wakame

[steph]

Salutations, i'm new to this forum. i've been studying macrobiotics for a few months now. I'm quite new to eating sea vegetables still, however. I have some dried wakame, but i'm still trying to adjust to the taste. i generally soak the wakame first and then pour off the liquid. Any ideas for how i can cook it? i've placed it in miso soup, but i'm having difficulty really getting into miso as well! I think i need to get comfortable with sea veggies first. All comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

[janeyric]

Salutations, i'm new to this forum. i've been studying macrobiotics for a few months now. I'm quite new to eating sea vegetables still, however. I have some dried wakame, but i'm still trying to adjust to the taste. i generally soak the wakame first and then pour off the liquid. Any ideas for how i can cook it? i've placed it in miso soup, but i'm having difficulty really getting into miso as well! I think i need to get comfortable with sea veggies first. All comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hello Steph

I'm new to this forum and i see that you are too- so welcome!

I have been trying to be as macro as i can for a while now and found that wakame goes well cooked in with grains- this softens the husks and makes the whole pot of grain taste seaweedy. The other day i boiled pot barley and whole oats (groats) together and placed some wakame in with it for about an hour(ish), perhaps less (plus a little salt). Each grain tasted of seaweed- lovely!

Re: Soaking wakame- are you using good water, ie filtered or spring water, as this would make a big difference to the taste.

If you want to get into sea veggies, the easiest one is nori- this you can roast quickly and tear into flakes, sprinkling on top of soup/a meal.

As for miso- i found that a cup of simple miso soup was great for a centering energy and great for digestion- if you are not chewing to the full macro extent yet! This i made by mixing with boiling water and some spring onions (scallions).

Have you had much joy with seitan- i'm not that into it yet- though this could be due to the texture reminding me too much of meat...

I hope this has been useful,
Have fun cooking!

Fearlessness and Harmony
from
*j*

[steph]

Janeryic,
Thank you very much for the warm welcome and response! I will put some wakame in my barley the next time I make some. As for the nori, i will definitely look into it.

[Bruce Paine]

Stephanie and Janeryic,

Hi!

You gals were having such a lovely interaction, I just thought that maybe I could share something useful.

Since moving in with a longtime macrobiotic teacher, I've been learning a newer and different way of cooking foods.

For instance, now instead of using lots of seaweed and in big chunks in miso soup, for instance, I'm using a small piece of wakame (maybe an inch or so presoaked and then cut up into finely shaved pieces).

When cooking vegetables like nishime, we use an inch or two of kombu also cut up into smaller pieces.

One does not need a large piece of kombu when cooking beans, as the algin and enzymes from the sea vegetables spreads out and completely permeates, tenderizes, and softens the grain, vegetable or bean that it is cooked with.

So one both saves a lot of money on food and a little goes a long way.

Check out Mitoku's information page and click non the sea vegetable and recipe folders http://<a href="http://www.mitoku.co.../products/</a>.

Now Michio and the senior macrobiotic teachers place a lot of emphasis in using 2 to 3 year (darker) barley miso for the healing of most sicknesses and maladies, but what we have been doing in our house is using a combination of darker older misos with the lighter and younger misos (Like either the Organic Mitoku Sweet White or Westbrae Mellow White misos), and it helps to relax the digestion more a give one and much brighter experience of eating miso with one's meal.

mix a teaspoon or less of one with a teaspoon or less of the other in a glass measuring cup and some purified or spring water and add it to your simmering soup.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[steph]

Thank you Bruce. Right now i have Red Miso (soy) aged 1 1/2 years. I've had it in the fridge a couple of months while i was away at school, it is still perfectly fine to use correct? i remember reading somewhere on the internet that even if miso developes a small skim of mold over it, that it is perfectly ok to use, just to mix the mold in. My miso appears mold free and fine anyway. Am i right that it is ok for consumption? In addition, would you still recommend the lighter misos to complement the red i already have?
Thanks for your wisdom

[Bruce Paine]

steph,

again, choosing misos are dependendent on many factors.

if you have enough money,you can get a variety of misosfrom light to dark but if your funds are limited then you should aim for those which are most suitable to your condition, climate, season, activity and dream, etc.

Though red miso is more yang than white miso, it is more yin than brown rice miso that is more yin than 2 year barley miso which is more yin than three year barley miso which is more yin than young soy miso which more yin than old (like 3 to 5 year) hatcho miso.

Hatcho is best used by persons who eat the extremes like meat, sugar, drugs and alcohol or are very knowledgeable in using foods to heal.

2 to 3 year barley miso will give you more heat but you have to be careful that you don't over yangize yourself so manybe you can eat more when you are starting out (like once a day for so many days), and then hone it down to several times a week, when you are eating balanced regularly.

Of course if you are eating college food regularly, then you might get the hatcho miso and many sea vegetables to help balance out the extremes you are experiencing, while eating whole grain sourdough bread, drinking apple cider and getting good quality salads and desserts.

If you are trying to heal a sick or extremely unbalanced condition and college food doesn't help that, then you should bail from college until you can reenter living in a health supportive environment.

Does that make any sense?

Thank you, very much.

Bruce paine

[steph]

Yes, it makes perfect sense. Thank you