Harmony of the vegetables♪♪♪ It is always a great pleasure cooking for the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community in Palo Alto! The theme of May was "Under the Tuscan Sun!" We cooked six items as below. Tuscan Lentil Soup Italian salad with Tahini Creamy Dressing Brown Rice Pasta with Tomato Basil Sauce Roasted Vegetables Roasted Paprika and Kale with Quinoa Chocolate Mousse with Berries Moringa Tea (All gulen-fee & all vegan) Most of the vegetables came from the local farmer's market from Saratoga, Campbell, and Santa Cruz. I traveled all over the place to get the right ingredients. All the organic seasonings are also carefully selected. I never use synthetic seasonings, or white sugar. If you have good quality cold pressed oil, unpasteurized soy-sauce (naturally brewed), sea salt, naturally fermented miso, plum vinegar, home-made amazake, and special spice of love, you can create very delicious food that can also bring a healing effect on your body and soul... I was ever so grateful that I could invite my mother and sister who happened to visit CA at the time! Thank you Peninsula Macrobiotic Community for giving me the opportunity to work as a chef! Thank you Maho, and Yuki for your wisdom, support and passion to create the dinner with me. Also, I want to thank all the chefs & volunteers who have been serving this community. And all the people who came to dine our food, I feel so fortunate to cook for you! thank you💕
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Yesterday was the first day of DOYO the season. What is DOYO? According to the five elements theory — wood(spring), fire(summer), earth(DOYO), metal(autumn), and water(winter) — are believed to be the fundamental elements of everything in the universe between which interactions occur. The season in CA is now spring, which is influenced by Wood energy, but to be precise, we are now in DOYO (Earth/Soil) season empowered by intense earth energy as well. Each season fixed according to the sun's longitude: Spring-27°, summer-117°, autumn-207°, and winter-297°, and 18 days before the beginning of each season, we have DOYO seasons. Which means we have 4 DOYO seasons throughout the year. Yesterday was the first day of Spring DOYO. During DOYO, the unsettled air of the transformation from spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring is floating around us, strong energy from the earth is arising at the same time. Earth is the energy of the soil. The soil is the place where life is born and returns. It means that the soil has two completely opposite sides of power, which are reproduction and the putrefaction. People who are suffering from chronic disorders may be worse during this DOYO season. Especially for Spring DOYO, people who suffer from eczema, and any types of allergy tend to get influenced more. But if we learn how to cope with this DOYO season in our daily life, we may prevent it. Even people who don't have any symptoms, if they embrace this DOYO energy around us, and carefully choose the food we eat, our body and mind sustain healthily, and will be ready to welcome to the new season with healthy well being… The opposite word of "putrefaction" is "fermentation," but these two words are deeply connected to the same root. If we eat more processed food, fat, animal food, & white sugar, the inside of our intestines are close to the sate of "putrefaction." On a process of digestion, they produce various toxins, and harmful bacteria thrive. But, if you eat more plant-based food, and fermented food such as MISO, any types of pickles such as sauerkraut, KIMCHI, ume plums, your good bacteria in the intestine thrive. Then, it nourishes and preserve cells in the colon and the liver, and prevent gastrointestinal diseases as well as cancer and heart disease. According to many macrobiotic books, they refer to "Earth" energy as of late autumn, and I agree with it as well. From the late fall to the beginning of winter, we have a fall/autumn DOYO season. Which means we are deeply influenced by the energy of the earth. I believe every theory may be true to each individual. We can learn the knowledge, digest, and cultivate it into our lifestyle. I hope everyone spends healthy, and happy Spring/Doyo season💕 I will be cooking a full corse Korean dinner for Monday Dinner gathering at Palo Alto tomorrow. Here' the menu! * Tofu Jjigae - Mildly Spiced Soft Tofu Korean Stewz * Colorful Vegan Bibimbap - a Classic Korean Dish of Brown Rice and Seasonal Sautéed Vegetables & Konjac * Fresh Homemade Kimuchi with Mild Spicy Sauce * Matcha Cupcake with Sweet Azuki Beans * Magical Mugwort Tea * Gluten-Free I have prepared KIMUCHI 5 days ago just for this event using 8 big Napa cabbages. Now it is ready to be served. I did not use any sugar, but only grated apple and Amazake as sweetener. It is not too spicy so that little children can eat it. To make spicy looking, I add organic beets powder so it looks more red🤗. Since Kimuchi is probiotic & fermented, it contains healthy bacteria that aids in digestion process and fight off various infections in your body. For Korean stew, and Bibimbap, I am going to use many kinds of vegetables that has a lot of medicinal benefits. If you want to know what Konjac can do to your body, please check this site, http://wanowa.weebly.com/alternative-medicine/konjackonnyaku-broom-for-the-stomach For deserts, I will make Matcha Cupcake wth sweet Azuki Beans. I used organic dates and maple syrup and coconuts sugar when I made Azuki bean paste.., I hope many people can come and taste this special dinner!!! The cost for the dinner is just $18. If you have time, please make a reservation at the website below, or call at 650-599-3320 by 4/17. https://www.meetup.com/mondaygourmetvegandinners/events/238881755/?rv=md1&_af=event&_af_eid=238881755&https=on Whenever I have a chance to cook for any events including catering & lunch-boxes to go, I always try to combine this magical Konjac for my creations, why? There are so many amazing reasons. If you know what this Konjac can do to your body, you just want to use it... A Japanese potato called konjac can flush 25% of the calories you eat out of your body.😊 Now, I know you seriously want to know more. This Japanese potato is fat-free, so its virtually a zero-calorie food, which has been used as an ingredient in Japanese dishes for over 2,000 years, According to the Japanese Konjac Association, konjac normalizes cholesterol, prevents high blood pressure, and because it consists of 50% water and 40% glucomannan (dietary fiber), the body finds it hard to digest, thus sliding right through you and cleaning out your intestines all the while giving you the illusion that you are full. Glucomannan is an amazingly dense, high fiber substance that has the ability to expand to 200 times its size upon entering the digestive tract. It envelops calories, carbohydrates and fats in fiber. Therefore, as these food particles pass through your digestive system, the body regards them as fiber, and flushes them out of your body, along with the toxins in the digestive tract. It’s no wonder the Japanese call it a “broom for the stomach.” If you want to taste this Konjac, please come to our Monday Dinner gathering at Palo Alto hosted by the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community. I work as a chef on a once a month basis and I always try to use this Konjac for my dishes. If you are interested, please check the information below. http://www.peninsulamacro.org If you want to know more about Konjak, please check the site as below. http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/a-japanese-potato-that-flushes-25-of-the-calories-you-eat/ http://www.gunmajet.net/food-and-drink/konnyaku-miracle-diet-food-or-gelatinous-murderer-chuck-clenney/ On a beautiful spring Sunday, I was able to hold a Ramen Workshop in Palo Alto. When I arrived at the venue of the WS, the beautiful Wisteria was smiling in front of the house. "What is organic ramen?" "Can we actually produce such a thing?" Before we start the workshop, some of the participants were so curious & doubtful about my 100% plant based Ramen... But, while we prepared and cooked together, I explained all the ingredients which I carefully selected, they kindly understand what I was trying to achieve behind the workshop. In the end, they all enjoyed my Ramen💕 YES, you can actually make Ramen without food additives nor chemicals, and YES, it is very tasty😃 You are what you eat is so true. By carefully selecting foods that we eat everyday makes a big difference in our body in the long term. I hope they could get inspired and pick up a few things and incorporate it into their everyday life. All the knowledge doesn't help anything, unless you actually use it. Thank you so much to all the participants who came to the WS! Also, a very special thank you to Atsuko who organized this event. You are so kind, and your home is very lovely. We all had a wonderful time together❤️❤️❤️ Daikon radishes have been used in traditional Japanese cooking to heal the body and to help it discharge fat, excess fluids and old animal foods lingering in the intestines. This “really big radish” has huge amounts of digestive enzymes which help the body easily deal with fats & proteins. Also used as a diuretic and decongestant, daikon can help ease the work of the kidneys by discharging more water and fluid retention. Ingredients: 2 cups of pureed fresh mango, 1/3 cup of agave nectar, ½ can of unsweetened organic coconut milk, 1 cup of water, 1 TBS of KUZU, 1/2cup of chia seed Directions: 1. In tIn a saucepan, combine the coconut milk, water, agave nectar, and bring to a boil. 2. Then, add I TBS of Kuzu that is mixed with 1TBS of water until the mixture thickens slightly. (Please make sure Kuzu powder is well combined with water before you add into the saucepan) 3. Once mixture thickens, turn off the heat and wait until it gets cool down. 4. In a bowl, place the mango puree and add the above 1 and chia seed. 5. Mix well and paddle the pudding into individual glass and store in the refrigerator. (Yield: 4-5 servings) KUZU (Medicinal benefit) The root of the kuzu plant, a member of the legume family, is prized in Oriental Medicine as the traditional medicine of choice for digestive, and many other disorders, and as a premier cooking starch / thickener. It has been part of the cuisine of China and Japan for more than 2000 years! The very starch that makes kuzu an outstanding jelling and thickening agent in cooking is also responsible for its medicinal action. Kuzu's complex starch molecules are able to enter the intestines and relieve over acidity, bacterial infection, and excess water / bloating, and relieve abdominal aching and intestinal irritation. Kuzu also contains a high concentration of naturally occurring plant flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants that have the ability to inhibit the contraction of smooth muscle, thereby increasing blood flow to, and relieve cramping in, the intestines. These flavonoids give kuzu it's strong medicinal / healing effect on both the digestive and circulatory systems. You can buy KUZU at the local organic store or purchase on line; https://www.amazon.com/Eden-Starch-Organic-3-5-Package/dp/B001ASBC7G?th=1 |
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