NABE (Nabe-Ryori) -Japanese steamboat 鍋料理

　There are so many good and interesting things in Japan, but probably you don't know much about them if you cannot speak or read Japanese easily. I will give you tidbits of information on Japanese custom,life and food.


Winter is the best season 　　to enjoy Japanese Nabe (Nabe-Ryori). 　Nabe is a Japanese steamboat. There are so many kinds of Nabe in Japan and everyone is delicious　 and you can eat lots of vegetable together. 　Nabe is a very healthy food and it makes you warm mentally and physically. 　Here’s a bit about Japanese Nabe.　

　Cooking types

There are three types of Nabe cooking.
　1.　Stew fish or meat and vegetables with hot water or Dashi soup, then take them in small bawl with sauce…..for example, Yudofu, etc.　
　2.　Stew them with light taste soup, then take them with soup...for example, Oden, etc.　
　3.　Stew them with rich taste soup …for example, Sukiyaki.

　Cooking pots

There are two popular cooking pots, one is made of iron 　and one of mud　. The iron pot keeps a constant high temperature and is good for oil cooking like a Sukiyaki. 　The iron pot gets rusty easily, so you have to wipe up the water after washing. 　The mud pot is popular for Japanese Nabe and it keeps a high temperature for a long time and gently 　　and it keeps the good taste of foods.

　How to handle the mud pot

　Remove any water from the pot and put on the stove. 　When put on the table after boiling, use dry material pot stand under pot. 　
　Warm under a low flame. 　
　Don’t cool it quickly. When the mud pot is broken, you stew rice or starch with water in the pot and leave it for a while. The rice or starch work like a glue to fix it. 　

　Vegetables

You can put any vegetables you choose with Nabe, but here are the typical Japanese vegetables we eat with Nabe. These three vegetable are also good for treating cold.
　Shungiku 春菊…..It’s high in β-carotene, vitamin B2, C, fiber, iron, calcium, Don’t boil them for long time.
　Hakusai　白菜…..It’s high in VitaminC, calcium, carotene, iron, etc. Compare with cabbage, lower in sugar and lower in calories.
　Mitsuba みつば…. It’s high in carotene, vitamin C, iron, calcium. Put them in the pot after turning off the flame.

　Kelp (Kombu) 昆布

It’s popular to make soup with kelps. 　Put kelps in water and heat up. Just before the water is boiled, pick out the kelps. Kelps make good Japanese taste.　　　

　Dipping

It’s popular to dip meats or fish and vegetables in Nabe with Ponzu ポン酢, grated Japanese radish大根おろし, red pepper唐辛子, 　but there are so many kinds of sauce in stores and you can put any spices 薬味 to make the taste even better.　

Enjoy your original Nabe tonight 　and make your body warm! 　

YAKUMI -Japanese Spice 薬味

　There are so many good and interesting things in Japan, but probably you don't know much about them if you cannot speak or read Japanese easily. I will give you tidbits of information on Japanese custom,life and food.

Did you take ゆず湯 Yuzu bath on 22th December 冬至Touji. Touji is the day when daylight is the shortest of the year. Yuzu is a kind of citrus fruit and whole fruits are floated in a hot water on Touji day. We enjoy its aroma and actually its essential oil make blood circulation better and it is good for our skin. It’s said that if you take Yuzu bath on Touji day, you can avoid any sickness and keep good health for the whole year. Yuzu is also famous as Yakumi. I will tell about Japanese Yakumi today.

薬味 Yakumi

‘Yakumi’ came from medical word. It’s explained in an old book in China 1-2 A.D.
It’s said that foods have ‘五味five tastes’ like 甘sweet・ 苦bitter・ 酸sour・ 辛spicy・ 鹹(塩味)salty and it’s important that each person should have appropriate taste depend on health condition and his/her body type. The called the 五味five taste as薬味 Yakumi later and they classified these foods as medicines. Nowadays we use Yakumi as a spice in cooking and it makes the food taste better and increases appetite.

ネギ　Welsh Onion

Welsh Onion is good for tiredness, insomnia, and makes blood circulation better. The green part is high in carotene, Vitamin C, calcium, etc. Its white part works as medicine for body. Welsh onion includes aryll sulfide which creates its unique smell and it helps with absorption of Vitamin B1. Ally sulfide works as disinfectant and helps digestion of foods.

大根おろしGrated Japanese radish

Is high in Vitamin A,B1,B2,C, fiber, calcium, iron, etc. It contains an enzyme Diastase which helps us digest foods, especially starchy foods. Japanese radish has many effects like as anti-inflammatory and disinfectant. It was popular as a cold treatment in the old days. If you use top white part of a Japanese radish, the taste is more spicy and if you use green part, near the leafs, the taste is much sweeter.

生姜　Ginger

Ginger includes zingerone and shoagole which is spicy ingredient. Ginger is used as a disinfectant and for killing smell, and for making meat softer. One of ginger’s essential oils zingiberene is good for appetite, perspiration, phlegm, cough, inflammation, and for making your body warm. It’s popular as a cold treatment.

紫蘇　Shiso

Shiso is high in Vitamin A, calcium, Vitamin B1, B2, Vitamin C, iron. Shiso is good for digestion and appetite, cough and food poisoning. Shiso also works as disinfectant and minor tranquilizer. It’s said Shiso is good for allergy symptoms. Green Shiso is more nutritious than Red Shiso and normally used as Yakumi. Red Shiso is popular for coloring Umeboshi.


It’s Nabe season now. Please enjoy the taste of Yakumi as well !!

TATAMI -Japanese mat 畳

　There are so many good and interesting things in Japan, but probably you don't know much about them if you cannot speak or read Japanese easily. I will give you tidbits of information on Japanese custom,life and food.

Some of you live in a house with a Tatami rooms. Tatami is a traditional Japanese flooring and very comfortable. The oldest Tatami is from the Nara era. Having a Tatami room is one of the unique features of Japan. Do you know something about Tatami ? There are so many good things about Tatami. Here is a bit about Tatami.

What is Tatami?

It’s made with three parts, Tatamidoko 畳床 ,Tatamiomote 畳表 and Tatamiheri 畳縁 . Tatamidoko is a base mat and made of straw. Tatamiomote is the surface and is made of Igusa rush. Tatamiheri is the edge of Tatami and made of cotton, silk, hemp, etc. Tatamidoko is rapped up with a Tatamiomote. So you can use both sides of Tatami. If it becomes old, you can flip it over and use another side of a Tatami as well.

Changing

There are three times or ways that we refresh a Tatami. 1.Uragaeshi 裏返しturning over, in about 2-3years. 2.Omotegae 表替えchanging the surface of the Tatami (Tatamiomote), at about 4-5years. 3. Shinchou 新調completely changing the Tatami, at about year 20.

Tatami is unique because it ;

1. Breaks-down and absorbing chemicals. 2. Keeps the floor cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 3. Absorbs moisture. 4. Has moderate elasticity. 5. Absorbs noise and tremor. 6. Relaxing as an aromatherapy.

Elasticity

Tatami is used in traditional Japanese sports like Judo because of its good elasticity. Igusa rush has a special structure and very strong against pressure from any directions. About straws, they pile up the straws and press them from 40cm to 5cm and this process creates a very strong elasticity. This is the main reason for Tatami’s good elasticity.

How to take care Tatami ?

When you vacuum the surface of a Tatami, do so in the same direction of Tatami’s line. If you wipe up Tatami surface with wet towel, wring the towel very well before wiping. Keep the Tatami dry and let fresh air into the room as often as possible. If you find mold on surface of Tatami, wipe up the surface with an alcohol towel. To prevent mold and mites, vacuum surface of Tatami and changing the air quite often.


Tatami is cool in the summer season 　and warm in the winter season 　and very comfortable. 　
Why don’t you lie down on Tatami and take a nap today?　　　　

TUKEMONO -Japanese Pickles 漬物

　There are so many good and interesting things in Japan, but probably you don't know much about them if you cannot speak or read Japanese easily. I will give you tidbits of information on Japanese custom,life and food.

When you go to a Japanese restaurant, you may find Tukemono with rice. It’s a kind of pickles and there are many kinds of pickles in Japan. Is it too salty and not good for your health??? NO !!! I want to let you know a bit about Japanese pickles today.

Tukaru 漬かる

Pickles are a food that is soaked and stored in a brine containing salts and acid. Because of osmotic pressure, the salt-laden water flows across the cell membrane into the cell and the vegetable then become soft and watery. Groups of pickles are often identified by the way this transformation process takes place. For example, if it occurs ‘rightly’, then we call the pickles Asazuke 浅漬け, very right tasting pickles.

Types

There are three category of pickles. The first type is a vegetable and soup taste. The soup comes from the vegetable, like a Asazuke and it has a light taste. The second one is made with anaerobic fermentation by lactic acid bacteria or yeast, like sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles and Nukazuke. The third one is mainly the sauce taste which is added later. The vegetable is soaked in very salty brine, then washed with water and seasoned with various tastes, like a Fukujinzuke. There are many types of Japanese pickles, like Shiozuke, Nukazuke, Shoyuzuke, Misozuke, Kasuzuke, Suzuke, Koujizuke, and Karashizuke.

Nutrition

Pickles are generally high in fiber. It is said fibers is good for managing cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, etc. Pickles contain many vitamins because they are not heated during production and each vegetable and yeast has different vitamins and minerals. If the pickle vegetable is soaked for too long of a time, vitamin C will be reduced, but if you soak for only one day, you can relatively have high amount of vitamin C. About vitamin B, if you take Nukazuke, you can have much more vitamin B than fresh vegetables. Also some pickles have Lactobacillus and it’s known as probiotics which is good for health. The current pickles are less salty than in the past so there is less worry about eating pickles if salt is a concern in your diet.

Chewing

When you eat pickles, chew them well. There are many good reasons to chew thoroughly. 1. Your stomach feels fuller ,faster. 2. It’s good for digestion 3. It’s a good for brain stimulation. 4. It makes your jaw bone stronger. 5. It prevents winkles. 6. It prevent cavities , etc.


There are so many kinds of Japanese pickles. Now you know pickles is a very healthy food. Please enjoy Japanese pickles as often as possible.

NIHONCHA -Japanese tea 日本茶

　There are so many good and interesting things in Japan, but probably you don't know much about them if you cannot speak or read Japanese easily. I will give you tidbits of information on Japanese custom,life and food.

Do you like a Japanese tea? It’s different from English tea and actually there are many types of Japanese tea here in Japan. You may find some difference of the color and taste in Japanese teas. Here are a bit of information about Japanese tea.


History

It’s said that ‘having tea’ started around 2700 B.C. in China and they actually ate the tea leaf , they did not drink the tea-infused water. Eventually, the tea custom had changed and all people started to drink tea from the Tang period. In Japan’s tea history, some Buddhist priests who studied in China brought ‘tea’ to Japan. At that time, only high status people could enjoy tea. But then in Kamakura era, a Zen priest who studied in China, again brought ‘tea’ to Japan and that started the local cultivation of tea.

How to make great tea? Crumple, crumple, crumple……

We have many types of tea in Japan, they are almost all ‘Green-tea’. The most popular one is ‘Sen-cha’ and made by typical procedure. The process is as follows.
1 Harvest the leaves. 2. Ventilate the leaves with humidity. 3. Steam the leaves. 4. Cool down the leaves. 5. Crumple and dry leaves with pressure. 6. Crumple and dry the leaves with more pressure. 7. Crumple the leaves with more pressure without ventilation. 8. Crumple and dry the leaves with less pressure. 9. Crumple and dry the leaves to make them into the proper shape. 10. Dry the leaves completely.
The making process is different between Green tea, Chinese tea and English tea. There are fermentation processes in making Chinese tea and English tea, but no fermentation process in making Green tea.

No1,2 or 3-tea???

The tea plants is an amazing plant- if you pick up the leaves, the new leaves grow soon and actually you can get the tea leaves harvest 3 times a year. The first harvest is in May (Shin-cha新茶), the next one is from Jun to July (Niban-cha二番茶) and the third one (Sanban-cha三番茶)is from July to August. The first harvest, in May, is the most tasty tea.

Types

Sen-cha 煎茶...............The most popular one and 80% of Japanese tea are Sen-cha. (Hot water temperature 70-80℃ steam time 90-120secounds)
Houji-cha ほうじ茶......The roasted leaves tea. It’s pleasant aroma and less bitter taste and good for children and elderly people too. (95℃ 30-40 seconds)
Genmai-cha 玄米茶....The tea mixed with brown rice which are soaked in water, then steamed and roasted. You can enjoy roasted aroma and light taste and good for children and elderly people and less caffeine. (95℃ 30-40 seconds)
Matt-cha 抹茶.............It’s different from normal tea leaves and fine powder. It’s made from Ten-cha and has no ‘crumpling’ in making procedure. It’s more nutritious and used as an ingredient in many sweets and drinks.

Nutrition

Green tea is famous as a healthy drink. The most powerful ingredient is catechin. It’s said that there are many medical benefits in catechin. For example, lowering cholesterol , lowering high blood pressure, preventing tooth cavities, preventing cancer, controlling the blood sugar level, working as anti-virus, anti-allergy and antioxidant, etc. There are many other ingredients as well. Theanine is one of the amino acid and gives good taste. Green tea also includes vitamin B2, C, E, folic acid,β-carotene, minerals, saponin, chlorophyll, etc.

There are so many benefits in Green tea. I recommend having green tea more than coffee !! Drink up !