Are You Drinking Sake With Your Sushi and Committing a Serious Sushi Etiquette Sin?

It has been interesting to see how sushi etiquette customs and traditions loosen up here in the United States compared to when I lived in Japan.

If you have read any of the rantings and ravings on my website on some of the debatable sushi etiquette rules, you know that I can get quite passionate about them and the appropriateness of some of them in different social situations, geographic locations and settings.

What the Experts say and What Actually is, Sometimes Differs…

It seems to me that the “experts” seem to think that these rules always apply to all situations; or better yet that “one size fits all”. This observation is based mainly on the fact that they don’t ever mention any scenarios that state otherwise.

To me, the rules can vary depending on the situation.

Let’s take an example. Continue reading “Are You Drinking Sake With Your Sushi and Committing a Serious Sushi Etiquette Sin?”

Japanese Garden of Monaco

Have you ever seen an authentic Japanese garden? Well, I had the chance of seeing the one in Monaco and was really impressed too. Wanna taste a little Japanese culture? Stepping on this ground is escaping from the real world into a fantasy land. You suddenly find yourself in a typical Japanese natural setting like the ones you see in marvelous paintings. The only thing that’s missing is the fog. Instead, the Mediterranean sun reveals all minute details in a warm light.

With Japanese gardens, what you see is not all; the surface of things is the mere reflection of the psyche of an ancient culture. One really needs to be literally “cultured” in this direction to best appreciate the value of this art. (which I myself was not at the time of my visit! And it was a pity as I did not know what to look for and what to analyze better!) One can speak of a philosophy of gardening coming from the ancient Japan. Japanese gardening is an art fetched beyond the arrangements of vegetation, water and stone but is full of symbols:

* Koko – the veneration of timeless age;

* Shizen – the avoidance of the artificial;

* Yugen, or darkness – imply the mysterious or subtle;

* Miegakure – the avoidance of full expression Continue reading “Japanese Garden of Monaco”

The Conscious Cook – First Vegan Cookbook With Mainstream Appeal

Being vegan in Tokyo can often make one feel isolated in the world’s most populous city, but last weekend my partner and I counted ourselves a very lucky minority to meet acclaimed vegan chef and author of the “The Conscious Cook” cookbook, Tal Ronnen.

While Japan is known for originating the predominantly vegetarian macrobiotic diet, and “macrobi” restaurants are ubiquitous here, veganism is extremely rare in Japan. As a result, our vegan cooking school and vegan recipe website came up near the top of the web search Chef Tal did before his recent visit to Tokyo.

We were aware Tal had cooked for Oprah Winfrey’s 21-day vegan cleanse and catered Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi’s wedding, but not of his fondness for Japan, inherited from his Australian father who had lived in Japan 3 years. Tal said Japanese food was his favorite, and asked our recommendation for Shojin Ryoori (traditional Buddhist temple food). Continue reading “The Conscious Cook – First Vegan Cookbook With Mainstream Appeal”

The Best Authentic Japanese Sushi Rice Recipe On the Planet!

This sushi rice recipe was passed on to me by my now 80 year old Japanese mother who had it passed to her by her mother back in the 1940’s.

My mother, who was always looking for ways to improve her own recipes, talked to many popular sushi chefs in Japan (mainly in the Osaka and Nagasaki areas) to try to gather the “secret” to their sushi rice in order to improve her own recipe.

Did those sushi chefs’ always share? Nope. Most were very protective of their recipes. But… some did… even if it was only a “hint”…

So what began as a family sushi rice recipe that was passed on to my mother by her mother and then on to me, was also one that got tweaked and perfected over the decades resulting in what I think is the best sushi rice recipe on the planet.

And now, here it is for you. Continue reading “The Best Authentic Japanese Sushi Rice Recipe On the Planet!”

Cancer: Causes and Remedies (Part ONE)

Part One

This article will not be a complex one due to the mass ignorance and fear associated with this subject and fatal pathology. Americans are already frightened to death about cancer and their gross ignorance only compounds the problem, plus, a lot has already been written on this subject, but in many writings, the content is a bit complex terminology-wise and served no beneficial purpose for the masses of the American people.

What Is Cancer?

Many people are succumbing to cancer and the two biggest factors in this succumbing to cancer are FEAR and IGNORANCE. Yes, people are ignorant to what cancer really is and as a result, they fear it. Continue reading “Cancer: Causes and Remedies (Part ONE)”

What Is The Definition Of Fermentation?

It seems that Hippocrates was a man who knew what it meant to be healthy. When one begins to discuss general nutrition or trying to establish a starting point of a journey back to better digestive health, one can generally look back to what the father of holistic medicine said many centuries ago.

Eating fermented (or probiotic-rich) foods is a timeless approach and a much better solution than taking the current medical industry approach of popping probiotic pills and supplements. Hippocrates believed that if you have digestive issues, it is either a contributing factor or the main factor of most chronic and degenerative diseases. And ultimately, your first line of defense against disrupting factors in your intestines can be found occurring naturally in food or water.

So what exactly are fermented foods? Fermentation occurs through a process of lacto fermentation in which natural yeasts feed on the sugars and starches in the foods creating lactic acid. This process of breaking down the sugars actually preserves the food and produces beneficial enzymes, b-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and various strains of probiotics which are important to our overall health. Continue reading “What Is The Definition Of Fermentation?”

Do Old Coffee Grounds Work As Fertilizer?

First, what makes up brewed coffee, besides caffeine? Nutrition experts agree that coffee grounds contain magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese and trace amounts of calcium. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are the ingredients necessary for garden soil. They coincide with the figures you see on most fertilizer bags. So coffee does have what plants need to grow.

There seems to be some debate about whether or not coffee produces nitrogen. Most agree that coffee grounds contain 1.5 to 2.2% nitrogen. However, some feel that the nitrogen is not available to the soil or the plants until the grounds themselves begin to decompose.

Others say you must compost the coffee grounds with other plants to release the nitrogen in the decomposition process. They recommend adding nitrogen to the soil if using only the grounds. The rotting grounds attract nitrogen-consuming microbes, thus, the need to add nitrogen if using only coffee grounds as a fertilizer.

So to be on the safe side where fertilizing is concerned, you may be better off tossing your coffee grounds along with other compost into the garden in the fall and winter to allow them time to be of best use for spring planting. Continue reading “Do Old Coffee Grounds Work As Fertilizer?”

Acid Reflux Diet And Breakfast

Acid reflux diet and breakfast is a dilemma for a number of reasons. With the frequency that people have reflux problems through the night while they are sleeping, chances are they are waking up with heartburn. And in that case, they are more likely to go eat antacids for breakfast, than they are food that is going to make them feel worse.

However, breakfast is also the most important meal of the day. Breakfast helps stabilize your blood sugar levels after sleeping, and provides energy to start the day. It has also been shown that people who skip breakfast will eat more throughout the day. And what is one of the biggest problems for acid reflux and heartburn – eating fewer and larger meals, as that is shown to cause and/or make your problems worse. Deleting breakfast from your acid reflux diet is not a heartburn remedy.

Acid Reflux And Life Style Continue reading “Acid Reflux Diet And Breakfast”

Health Tips for Body, Mind and Heart

Boost your body, heart and mind with only 5 simple things.

Unhealthy lifestyle. It’s a general contributor of our largest health problems: stroke, diabetes, heart disease, cancer. Nation’s top physicians recommend to keep your heart, body and mind in optimally good health.

Here is good advice from top medical researchers.

Exercise daily

You are brushing your teeth every day; in the same way do exercise as a daily routine habit. Turn off the TV or computer, and do exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. Continue reading “Health Tips for Body, Mind and Heart”

10 Helpful Tips That Will Get You Witnessing to Strangers

Want to start witnessing to more people more often? Let me share ten tips with you.

Tip 1

Practice starting conversations.

At five o’clock in the afternoon at a set of traffic lights you see a businessman or woman waiting to cross the road. They are across the road from the entrance to the train station. An opening line might be: Continue reading “10 Helpful Tips That Will Get You Witnessing to Strangers”