In the subject FAQ, you say that omusubi can be any shape. I am a fan of NHK Taiga drama and I noticed that during the Sengoku Jidai period, the warring states era, that the omusubi was round. In Hawaii where I am from, round omusubi was only served at funerals and never any time else. And fell into the category of only at funerals. Like passing anything from chopsticks to chopsticks. I have also heard it said that triangular omusubi represented ten-shi-jin, heaven-earth-mankind. Any information you have on this aspect of omusubi would be appreciated.

Hello Maki! I am a brand new addition to JustBento (and Bentos in general...and Japanese cooking in general) but your site has been a million times more helpful than the internet as whole in answering questions and giving ideas and how-tos so thank you for that. Currently, I'm in the preparation and research stage and that includes recipes and I had a few questions: 1. As far as spices and sauces go, what are some "staples" I should have in my kitchen?

Maki-san, I tried to make some azuki bean paste-filled buns the other day, and while the steamed bread turned out great, the azuki bean paste was...just okay. I followed a recipe I found online. I was wondering if you had a recipe for the paste? I would buy it pre-made, but I had a hard time finding azuki beans in my town, let alone premade azuki bean paste. Help? Onegai shimasu! Kyandasu

Dear Maki, I'm looking for temaki katsuo sheets after I found some nice recipes in combination with them in Yukiyo Moriyama's "Quick and Easy Sushi Cookbook" (Tokyo 1983). Are they available outside of Japan? A friend of mine is now hunting them in Hongkong, until now without success. Thanks and congratulations to your great blog! It's really encyclopaedic. adalaj

I was on another forum, one that shall Not Be Named, when I saw someone request a recipe for hagi no tsuki. I of course hit up the Google Image Search, and found a few lovely pictures, and thought, "Maki's probably done a post or two about these!" So of course, I did a search, and came up with goose eggs. What's also surprising is that searching online for a recipe came up with another few goose eggs, so I'm set for custard making, but not the cake itself. Any chance we could see a special about these delightful little desserts?

I made tempura prawns and veges, and scattered little bits of batter around in the oil so I'd have the crispy bits for okonomiyaki. Now what do I do with them? Air-tight container in the pantry? Treat them like cookies?

ok so I bought this bulldog yakisoba sauce bottle and I just noticed on it there is a date of 2004.01.21! I cant read the kanji and I do not know if it means expiration or sell by date... any thoughts? Im hungry for yakisoba! yummmmmm......

I'm impatient, I had to buy it. Shoujin cuisine was something I've heard about but never had the opportunity to try. Maki's review is pretty accurate for all the non-winners who are considering parting with their cash -- the first impressions are pretty good.