During the New Year holidays, it is free time away from one’s responsibility.
I will start working tomorrow. That means that I will back to my normal meals and activities.
There are a lot of food items known as a superfood. Thankfully, various items are available from both home and abroad. While it is very fun to try rare items of foreign countries, it is a great surprise to rediscover superfoods which have long been eaten in Japan.
Nukazuke (Rice Bran Pickles)
In the past year or so, I am eating brown rice porridge for breakfast. Maybe, because of the rich dietary fiber in rice bran, the condition of my stomach and intestines is very good.
I used to have a low appetite in the morning and prefer eating bread to rice.
But it is easy to eat porridge made from brown rice (tastes like oatmeal porridge).
Pickled vegetables go well with rice porridge.
To make rice bran pickles at home, rice bran mixed with salt, sea weeds, chili pepper, etc. is marketed in supermarkets. By adding some water to it and keeping it at room temperature, the fermenting process of the rice bran bed starts.
It is essential to stir the bed once or twice a day.
Lactobacilli and other good bacteria are being accumulated in the bed. Some require oxygen to grow and others do not. By mixing and aerating the rice bran regularly, various kinds of beneficial bacteria can exist together (avoid being overgrown or dead).
My bed is only two months old. But pickles are really tasty with unique aroma and deep flavor…
salty, sour and umami…