Miso Flavored Grilled Rice Ball / おしゃれ味噌焼きおにぎり [Recipes, All Seasons 1年通]
日本語のレシピは ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の Hachidory から ご覧下さい。
The days of extreme heat has gone !
What a relief !
Now the second best season of the year is visiting here.
That is autumn, the rice harvesting season.
I love to see the rice field before harvesting.
The fields turn into the beds of golden yellow, the air is filled with the fragrance of the young grains !
I visited Akita prefecture, where I was born for the first time in 22 years.
I had been wanting to visit there for years and kept thinking I would visit there in September if such an occasion comes.
Can you guess why ?
It is because the beautiful scene of the rice field and the fragrance of the rice grains are engraved in my memory.
It was the day of one of my friend’s wedding.
I was looking out of the moving car, and the scene spread in front of me was specutacular and brought me to the dream world.
When I made the decision that I would visit Akita this year, I asked her when her wedding anniversary is.
I never wanted to miss the most beautiful moment of the rice paddy field.
She said it is September 23.
I was going to adjust my schedule to this date.
But wait, it is the story of more than 40 years ago.
It was right that I enquired the farmer when the expected harvesting period is.
The answer was it would be too late if I visited there after the middle of September.
My journey to my birth place was perfect !
Everyday the weather was fine, my physical condition was fine, and I could see
the beautiful scenery of the rice fields,
the clear blue ocean with the white ripples coming in and out to the white sandy beach on a very quiet day without any people around me.
the autumn wildflowers here and there.
I even had an occasion to see the most splendid twilight that I’ve ever seen in my life one evening.
The friend who offered me a stay invited our old friends for me one day.
Can you imagine my surprise and happiness that I met them for the first time in half a century !
All of us were naive young girls, but are now mature old ladies with wrinkles on our faces, but with high spirits.
How quickly time flies !
How fortunate I am !
Right !
Now I have to go to the recipe of this month.
It is a rice dish called “Yakionigiri”.
By the way, Akita is famous for good rice harvest and for its quality. I think the climate makes it possible.
I enjoyed this tasty Akita rice in every meal while I stayed there.
You can make Yakionigiri with any short grain rice.
So try it as you need only a few ingredients for this simple recipe.
Vegan Blueberry Ice Cream [Rcipes, Summer 夏レシピ]
日本語のレシピは ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の Hachidory から ご覧下さい。
Hop Hop Ju~mp,
Hop Hop, Ju~mp,
The grasshoppers are jumping everywhere on my walking path these days.
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They are great athletes!
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How fun it would be if I could jump like them !
In this bush of grasses, I wonder how many grass hoppers are hiding.
I wonder if the the grasshoppers also love the morning dew...
Charming !
The first thing I do after returning home from my morning walk is to open the sliding shutters and windows.
What often greets me there is a praying mantis !
The praying mantises do not try to escape from me like grasshoppers do, they keep staying there and change the angles of their faces and antennas towards me, and look at me as if they are trying to understand what I am saying.
When the summer is ending and a cool breeze is felt on the skin, they often come into my home, and we become like a family.
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I think we have a kind of connection that rooted in us.
Another insect staying at my home is the spiders.
Oh, No !?
You may be imagining the long legged big ones.
But the spiders staying at my home are all tiny, cute ones.
It seems that they have their favorite places or their territories, I see each of them in the designated same spot.
They also seem to like my voice.
Those insects add the colors into my life during summer, though some of the insects such as cock roaches, centipedes and mosquitoes are not welcome, and they are taken out to the outside.
However even those insects except centipedes can stay at my home when the summer ended.
When I see their movements are slow, I reckon their lives are towards the end.
I feel like being kind to them.
Every year one mosque survives somehow until the early winter.
She cannot fly quickly anymore and flies slowly within my eye site.
Then, I want to cheer her up, and prepare a slice of apple or the tiny portion of syrup on a plate.
Then she perches on the edges of the plate and starts sipping them slowly.
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The same kind of thing happened with some of the cockroaches before.
When it happened for the first time, it was really an unexpected heartwarming experience for me, so I made a nonfiction Kamishibai story based on these incidents.
I recorded videos and took some photos of them and of me and them together, but I do not dare to show those photos here as I know most of the people do not want to see them.
(In fact I was one of them until I had these incidents happened to me one day.)
Insects are also one of the creatures on this planet.
They are also living in this world just like we are.
We need to live with them in harmony.
We should never look down on them.
Now I move to the recipe of this month.
It’s been extremely hot here in Japan.
So this month recipe must be something that can relieve this crazy heat.
That is Ice cream!
Vegan Blueberry Ice Cream !!
Here you go !
Akashiso Red Perilla Juice 赤しそジュース [Rcipes, Summer 夏レシピ]
日本語のレシピは ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の Hachidory から ご覧下さい。
It is officially declared that the rainy season has started.
But it seems that the rainy season was skipped and the hot summer has arrived to me.
The temperature reaches over 35 centigrade for the last few days, which is considered Kokusho / extreme heat in Japan.
I am right now hearing an alert from the speaker of the town hall to drink water on and off and be careful not to get heat stroke.
The summer season is the heaven for the insects.
Today’s recipe is just perfect for such extremely hot days.
It is “Akashiso Juice / Red Perilla Juice.”
It probably will raise your energy level high up as if the nectar provides the power to the butterflies to flap their wings.
Shiso / Perilla is a Japanese traditional herb and grows from July to August.
I never planted the seeds, but they appear here and there in my garden and in my neighborhood.
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I am sharing Aoshiso with the insects.
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Can you see the grasshopper perching on Akashiso ?
They are also easily available in the shops and farmers market during summer season.
Therefore as you may be imagining, this is the most popular herb in Japan, and is frequently used in Japanese cooking.
There are green ones and red ones.
The green ones are called “Aoshiso” or “Ohba” and used for more wider range of cooking, whereas the red ones are called “Akashiso “and usually used for limited cooking.
Akashiso are appreciated because of their color, and they are mainly used for umeboshi making / preserved green plums, and for juice.
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However they are used not only for coloring purpose but for enhancing the aroma and taste of umeboshi.
I also found that my umeboshi never gets moldy when I added the Akashiso.
I think the combination of Ume plum and Akashiso has the synergetic effect to stop the growth of unfavorable bacteria.
I add plenty of Akashiso in my umeboshi as I love the taste of it, and I can also obtain the very beautiful red vinegar which is indispensable for my cooking.
I introduced one such recipe in my previous post.
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Today’s recipe is Akashiso Juice.
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It is quite a popular recipe so you can get it easily from YouTube too.
Most of them are using either citric acid or vinegar to enhance the color, and the refined cane sugar as a sweetener.
I do not want to use the synthesized powder, and my stomach is intolerant to the excess amount of vinegar, so my recipes do not require either of them.
As for the sweetener, I use the unrefined beetroot sugar which is gentler to my body compared with the cane sugar.
Other advantages of beetroot sugar are that the beetroots are locally grown in Hokkaido, Japan and the sugar is also manufactured locally unlike the cane sugar which are mostly imported from overseas.
But the biggest advantage for the strict vegans is that the beetroot sugar is 100% vegan unlike the cane sugar which has possibility of non-vegan as they are sometimes refined through the filters made from bone char depending on which factory they are processed.
If the red perilla is available at where you live.
Try my recipe !
It is refreshing and it makes you revitalized during hot and humid summer !
梅酢大根ピクルス Radish with Red Plum Vinegar [Recipes, All Seasons 1年通]
日本語のレシピは ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の Hachidory から ご覧下さい。
The rainy season seems to have started already.
We have more rainy days these days, and I sense more humidity on my skin.
The green plume trees are laden with lots of grown up leaves as they are always so in this season.
But Oh my goodness !
I cannot find even a single fruit there, though I searched for them thinking some must be hiding in the bush of leaves.
I know that those fruit trees bear abundant of fruits every other year, but even in a poor crop year, a small portion of plums can be harvested.
But, but, None !
No green plumbs is very disappointing as I love their fragrance most of all in this world.
Well, can’t be helped.
The nature is taking its course..
The mulberries are abundant this year,
and I am now enjoying foraging them.
What is happening around us is happening because it is good for us.
I still have many umeboshi and a few jars of plum vinegar from previous years in my pantry.
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So today I am sharing a recipe of daikon radish with plum vinegar with you.
It is super-duper easy to make !
It is so refreshing !
It can revitalize you !
Buy the way, what is the plum vinegar ?
It is the byproduct of umeboshi.
When we make umeboshi, the green plums are mixed with salt.
The juice starts coming out of the plums a few days later.
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This juice is “Umezu” which is translated to plum vinegar in English. (We call it vinegar, but unlike the normal vinegar of any kinds, no fermentation takes place in its process.)
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I like to add lots of shiso red peril herb to the plain plum vinegar as I prefer the taste in this way, and also it can work as a natural food coloring.
I told you that the plum vinegar is the byproduct of umeboshi, but for me, umeboshi is the byproduct of plum vinegar.
Umeboshi is not often necessary in my cooking other than for onigiri, rice ball making.
However the plum vinegar is indispensable.
I need it everyday for my breakfast, mixing with natto, grated radish and green onion.
I like to add to the dressing for fresh salad.
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I add it to the oily food for refreshing taste and also to break down the unnecessary oil in my body.
I add it to keep the food fresh during humid season to avoid the food turns easily rancid.
I drink it after diluting with some water when I feel uncomfortable consuming something unwanted such as sugar laden sweets, unwanted food additives which are prepared outside.
I often use it for my bento making and also for the side dishes as its red color makes the food look more attractive.
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The left item looks like the real egg, but it is not.
I made it with the pumpkin and the soy milk.
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The right top one may look like the grilled eel, but it is not.
I made it with tofu.
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The one below the flower shaped radish pickles looks like the scrambled
egg, but it is not. I made it with the pumpkin and tofu.
It is indeed a super food that I myself found its greatness from my experience.
I hope you will also find it is effective for you too.
Enjoy today’s super-duper easy recipe as a start.
(It is just to mix the radish and the plum vinegar ! )
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You do not need to make umeboshi in order to obtain the plum vinegar.
It is easily available from the net shops.
Here are some links of reliable shops.
(They are written in Japanese only.)
https://umenokuni.com/collections/all/products/umesu-aka
https://kawashima-ya.jp/?pid=80205508
Hopefully some net shops in your country are dealing the plum vinegar too.
Vegan Chirashizushi / Sushi Rice with Vegetables and Tofu ビーガン散らし寿司 [Recipes Spring 春レシピ]
日本語のレシピは ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の Hachidory から ご覧下さい。
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The season of pink, yellow and green has arrived !
What a splendid world !!
Just a few weeks ago, the world I saw was the color of a kind of monotone and the air was so tight and cold.
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It is as if the nature has a magical wand to cast a spell.
I must enjoy this short precious period to my heart’s content !
Going outside and strolling is the best way to feel the spring air.
There’s another way for me to enjoy the spring at most.
What do you think it is ?
It is cooking.
Cooking something very springy !
Cooking with the wild plants that I foraged.
I enjoy the moment that I feel the spring on my cheek and look at those wild plants.
Honestly to say, I sometimes feel guilty to pick them up. I always try not to pluck them to keep their roots untouched except the plant called Nobiru which is so powerful and strong and keep growing by creeping under the soil.
Nobiru's roots are tasty, and I feel like I'm also getting stronger like them whenever I eat them..
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The recipe that I am introducing today is something I created to express the joy of spring season.
For this recipe, you do not need the wild plants to replicate it.
You can make it with the ingredients that you can probably find in the grocery store.
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“Chirashizushi” means scattered sushi literally.
Usually a several kinds of raw fish are scattered on the sushi rice, but my vegan version, of course, is no usage of fish, so uses vegetables and tofu instead.
It is absolutely suitable for “Hinamatsuri” festival (Girls Festival or Doll’s Festival), which is also called “Momo no sekku” (Peach Blossom Festival).
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“Hinamatsuri” is supposed to be celebrated on March 3 of the lunar calendar, which falls on Aril 11 this year.
So why don’t you try it, and celebrate this special occasion with your friends or family.
It is a good idea to let the all the dolls you have at your home such as stuffed toys or figurines join you while you are celebrating.
Hina dolls that my daughter made with the clay
when she was in elementary school
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Hina dolls that I made with origami paper.
You can know more about Hinamatusri from my previous blog.
I must admit that the preparation for today’s recipe is not so simple and you might find it is time consuming when you tried it.
But it is worth spending time as everyone, especially kids and girls get excited when they see it on the table, and become happier when they put it into their mouth.
