When my brother and his friend came for my BLT Dinner, they brought a few Japanese goodies for us. He lives near Little Tokyo in LA and stopped by Nijiya (a Japanese grocery store) on his way to our house. They were such fun items that I thought we should have a little guessing game/quiz. I have two Microplane Graters/Zesters (one of my favorite kitchen tools!) to give away. Want one? In the comments put your answers/guesses for each item and I will enter you into a random drawing for one of the Microplanes (only entries that attempt to give an answer for each item will be entered). It doesn’t matter if your answers are correct or not (it will be fun to see what you guess if you don’t know what something is)! I’ll keep the comments open until this Thursday, September 10, 2009, at 10pm PST. (*Now closed*) I’ll announce the winners and the answers to the quiz on Friday, September 11, 2009 Make sure you leave me a way to contact you!
Contest open to my overseas readers as well!
Coming Next: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake
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Number 1 looks like shiso leaf. Number 2 looks like some kind of either syrup or vinegar made from lychees. Nummber 3 could be…pickled quail eggs….or umeboshi plums, maybe?
1. shiso [crazy!]
2. ramune – best childhood soft drink EVER
3. mochi dango
:)
1) Shiso leaf
2) ramune drink with the marble
3) natto
I love Nijiya, was just at the SD one yesterday!
1) Shiso leaf
2) Ramunae
3) Takoyaki?
Previous commenters really know what they're talking about! I had no idea about any of the items, but I wanted to hazard my own guesses- I am sure that they are totally crazy!
1. Leaves- mint?
2. Lychee soda
3. Chestnuts in sugar syrup
I know that I am probably way off, but thank you for forgiving my ignorance! ;-) I have been reading your blog for quite awhile and truly enjoy it!
Coool :)
1) shiso leave, the green ones
2) something with lychees… ramune soda lychee ?
3) mitarashi dango (I looooove these sweets, my favorite)
1. Shiso leaves
2. Ramune!
3. Mochi
1. shiso
2. ramune
3. mitarashi dango
1. Poison ivy leaves for your worst enemies.
2. I don't care what's in it, but it's a really neat bottle and I'd buy it just for that, so my response is "cool bottle."
3. I would say marzipan, but I'm not sure you can buy that at the Japanese grocery store, so I'll say takoyaki.
Do I get points for originality?
I'm writing down my guesses before I look at anyone elses, so I'll probly learn a thing or two :)
1. Some sort of japanese herb? It looks like a large, rough mint or basil leaf…
2. Lychee carbonated beverage of some sort(soda?)
3. Chestnuts?? Or perhaps a vegetable or something…
1. Shiso leaves
2. Ramune soda with the marble
3. mochi
1 is Shiso leaves. Have you ever had them tempura? Yum.
2. Ramune, lychee flavored? Never had that.
3. Dango. Mochi balls on a stick with a teriyaki type sauce. Miriam's teachers were astounded when she turned up her nose to it.
Bummed we didn't get to see you before we left. Maine has Pocky and that's about it. Sigh.
1. Cherry blossom leaves
2. Rice WIne Vinegar
3. Pickled Plums
I truly have no idea, but I love all things Japanese so I can't wait to find out!
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I'm really enjoying your blog and am happy I found it. For the contest, I think my guesses would be as follows:
1 – shiso leaf
2 – lychee vinegar
3 – quail eggs (pickled?)
I'll be interested to see what they really are and what others guess. :o)
Thanks for the giveaway!
Leah
Hey LFM. I can' honestly enter, 1. because I don't know the answer to all three and also, I have a microplane, so that's OK.
However, I just had a very strange experience. I read your post and thought, well, I don't know what any of those are, so I went on to read another blog 'Melbourne Gastronome' and there was her description of a starter "The other appetiser was a juicy nugget of salmon cured in kaffir lime and vodka, with a blob of sour cream pannacotta, a sprinkling of shiso leaf and a few pearls of Yarra Valley salmon roe"
I just thought "hmmm, I might google that leaf and see what it looks like". And sure enough, there it was! The answer to one of the questions. Spooky!
Hmm. Not really sure.
1. Leaves of some kind
2. Lychee soda (I hate lychees, but like those sodas where the marble pops in!)
3. Looks like an Indian dessert called Gulab Jamun, so I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's dough balls soaked in syrup and put on a skewer. :)
I couldn't even begin to guess. I live so far out in the boonies that I have never seen or can I readily go and see any of the above. But I'll guess:
1) leaves for some sort of sushi preparation
2) carbonated lychee water
3) marinated lychee (I was gonna say eyeballs of some exotic sea creature but that would just be crazy talk, right??!!??)
My knowledge of Japanese foods comes almost entirely from your blog so I have no idea. I'll guess anyway!
1. herb of some kind? maybe related to basil?
2. lychee juice?
3. this looks like a sweet I love that has figs in it, so maybe it is some kind of dessert with figs and dough or nut paste surrounding it?
I will learn something I'm sure!
Lisa
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1. Butt wipes (this was Alex's guess)
2. Strawberry flavored vodka
3. Marinated cat eyeballs
You promise this drawing is random?
1. shiso leaves
2. Ramu-something – that Japanese drink with a marble
3. mochi
I've been wanting a microplane zester ever since I tried one at my friend's house. They are great!
Thanks for the wonderful blog. I do look forward to all your posts
1. Shiso leaves
2. Ramune soda
3. Mitarashi Dango
Thanks for the quiz! :)
Hi there.
If I didn't know I'd probably guess:
1. Fuji family fig leaves(!?)
2. Alcohol-maybe vodka with lychee flavoring
3. Quail eggs in some sort of sauce
Real deal:
1. Shiso leaves
2. Lychee flavored 'ramune'
3. Mitarashi dango
1. Shiso
2. The fun soda withe marble in the top…don't know the real name, that's just what I call it!
3. Mochi, maybe with anko (bean paste) in the middle, but maybe not.
P.S. Didn't mean to do this in 2 separate comments, please only count me once…but just wanted to mention that I'd be so happy for the Microplane zester! I'm in Japan and it's the one thing I really miss about my kitchen back home! :) Keeping my fingers crossed!
Heh, nice. I have no idea, but here we go anyway:
1) Modesty leaves. You know, like in all those paintings of Biblical folk.
2) Lychee flavored water. Just don't ask me what lychee is…
3) Looks like olives on a skewer.
1) shiso
2) lychee flavored ramune
3) kushi dango
1) grape leaves?
2) Ramune soda (yum!)
3) mochi balls?
I'd love a microplane grater!
1. Shiso Leaves
2. Lychee Ramune
3. Dango!
1. shiso
2. ramune lychee flavored.( I prefer original flavor..but the marble is great…it keeps little kids from getting too much drink at a time…dont like the marble…turn it so the endents are at the bottom…it catches the marble and you can drink freely. ( you know this but other may not…) **I always think this bottle reminds me of a pig… so cute!**
3. mochi dango (sauce is sweet soy?)
Ok, here's my go …
1. Shizo leaves
2. Ramune – Lychee
3. pickled quail eggs? – I don't have a clue really.
Thanks!
1. shiso
2. ramune
3.marinated fish cake balls
1. shiso leaf
2. ramune
3. dango
I just found your blog and I am loving it!!!
1) Sushi leaves? For decorating bento…? Maybe.
2) Lychee syrup?
3a) ummmmm
3b) ummmmmmmm
3c) ummmmmmmmmm hazelnuts soaked in brown sugar syrup?
P.S. Don't enter me in the contest!!! I already have a planer (as does every member of my family thanks to me giving them one). It's the greatest thing on the planet.
1) Shiso
2) "Lemonade" with the scary chokeable marble (do they still make them like that??)
3) Mochi dango
1. shiso
2. lychee-flavored ramune soda! delish!
3. kushi dango
ps. peach-flavored ramune is the most delicious soda ever created.
#1 is food to feed your silkworms.
#2 is the liquid you pour down your dragons throat to make him breathe fire.
#3 is green tree frog eyeballs on sticks so they don't move around watching your every movement.
Thanks for the chance to win.
Stella
Have no clue…
1: a leaf
2: a drink
3: mushrooms??
Well, since my whole entire knowledge of Japanese food consists of tempura and sushi (mmmmmm, sushi) I'm gonna go with um, yeah. What they said. But I really want that zester since I still don't have one despite asking Santa repeatedly, so I'll go with my original thoughts.
1) Some sort of Japanese leaf, probably not found in America.
2) Lychee soda. Really, you should have covered up the Lychee part, then I would have thought it was sake!
3) Sticky buns on a stick! I gotta try that. Everything tastes better on a stick.
1. Shiso (perilla or beefsteak plant) leaves
2. Ramune – a lemon-lime flavoured pop with a cool marble in the top that you push down to 'open' the bottle and then it rolls around making a 'cooling, summery' sound every time you take a drink.
3. Mitarashi dango – rice balls made with steamed glutinous rice flour mixed with jyoshinko & topped with a salty-sweet sauce made from similar ingredients to teriyaki sauce.
Or is that too much info? ;)
Shiso leaves
Lychee syrup
Preserved quail eggs
(okay, I cheated on the first one)
1. Shiso leaves
2. Ramune- fizzy soda that comes in a funky bottle w/ glass marble inside!
3. Chicken?
1. Shiso
2. Lemonade (lychee flavour)
3. Tako Yaki
:)
xo xo
Anna ([email protected])
1) perilla or shiso leaves
2) ramune soda – lychee flavored
3) some type of dumplings – dango w/red bean paste or mitarashi w/soy sauce syrup?
1 – shiso leaves
2 – ramune soda drink
3 – caramelized dough balls? dont' know what that is.
shiso leaf
ramune
dango
1 Shisho leaves
2 Ramune!best drink ever
3 mitarashi dango.So yummy
I was trying not to look at other comments, but I admit I saw "shiso," so…
1. Shiso leaves
2. Lychee-flavored water
3. Some kind of tapioca-ball dessert
1. shiso leave
2. soda with the marble in it
3. dangos with a shyoyu sauce
1. A leaf of some sort.
2. Lychee syrup.
3. Quail eggs????