Konnyaku: Broom for the Stomach

A broom for the stomach does not sound very appetizing, but it does sound useful after a holiday season of eating!


The picture shows konnyaku, which the Japanese call the broom for the stomach because it is hard to digest and "sweeps" right through your intestines. It is mostly water and glucomannin (a type of dietary fiber), contains only 10 calories, has very little flavor of its own and absorbs flavors when cooked with other ingredients. The Japanese love it, producing 66,900 tons of it in 2009!


Konnyaku was first introduced to Japan by the Chinese over 1500 years ago as a medicine. It is made from the corm of the herbaceous perennial plant, Amophophallus Konjac, which grows wild in Southeast Asia and China. The corm, also referred to as a potato or yam is ground into flour, then mixed with lime water to form the gel-like consistency.


Claims exist that konnyaku protects against intestinal cancer, hemorrhoids, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity. However, the USFDA does not support those claims. In fact konnyaku has caused deaths from suffocation. It is similar to jello, which dissolves in the mouth. However, konnyaku must be chewed thoroughly because it does not dissolve. A number of children and elderly adults sucked konnyaku into their mouths and it became lodged in their tracheas causing them to die. 


Konnyaku is safe though if you cut it up and stir-fry it with other ingredients. I found it at the Korean food store, and I bought it because it was called a yam cake and it had the wonderful gel-like texture.

So today I decided to cook with it. I read some recipes, but didn't follow any really carefully. I used sesame oil for the stir fry, so in my research, I found a great reference about cooking oils. You should visit the site if you have any questions about various oils and the temperatures at which they will burn.


I found out that you need to drain the liquid from the konnyaku package, then rinse the konnyaku under cold water. Then dunk the konnyaku into boiling water for about 2 minutes. This will remove the foul taste of lime water.


As I prepared the konnyaku, I cut about half a pound of pork into small strips. Also, I chopped celery, and spring onions (about 3 celery stalks and 4 spring onions. I also minced 3 cloves of garlic and two small pieces of ginger. I cut a Meyer's Lemon in half and used the juice from one of the halves.


I then sliced the prepared konnyaku, heated my wok and put the slices in without anything else. This removed any additional foul-tasting water. I then added sesame oil and soy sauce and the pork. When they seemed to be thoroughly cooked, I added the celery, green onions, garlic, lemon juice, and ginger, salt and pepper.


This was really easy, and I plan to use it for my lunch at work a couple of days this week. It is a low-calorie meal, and the konnyaku will make me feel satisfied with small amounts.

I'm glad that I did this little experiment. The dish tastes good and is quick and easily modified to taste. I thought about adding rice vinegar and other spices to give it more zest. I am not crazy about spicy food, so my result might taste bland to some people. Adding some chili paste or powder, or fresh chilies will probably be a great addition!






More information can be found at 
http://www.justhungry.com/2007/01/konnyaku_and_shirataki_ojftmhy.html
http://www.shakespeare-w.com/english/konnyaku/whatis.html
http://gajet-gunmania.blogspot.com/2010/09/konnyaku-miracle-diet-food-or.html
http://www.glutenfreeda.com/aug08-konnyaku.asp

Sushi Styles

The word sushi means vinegar rice or sour-tasting in Japanese. You can buy short-grained "sticky" rice for sushi, then prepare it as you would with any other type of rice. These days people add vinegar, salt, and sugar to the rice to achieve the sour flavor...because it takes too much time for fermentation. A recipe and additional details about preparing sushi rice can be found at  http://sushinow.com/rice.htm.

1. Maki sushi, also known as rolled sushi can be seen  on the left. The outer wrapping is seaweed called Nori. A sheet of Nori is laid on a mat. Then rice and other ingredients such as avocado and fish are placed on one side of the nori. The nori is rolled around the rice and other ingredients, then sliced into bite-sized pieces. Fish roe on the top forms an attactive orange topping.

2. Nigiri sushi, fish pieces on top of a rice bed is shown on the right. Raw fish on its own is called sashimi. Sashimi is made from saltwater fish because they lack some of the parasites of freshwater fish. Many people confuse sashimi with sushi, however sushi always has vinegared rice. The fish in nigiri sushi can be raw, smoked, boiled, or grilled, depending on the type of fish used. 


3. Inari sushi is made by deep-frying tofu in soy sauce, then making a pocket in the tofu and stuffing the pocket with sushi rice mixed with ingredients such as mushrooms or carrots. An example of inari sushi is shown below.

4. Chirashi sushi consists of sushi rice spread on a plate and covered with artfully displayed raw or vinegar-marinated fish, small pieces of cooked vegetables, thin strips of fried egg, and other tasty ingredients. This type of sushi is also called bara sushi and varies widely among the different regions of Japan. Often it only includes vegetables. An example of chirashi sushi is shown below.

Wasabi and pickled ginger are often served with sushi. Most wasabi used in the United States is actually horseradish, Chinese mustard, and food coloring. However, real wasabi comes from the plant Wasabia japonica. 


The grated rhizome contains the famous, hot taste with a lingering sweetness.The Japanese began cultivating wasabi around the tenth century. The plant is quite particular in its needs, therefore difficult to grow. Some growers have established small wasabi operations in far western North America.

The wide variety of sushi developed after the fifteenth century in Japan. In the 1980s it became popularized around the world, and today it provides a glimpse into Japanese culture to millions of people outside of Japan.

Mochi: Japanese New Year's Treat

The rolls on the plate are ginger crackers, and the green items are called mochi. I found them at the Korean Grocery that I visited last night.

The mochi are particularly important in both Korean and Japanese society. They are sticky rice cakes, and these are Green Tea Mochi. They are quite chewy, almost like gummy bear candy in texture. The taste is very nice, slightly sweet with a mild green tea blend.

The mochitsuki is a custom in Japanese and Japanese-American households. It is a gathering, usually directly before Japanese New Year, when friends and families come together to pound the glutinous rice to make the mochi. The first step is washing the rice, then leaving it to soak overnight. Early the next morning the rice is steamed in wooden steaming frames called seiro.

After the rice is steamed, it is dumped into a mortar called an usu.The rice is pounded with a wooden mallet called a kine until resulting mass in smooth and shiny. Between pounds a person quickly sticks his or her hand into the usu to turn the rice mass over. This job must take skill to avoid injury!

Small parts of the mass are pinched off and formed into bun shapes, then set aside to cool. They are then ready to eat.

Ozoni, which is mochi soup, is usually eaten by the Japanese as the first meal of the new year to insure a happy New Year.

More details can be found at http://janmstore.com/mochitsuki.html.