Easier said than done? Well, I hope by announcing this for all the world to read, I’ll be inspired to stick to my resolution! And to help me get started, I’m adapting a proper diet as well. Thus, I cooked up this healthy, delectable dish which I hope makes its way to your menu too:

Baked Spiced Fish Cutlets

Ingredients:

1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tsp ground coriander
1 stem lemon grass (white part only), finely chopped
2 tsps tamarind concentrate
2 tsps very finely grated lemon rind
4 small fish cutlets, such as blue eye cod
lime wedges, to garnish

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to warm 160 degrees.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan; add the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander and lemon grass, and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until aromatic.
3. Stir in the tamarind, lemon rind and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside until cool.
4. Line a baking dish with aluminum foil and grease it lightly to prevent the fish from sticking. Arrange the fish in the baking dish in a single layer and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the fish over gently, spread with the spice paste and bake for another 8 minutes, or until the flesh flakes when tested with a fork. Be sure not to overcook the fish or it will become dry. Garnish with lime wedges and serve with steamed rice.
Note: Adjust the cooking time if the cutlets are thick.

Happy cooking!

Post from: Blisstree

What’s your New Year’s resolution?

Hence, from hereon in, when laziness or stress kicks in, I will resort to a different kind of fastfood that won’t leave me feeling guilty. Sushi!

Not convinced? Well, let me break them down for you:

The thin, toasted seaweed sheets, called Nori, used in rolled (maki) sushi are high in Vitamin A, B-complex, Niacin and Vitamin C. It is also good for digestion.

The rice used in making sushi, while not as healthy as brown rice, is still low in fat and sodium free while also being a complex carbohydrate which is needed as fuel for your body.

The various fish or meats used in sushi are excellent sources of protein and minerals.

Whether you’re eating vegetarian sushi or it is mixed with fish, the fresh, uncooked vegetables provide the vitamins and other nutrients you look for in a healthy diet.

Even the condiments served with sushi have health benefits.

While soya sauce has come under attack for certain additives that pose a potential health risk, naturally fermented soya sauce does not have this danger. Soya, the main ingredient in soya sauce, has been linked to lower breast cancer and fewer menopausal symptoms in Asian cultures who use soy as a staple in their diets. Soya is a source of high quality protein, low in saturated fats and is cholesterol free. Soya sauce is high in salt although low sodium versions are also available for those who require it.

Ginger, called ‘gari’, is often served alongside sushi and helps with digestion while also fighting bacteria. This is especially of interest to those concerned with the bacteria found in uncooked meat.

Wasabi, Japanese horseradish, can also kill bacteria found in raw fish and is often provided alongside sushi servings as a garnish or is included as in nigiri sushi.

(Source: http://www.healthguidance.org)

How about you, have you any stress-relief tip for Diane?

Post from: Blisstree

What’s your stress-free, guilt-free fix?

I checked Dr. Weil’s site and did not find much except in relation to bursitis — which fortunately my hubby is suffering from right now — so I’m putting the information away in my mental file cabinet. However, that does not help me. I certainly don’t have turmeric pills in the house… Since turmeric is related to ginger perhaps I can just make some ginger tea? I’d take a cup of my favorite green tea but that has caffeine which is of course a migraine precursor.

Another website mentions oolong tea as a good remedy, but I’m trying to find supporting evidence and they don’t list any. And then there’s Vemma Vemma, which promotes mangosteen… but the only mangosteen available in these here parts is the canned kind, and at 11:13 pm I highly doubt any of the Asian stores near me would open their doors just to sell me a can…. not that I’ve found much reason to believe it will truly do me any good. That website certainly promotes it as a cure-all, and I’m always suspicious when I read those claims. (HT BTW to Cure My Migraine for that one. I’d consult a good book on Ayurvedic medicine but I sold mine last month, and while it was here I admit to letting it become all dusty and unused on the shelf. Has anyone tried this? It may at least be useful for the next migraine….

I’m afraid I’ll have to turn to that Tylenol bottle after all. Goodnight.

Okay, I’m back. I found my Prescription for Nutritional Healing and among the things recommended for migraines are cayenne pepper, ginger, and gingko biloba, the last supposedly to enhance cerebral circulation.

If you suffer from migraines, here’s an agency offering help:

Headaches.org from the National Headache Foundation. I searched their site but no mention of turmeric.

I’ll go play Debussy’s Clair de Lune now and attempt to go to sleep.

Post from: Blisstree

Migraines and Asian Food

The best thing about Somen noodles are that they seem to go with anything, especially summer.  When it is hot and you can’t manage to get hot food to seem appetizing, try this for a quick, easy and healthy meal.

Cook up a bundle of somen noodles for each person, using the directions on the pack (usually boil them in plenty of water for about 3-4 minutes then rinse them in cold water until they are cool).

On top of this pile of noodles arrange your favourite salad including “cold” vegetables like tomatoes and cucumber.  Add some grilled tofu lumps on the side and you are ready to go.  Choose some dressing – as you can see I couldn’t decide between Kewpie mayonnaise and yuzu dressing.  But whatever you like, it will be easy, delicious and on the table in about 15 minutes.

Post from: Blisstree

Quick and Easy Summer Somen

I have had very little experience of hospitals.  I have had very little experience of hospital food.    One thing I do know, is that Hospital food generally gets pretty poor reviews.  In fact it is up there with school food and even prison food for an overall bad reputation.

My wife spent last week in a small Japanese Hospital after giving birth to our new baby son, and she was pleasantly surprised by what they served up. 

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all served as trays full of a multitude of small, delicious, and beautiful dishes.  Each meal was different to the last and all were very well balanced in a nutritional sense.  The food was well prepared and not over cooked.  The colours and arrangements were set to tempt even the least hungry patients.

The hard part about all of this was that when I visited near a meal time, I was treated to the smell and the vision of this food, but I still went home with an empty stomach.  I felt seriously disappointed about this but had to remind myself that all of the patients in a maternity hospital have earned their meals.  I wouldn’t swap places for anything.  

Post from: Blisstree

Japanese Hospital food

1. Umeboshi
2. Soba
3. Green tea

Umeboshi is the Japanese term for pickled plum.  My cycling friends call Umeboshi “The Japanese Miracle”  and most of them love to eat them when we are racing.  They are salty, sweet and also sort of bitter in a way that could scar the hardiest of tongues.  They come in a range of forms from the hard almost impenetrable rocks that come in a lot of Obento (lunch boxes) to the big, fat, falling apart exquisiteness of more gently treated plums.  Traditionally, umeboshi are said to keep rice fresh, aid digestion and the all important…keep you young and healthy.  I went on a strict diet of daily umeboshi for a few months (a two a day habit) and I can definitely say that during that period I did not die and so they must work.  I have cut back a bit recently but earlier this week I bought a new jar of hachimitsu (honey) umeboshi.  They are decidedly more tame than the other types but still taste very good. 

Soba noodles are one of my all time favourite foods.  You can dress them up or cover them with whatever you choose, but I don’t.  My favourite way to eat them is plain with dipping sauce and wasabi.  After the noodles are gone (usually way too soon) the dipping sauce is topped up with the cooking water from the noodles and is drunk like tea. 

Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour and supposedly this is what makes the eater so genki.  Even the guys who you see rolling the noodles by hand look ancient.  So either they help old people lead healthy happy lives or they make young soba makers look very old.  During winter my cycling team will often break a hard training session for an early soba lunch.  Afterwards I always feel absolutely stuffed but somehow still ready to ride again.  It is very simple food and I guess it is quite easy to digest so within half an hour of eating Soba our bodies feel amazingly good again.  I picture each strand of noodle going down an artery or vein and filling the muscle with energy (biologists laugh, but sports psychologists understand).

Green tea is one of the more popular healthy beverages worldwide today.  Of course there are a million varieties of tea in Japan.  They range from the powdered tea used in traditional tea ceremonies to more conventional green leaf tea and on to the burnt black smokey varieties.  The first and the last don’t excite me, but in between are a myriad of beautiful green leaf teas to choose from.  All of these versions are apparently loaded with antioxidants which I am told are essential for anyone who wishes to live a long and healthy life.  The accuracy of this claim I can not vouch for, because until a few years ago I was not even aware that I was oxidized let alone needing to drink an antioxidant. But I find that there are other distinct health benefits to drinking green tea.  The primary benefit I can see is that it is nearly impossible, and also publicly unacceptable to drink your tea while you run around like a mad thing.  Tea should be drunk sitting down and relaxing.  It is a quiet and contemplative experience and is often shared with friends.  If drinking anything (including beer or sake) can create the same life pauses, then some of the same benefits may be realised.  When we sit down for tea, we immediately leave the hectic madness of life behind for a while.  Japan is known for it’s pace and stress but this is easily escaped by hiding away with a cup of tea.  There is always somewhere your mind can travel to, when you are drinking good tea and I think this may be one important reason why drinking green tea can help you live a long and healthy life.

These three Japanese Lifesavers combined should help anyone exceed their natural life expectancy.  If not in quantity of life, at least in quality of life.  

Post from: Blisstree

Three Japanese Lifesavers

This fresh spring roll is one of my favorite spring/summer dishes. It can be served warm or at room temperature, or even cold; and because it’s individually wrapped you can choose to eat it with your hands. Bring it in a basket to the park for a delicious change to your usual picnic fare.

The filling does take quite a while to make, especially when cutting the vegetables by hand. A sharp knife and steady strokes, however, should make for quick prep work. A few minutes of stir-frying is all it takes. And if you don’t overcook the vegetables, you can even skip the sometimes necessary step of draining them for several hours before wrapping.

If time is a concern, you may of course use pre-cut vegetables or employ your food processor to do some shredding for you, but as with most Filipino dishes, a little fastidiousness on the part of the cook pays off. [An anecdote: I once worked part-time for a caterer cousin, and one of my jobs was to cut the vegetables for her fried lumpia. Work started at 2 am (yup, morning, not afternoon!) because the eggrolls were to be delivered at 6. Not only did it take forever to slice up the veggies, but my cousin was so meticulous in her inspection, that julienned vegetables with a bit of a point to them or were more triangular than rectangular did not make the cut (pun unintended), as they might poke the wrappers and affect the frying/presentation. Needless to say, I did not last long, though I often demand the same rigor of myself and my daughter, now, in our own kitchen.]

The feature that distinguishes Lumpiang Sariwa from other Filipino spring rolls or eggrolls is its wrapper. Light and somewhere between a crepe and an omelet, its softness contrasts beautifully with the crunch from the vegetables within. A sweetish brown sauce, boldly flavored with bits of raw garlic and chopped peanuts, is usually served alongside. When eating with your hands, you simply spoon some of the sauce into the spring roll, sprinkle a bit of garlic and nuts, and chomp away.

I’ve taken the liberty of substituting Vietnamese rice paper for the crepe/omelet wrapper, because of food allergies in the family. Roasted almonds take the place of peanuts, a common allergen, as well. It’s not such a drastic change as to be jarring to those familiar with the traditional recipe, which you can find here. And vegetarians will be happy that the dish, being mostly vegetables, can transition quite easily to a completely meatless version by simply omitting the pork and shrimp and sticking to vegetarian-friendly seasonings.

1/2 cup chopped pork, with a bit of fat
pinch salt
approximately 3 tablespoons canola oil, optional
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup onions, sliced thinly
1/2 cup chopped shrimp, or if using small ones, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cup julienned extra-firm tofu
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 cup julienned jicama
1 cup julienned carrots
1 cup julienned sweet potato
1 cup french-cut green beans
1/2 cup julienned celery
1 cup shredded cabbage
2 cups mung bean sprouts, rinsed and drained well
salt to taste, optional

Vietnamese rice paper for wrapping, plus water in a large shallow dish for soaking
Green leaf lettuce — butter lettuce is really nice here

The sauce:

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3-4 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, or to taste

For serving:

minced garlic
roasted chopped nuts — I used almonds here

In a large casserole or 14-inch skillet/wok, heat pork over medium heat, stirring. Add pinch of salt and stir. Cover 5 minutes, adjusting heat so as not to burn the pork, and stirring every once in a while until fat renders. Add just enough oil if necessary to make 3 tablespoons of fat. Add garlic and stir-fry over medium heat, just until beginning to color. Add onions, continuing to stir-fry until limp. Add shrimp and tofu, and season with fish sauce. Stir gently so as not to crumble tofu, just until shrimp is opaque. Add jicama, carrots, sweet potato, green beans, and celery. Stir-fry until vegetables are almost cooked through, then add the cabbage. Stir-fry another minute, then add the bean sprouts. Stir-fry one more minute, and remove from heat. I prefer my vegetable filling naturally sweet from the vegetables, with the saltiness of the sauce providing a nice counterpoint, but you can season with additional salt if you prefer. And if you intend to serve the dish cold, you’ll want to increase the seasonings.

Transfer to a colander set over a dish, and drain for 30 minutes. If the vegetables produced a lot of liquid, though, you may want to do this for several hours or overnight, in the refrigerator.

To make the sauce, add any drained vegetable liquid to the broth. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened. Adjust seasoning.

To wrap: Take one rice paper and soak in water for a few minutes or until completely pliable. Remove from the water and drain lightly on paper towels. Lay one lettuce leaf on side nearest you. Top with 2-3 tablespoons of vegetables, arranging them carefully so they’re lying mostly lengthwise on the lettuce (this will prevent tears). Roll to enclose filling, folding in sides as you go so you end up with a neat little package. Arrange on a dish, lined with more lettuce if you want, and keep covered until serving time. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers and filling.

To serve, top a whole spring roll with some of the sauce, the garlic, and the nuts. At a formal spring dinner you will want to have your guests eat this with knife and fork. If the setting or the occasion doesn’t preclude the use of your hands, however, just follow the instructions above, and enjoy.

This is my entry to Lasang Pinoy 18, hosted by the lovely Toni of Wifely Steps. Thanks so much, Toni!

Post from: Blisstree

Lasang Pinoy 18: Oh My Gulay!: Lumpiang Sariwa

Post from: Blisstree

Tofu and Broccoli

Post from: Blisstree

Natto Be Believed

The ingredients. Would have used pandan leaves but the store was out and I didn’t have any stashed away in the freezer (sniff). So I had to make do with a drop of pandan extract — but whoa! Too green! So I stopped at one drop. That product must be 95% coloring and 5% extract, I’m telling you.

4 hours later. Whoops! A bit thicker than I had anticipated. Probably should use 2 quarts water next time. Or maybe not put the crock pot on high. Tapioca and coconut milk go in. One hour to go…

The finished product. Yum!!! Like I said, a bit too thick, so hubby and I added soy milk to our servings.

Thanks so much, Melting Wok!!

Post from: Blisstree

Melting Wok’s Sweet Mung Bean & Taro Dessert