Homemade Candied Pomelo Peel 2023 パール柑の砂糖漬け作りました

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've just made candied pomelo peel for the first time this season. Because I didn't use fruit, which I ate last night😋, the peel is brownish (which I don't like😂) but sweeter than the hassaku orange marmalade I made last year. The peel goes perfectly well with a cup of coffee!! (I'm a coffee lover!☕)

Homemade candied pomelo peel 2023 パール柑の砂糖漬け

Nick Jagger in Japan ニックジャガーだよ～

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is Nick Jagger in Japan. What? Do you see only a dish of potatoes and carrots? (Or you think I made a slip of tongue?) 

This is really Nick Jagger or nikujaga, that is, a Japanese dish of meat (which is niku in Japanese), potatoes (which is jaga imo) and onion stewed in generally sweetened soy sauce and mirin, sometimes with other vegetables, like carrots and green beans, to make it more colorful and nutritious!

I hate daddy jokes, but the joke has been in my head since it occurred to me while I was taking an early morning walk today. I cooked this dish and am writing this post to get rid of this earworm-like joke!!

Nick Jagger or Japanese dish called "nikujaga"　我が家の肉じゃが

Kuromame (Sweetened Black Soybeans for New Year) 黒豆（クロマメ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Japanese people eat osechi dishes at New Year. Osechi dishes are are traditional Japanese New Year foods consisting of a variety of dishes including the following:

• Datemaki, sweet rolled omelet mixed with mashed shrimp. It symbolizes scholarship and culture.
• Kamaboko, broiled fish cake. It symbolizes the rising sun.
• Kazunoko, marinated herring roe, symbolizing a wish for an abundant harvest and fertility. Kazu means "number" and ko means "child."
• Kobumaki, sweet soy-flavored rolled kobu (kelp) stuffed with a piece of salmon. It's associated with the word yorokobu, meaning "joy."
• Tazukuri, dried sardines cooked in soy sauce. It literally means "rice paddy maker," symbolizing a bountiful harvest.
• Zouni, a soup of mochi rice cakes in clear or miso broth.
• Nishime, various vegetables (e.g., Japanese taro, carrot, burdock, lotus root, kelp, shiitake mushroom) simmered in clear broth.  
• Kuromame, black soybeans simmered in sweet and savory sauce, symbolizing a wish for health. Mame means "health." 

This year I made the last three, i.e., zouni, nishime and kuromame, and I took pictures of kuromame because the black color of the beans is so beautiful and it took two days to make it, i.e., one day to soak black beans in water and seven hours to simmer them! But of course, it was worth it!

Many Japanese people make resolutions at New Year. My resolution this year is to make roast beef and apple pie (using a store bought pie crust though)! 

Kuromame, black soybeans simmered in sweet and savory sauce 黒豆

Homemade Candied Pomelo Peel パール柑のピール作りました

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The strips of candied pomelo peel I've just made are now sunbathing to be sprinkled with sugar and eaten by a hungry ogre in my house....👾

Candied pomelo peel パール柑のピール

Pomelo and Hassaku Orange Marmalade パール柑と八朔のマーマレード

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've made marmalade again, this time from pomelos and hassaku oranges. I used the peel only. 

Pomelo and hassaku orange marmalade パール柑と八朔のマーマレード

Fighting COVID-19 - Easiest Recipe for Miso Soup 我が家の手抜き味噌汁😁

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you think this is? If you know the answer, you must be a Japanese food expert!!

Niboshi makes very good dashi broth for miso soup! 我が家は煮干しだし！  

This is niboshi or iriko, i.e., dried infant sardines often used to make miso soup stocks. So, let me tell you how I make miso soup using niboshi!! Don't worry. It's very simple and easy. The photos below show the ingredients I often use (see below for usual ingredients of miso soup and their characteristics) and the miso soup I made using them.

Japanese Dish - Carrot Buttock Buttock? 人参しりしり

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This is "ninjin shirishiri" or "stir-fried shredded carrots," a homemade dish in Japan or more specifically Okinawa prefecture. 

"Ninjin shirishiri" means shredded carrots 「しりしり」は千切り

Onishime - Traditional Japanese New Year Food🎌 お煮しめ作りました🎌

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Happy New Year! To celebrate the New Year and because of no choice but to stay at home😂, I made onishime, i.e., simmered vegetables. It's been a while since I last made this traditional Japanese New Year food.    

Onishime - simmered vegetables お煮しめ

Boiled Azuki Beans With No Sugar 小豆を砂糖なしで茹でました！

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

If I had to say something good about Covid-19, it would be working from home because WFH has given me time to try recipes that take a long time to cook (e.g., boiling, simmering and stewing), which has widened the variety of foods I eat. I've tried dates, goji berries, black soybeans, cacao nibs, etc., so far, and this time azuki beans!! 

Azuki beans before boiling 茹でる前

Dried Date with Peanut Butter and Cacao Nibs 棗とピーナツバターとカカオニブ

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I learned about this dried date dessert from ammyg68, a (self proclaimed) chocolate fanatic!! It's easy to make, putting an "appropriate" amount of peanut butter on a dried date with a sprinkle of cacao nibs. 

I said "appropriate" because look at the plate below!! This is my husband's "revised" recipe! I was worried about if this could happen even before buying peanut butter and cacao nibs for this. 

Wroooonnng! 間違ってるでしょ！

Goji Berry Vinegar クコの実酢

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Goji berries are believed to protect against eye diseases and can help vision. Why haven't I tried them sooner?!!

 

Goji berries クコの実

Stewed Dates in Red Wine 棗の赤ワイン煮

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

One of my favorite ideas is that "medicine and food have the same origin." This is a Chinese concept that a good balanced diet keeps you healthy. Food may not "fix" your body as medicine does, but it definitely boosts your immune system and your skin and hair. So, I stewed dates in red wine and honey. 

Stewed dates in red wine and honey 棗の赤ワインはちみつ煮

Do It Now! - My Regret About Onigiri Action😭.... 終わってました😭 - おにぎりアクション

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

An Instagram friend of mine often posted photos of onigiris or rice balls on Instagram to support Onigiri Action 2020. Onigiri Action 2020 is a campaign run by Table for Two in which one post of onigiri photo(s) provides five school meals. I agreed with their intent, but had done nothing until November 1 when I finally made my special onigiri, i.e., brown rice balls with sardine, ginger and mushroom, and took the pictures of them below...  

Brown rice onigiri of sardine, ginger, and mushroom 
鰯とショウガの玄米おにぎり

Can Dried Radish Strips Be Italian? イタリア風切り干し大根

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I found this in the sink, completely forgetting about it...

What's this? 何でしょう？

From above and a little afar 上から、少し遠くから

This creamy white round thing with many holes is the underground part of enokidake mushroom! (Click here if you want to see the entire mushroom before being cut.) And I made a dish using this mushroom and dried radish strips (below)!

Dried radish strips ご存じ、切り干し大根

And voila!! Below is "kiriboshi daikon," a traditional Japanese dish of dried radish strips, enokidake mushroom, radish leaves and konbu.  

A traditional Japanese style "dried radish strips" dish
切り干し大根の煮物！

The dish "kiriboshi daikon" is one of my favorite dishes. It has low calories and contains a lot of dietary fiber. You know what this means, don't you😁? But having the same dish almost everyday bores me, so I sometimes make an Italian-style "dried radish strips" dish like below!

An Italian style dish? イタリアン切り干し大根♬

This Italian dish of dried radish strips is more reddish because its recipe is as follows:

Ingredients: dried radish strips, olive oil, canned tuna, garlic, green leafy vegetable (e.g., bok choy or spinach), tomato juice, chicken stock powder

1. Soak dried radish strips in water to soften. (The time depends on the degree of chewiness you prefer.)
2. Put a little olive oil in a frying pan and heat.
3. Add the soaked dried radish, garlic, canned tuna, and whatever green vegetables, and stir-fry them until they soften.
4. Add chicken stock powder and tomato juice, and simmer gently. 

I do not know whether dried radish strips are available outside Japan, but if you cat get it, you should try cooking them with whatever you like, such as pork or spinach. Oh, one last thing! Don't forget to soak them in water for a while or you end up eating hard-to-chew radish strips, though I like a little chewy texture.

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シンクに転がっていたエノキの根元。切り干し大根と煮付けたことすっかり忘れてました😅。

切り干し大根はほぼ毎日食べるんですが、飽きてしまった時期があり、うちではイタリアン風切り干しも作ってます！切り干し大根をにんにく、ツナ缶、青菜（写真は青梗菜）をオリーブオイルで炒めて中華だし（チキンだし）で味付けして、トマトジュースでちょいと煮付ければ出来上がり！簡単で美味しいです。

切り干し大根は食物繊維が豊富😆 女性の方、是非お試しあれ😋

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Washoku - Deep-Fried Summer Vegetables Soaked in Japanese Broth 夏野菜の揚げびたし

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you think this is? 

Do you know what this is?　何でしょう？

This is "age bitashi" of summer vegetables, that is, deep-fried summer vegetables soaked in Japanese broth!! It's so easy to make.

1. Cut vegetables you like, e.g., red, yellow and green bell peppers, okra, pumpkin, eggplants, green beans, carrots, etc., into large chunks.

2. Deep fry all these vegetable chunks.  
3. Put all these deep-fried vegetable chunks in a container of Japanese broth or dashi!!
4. Wait for them to cool down before you put them in the fridge.

Oh, you've never made Japanese broth? No problem! You can buy it online. Find "men tsuyu," "soba tsuyu" or a similar name, like "xxxx tsuyu." "Men tsuyu" is "tsuyu" or Japanese broth for "men," meaning not the plural of man, but noodles, so "soba tsuyu" is "tsuyu" for "soba noodle" and "somen tsuyu" is "tsuyu" for "somen noodle," but the name doesn't matter as long as it's some "tsuyu." One point to note is that you read carefully the food label to find whether the "tsuyu" you bought needs to be diluted with water or not.

Not only is this dish colorful, nutritious and tasty, but it goes well with beer, saki and wine, especially white and sparkling wine!! I hope you will like it!

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夏野菜の揚げびたしです。パプリカ、ピーマン、オクラ、茄子｡｡｡ まあ何でも素揚げしてめんつゆに放り込めばいいわけです。簡単だけど栄養と見た目の両方から暑さを吹っ飛ばしてくれました。難点はパプリカ。お値段ちょっと高いけど奮発しました😅！

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Metabolic Syndrome Diet メタボに捧げるご飯

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Japanese dinner for "Metabo (big people)"

This is a meal I made a week ago for my husband when he was diagnosed with "Metabo," i.e., obesity. Clockwise from the top left;
- steamed pumpkin;
- sesame sauce salad of spider mustard, wakame seaweed and aburaage (deep-fried tofu);
- niboshi (dried small sardine used for making miso soup);
- grilled saury;
- miso soup with tofu and mushroom;
- stewed chicken with potato, egg and burdock roots; and
- brown rice in the center.

"Metabo" means in Japan people who have metabolic syndrome. Medically speaking, those meeting the following both criteria have metabolic syndrome in Japan:

1. Waist ≥ 85cm for men, ≥ 90cm for women, and;
2. More than one of the following applies:
(1) Elevated Triglycerides ≧ 150mg/dL and/or HDL cholesterol ＜ 40mg/dL;
(2) Systolic blood pressure ≧130mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≧ 85mmHg; or
(3) Fasting hyperglycemia ≧110mg/dL

This is his fault. He's been eating potato chips, chocolates, ice cream and other greasy snacks every day A LOT after dinner in more than ten years!!

I used to warn him, but some time ago gave up because he wouldn't listen. What made things worse is that as he's so-called "half," i.e., his father is American while his mother Japanese, some Japanese doctors avoid making diagnoses saying that the Japanese criteria may not apply to him....

But he's BIG except for the face, which is another reason for nobody to notice how he’s fat. His belly looks like three, NO, six month pregnant as a result of having eating not only too much, but also too much trans fat and not exercising at all....

By the way, the below are six types of ingredients I always try to eat in each meal to stay healthy. My mom often said this when I was a child.

1. Deep colored vegetables - vitamin A (pumpkin)
2. Light colored vegetables- vitamin C (spider mustard, potato, burdock root)
3. Meat, fish, egg, tofu, fermented soybeans - animal or plant protein (chicken, fish, egg, tofu)
4. Rice, bread, pasta - carbohydrates (rice, pumpkin)
5. Milk, small fish, seaweed - calcium (dried sardine, seaweed)
6. Oil, butter, margarine - fat (sesame)

Can you see the meal in the photo contains all these types of nutrition?

He’a stopped eating junk food once for all. (Instead, I steamed pumpkin, a zero-fat dessert!) The next medical check up will be in one year. We will work together to reduce his waist and cholesterol. Wish us luck!!

到頭、夫がメタボ認定されました。メタボの定義を調べてみました。

(内臓脂肪蓄積）ウエスト周囲径が、男性 ≥ 85cm、女性 ≥ 90cmを超え、以下の項目の内、二つに当てはまるとメタボだとのこと。

- 高トリグリセリド血症≥ 150mg/dL かつ／または 低HDLコレステロール血症< 40mg/dL
- 収縮期（最大）血圧≥ 130mmHg かつ／または 拡張期（最小）血圧≥ 85mmHg
- 空腹時高血糖≥ 110mg/dL 

でも自業自得です。もう何年も食後、ポテトチップ、チョコ、かりんとうなどなどのジャンク菓子をお皿一杯食べてました。何度も注意したのですがやめないんです。ですから言うのやめました｡｡｡ そしたらこの状態に｡｡｡

でも今回はさすがに本人も考えたようです。食後のお菓子一切やめました。蒸しカボチャはその代わりです。

ちなみに私の献立は全て母からの教え「6群の食材を全て食べる」という教えに基づいています。これだけは母に感謝してます。

第1群　緑黄色野菜

第2群　淡黄色野菜

第3群　タンパク質

第4群　炭水化物

第5群　カルシウム

第6群　脂質

今の栄養学的にどうなのかは分かりませんが、私はこれでずっと育ってきました（苦笑）。というわけで、とりあえずこれで一年頑張って、来年また検査受けます。頑張ります！乞うご期待！🐖