• Miso Soup (Tofu, Wakame Seaweed, Green Onion)
• Meat and Potatoes (Potato, Pork, Onion, Shimeji Mushroom, Carrot, Edamame)
• Thick Rolled Egg
• Rice
• Milk
• Kcal: 844

It is said “For scent, Pine Mushrooms; for taste, Shimeji”. Very few shimeji mushrooms have a poor taste. Because they are so tasty, they are used in many kinds of dishes.

I didn’t eat school lunch today, due to the graduation ceremony.

I’ve mentioned this before, but with every school lunch, milk is served. However, and I think this only started a couple years ago, a student’s parents can request wheat tea (mugicha) in place of milk, if the student has some intolerance to milk. A week or two ago, there was such a student absent due to the flu, so the students in charge of lunch that day gave his mugicha to me! You can see it is pretty small, only 100 mililiters, and of course unsweetened and without any additives. On the front is a woodcut picture of a mommy in kimono nursing her baby boy. I suppose the idea is that mugicha is as nourishing as mother’s milk?

Also, mugicha has no caffeine  which can be helpful. When I did a tea ceremony demonstration at one of my school, a couple of the students could not drink matcha due to religious reasons. In that case, we substituted mugicha, so they could participate just like the other students.

Picture of the adorable hijiki furikake we had a last month. Little Hijiki is so strong! Look at him lifting those weights!

The backside of the package. It informs us this hijiki furikake (that is, tsukudani) has lots of iron and is a traditional food of Japan. I can only conquer (concur?) with the greatness of this delicious sea plant!

みそ汁
肉じゃが
厚焼き玉子
ごはん
牛乳

I had a nice spontaneous visit from Teja, Barb and Katie, yesterday. Katie was able to cool off in the lake while the adults hung out in the shade on shore. After, I made an impromptu dinner for them, typical of my Summer fare:

• Tapenade of olive oil, chopped garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives from my home-made brine, over whole wheat pasta with parmesan cheese
• Mixed green salad with toasted almond slivers and balsamic vinegar dressing
• Whole chilled cherries for dessert

They surprised me with a stash of food, most welcome was mugicha, which I can now add to my arsenal of Summer libations.

Mugicha is a roasted barley tea, typically from Japan, although barley tea is consumed all across the Orient, the British Isles and even Mexico, where they call it aquas frescas. It has a light, slightly bitter taste that does not compete with food, perfect for the delicate Japanese cuisine. Mugicha is not truly a tea, per se. Being made from barley, it is officially a tisane. Mugicha has only a few calories, no fat, no caffeine, no sugar (unless you add some) and is very rich in antioxidants. Visiting many sources for this article, a phrase keeps coming up that “mugicha is much more satisfying than water.”

Mugicha has many health benefits, as it is said to reduce stress; inhibit bacterial colonization (specifically those that have to do with tooth decay); reduce cholesterol; help prevent diabetes; and is a possible cancer preventative. One health caveat: barley is grain with gluten, so anyone with a gluten intolerance might want to try my green tea recipe instead of mugicha.

There are  several ways to make and brew mugicha. For the purist, you can roast your own unhulled barley and steep in hot water (the barley then makes a good cereal.) Teja brought me the larger tea-bags of mugicha that are typical in Japan. You can cold brew mugicha by adding 1 of these bags to 1 Qt. water and chill overnight. You may make sun tea, by adding the same amount in a glass container and let it sit in the sun all day, then chilling. I made mine by brewing with boiling water for three minutes and then chilling. The heat is said to release more antioxidants.

One thing that I learned while researching is that because mugicha is a grain, over time is can turn rancid. My bags went right into the freezer, so now I’m assured of a steady supply of a cool and healthy libation to get me over the sweltering Summer days!

Brewing your own tea in the fridge is really cheap. The mugicha (barley tea) package (right) was only 300 yen and it will last the summer. The Oolong tea (left) was a little under 400 yen and will also last a long time. I got a new brewing container this year as well. My hand doesn’t fit in my old one and it was really hard to get the inside of some of the curves clean – almost impossible. My hand fits in the new one so all is good this year.  If you are looking to buy a brewing jug I would recommend buying one made of tempered glass so that in cooler weather you can brew hot tea in it if you happen to have a large number of guests, or need to make ice tea that requires a hot brew first.

I’ve found that Japanese teas labelled 水出し(suidashi for cold water) work really well but regular Japanese teas don’t. Black tea, on the other hand, does pretty well in the fridge. Teas will take 2 hours to all night depending on the tea and the desired strength. Most teas made for cold water will take 2 hours but that depends on your container size. I usually black tea overnight using only one tea bag in a liter because I like weak tea.

When temperature is 33 to 35 degrees, humidity 70% and up, I never feel like eating. I made the choice to live without air-conditioning, and it is so much better. This is the only minus. And it’s OK if I eat food adapted to the season. I don’t really have the “digestive troubles” I mention, precisely because I eat how I need to avoid them.

Whole grains can be trickly to digest. Be nice with your intestine.
Take genmai (brown rice). Cook it overnight. I like my o-kayu (congee, rice porridge) very liquid. I use the Chinese program.

Cut the fibers thin, salt and slightly steam the greens. Cut and salt in advance the herbs (nira and Italian parsley).

Mushrooms are steamed too. They are “tora enoki”, panther enoki. Shirasu (fish bait) is already steamed.

Dry garlic is less pungent than fresh Toasted it makes a nice alternative to the classical fried garlic.

So, you add the toppings, a few sesame seeds too (you can even ground them for more digestibility) :

Kimchi and cherry mitsu-mame are sides (not mixed !!!! ).
As I explained there, eating tokoroten seaweed jelly helps regulating digestion in hot weather. Kimchi is lacto-fermented, veggies are salted and easy to digest, in addition it contains lots of ferments like yogurt.

The drink is “mugi cha”, roast cereal decoction. It is often served cooled. But I have it hot, as drinking only hot or room temperature is better for your body.

For 2 servings of rice soup :
Cal 437.3 F3.7g C96.4g P21.5g

All meals of June 2010 : Illustrated Menu

I’m surprised this tastes good.  I was expecting a heavy, nasty flavor like cold lentil soup juice, malta, or malted (though some swear by these aquired tastes.)  To be Coffee and Tea Festival technical, barley iced tea is really an infusion because it lacks Camellia sinensis (tea) plant.
mugicha

However, that’s not why we’re here.  Mugicha actually tastes good.  This roasted grain provides a smooth, comforting nutty taste and is not bitter say like black pekoe tea where you find yourself trying to “doctor it up” or conceal its taste with lemon, sugar, and the like.

mugicha

I particularly enjoy the convenience of this mugicha format because it makes it easy to have iced tea in the summer without heating the whole kitchen.  The special tubular tea bag with pulverized grain is to be simply inserted in a plastic two liter bottle of water and place in the refridgerator until desired color/temperature.