Category Archives: Food

My beloved Beni Imo- Mashed

beni imo vanillaBeni imo may be my most favorite thing about living on Okinawa. Seriously, I love this ‘tater! It’s like a sweet potato, but has lovely vanilla notes. AND IT’S PURPLE! It’s really exciting to cut into one of these beauties. The color is just so intense and somehow unexpected every time.

Last thanksgiving, I turned these into a sweet potato soufflé, which is tradition in my family. I also got a little daring and made a side dish with beni imo, Okinawan brown sugar and pineapple bits. I’ve made a Thai-inspired beni imo soup. You can use it anyway that you would use a sweet potato. They occasionally find their way into a curry, but I really like to let the color shine alone, like in this recipe. Continue reading →

Goya Chanpuru, an Okinawan favorite

goya chanpuru

goya chanpuru

Yesterday, I would have traded a slice of chocolate cake for this bitter melon dish. Crazy, but true. I wouldn’t have traded a whole chocolate cake for it though, I’m not insane. I blame the heat. My body needed some cooling bitter taste.

Goya Chanpuru is an Okinawa classic. This knobby green bitter melon is useful during the hot, humid summers of Okinawa. Chanpuru means “to mix” and can be used with any number of vegetables. The usual recipe has goya, onion, egg and pork of some variety. I didn’t do anything fancy here. I just wanted the goya. I guess it was a teensy bit fancy since I bought both green and white goya. What’s the difference, you ask? Not a clue. Continue reading →

Yuugao- Okinawan Bottle Gourd Curry

yuugao curry

yuugao curry

I was inspired this week to try some new Okinawan summer veggies. I saw this huge green vegetable, with a sticker price of around $1.75, and decided that I must learn to like this, based on the price alone. I stood there in the middle of the market, entering kana into my Japanese translation app to discover that yuugao is bottle gourd! Then I Google what the heck a bottle gourd is good for. Apparently, they make delightful liquid vessels once they’re dried. Also, people eat them. I’m off to a good start! Continue reading →

Okinawa summer salad with ponzu-sesame dressing

okinawa summer saladWell, it’s blazing hot here on Okinawa. Pair the heat with the high humidity and it’s like a non-stop sauna. Wahhh! My husband is REALLY enjoying this weather, but it’s making me a lot bit cranky. I’ve been looking for ways to keep cool and keep my pitta nature under control. Ding ding ding! Cooling, refreshing salad!

I went to the local farmers market and came back with a bunch of summer veggies that I wanted to experiment with. You’ll probably be seeing some of these in upcoming posts. I’ll be using Okinawa varieties of produce, but I’ll list substitutions next to the ingredients in case you don’t have access to the same produce. I’ve also included picture of these ingredients and the label in case you are in Japan. Continue reading →

Stewed Apricots with Vanilla and Cardamom

stewed apricot overheadLe sigh. Is it just me? Doesn’t this just SOUND luscious and yummy? I intended this to be a breakfast post, but I think it would also make a lovely dessert, perhaps with some coconut milk?

So, fruit for breakfast is a good ayurvedic start to the day. Ojas and all.  Continue reading →

Stewed Apple Breakfast

stewed apple lightI know. It sounds lame. Uninteresting. Boring even. BUT! It is delicious. Simple. And nourishing.

Ayurveda says that fruit in the morning is like gold. It’s the best time to get the maximum nourishment from fruit. Cooked apples in the morning help create ojas. We want ojas! Ojas is beauty, health and immunity.

If you’re a light-breakfast kinda person, like me, this will be perfect! If you need a heartier breakfast, eat the stewed apples 30 minutes before you eat anything else for best digestion. Ok! On to…  Continue reading →

Oh happy ghee! DIY

butter ghee

Ghee is clarified butter. It means that the milk solids are removed from the butter fat. It is shelf stable because the water and solids have been cooked out or removed. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, it will be solid or liquid. Ghee has a very high smoke point which means it’s difficult to burn and it won’t create dangerous free radicals as many vegetable oils will at high heat. Its short chain fatty acids are easily metabolized by the body.

An Indian kitchen is incomplete without ghee. In ayurveda it is so highly regarded that it is called the “single most ojas producing food on earth” by Maya Tiwari. Ojas is health or juiciness. It’s essential for a well-functioning immune system. When you see someone that looks really healthy, that is ojas shining through. Ghee is not only food, but is used as medicine in ayurveda. 100 year old ghee is prized for use as medicine, and is passed down from generation to generation. If one could produce an essential oil of love, it would be ghee. I think that’s a nice thought. Continue reading →

Cardamom Saffron Rice Dessert Soup

cardamom saffron rice soupI love this pretty, buttery-yellow dessert. I feel deeply content and nourished while eating this. Cardamom and saffron have stress reducing benefits, so that makes sense. It’s a simple, no frills, no fuss kinda dessert. Continue reading →

Chickpea, Tomato and Coconut Curry

cooking in indiaI rarely use a recipe. I don’t use measurements. It’s actually really hard for me to write recipes. Sometimes I just make up rough amounts of ingredients (shhh, don’t tell!) to share with people. It’s more like a guideline to avoid disaster. I taste as I go. You should too. Every now and again, my brilliant husband, who knows me well, tells me to write one down. I never do because I always think that I’ll remember what I’ve made. It’s. Never. Happened. I decided to listen to him this time, and I’m so glad I did. I’ll get better at the picture-taking, too… Continue reading →

Chickpea Curry with Coconut-Cilantro Chutney

chickpea coconut cilantro curryThis is one of the first dishes I made when I returned from India. And I made it nearly every other day for two weeks. Yum! I learned to make a variation of this chutney while in Kerala, but had to make some substitutions based on what I could find here when I got home. I also made it friendly for people with pitta constitutions (like me!). Continue reading →