 am, wrote:
The closest Todai to me do serve uni but the plate is often empty as
they don't refill it as often as the cheaper stuff. If you ask for
some they give you 2 pieces at a time.

Hey, I didn't know that any of them did that! I'd gladly pay more if
I could get uni! Is it good uni? It's probably the stuff that goes
for $8-10 in those little wooden trays at the Asian markets. Can you
get more than two? Which Todai is yours?

The uni I used to get fresh from the Maine sea urchins was
incomparably superior to the stuff in the trays, which I still like a
lot, but I think those Maine unis are all going to Japan these days.
I haven't seen any in at least 13 years!

It was in Fairfax, VA. If you're the first one during dinner to get
it there is at least 6 on the plate. After that they're slow to
refill it but there is no shortage of the other offerings. These days
I'm pigging out of female blue crabs brimming with roe.

wrote:
The closest Todai to me do serve uni but the plate is often empty as
they don't refill it as often as the cheaper stuff. If you ask for
some they give you 2 pieces at a time.


Hey, I didn't know that any of them did that! I'd gladly pay more if
I could get uni! Is it good uni? It's probably the stuff that goes
for $8-10 in those little wooden trays at the Asian markets. Can you
get more than two? Which Todai is yours?

The uni I used to get fresh from the Maine sea urchins was
incomparably superior to the stuff in the trays, which I still like a
lot, but I think those Maine unis are all going to Japan these days.
I haven't seen any in at least 13 years!


That's probably true, I had a few sources for Maine urchins that all
dried up over the years (I'd get a cooler shipped to me with 30 or so
live urchins for an uni party) and haven't been able to get any deals
like that in a while now.

--
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/ The Sushi FAQ
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ The Sushi Otaku Blog
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/ Sushi-Ya-Pedia Restaurant Finder
HTTP://www.theteafaq.com/ The Tea FAQ
HTTP://www.jerkyfaq.com/ The Jerky FAQ

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

It was in Fairfax, VA. If you're the first one during dinner to get
it there is at least 6 on the plate. After that they're slow to
refill it but there is no shortage of the other offerings. These days
I'm pigging out of female blue crabs brimming with roe.



I was in that very place about six months ago, and for dinner too! I
didn't think much of it, as Todais go. I must have overlooked all the
good stuff!

That mall was loaded up with characters with guns and camos. I
coudn't find the Todai so I was asking people for directions. A little
fat jerk in camos and toting a big gun comes over and says, "Duh, "To
die"?" to me. Todai sounded like "to die" to him. He was probably
about to yell for back-up - and next thing I'd be in the freakin
newspapers - "Homeland Defense thwarts another terror plot!" - but
luckily I spotted the place around the bend at that very instant and
exited stage left.

We need a sea urchin expert from Maine to tell us where to get it., if
you can still get it. There's also been a drastic decline in Maine
sea urchins in the last 10 or 15 years due to over-harvesting. They
used to be considered an over-abundant pest up there. I used to buy
them in the big Italian fish markets on Arthur Avenue or 9th Avenue in
NYC.

On Jun 29, 6:53 pm, "Musashi" wrote:


Yes, the indigenous "lobster" in Japan is the Ise-Ebi, a clawless spiny
lobster.
I know there are numerous ways to use it, but I've only had it as Sashimi
and
grilled.
The American lobster (clawed) is called Roma-ru Ebi , from the French
L'homard.
All imported since they don't exist in the Pacific most of them end up in
highclass restaurants
and served in many of the French styles and Japanese derivations thereof.
As a result, Japanese who come to NY, or better yet New England often really
enjoy the simple
take-it-apart American method of eating a boiled or steamed Lobster since it
resembles the way Japanese
usually eat several species of crabs.
M

I recently had a Japanese style lobster dinner. The lobster itself
wasn't very big, perhaps 1.25 lb. Part of the tail was served up as
sashimi. The garnish was some salted & shredded cucumber. Very
delicate tasting, and very sweet. Like ama -ebi except sweeter. The
claws were cut open and the meat was cooked tempura. That was served
on a mixed bed of shredded daikon and carrot. The body and the rest of
the shell was turned into a giant bowl of soup. Very basic
preparation... a few cubes of tofu, a few bits if lobster meat, and
some green onion. The highlight for me though was two pair of gunkans
topped with some cooked and chopped tail meat. On two of 'em, the
chef put on a couple ikura and a tiny piece of sugared lemon on top of
the lobster. The second two, had a bit of spicy mayo on top and a nice
shisho leaf decoration. A very tasty dinner indeed.

"parrotheada1a" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jun 29, 6:53 pm, "Musashi" wrote:


Yes, the indigenous "lobster" in Japan is the Ise-Ebi, a clawless spiny
lobster.
I know there are numerous ways to use it, but I've only had it as Sashimi
and
grilled.
The American lobster (clawed) is called Roma-ru Ebi , from the French
L'homard.
All imported since they don't exist in the Pacific most of them end up in
highclass restaurants
and served in many of the French styles and Japanese derivations thereof.
As a result, Japanese who come to NY, or better yet New England often
really
enjoy the simple
take-it-apart American method of eating a boiled or steamed Lobster since
it
resembles the way Japanese
usually eat several species of crabs.
M

I recently had a Japanese style lobster dinner. The lobster itself
wasn't very big, perhaps 1.25 lb. Part of the tail was served up as
sashimi. The garnish was some salted & shredded cucumber. Very
delicate tasting, and very sweet. Like ama -ebi except sweeter. The
claws were cut open and the meat was cooked tempura. That was served
on a mixed bed of shredded daikon and carrot. The body and the rest of
the shell was turned into a giant bowl of soup. Very basic
preparation... a few cubes of tofu, a few bits if lobster meat, and
some green onion. The highlight for me though was two pair of gunkans
topped with some cooked and chopped tail meat. On two of 'em, the
chef put on a couple ikura and a tiny piece of sugared lemon on top of
the lobster. The second two, had a bit of spicy mayo on top and a nice
shisho leaf decoration. A very tasty dinner indeed.


Sounds delicious. I've had American Lobster as sashimi as well.
Essentially the above describes what a Wa-shokunin (Japanese cuisine chef)
would do with a Japanese spiny lobster. The gunkans sound original.
M

... there is a real window when the amount and
likelihood of them having uni is greater than 25%, otherwise it sounds
like 3 out of 4 urchins will not have uni.




When I used to buy them at the markets I never was able to figure out
how to distinguish the ones that were filled up with uni from the ones
that had little or none inside, the latter being in the great
majority. It wound up being a very labor intensive proposition, and
very expensive per ounce of uni, too - but it was worth it. I like
the kind of uni you can get now a lot, but that fresh Maine uni was
incomparably better! So is there a way to tell the good ones from the
bad ones?