Miso

Miso, purportedly, was food sent by god. Miso was kind of soup.

Miso was soybean pasta from 10 months fermentation. Fermentation process using salt and koji. Koji made from mixed flour, leaves, and soybean. Because of long-rage fermentation, the taste was very salty.

According to the taste, shape, color, and aroma, miso has 3 categories. There are dark miso or brownish red, yellow, and white.

Dark miso (shinshu miso) made as soup topping in autumn and winter. This kind of miso cooked with radish or carrot.

White miso (shiro miso) often consumed in summer as hiyashi vinegar topping.

Yellow miso has sweet taste and can be consumed anytime.

Beside as soup topping, miso also ate with fish, meat, vegetables, uncooked food, ramen, etc.

Miso was delicious and healthy, because miso has so much nutrition. Two spoons of miso has 71 mg of calorie, 4.00 mg protein, 2.00 mg fat, 9.00 mg carbohydrate, 23.00 mg calcium, 1.25 mg zinc. That’s why, Japanese love miso and they believe miso was sent by god as present.

Okonomiyaki, Japanese Pizza

The word “Okonomiyaki” came from ‘okonomi’ means ‘according appetite’, and ‘yaki’ means ‘bake’. According to those means, okonomiyaki was a food which people can choose the topping according to his/her appetite.

Purportedly, Okonomiyaki was made by sailors because they wanted to ate pizza like he ever ate in Italy. Therefore, they mixed liquid wheat. In their home, they introduced that food in Kansai area. Okonomiyaki, firstly, was developing form from Funoyaki (fried wheat flour dough).

In Meiji Era, Funoyaki developed to Dondonyaki (added nori/seaweed, sausage, fish, and sauce). Dondonyaki have a form like omelette and rolled with chopsticks.

In Showa Era, Dondonyaki developed to Kyabetsukyaki because it used uster sauce. Okonomiyaki was final form of Kyabetsuyaki.

Okonomiyaki made from special wheat flour because baking powder, salt, and dashi was already inside. The flour diluted with water, add slices of cabbage, egg, cockle shells, shrimp, and squid or meat. In order to make dough soft, added yamaimo (kind of potato) and baked in flat wok.

According to the way in making okonomiyaki, there are two kinds of okonomiyaki.

First, okonomiyaki ala Kansai, added slices of cabbage inside the dough

Second, okonomiyaki ala Hiroshima, slices of cabbage just put above dough when it already has omelette form.

Both of them have very thick and sticky sauce.

The difference between both kinds of okonomiyaki is the sauce Okonomiyaki ala Kansai has mayonnaise inside the sauce, and okonomiyaki ala Hiroshima hasn’t.

Nowadays, okonomiyaki already served in restaurants with various toppings. Some of toppings are red ginger, yakisoba noodle, tenkasu, corn, green onion, dried bonito flakes, beans, etc. Because of that, okonomiyaki was one of Japan’s healthy fast food.

Kanpo

Kanpo is Japan’s traditional tonic (from medicinal herbs). Kanpo’s letter was came from two china character, there are Kan (han) means “from China”, and po (ho) means “way”. It means, before Kanpo reached Japan, Kanpo was China traditional treatment since thousand years ago. In 593, Suiko – Japan’s woman empress – sent her delegation to Korea, when in that time Korean used China medicinal treatment. Because China’s treatment was very practical, the empress sent two delegations to studied in China. They also learned to mixed herbs and Yin and Yang unsure to patient from China’s traditional healer. This treatment pattern brought to Japan and called Kanpo.

In Heian period, a student named Yasuyori Tanba, succeeded in studied Japan’s ancient treatment book “isshinho”, sourced from China. In this book, wrote about 17.000 medicine formulas and shorten become 365 medicinal herbs, consist of 120 joyaku or high medicinal, 120 chuyaku or middle medicinal, and 125 shimoyaku or low medicinal.

Joyaku used for common illness (ex. for vitality) and shimoyaku used for serious illness. But if consume continually can make negative side effect. And then, Kanpo maker in China fixed the formulas in order to make no side effect with using animal skin and fossil. But Japanese keep commit that base material of Kanpo was herbs.

Japanese modern citizens nowadays know Kanpo as Japanese Herbal Therapy. Kanpo used as illness healer and health keeper. Kanpo also can heal depression impact like insomnia, nervous, nightmare, etc.

Some of Japanese use Kanpo by themselves (no consultation) named Individual Kanpo Treatments with Barley Sprouts, this formula can heal sadness and depression for adults.

The way is : 6-15 gram barley sprout and 1 cup of water mixed together, drink once a day.

But this formula not for suckled mother.

Biota used to heal people who has depression indication, this herbal usually sell in tablet, and not for continually.

Licorice used for depression with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), this formula can smoothing blood stream, increasing oxygen supply to brain, and make mood better. Whis formula can drink every day for 6 weeks, not for they who have high blood pressure, leukemia, melanoma, and woman who has reproduction system interference.

Morinda used to keep health and increasing man’s vitality, the impact is difficult to urinate. . Beside medicinal herbs I said above, there are another medicinal herbs like Biota Seed pill to Nourish the heart, Coptis Decoction to destroy poison in body, etc. And those all Kanpo was made from herbs.

Healthy tips ala Japan

Japanese women are very beautiful, they have tight skin, always healthy, and look younger. Every woman in the world, i bet, want to be like them too. So that, here is some tips to get all of it.

1. Love to eat seaweed

Most of Japanese foods are contains of seaweed. Seaweed has much important minerals for our body, like calcium, magnesium, phosphor, zinc, and potassium.

2. Eat sushi

Sushi is very healthy. Rice and uncooked fish mixed in sushi, with low fat (fat 30%) and have much omega-3

3. Drink green tea

As antioxidant, green tea can prevent from early aging, decrease stomach inflamed risk, prevent heart attack, lever, and prevent cancer growth, and blocked obesity. Not only Japanese. Nowadays, another countries already know the profit of green tea.

4. Walk is a habit

Wherever they go, as the distance can pass by walking, Japanese will take a walk. So that, Japanese woman always looks beautiful, and become more beautiful with walking. Because walking not only healthy for heart, but also to keep skin tight.

Sushi ; Japanese healthy food

One kind of Japanese foods is dominated with what already there in nature.

Sushi, which is combination of uncooked fish and spicy rice, which is a very exotic food for tourist, is everyday food for Japanese.

There are two kinds of sushi according to the shape. Kansai sushi style is sushi rice with another ingredients shaped in decorative shapes, and Edo sushi style is uncooked fish put above sushi rice, and also called nigiri sushi.

Sushi and sashimi are food made from sea material, so that have essential substance like omega-3, which is very important for our body to reach optimal healthy. Omega-3 can make blood pipe bigger, and automatically girder blood stream. Omega-3 rich in Tuna and Salmon.

Beside omega-3, seeweed as basic material of Nori (roasted seaweed) have much antioxidant essence that can prevent from cancer.

Cholesterol in sea food is HDL cholesterol that can decrease heart attack risk.