dementedrosebud,
Though it may seem to be a ploy to get us to buy more food products ( :-)),
kombu actually helps the beans soften during the cooking (as it does, also, with nishime vegetables), and doesn't need to be any larger than a postage stamp prior to cooking.
Aside from harvesting the lotus roots from ponds
http://home.att.net/~larvalbugrex/lilypads.html http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/d....asp?catID=509 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/seasons/seasons024.htm , the most common place is Asian groceries, but you can also buy them online
http://www.diamondorganics.com/ShowV...detail_list/s& .
What part of the world are you in?
If you can't find any on or off line, maybe someone from the macro community would be willing to ship you some.
For more precise explanations of yin and yang conditions, especially constipation, check out
The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health: A Complete Guide to Preventing and Relieving More Than 200 Chronic Conditions and Disorders Naturally by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack
http://store.cybermacro.com/Path-To-Health.php .
Availabilty of less yang less salty seitan depends on your location.
If you live on the East Coast, especially near New England, you can get seitan made by The Bridge, but all the other manufactured seitans, wheat meats, and glutens seen to pale in comparison to The Bridge's seitan.
Of course, you are aware of
Cooking With Seitan:The Complete Vegetarian "Wheat-Meat" Cookbook by Barbara and Leonard Jacobs
http://store.cybermacro.com/cooking-with-seitan.php which show you all the basics to making your own seitan, as well as recipes for varieties of dishes made with it.
Nothing beats homemade seitan!
Thank you, very much.
_||_
Bruce Paine