Miso tofu congee (porridge) - food to (almost) cure a sore throat - with a side of walnuts and chives

I've been feeling a little under the weather for the past 2 days and despite the beautiful sunshine outside, I just wanted to curl up on the couch and sleep and sleep and sleep. I was craving something soothing and for me, given my childhood filled with mom's wonderful home-cooked Taiwanese food, I craved congee. Congee is a type of porridge made of leftover rice that's been cooked until all the grains are pretty much broken down and forms a lumpy slurry.

I've modified the porridge based on ingredients on hand and used a short grained Japanese white and brown rice because they have higher starch content and gives more 'slurry-ness' to the congee. We usually have spicy fried anchovies and peanuts with congee but I thought that would contribute to the throat irritation - so it became something like "lightly fried walnuts and chives". I also didn't have any leftover rice so I steamed fresh rice just for this congee, and when you are not feeling well, it is totally worth it.

Ingredients:

2 cups steamed Japanese short grain rice (1/2 brown rice, 1/2 white rice)
4 cups water + additional
1 1/2 tbsp Miso paste
50 g silken tofu
1 sprig green onion, chopped to 1 cubic cm
2 sprigs cilantro, roughly chopped

In a large pot, combine steamed rice with water and bring to a boil for about 2 mins. Reduce the heat to medium and let it bubble and thicken, roughly 15 - 20 mins, stirring every so often. Make sure to try a grain of the brown rice to see that it has broken down. The porridge should look sludgy and pasty and starchy and, well... like porridge (as my mom would say).

Add the miso paste and stir to incorporate it homogeneously throughout. Break up the tofu by hand into the congee, then add the onions and cilantro and stir, about 3 - 4 mins. The congee can be eaten as is, or served with the dish below:

Walnuts and Chives:
Canola oil
1 glove garlic, finely minced
1 cup chives, chopped 2 cm length
Large handful of walnuts
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet on medium high heat, fry up garlic until slightly browned, then add chives. Reduce heat to medium. When chives start to wilt, add walnuts and toss around so that the juices cover them. Take skillet off heat, add salt and pepper (or some chili flakes or your favourite spice) and toss again so that the spices coat everything.

Enjoy with a nice big bowl of congee :)

Stay healthy everyone!

2-2 relaxing in the early evening under the coffee table.... she didn't want to go to bed, just wanted to lounge....

Fragrant sushi rice

One question that plagues me everyday is .... " What do you want to eat tonight?"

Sometimes, I really have no idea. And sometimes, I know exactly what I want for dinner. For example right now, sitting in the lab waiting to take a time point for one experiment, I just want to eat cookies for dinner.

Well, I guess that's why I love browsing my blog list and surfing the blogosphere (for all the great ideas and eye candy). But even then, sometimes I just don't have the right ingredients or the energy to put into making the recipe, and so that's why I'm putting up this post on sushi rice - it's a very flexible recipe perfect for "one-of-those-days" when you're feeling tired, hungry, don't want to cook, and unsure what exactly you want to eat.

It's flexible in that, it doesn't have to be sushi rice, you can substitute it with any kind of rice. You can use orzo pasta if you prefer. Heck, you can just use spaghetti.

So away we go:

Ingredients:
1 cup white sushi rice
1 cup short grained brown rice
(Here is where you can play around with the kind of starch you want to use)

4 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or a balsamic vinegar if you are using a wheaty starch)
Oil
5 g ginger, minced (or 2.5 g ginger powder)
2 red onions, sliced (or white onions, or green onions, or if you don't have onions, use 2 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly)
1/2 cup peas (or 2 huge handfuls of spinach if you don't have peas, or some broccoli florets)
1 handful of cilantro, chopped (or handful of parsley, or thai basil or even regular sweet basil)
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam rice or cook pasta to the consistency of your liking. Meanwhile, in a skillet, fry ginger and onions in oil until browned slightly, then add peas/veggies, and cilantro. Salt and pepper this.

Once rice is done, pour in the rice wine vinegar and a little oil into the rice and stir to coat each grain. Directly add in the onion mixture and combine.

Serve immediately by eating right out of the rice cooker pot/pasta pot/whatever vesicle used.

Peanut butter rice noodles (my variation on 雞絲拉皮 without meat)

At the Korean market last weekend, I stocked up on some gluten-free ingredients: acorn starch, buckwheat flour, roasted black bean powder, and flat rice noodles! There are actually many types of rice noodles, depending on the type of rice starch blend, the shape of the noodles, there are fresh noodles, dried, pre-fried. These ones are dried and remind me a little of Pad Thai type rice noodle.

This recipe is modified from my mom's version: where she uses thin wheat noodles (麵線), I replace with rice noodles, and instead of raw garlic, I used pickled garlic. She also adds julienne of cucumber which would have been so great, but I ran out :( But there will definitely be cucumbers for next time!

Ingredients:

80 - 100g dried rice noodle, cooked according to packaging
1 tbsp all natural peanut butter (can be replaced with seasoned peanut butter but make sure to taste the sauce first before adding sugar/honey or salt)
1 clove pickled garlic (regular garlic is fine too), finely chopped
2 tsp pickled garlic vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 - 1 tsp honey (optional)
rice noodle water (optional)
salt to taste
drizzle sesame seed oil

Cook rice noodles in boiling water (you can add salt into the water beforehand but usually they come slightly salted), then drain using a pot and colander, collecting the noodle water inside the pot.

In a large bowl (large enough to fit the noodles), mix peanut butter, chopped garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, honey and mix. If the consistency is too thick, add a little rice noodle water to help blend it together. Taste and adjust sweet/saltiness to your liking.

Drizzle a little sesame seed oil on to the noodles to help loosen them up. Then add the noodles directly into the bowl holding the sauce and mix to combine. Drizzle with a little more sesame seed oil.

Happy eating!

Our gut microbiota, gut inflammation and Japchae

The title of this post may seem a bit daunting, considering that all of my posts to date are directly related to food! So why am I introducing this topic to my fellow bloggers?

During our lab meetings, we share relevant and interesting articles and reviews and one interesting read comes from the journal Nature (I wanted to share the articles with all of you but alas, everything needs a paid subscription these days. I can only give the reference - 1, 2. Note: Most North American science institutions and universities will have subscriptions to this journal, you will most likely have access via paid tuition).

It's quite interesting so I'll sum up quickly here. In the study, a group of mice (let's call them the wild type mice) were divided into 3 test groups and treated with the following:
1. diet rich in milk fat (high in saturated fat)
2. rich in safflower oil (high in polyunsaturated fat)
3. low fat

Naturally, each group was found to have different gut microbiota: guts of mice on low fat diets showed two predominant groups of bacteria, safflower oil diets showed the same predominant groups but with different proportions. The group on milk fat rich diets had guts that also contained these two groups and an additional group, Bilophila wadsworthia.
However, these wild type mice lacked any obvious clinical symptoms. It wasn't until the researchers treated specific mice, mice lacking a gene necessary for the anti-inflammation response, with milk fat diets did they see inflammation of the colon. The authors show that taurine-conjugated bile acids, in which levels are increased in mice fed with milk fat diets, led to blooms of B. wadsworthia. In fact, mice fed a low fat diet, but also fed with taurocholic acid (which become conjugated to bile acids in the body) led to B. wadsworthia colonization of their colons and consequently, colon inflammation. Extrapolating this data to human gut microbiota in general, the authors suggest that in genetically predisposed individuals, colonization of bacteria such as B. wadsworthia results in the accumulation of specific by-products that can trigger the auto-immune response and ultimately lead to tissue damage, inflammation and disease.

Just recently, Caralyn, from Gluten-free-happy-tummy, opened my eyes to how devastating Celiac disease could be (mind you, she was not the one who described to me all the suffering; in fact, she is cheerful and brave and just awesome despite the types of ordeals she must go through, check out her site!). It stems from a combination of genetic factors and environmental factors of which the big one is intake of wheat/barley/rye-based products, resulting in activation of auto-immune responses in the gut (3).

The study above and Celiac disease are two different things, but they share in common the auto-immune activity and the resulting inflammation. Which brings me to my point for this post: taken all together, no matter what kind of diets we are on (or off) and the fact that sometimes it is just impossible to avoid some of those pro-inflammatory foods, it is important to keep a good amount of anti-inflammatory foods in our diets. What kind of foods are anti-inflammatory? Lots of veggies and fish! Wee Peng, the owner of a very cool blog, provides a list of top 10 anti-inflammatory foods here.

I've yet to try experimenting to make gluten-free bread, but I quickly turned to Japchae for a quick gluten-free, anti-inflammatory dinner. These noodles made of sweet potato starch are chewy and the perfect medium for lots of nutritious and anti-inflammatory veggies. You can find these noodles in any Korean supermarket and most Chinese markets. I made these noodles in the non-traditional way, ie. with the nicest looking veggies during my grocery shopping. But you can use spinach, carrots, sweet bell peppers for a more Korean-style Japchae.

Ok, stop with the wordiness Jen and get to the recipe!

Japchae
1 bunch sweet potato noodles (about 225g)

light olive oil
2 red onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp chili flakes
2 large stalks broccoli, floretted and stem julienned
1 each medium yellow and green zucchini, sliced lengthwise
4 tbsp sesame seed oil
1 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce (optional)
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste
toasted sushi-roll seaweed and extra sesame seeds for topping

Cook sweet potato noodles according to packaging instructions. Drain and let sit.

In a large skillet, saute onions, garlic, and chili flakes in light olive oil until onions are half cooked. Add in broccoli florets and cook for additional minute or so. Then add in zucchini and broccoli stems and cover to steam until cooked yet still maintaining bite, about 2 mins.

Add cooked noodles to the skillet. It will be very sticky due to the potato starch. Add in sesame seed oil to help loosen up noodles. Then add soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds and mix altogether. Salt and pepper.

Before serving, top with extra sesame seeds and toasted seaweed. Happy gluten-free eating!

1. Turnbaugh, PJ. Microbiology: Fat, bile and gut microbes. Nature. Vol 487. p 47-48.
2. Devkota, S. et al. Dietary-fat-induced taurocholic acid promotes pathobiont expansion and colitis in Il10^−/− mice. Nature. Vol 487. p 104-108.
3. Tack, GJ. et al. The spectrum of celiac disease: epidemiology, clinical aspects and treatment. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Vol 7. p 204-213.

Baked veggie rice (variation on HK-style diner baked rice)

One thing I love about Toronto is that there are many Hong Kong style diners to pick and choose from. But they all come with a big disadvantage, that is, almost all their menu options rack up on points for the grease and heaviness factor.

So for this Sunday night dinner, we decided to make a variation of the Hong Kong style seafood casserole using lots of veggies and steamed brown and white rice (the seafood was omitted because I ran out, but this recipe is so forgiving and versatile that using seafood or just odds and ends from the fridge - which is what we did - would result in a great dish).

Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 sprigs green onion, diced
1/2 classic aubergine, diced (about 2 cups)
3 stalks celery, diced ( about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup white wine (I used Chardonnay)
1 cup peas
2 tomatoes, diced

3 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk

2 1/2 cups steamed brown and white Japanese rice

Bechamel sauce:
3/4 cups whole milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 cup good quality mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet on medium heat, brown garlic and onion, then add aubergine and celery and cook until softened but still keeping their shape. Some bits get stuck to the pan, deglaze with Chardonnay. Once it comes to a simmer again, add peas and tomatoes. Set aside to cool.

Beat eggs with whole milk and scramble. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the bechamel sauce in a sauce pan by combining milk, butter and flour, salt and pepper over medium heat. Whisk for several minutes until it starts simmering and thickening, about 10 minutes. Once it is thickened (it doesn't slosh around anymore and coats the bottom of the pan with greater viscosity), take off heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 F on Broil setting.

In a large baking dish, combine rice with eggplant mixture and scrambed eggs. Mix thoroughly. Pour bechamel sauce over rice mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Layer the top with cheese.

Bake under the Broil setting for about 10 - 15 minutes until cheese acquires bubbly brown hue. Serve with Chardonnay!