Today I broke my whole-grain fast (Diet #7 by George Ohsawa) at lunch. Instead of having 100% whole grains (usually brown rice or quinoa), I decided to have a meal based on Diet #6 — which is 90% whole grains and 10% vegetable nitsuke. First, I had to figure out two things: 1) How do I measure out 90% grains and 10% vegetables? and 2) How do I prepare nitsuke?
What is nitsuke? It's a Japanese specific way of cooking a food in a pan with oil, salt, and sometimes a little water. I found several recipes in Mr. Ohsawa's book, Zen Macrobiotics, for preparing various types of vegetable nitsuke on pages 68 and 69. Here are a couple of descriptive terms he provides in his recipes:
• "All nitsukes are prepared slightly salty."
• "The various kinds of nitsuke mentioned above should not be juicy. Foods that are juicy cannot be called nitsuke."
I decided to cook carrot nitsuke and medium-grain brown rice for my lunch today. It was delicious!
I washed and grated 6 small carrots, figuring that using a grater would make the smallest possible cuts, and if that ended up being too much carrots, I could save the leftovers for another meal. I cooked them in a small frying pan with unrefined sesame seed oil and sea salt, on low heat and covered. I checked them frequently and stirred them with a wooden spoon to prevent burning (although I like them to be slightly burned on the edges).
Okay, so how did I measure out 90% grains and 10% vegetable nitsuke? I used a small 1/4-cup-size metal measuring cup and scooped out nine cupfuls of cooked brown rice, and then I scooped out one cupful of the cooked carrots. I noticed that the volume of the carrots was greatly reduced after being cooked. I ended up having just the right amount for my 10% requirement! Now I have a pretty good idea of what 90% and 10% looks like, so I won't need to use the measuring cups again. I can use a serving spoon instead.
Zen Macrobiotics, by George Ohsawa, is available on the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation website.
