Vegetable Shiokoji Ramen 野菜塩麹ラーメン

 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.

The red plum blossoms do not bear fruit.

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.

 

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タグ：ラーメン 塩麹 野菜ラーメン キャベツの芯 ブロッコリーの茎 人参 マクロビオビーガン マクロビオティック ビーガン ヴィーガン ヘルシー マクロビオティック料理教室 グルテンフリー 英語料理教室 macrobiotics Vegan japanesefood Japanesevegan Ramen zerowaste Hachidory macrobiovegan Japanesecookingclass healthyramen vegetablesoupstock

Gingerbread Man Cookies, Vegan & Gluten-free ジンジャーブレッドマンクッキー

 

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 tofu cream 

With the recipe of Christmas pumpkin muffin 

I already had happy Christmas parties with my students and my family on separate occasions.

Christmas table that I prepared for my family

 

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The decoration cake that my students made following the recipe that I passed to them.

 

The healthy donuts that kids, moms and me made together.

The Christmas tree potato salad that I made.

 

The Christmas lease shaped rice bread decorated by kids

 

The soup, stew, salad and rice were prepared by moms

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 !

 

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タグ：Christmas muffin Vegan cream ビーガンクリーム マフィン Hachidory 牛の現実 乳製品卵不使用クッキー ビーガンクッキー 小麦粉不使用クッキー ジンジャーブレッドマン お菓子の家 クリスマスクッキー compassionate Christmas dairy industry Japanese Christmas gluten free cookies Vegan cookies Christmas cookies Gingerbread man cookies

Rice with Radish Leaves / 大根菜飯 Vegan Gluten-free

 

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.

Enjoy this seasonal easy recipe during the winter !

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タグ：radish radish leaves rice Japanese cooking Japanese Autumn Japanese winter macrotiotics Vegan Gluten-Free whole food マクロビオティック ビーガン グルテンフリー アレルギー対応 マクロビオティック料理教室 ビーガン料理教室 英語料理教室 秋料理 冬料理 大根 大根葉 新米 紅葉 モミジ

Japanese Miso Soup, Vegan ほっこり味噌汁

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。

 

What do you like to drink first in the morning ?

 

For me it varies depending on the seasons.

These days I drink that.

I feel like as if I am revitalized when I drink it in the morning.

“Mnnn~, especially the first sip runs through my throat to all parts of my body giving me a great satisfaction.

 

Can you guess what is that ?

 

It is “Miso Soup”.

 

It is the Japanese traditional soup that has been cooked and eaten on daily bases by common people for hundreds of years.  

 

Unfortunately the diet of Japanese people have changed drastically after the world warⅡ, and the consumption of the traditional foods including miso dropped in a same way.

Soybeans playing the vital role in traditional Japanese cuisine

 

Miso, fermented soybean paste that I made

I hear that some foreigners and nutritionist say Japanese food is healthy and that is why the life span of Japanese people is longer compared with people of other countries .  
But I don’t think it is true anymore. 

My parents’ generations grew up with the modest traditional food.  The fridge which can prolong the lives of food, and the processed food which often contain unnatural ingredients were not part of their lives, and the transportations were not developed, therefore what they could eat were the seasonal local food only. 

It must have been very frugal, but what they were eating were genuine natural fresh food free from the chemicals.  

My parents enjoyed the western food and so called unhealthy food when they were grown up, but they had been brought up with the modest food when they were small and young, which built up the healthy physical foundation in them.   They passed away when they were 94 and 95 after leading healthy lives.  

But I don’t think I can be like them as my body does not have a good foundation.   The same can be said to other people of my generations and also to the younger generations.

Yes, we may be able to live as long as my parents’ generations did with the help of modern medications and medical devices, which might be able to prolong our lives somehow. 
However, I think it is not the healthy form of human being to rely on those things to maintain our health.     

I also think it is not sustainable to rely on them, though they are always praised and taken for granted by people and society.

 

I think eating healthy and leading a healthy life since our childhood can make us stronger. 

Rather than spending money for developing those technologies we should spend more for education to keep our body healthy and fit, and also for helping people to change eating habit and their lifestyles.  

 

As an individual we should try to lead our lives modestly, and try to live in accordance with the rhythm of the nature.  

 

Then someday, the fear would shrink in you, and you would not get upset even if you encountered the diseases, problems and whatever you are now afraid of. 

 

The purpose of life is not to become materially rich nor to live long. 

It is to live free from fear and anxiety, and to live happily until we say good-bye to this world.

 

We may need to make some effort initially to attain it, and also need to help others if one’s dignity is oppressed to the degree that it is impossible for him/her to make an effort.

 

I was going to talk about the coffee which successfully took the position of the miso soup among young people.

But I got off the track .

I will talk about it in other occasion.

But if you can read Japanese, visit “Hachidory” where I did not get off the track and finished writing about it.

 

Well, here’s the recipe of  “Sweet Miso Soupほっこり味噌汁”

It is the miso soup that can release the tense from your body.

I learnt this recipe in a macrobiotic school long time ago.

If you search, you’ll find an American doctor is also introducing it as a detox soup, and it seems quite popular among people who are seeking this kind of recipes.

 

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タグ：マクロビオティック ビーガン マクロビオビーガン 甘い味噌汁 玉ねぎ かぼちゃ キャベツ 人参 味噌汁レシピ Hachidory misosoup Pumpkin onion cabbage carrot Japanese traditional food MISO soybeans peach of mind

Tomato Salad トマト玉ねぎサラダ

 

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 summer is still lasting here in Japan.

However it has already reached the turning point and is getting ready to pass the baton to the next season.

I can feel that from the air, and also from the sounds of insects.

 

The growth of the tomatoes in my garden is also telling me that.

I wanted to introduce today’s recipe earlier when the tomato season is in its peak in the open fields.

I cannot remember since when, but the tomatoes which used to be the vegetable of the summer only became the one of all the year round. 

I read that 80% of the tomatoes sold in Japan are cultivated in the green houses, not in the open fields. 

That is why they are available all the year round. 

The real natural tomatoes, which grow in the fields can be harvested in the summer only (or early autumn).

When I looked at the tomatoes displayed in the supermarkets, none of them look like grown in the open fields to my eyes and sense.  They are pretty, but less energetic.  

The tomatoes in my garden are smaller and do not have nice figures like the one in the shop, but they definitely have more vitality, and are also tastier.

 

The recipe I am introducing today is very simple to make.

It is to enjoy the taste and juiciness of the tomatoes.

 

 

When I place the plate of this tomato salad, the cucumber dish, sweet corns and edamame/young green soybeans on the table, I feel as if I am on the cloud nine of the summer.

 

You might feel the same way !

Enjoy !

 

 

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タグ：きゅうり とうもろこし wholefood Vegan ビーガン macrobiotics 夏野菜 Japanesesummer TOMATOES トマトサラダ Hachidory グルテンフリー GlutenFree Plantbase summervegetables 枝豆 マクロビオティック 露地栽培