Brown rice was featured in a blog on the New York Times recently. Here is the link:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/eating-brown-rice-to-cut-diabetes-risk/

Whole grains are naturally more nutritious than white rice. I tried eating just brown rice for several months while living in Japan but was often disappointed. A great alternative for me was to add zakkokumai (a variety of grains) to the rice pot when steaming white rice.

In this blog is a photo of Kagayaki 6-Grain Rice, premixed zakkokumai. I just added a Tablespoon of this to one cup of uncooked white rice and steamed it together and the results are in the rice bowl. The six grains are black rice, purple barley, hull-less barley, rye berries, MG red rice, short grain brown rice.

Following is a list of zakkokumai ingredients popular in Japan:

Zakkokumai 雑穀米 are beans, grains and millets that can be added to a pot of rice before it is steamed. The result is colorful flecked and spotted rice, but most importantly, essential vitamins and minerals are added. These grains can be purchased separately or already pre-mixed. Following are some of the popular zakkokumai ingredients:

Amaransu – amaranth
Awa – foxtail millet
Azuki – dried azuki beans
Daizu – dried soybeans
Hadaga mugi – rye
Hato mugi – Job’s tears
Hie– Japanese barnyard millet
Kibi – common millet
Kinia – quinoa
Kuromame – black beans
Maru mugi – uncracked grains of barley
Mochi – sticky rice
Oshi mugi – rolled barley

Our favorite neighborhood restaurant is Nha Trang, a Vietnamese restaurant introduced to me by a dear Vietnamese friend. Most of the customers are Vietnamese and the menu is long and diverse. But, I always tend to go back to the same dish, a salad that is topped with spring rolls or caramelized pork, or a combination of the two.

We often make fresh spring rolls at home but was inspired to trying to recreate the salad at home the other day. And, were surprised at the success.

The recipe came from Corrine Trang’s Authentic Vietnamese Cooking – a great resource for many Vietnamese dishes.

We eat tofu many different ways in our home. Perhaps the most common is when we use it in miso soup, nabe (hot pots), or soups. Hiyayakko, cold tofu, is another popular dish we often have. We top it with grated ginger, wasabi, and some soy sauce. To change-up or normal routine frying tofu steak changes the texture of the tofu. The tofu can be dipped in katakuriko (a potato starch) or katsuobushi (bonito fish flakes) and saute in a pan. This is the katsuobushi tofu steak. Quick and easy, and best of all, delicious.

We have been on a mattcha latte kick in our home recently. Stir in instant mattcha into some milk with some sugar and add some cooked tapioca pearls. The key is to have the extra large straws to suck up the tapioca pearls. I see many of these in the upcoming summer.

Shinji offered to make breakfast this morning. When he said he wanted to make a salmon and ikura donburi (rice bowl), how could I say no? Ikura, the roe from the salmon, is the perfect companion to the tender salmon. On the rice he puts a bit of aonori (a sea vegetable) that brings an earthiness to the dish. On top of the salmon is minced (mijin) seasoned kombu (another sea vegetable). Delicious and healthy.

Depending on what you have in your fridge, some bento dishes can be pulled together at the last minute. The item in the middle is exactly that. Chikuwa, which are fish cakes in a cylindrical shape with a hole in the middle, can be stuffed with raw vegetables, or Japanese pickles as a quick side dish.

The other items in this bento are from left to right:

salted and grilled salmon
seasoned ground pork and green beans
chikuwa fish cake stuffed with raw Japanese cucumber
simmered kabocha sweet potato and azuki beans
baked egg omelet

I had found at the 100 yen shop (dollar store) in Japan small plastic cups that can be used in bentos to separate different side dishes. These can be washed and recycled. Another great bonus is that they can be put into the toaster oven, baked, and then slipped into the bento. I tried making egg omelet with this, but the eggs were too dry and I prefer the dashimaki tamagoyaki.

Thank you to those who come and check out this blog. I am honored and humbled. Just a quick note that I am traveling and will return to my blog after April 5th. I hope to have exciting and fun blog posts from my journey. Cheers!

natto okura rice

One of my favorite Japanese foods is natto, fermented soybeans. Here we have it for breakfast with okra. A kaiseki chef taught me how he treats okra. He quickly blanches it in hot water, then opens up the pods and removes the bitter seeds, then chops up the okra. The sticky texture of the okra with the slimy texture of the natto is a great combination, especially over a bowl of hot rice.

Bottom half is from left to right:
kinpira gobo (burdock root and carrot sauteed in a soy broth)
simmered squash
simmered hijiki, deep-fried tofu, and carrot
spinach in a creamy sesame paste
pickled daikon
simmered kiriboshi daikon (dried daikon) with deep-fried tofu, and carrots

Tofu in Japan is a revelation. Not at all like what is found in the U.S.A. but a wide variety of textures, tastes, sizes, and shapes. We always have tofu in our fridge. It can be added to miso soup, top a salad, or served as it is with a simple topping.

This is one of my favorite toppings. Chirimen (tiny anchovies that are blanched in salt water) are quickly sauteed in sesame oil until crunchy. These are then placed over tofu and topped with soy sauce.

Other popular toppings include:
grated ginger and soy sauce
wasabi and soy sauce
kimchi
chopped tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil
extra virgin olive oil and salt