Wow, has it really been since February?! Had I abandoned this food blog for that long?!
Even now that I write in three different "blog"-type forums (mostly in Japanese), I still consider this my A-side blog - my home, my roots - which is why I haven't been able to delete it even as it has become grossly outdated.
I have been doing very well lately, and I have been getting back into writing in the evening again. Yes, yes, I know spending time before going to bed in front of the computer is supposed to disrupt my sleep cycle, etc. Unfortunately, it is the only time I have to read and write outside of the occasional 10 min reading I do in between working in the lab or while some mega-process is eating up my CPU cycles. Ha, don't I sound so computer-savvy these days?!
The big news that I wanted to share today is that I recently went semi-vegetarian. This was not necessarily by choice - I became allergic to something in most animal-based meats, including all land/farm animals, fish, and even jelly fish. Eggs and broth still seem to be OK, but I am affected by some types of cheese. It may sound bad, but besides not being able to partake in Korean BBQ, it's really not too bad. I never was a fan of super meaty dishes anyway, and I was a pseudo-vegetarian before in NC, where I decided I'd rather eat vegetarian than eat hormone- and antibiotic-pumped meats after reading My Year of Meats. I dropped this pledge upon coming to CA, since the Korean BBQ was just too good here to forgo. I guess my body decided to act on its behalf since my desires were overpowering my will.
As a result of my dietary requirements, I am now a big fan of the Macrobiotic cuisine. I mean, really, these recipes I see in the JP Macrobiotic cookbooks are exactly what I like to eat, even if I weren't restricted! I am learning to incorporate into my daily meals different ingredients that I went out to eat because I wasn't exactly sure how to cook them at home. I rest assured knowing that my meals are balanced with all the nutrients required and that someone has taken the time to make sure there are no missing components, as long as I work off of the ingredient list in these books.
Last night, I had my first Macrobiotic Dinner Party, and I have to say, it was a big success! Not one of the four non-vegetarians at the table missed the meat! Here's what I made:
Main:
Cabbage-egg-crustless quiche (egg is OK in the looser Macrobiotic rules in some JP books).
Hijiki-tofu scramble with crunchy mountain "jelly fish" plant pickles
Mabo eggplant-eringi-shiitake-enoki with nappa
Side:
Two-layered mekabu-yamaimo-natto salad with crunchy mountain "jelly fish" plant pickles
Sweet potato kinpira sticks
Brown rice (the heart and soul of Macrobiotic meals!)
Dessert:
Warabi mochi with green- and gold- kinako
Orange-apple agar cake
I really enjoyed the cooking process, since everything was so easy to prepare. Each dish didn't take very long to cook at all, and without meat in the kitchen, I didn't have to think about the meat juices, etc. I'll try to post recipes and pictures as I go along in my Macrobiotic adventure, but I just don't have the time to deal with photos these days. And besides, these aren't the most pretty looking without some plating effort, which is not one of my fortes...
I have also been exploring the local restaurants as a vegetarian, and I have new things to say, even about the old haunts. Gochi has been surprisingly easy to eat vegetarian, as well as Hoshi. Actually, I don't think I ever did a Hoshi post. I'll have to do both a omnivorious and vegetarian version for that!
One last thing is also that I am fasting for Ramadan this month. It is a social and spiritual experiment of some sort. I am enjoying the process very much, and I am planning on doing a summary post soon here. Fasting, being the antonym of eating, has a place in this blog, I say!
Showing posts with label Editorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Editorial. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Resurrecting MED
I am coming out of retirement!
I have been wondering what to do with MED, even considering deleting it all together. I just haven't been eating out very much, which left me without anything to write about here. But recently, some of my friends and I decided to learn a new dish a month to cook at home - what perfect way to ressurect MED! I will log what we all make and associated recipes! I'll call these The Dish of the Month.
In between The Dish of the Month posts, I'll try to post what I can about my recently discovered healthful eating recipes. I have been on a judo-motivated weight loss program for the last few months and I seem to be onto something. I have managed to lose 10+ lbs since September, which is pretty good, considering that was about a 8% loss in total weight for me. :)
I'll also try to collect all the basic recipes for Japanese cooking under the Basics category... I have been requested to do this so many times, and I kept promising that I will... This time, I really will!
I have been wondering what to do with MED, even considering deleting it all together. I just haven't been eating out very much, which left me without anything to write about here. But recently, some of my friends and I decided to learn a new dish a month to cook at home - what perfect way to ressurect MED! I will log what we all make and associated recipes! I'll call these The Dish of the Month.
In between The Dish of the Month posts, I'll try to post what I can about my recently discovered healthful eating recipes. I have been on a judo-motivated weight loss program for the last few months and I seem to be onto something. I have managed to lose 10+ lbs since September, which is pretty good, considering that was about a 8% loss in total weight for me. :)
I'll also try to collect all the basic recipes for Japanese cooking under the Basics category... I have been requested to do this so many times, and I kept promising that I will... This time, I really will!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Recent happenings: an Update
I really have been insanely busy these past few months, I forgot that I had a blog! :P
With a new job, a new house, and a new commitment to healthful living, I feel so much better about life in general. And you know what? I find myself eating out less and less. Those places I used to drive close to an hour to get to for dinner? I live only about 15 min from them now, but I cook at home most nights. My mindset on dining out has shifted; from dining out as an escape to forget my daily to stress, I eat out at restaurants only to celebrate and reconnect with friends. I have a sneaking suspicion that once I move to my new house and end this cave-like temporary apartment life, I'll be inviting friends over more and maybe eating out even less!
So, why the sudden change of routine in my dining habits? I really don't know. All of a sudden, I find myself preferring to stay home on most nights when it's just me and the Papa Bear. Driving even the 15 min to a restaurant becomes too much of a hassle. Why not just fix something up at home? The izakaya-style restaurants that used to be staples of my dining out selection have all but disappeared from our routine. (My izakaya-dishes have improved drastically over the past few months, and I hope to share some of my recipes here soon.) Even my sushi stops have been replaced by chirashi and temaki sushi at home. We only stop over at Sushi Yoshi these days, really more to say hi to Yoshi-san and his wife, Mari-san.
One of the only places that remains on my frequently visited list is Sumiya for yakitori - one of the only shops open at 11 PM when I get out of work late. They really are a savior on those nights, especially since they are located right down the street from my company. I sure am a lucky girl with this new job! :) They have steadily improved their skewers and their menu over the last year to blossom into a lively, fun restaurant that is a true gem. I'm going to have to do an update on them soon to recap all the love I feel for this place!
That brings up another point. I stopped blogging for a long while, since I just couldn't feel comfortable about writing about restaurants for a while. I started out blogging because I just wanted to talk about food, especially Japanese food to share my culture and my background, maybe translate some phrases and introduce some new ingredients. I didn't have a clear policy on what to write and what not to write, because frankly, I just wanted to write about what I like and don't like about food! But my not having a clear policy led me to murky territory of 'am I shilling for friendly restaurants?', 'what if I want to say something negative about a place I used to like - how should I update the information?', 'wait, I haven't been to Restaurant So-and-So in so long, should I revise the info?', etc, etc. It was just too much for me when the going was rough with work.
I am still working the kinks of what I want to write about these days, but I do know that I still want to share some of the epicurean delights in my life. I think I will start back slowly with a few dishes from my nightly izakaya-style banshaku (sake sipping and nibbling) at home and see where it takes me.
If anyone besides the Papa, Uchipu, and Yamo are still here, thank you for your patience. I plan to be back on at least a bi-weekly basis!
With a new job, a new house, and a new commitment to healthful living, I feel so much better about life in general. And you know what? I find myself eating out less and less. Those places I used to drive close to an hour to get to for dinner? I live only about 15 min from them now, but I cook at home most nights. My mindset on dining out has shifted; from dining out as an escape to forget my daily to stress, I eat out at restaurants only to celebrate and reconnect with friends. I have a sneaking suspicion that once I move to my new house and end this cave-like temporary apartment life, I'll be inviting friends over more and maybe eating out even less!
So, why the sudden change of routine in my dining habits? I really don't know. All of a sudden, I find myself preferring to stay home on most nights when it's just me and the Papa Bear. Driving even the 15 min to a restaurant becomes too much of a hassle. Why not just fix something up at home? The izakaya-style restaurants that used to be staples of my dining out selection have all but disappeared from our routine. (My izakaya-dishes have improved drastically over the past few months, and I hope to share some of my recipes here soon.) Even my sushi stops have been replaced by chirashi and temaki sushi at home. We only stop over at Sushi Yoshi these days, really more to say hi to Yoshi-san and his wife, Mari-san.
One of the only places that remains on my frequently visited list is Sumiya for yakitori - one of the only shops open at 11 PM when I get out of work late. They really are a savior on those nights, especially since they are located right down the street from my company. I sure am a lucky girl with this new job! :) They have steadily improved their skewers and their menu over the last year to blossom into a lively, fun restaurant that is a true gem. I'm going to have to do an update on them soon to recap all the love I feel for this place!
That brings up another point. I stopped blogging for a long while, since I just couldn't feel comfortable about writing about restaurants for a while. I started out blogging because I just wanted to talk about food, especially Japanese food to share my culture and my background, maybe translate some phrases and introduce some new ingredients. I didn't have a clear policy on what to write and what not to write, because frankly, I just wanted to write about what I like and don't like about food! But my not having a clear policy led me to murky territory of 'am I shilling for friendly restaurants?', 'what if I want to say something negative about a place I used to like - how should I update the information?', 'wait, I haven't been to Restaurant So-and-So in so long, should I revise the info?', etc, etc. It was just too much for me when the going was rough with work.
I am still working the kinks of what I want to write about these days, but I do know that I still want to share some of the epicurean delights in my life. I think I will start back slowly with a few dishes from my nightly izakaya-style banshaku (sake sipping and nibbling) at home and see where it takes me.
If anyone besides the Papa, Uchipu, and Yamo are still here, thank you for your patience. I plan to be back on at least a bi-weekly basis!
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