Steamed Bun with Yuzu 柚子蒸しパン [Recipes, Winter 冬レシピ]
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。
Isn't it beautiful ?
I have been enjoying those fantastic view for a week.
What a luxsuary !
When the autumn foliage reflects on the lake in the morning, it is breathtaking !
I cannot resist visiting there in early morning everyday these days, when the air is still cold as everything look most beautiful in the morning.
They change their looks as the time passes.
There are lots of Sakura trees here, so the spring here is also beautiful.
But I would say the autumn foliage looks even more splendid.
The morning here is already cold and I always want something hot to keep myself warm.
So I am going to share one of the recipes which cheers me up on cold days.
It is “Yuzu Mushipan” / “Steamed Bun with Yuzu Lemon”
Steaming is the cooking method which is common in Asian cuisine.
I would say the baking is a water depriving cooking, whereas the steaming is a water adding cooking.
Therefore the food cooked by steaming is moist and gentle compared with baking.
I consider this way of cooking is more suitable for me during winter season as it is cold and the air is very dry in where I live.
If you also live in the similar climate, I recommend you to add this cooking method frequently to your cooking.
Vegetable Shiokoji Ramen 野菜塩麹ラーメン [Recipes, Winter 冬レシピ]
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。
The plum blossoms are fully blooming now !
Our town has many plum trees (and also yuzu trees).
Therefore whenever I go out for a walk, I can always meet them somewhere.
Aren’t they pretty?
They look more graceful and reserved compared with cherry blossoms to me.
They will grow into the green plums by June, when I become very busy to do ume-work such as umeboshi/salty preserved plums, umesh / liquor and juice making.
Judging from the abundant flowers, I am now anticipating that we’ll have a good harvest of green plums this year.
The plum flowers are telling us that the spring has come.
Yes, I can feel the spring in the air during the daytime on sunny days, which makes me so delightful.
However it is still so cold in the morning and night !
I have to wait until March to meet the real spring.
The piping hot soup is still necessary for me.
So I am sharing the noodle in the hot soup today.
Maybe I should say “Ramen” rather than describing it in that way, as everyone nowadays know what Ramen is.
But I want to tell you this, it seems that many people think it is a Japanese cuisine, but it is not.
Some might argue about it, but at least it was not.
So it is absolutely not the traditional Japanese cuisine.
It is the modern fusion food that successfully entered into the global food business.
Anyway let me introduce my ramen now.
Unlike the ramen you may have eaten before, it is very light and gentle to your stomach, as it is made from the oil-free and vegetable-rich soup, and gluten free noodles.
And of course, it is vegan.
What is good about this ramen is not only them.
I am using the cores of the cabbage and also the hard parts of the stalk of the broccoli to make soup stock.
It is such a waste to discard those parts.
Those are the prime parts that the starch and the sugar are stored in addition to other nutrition.
I make soup stock in various ways, but the soup from the vegetables is my most favorite one.
Especially the combination of today’s vegetables is excellent.
I like to use it as a foundation of my miso soup, sometimes cook the rice with it instead of the plain water.
Gingerbread Man Cookies, Vegan & Gluten-free ジンジャーブレッドマンクッキー [Recipes, Winter 冬レシピ]
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。
Merry Christmas !
I hope you are having a wonderful happy holiday.
I’ll be having a dinner alone at my home…
But don’t worry, I do not mind it at all.
After all it is not a holiday in Japan, and is also not the day that family get together unless they have small kids at their home. It is rather the day that young people have gathering or dinner with their own friends, not with their families.
I wrote more about Christmas in Japan in previous posts, so if you are interested in, visit and read them.
With the recipe of Christmas pumpkin muffin
I already had happy Christmas parties with my students and my family on separate occasions.
The decoration cake that my students made following the recipe that I passed to them.
The Christmas tree potato salad that I made.
The Christmas lease shaped rice bread decorated by kids
It is my greatest pleasure to plan what to cook for special occasions and to cook in my own way and in my own speed without any restrictions.
How fortunate I am to have such a freedom and dignity!
I have enough food to fill my tummy and a shelter to keep myself warm during this cold season.
What else can I ask for ?
My thought goes to those beings whose freedom and dignities are taken away and living in miserable conditions in this world.
I just wish merry Christmas to all of them.
May the god bless to all the creatures living in this world….
The recipe that I am introducing to you today is Gingerbread Man Cookies !
Of course, vegan and also gluten-free.
They are too cute so you may not want to eat them after all !
Rice with Radish Leaves / 大根菜飯 Vegan Gluten-free [Recipes, Winter 冬レシピ]
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。
The autumn is a beautiful season.
The leaves of the trees are still yellow, orange and red though some have started falling.
The lake near my home is surrounded by those trees, and looks so elegant.
When I visited there yesterday, the leaves were dancing with the wind, falling onto the lake, floating and drifting on the water.
It was such a lovely scene !!
Precious moment that I would not be able to see at least next one year.
I am sharing some of the photos that I took recently.
Some are the one taken a week ago, and some are the ones taken yesterday.
My house is also covered with colored ivies which started climbing on the wall about two years ago.
They turned to yellow, orange and red, and transformed my humble small house into the one of a fairy tale.
They look graceful to me, though I’m not sure if others also would think the same way as I do.
In fact, I did not do anything, just let them climb the way they want.
I am pleased that they chose my house for them to grow when there are other bigger houses with more spacious surfaces in my neighborhood.
The recipe for this month is “Rice mixed with radish leaves” as the season of Daikon, white radish has started.
It is juicy and sweet unlike the radish of the hot seasons.
It is perhaps the most popular winter vegetables for Japanese.
But people tend to eat only its body.
Daikon grows with its leaves, and the leaves are nutritious having the nutrients that white body parts do not carry.
We say “Ichibutu Zentai 一物全体” in Macrobiotics, which means whatever the nature blessed us in this world are being themselves with all the things they consist with.
Nothing is useless.
This philosophy can be adapted to all the creatures including the plants, animals and humans.
Therefore it is better to eat the whole food rather than a part of it.
The radish is a radish with its body and its leaves.
You can cook and eat the leaves the same way as you do with any other leafy green vegetablem, and make it into salad, soup, sauté and pesto.
“Daikon Nanmeshi” is very tasty when you mix the leaves with the newly harvested rice which is softer and juicier.
Napa Cabbage Casserole topped with vegan cheese 白菜キャセロールビーガンチーズのせ [Recipes, Winter 冬レシピ]
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。
Frost on my vegetable patch
It has been extremely cold in the morning.
I described it “freezing cold”, then my friend living in Canada said, “You do not believe “freezing” until Ottawa.”
May be it’s true.
It is only -6℃ here, and -26℃ in Ottawa.
But that is the outside temperature.
The temperature inside the house is kept warm in Canada.
In Japan, we usually do not have central heating, and use either stove or air-conditioner in the room .
If I want to keep the entire house warm, the bill for the utilities would be skyrocketing high for me.
I also would feel guilty for using so much fossil fuel.
Quite a few of my young friends in this area are switching to the firewood stove collecting woods from the mountains because they do not want to rely on fossil fuel and save the utility bill.
The heat from the firewood cannot compare with the one from the electricity, kerosene and gas.
I feel sooo good whenever I visit those friends home.
The air is mild and tender, and the flames of the fire makes my mind and sole peaceful.
It has been my dream to have a wood burning stove, but I have never materialized it because my small old house is not designed to install it.
There are still a few pleasures in freezing cold everyday life.
One of them is piping hot and hearty pot dishes.
I am sharing a recipe of one of them today.
That is “Napa cabbage casserole topped with vegan mochi cheese”.
Napa cabbage during this season is so tender and sweet especially when it is simmered.
I wondered why it is so and asked my farmer friend.
Napa cabbage increase their sweetness when they feel too cold being covered with the frost. Actually, they enjoy the mild coldness but hate the frost, so make their effort as much as they can to overcome the coldness and survive. Their effort transform their starch to sugar.
Hmmm~, that is why….
So we absolutely have to cook and eat with great gratitude to them and should not waste even a single layer of their leaves.
Mochi, glutinous rice cake gives the effect of melty cheese, and it also fills your tummy and keep your body warm.
You must try it if you are in a freezing cold environment!