Moutain Vegetable Pasta

This is a dish that have been popularized by the Japanese. A fusion between Japanese and Italian cooking. This dish is particularly my favorite because its very easy to make and is filled tons of mountain vegetable flavors. I added some enoki and shimeji mushrooms to my pasta for a nice kick in flavor and texture. It is filled with fiber, vitamins, and a great taste of Japan!

Albacorado Rice Bowl

This is a simple and healthy rice bowl dish in which I recommend for everyone! Its a combination of seared albacore tuna with avocado slices, shredded cabbage and cucumber, and green onion garnish with a spicy, sweet, tangy garlic soy sauce dressing. The dressing goes well with the albacore tuna and creamy avocado (albacore + avocado = albacorado). Full with vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, lean protein, and fiber.


Ingredients:
100g Albacore tuna
1 Avocado (cut into slices)
Quarter half of Cabbage (shredded)
One cucumber (shredded)
1 cup of Rice (my favorite blend of grains)*
1 Green Onion (for garnishing)

Sauce:
1/2 tbsp Grated Ginger
1/2 tbsp Grated Garlic
1/4 cup Sweet Rive Vinegar
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
2 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp Red Chili Paste (Tobanja)

Steps:
1.) Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients and stirring well. Let it sit for the ginger and garlic juices to mix with the liquid ingredients to attain full flavor
2.) Boil the shredded cabbage to a desired level of softness. If you like it crunchy then boil for less than a minute. As you do, prepare a frying pan or skillet by adding some oil and putting it on the stove at medium heat. Once ready, gently and quickly cook the the outside of the tuna. Once all sides of the tuna is white, place it on a paper towel to wipe the oil off.
3.) As the tuna cools down, add rice to a bowl. Layer over the rice, shredded boiled cabbage and cucumbers. Slice the tuna to an one-inch slice and add it over the veggies along with the avocados however you may want to for artistic presentation. Add some green onions for garnish.
4.) Serve the dish with the sauce that you made earlier and TA-DA!!!

*The rice I eat is a particular favorite blend of mine. It consists of black rice, pressed barley, unpolished glutinous rice, split grain barley, glutinous germ rice,unpolished barley, unpolished young green rice, hulless barley, millet, germinated unpolished rice, red rice, foxtail millet, soy beans, black soy beans, azuki beans, and Japanese barnyard millet

Veggie Pork Wraps

This is a delicious combination of green onions, carrots, and enoki mushrooms wrapped with thin pork slices. The seasoning is simply garlic salt and black pepper. Its a simple dish that goes well with a bowl of rice. Full of vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin E, folate, manganese, beta-carotene, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, iron, potassium, copper, niacin, protein, and fiber. This is an excellent dish for all those meat lovers who need a little veggie in their lives. The crispness of the carrots and the green onions goes well with the soft crunch of the enoki mushrooms.

Some other health facts I want to mention and I believe a lot of us knows about are..
- carrots have beta-carotene which serves as an antioxidant and help reduce the risk in getting cancer
- green onions are helpful like all other onions in preventing blood clots and lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
- enoki mushrooms like most mushrooms serve as great source of fibers and great items for dieting as a low calorie food.
- pork meat is a great protein source filled with vitamins, and particularly in Japan, it is cheaper compared to beef.


In order to make this dish, you need...
100 grams of thin slices of pork (roughly 8 slices)
1 stalk of Japanese green onions
2 carrots (cut into 1 inch sticks)
1 package of enoki mushrooms (pulled apart into small bunches)

Wash and prepare all ingredients for wrapping. On a clean cutting board, lay out the pork slices out and put the mushrooms, carrots, and green onions in the middle. Wrap the veggies tightly so they don't fall apart and put aside.

Heat up a frying pan. I use a mixture of oils which is canola and chili oil. Add some slices of garlic for flavor, and once a nice aroma is clear and present, place the wraps onto the pan. As it cooks, season with garlic salt and black pepper according to your taste buds. As soon as the wraps looks ready, transfer to a plate and enjoy with rice.

In terms of seasoning, you can use these varieties:
Soysauce and mirin (sweet cooking wine)
Teriyaki sauce
Garlic soy sauce
Miso and mirin
Spicy and sweet red chili sauce
Oyster sauce
And many more!