More Secrets of Japanese Vegetarian Cooking: My Lunch With Fumi

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I drove down recently to Fumiko (Fumi) Arao’s home in the lush hills above Silicon Valley where we planned to test recipes for our upcoming cooking class. When I arrived, to my great pleasure, Fumi told me she was putting the finishing touches on lunch which we were to share with her husband, Ken. In a way, it was a simple lunch, but even so, it was apparent that Fumi had expended no small amount of thought and preparation time. Eating Fumi’s food is always interesting because she subtly combines traditional techniques she learned from her mother and grandmother in Japan with the principles of macrobiotics she’s studied in the U.S. Into this mix, of course, is the reality that Fumi is well-travelled and has been exposed to a rich mix of cuisines.

On a cool, rainy day, lunch consisted of warming foods, well cooked and seasoned. There was kabocha squash, baked and stuffed with seasoned tofu, thick fried tofu simmered with red wine, soy sauce and dried figs, blanched kale tossed with olive oil, umeboshi vinegar and toasted pumpkin seeds, and short grain brown rice cooked with ample quantities of fresh ginger. Well satisfied, we headed into the kitchen to work on recipes for the class.  But that is a story for another post. Fumi’s recipes are after the jump…

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Photos: Top–Fumi smoothes the tofu filling in the kabocha squash. Above: Our lunch of stuffed squash, thick fried tofu and figs simmered in red wine, and blanched kale with pumpkin seeds, with rice in a separate bowl.

Where to Eat: New Vegan, Macrobiotic Cafe Opens in Berkeley

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It’s too soon to give a detailed review, but I know all of you who live in or visit the Bay Area will want to know about the Green Earth Cafe and Bakery in Berkeley.  Open just a few weeks, proprietors Barbara Johnston-Brown  and Ciren Zhuoga and their staff offer a welcoming menu of organic, vegan, macrobiotic dishes. I tried the Green Earth special plate of the day (pictured above), which also comes in a smaller version in a bowl. It included a veggie stir fry with seitan (or was that tofu?), baked sweet potato and apple, fried polenta sticks, rice with kamut, and pickles. Everything on the plate was prepared with a delicate hand, and completely delicious.  Even though I live twenty miles away,  I hope to pop in frequently to check on progress. I worked ten years in the restaurant business and know very well how tough and competitive it is.  So, to Barbara and Ciren I say: I wish you well, you’ve got a good start and I hope you can take it the rest of the way to long-term success.

Details: Green Earth Cafe and Bakery, 2124 Center Street Berkeley, CA 94704 (one block from downtown Berkeley BART). 510-981-8404 /Hours: Light breakfast 8:30-11 a.m. / Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. / Dinner: 5:30-9:30 p.m. / Saturday Brunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Closed Sunday (as with most new businesses, it’s good to call ahead, as hours can change).

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Barbara Johnston-Brown (pictured) and Ciren Zhuoga are proprietors of the new Green Earth Cafe and Bakery in Berkeley (more photos after the jump).

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Aduki Beans Pair With Garnet Yams In A Colorful, Autumnal Potage

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One of the great things about dried beans is that they’re always in your pantry, ready to use. And while it’s never wrong to cook any bean at any time of year, I just think kidney beans and aduki beans (sometimes spelled azuki) go especially well with winter squash, sweet potatoes, and root vegetables which are so much in season now. A dish I love to make in the autumn is roasted chunks of kabocha, red kuri or butternut squash, mixed with tender, sweet cooked aduki beans. Everybody seems to like it, and this soup is really a variation on that theme.

If you’re not familiar with aduki beans, look for them in Asian stores and well-stocked natural food stores. They’re a favorite bean in East Asia, especially in Japan where they’re often sweetened, mashed and used as a filling in pastries, and even as a topping for ice cream.  I read that Pepsi Japan released an aduki-flavored Pepsi product a few years back , but I have no idea if was a hit or not! I do wonder if adukis aren’t prized as much for their red color, the color of celebration and good fortune in East Asia, as they are for their mellow, sweet flavor. They’re an easy bean to like, especially with their nutritional profile of being good sources of protein, iron, magnesium, potassium and folic acid. So, try your hand at this soup, it’s easy to make, warming and hearty enough to be a main course. If you do try it, leave a comment telling us how you liked it.  Recipe after the jump…

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Best of MacroChef: Six Savory Recipes To Make For Thanksgiving

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I always have to chuckle when I see the sign in a friend’s house which reads: “Martha Stewart doesn’t live here.” Not to pick on Martha (I quite respect her), but Martha Stewart doesn’t live in my house either. And unlike Martha, who probably planned her menu months ago, I’m still wondering what to conjure up for Thanksgiving. If you’re like me, you may also be in doubt as to how to handle that turkey-centered holiday. Fear not. Today and tomorrow I’m reprising some of the most Thanksgiving-appropriate recipes I’ve posted in the past two years. They’re all vegan, but they’d be a welcome contribution to any Thanksgiving dinner, whether it involves a plump bird or not. Today, I’m reposting recipes for Butternut Squash Soup, Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Hazelnuts, Wild Rice Croquettes, Creamy Mushroom Gravy, Roasted Butternut Squash Savory Bread Pudding, and Cornbread.  Tomorrow, I’ll repost recipes for Cranberry Sauce, Pecan Pie and other seasonal desserts.  Happy cooking!

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Photos: Top–Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Corn.  Above: Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Hazelnuts and Lemon Zest (all recipes are after the jump).

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Condiments You’re Going to Love: Starting With Sesame Salt

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From time to time, people come to me with a question which goes like this: “I’m trying to eat a more natural, whole foods diet, but sometimes it gets a little dull.  What can I do to perk it up?”  You could perhaps interpret this entire blog as an attempt to answer that question, but today I want to focus on condiments, little bits of seasoning you apply at the table. And the condiment I highlight couldn’t be simpler: sesame seeds toasted with a little salt and then ground. We call it sesame salt or by its Japanese name, gomashio (go-mah-she-oh, goma= sesame, shio=salt). There are at least a couple of reasons we prefer sesame salt to plain table salt. First of all, it delivers a lot more flavor per gram of sodium. Secondly, sesame seeds are highly nutritious, containing as they do iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, and calcium, along with thiamine and vitamin E.

Here’s how to make sesame salt: 1) Rinse 1/2 cup unhulled brown or black sesame seeds in a fine mesh strainer and shake dry. 2) Heat a cast iron or similar thick-bottomed pan and pour in the seeds along with 1 to 1  1/2 teaspoons good quality sea salt. 3) Toast this over low heat, shaking or stirring constantly, about five minutes or until the seeds smell aromatic, turn a slightly darker color and begin to pop. 4) Grind with a mortar and pestle until about 75 % of the seeds are ground. 5) Cool, then store in a container with a lid. No need to refrigerate. Sesame salt will keep for weeks, but you’ll probably use it before then.  Sprinkle on rice, other grain dishes, noodles, even toast. Adjust the amount of salt to suit your taste. If you double or triple the recipe, it will take longer to toast the seeds. Yes, if you make a larger batch, a food processor works great, but using a mortar and pestle is more traditional and more fun.

Variations: Change up this recipe by substituting other seeds: flax, sunflower, pumpkin. Another variation: toast pumpkin seeds in a 325˚ F oven just until they begin to smell great and look a little golden, then sprinkle them lightly with umeboshi vinegar and toast for a few minutes more, or until they are dry. Watch closely! Chop coarsely in a food processor–an incredibly tasty condiment.

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Photos–Top: Grinding sesame seeds and salt with a mortar and pestle. Above: Toasting sesame seeds and salt in a cast iron skillet. Every kitchen needs one!

Menu of the Week: See the Summery Japanese Dishes We Made in Our MacroChef Cooking Class

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The Japanese vegetarian cooking class which Fumiko Arao and I had been planning for months finally happened last Saturday (June 25th), and with 15 participants, we declared it a success. From a teacher’s perspective, cooking classes are a bit of a three-ring circus: at the same time as you are imparting information and answering questions, you are cooking a meal for a crowd (and it better turn out well if your credentials as a cook are to stand up!). This is the first time I’ve done a class with a co-teacher, and it was a great relief not to have to be responsible for every detail and every dish. I so appreciate Fumi’s depth of knowledge when it comes to Japanese food. It is also gratifying that we were able to raise $500, which was matched by an anonymous donor, for a total of $1,000. A check has already been sent to an agency which supports children impacted by the earthquake-tsunami in Japan’s Tohoku region.  If you would like to receive the recipes, I will send them to you for a $10 contribution, which will also be donated to the same agency (email me at alindersf@aol.com for details). Thanks to everyone who participated, and especially to Gerard Lum, for photography (watch this space for a short video of the class), and to Bob Griffin for assistance in countless ways.  More photos after the jump…

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Photo above, clockwise from top: goma dofu garnished with wasabi, tofu burger with ginger-kuzu sauce, dried daikon with arame and carrot, chirashi zushi, and turnip-carrot-napa cabbage amasake pickle in the middle. (All photos by Gerard Lum)

To make sushi rice, you need to cool the rice. Fumi stirs, while Kay fans.

Learn How to Make Six Beautiful Dishes in MacroChef’s Japanese Vegetarian Cooking Class

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Although the Bay Area is chock-a-block with Japanese restaurants, the food they serve gives you only a hint of what Japanese cuisine, in it’s diversity, is all about.  Japan, particularly, has a rich tradition of vegetarian cooking, and it’s that tradition which Fumiko Arao and I will be demonstrating in a cooking class this Saturday, June 25th, at 10 a.m. in the kitchen of First Baptist Church in Palo Alto, the same venue as our Monday Night Vegetarian Dinners. If you’ve admired Japanese food, but been afraid to attempt it at home, join us to see how user friendly this style of cooking can be. Japanese vegetarian cooking is based on shojin ryori, a thousand-year-old tradition which began in Zen Buddhist temples. As you can imagine, through generations of trial and error, a rigorous cuisine arose which is at the same time practical, well-balanced, artful and delicious. We will take you step-by-step through the preparation and serving of six dishes, including rich and creamy goma dofu, (above). There are still openings for a few students to enroll, which you can do by emailing me: alindersf@aol.com. Cost of the class is $50, with proceeds going to earthquake-tsunami relief in Japan, or if you live outside the Bay Area, we’ll send you the recipes for $10. Hope many of you can attend, one way or the other. Complete class details after the jump.

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Fumiko Arao demonstrates the technique for shaving burdock, just one of many skills you can learn in a cooking class this Saturday, June 25th, in Palo Alto.

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Julia and Carl Ferré of Macrobiotics Today Magazine Interview The MacroChef

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I know that this blog sometimes feels like it’s just one recipe after the next, but my hope is that you will sense that these posts are grounded in a rich and inclusive way of thinking about food and energy and life.  If you’re curious to know more about all this, you may want to take a look at Macrobiotics Today, a 51-year-old bi-monthly magazine that goes into depth on topics which I only allude to in my brief posts. Editors and publishers Carl and Julia Ferré do a remarkable job, on a no-frills budget. Among the articles in the current issue (May/June) are an explanation of the properties of various natural sweeteners, a discussion of radiation, and how to minimize its consequences, a celebration of the special energy we experience in summer, and a story about our 24-year-old weekly vegetarian dinners in  Palo Alto. But the reason I mention this now is that a couple of months ago I sat down with Julia and Carl for an in-depth interview, which is published in the current issue. It turned out well, and I’ve included excerpts after the jump. To read the entire interview, go to their website (you will need to subscribe). While there, you can also download back issues and find out more about the French Meadows Summer Camp, which they sponsor. Their foundation is well worth supporting, even if you’re not deeply connected to macrobiotics.

Above photo: The May/June Macrobiotics Today cover features a photo by Gerard Lum of Alex and Beatrice Zorzella about to enjoy one of our Monday night dinners in Palo Alto.

Japanese Food and Culture: A Vegetarian Menu to Celebrate Spring

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Clockwise from far left: short grain brown rice with aduki beans, hijiki with lotus root and carrot, shungiku and apple with walnut dressing, daikon and apricot sunomono, clear soup with brown shimeji mushrooms and watercress, tofu pouches stuffed with clear noodles and vegetables, with steamed asparagus. (Click on photo to enlarge)

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When Fumiko Arao and I came together recently to create this vegetarian meal, we brought very different backgrounds to her kitchen.  She grew up in Tokyo and learned cooking from her mother and grandmother.  I, long ago, lived in Japan and learned cooking as an apprentice in a six-table vegetarian restaurant in Osaka. But we agreed that the meal should be balanced, including rice, a sea vegetable, a pickle, soup, and an interesting entree, and that it should evoke the season, early spring. Also, we wanted it not to be so esoteric that you couldn’t reproduce it in your own kitchen. You will need to make a trip to a well-stocked Asian market such as Ranch 99, in the Bay Area, but if you do that, I’m pretty sure you’ll find all the ingredients you need.  And, of course there’s no need to reproduce the entire meal, pick and choose whatever seems interesting. Recipes and many more photos are after the jump.

Wellness: Health Depends Not Only on Eating Well, But Also Digesting Well

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Bob Ligon practices Traditional Chinese Medicine in Akron, Ohio and does counseling and life coaching by phone.

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BOB LIGON’S TIPS FOR IMPROVING OUR DIGESTION, AND THUS OUR VITALITY

Editor’s Note: On this blog we talk a lot about what foods to eat and how to prepare them, not so much about how food is transformed by our body into the blood and the energy which fuels our lives.  Some time ago Bob Ligon, a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine talked to our Monday night dinner group about how to improve our digestion.  It was such an interesting talk that I asked him to put it in a form which I could post. And here it is. Bob practices in Akron, Ohio, but is available for counseling by phone: 330-696-3385. The outline of his talk and his full bio appear after the jump…