trying to beat the heat (part 3)

We've been having rain and humidity...ugh! But have been fortunate not to have had the flooding and landslides as Kyushu did over the weekend.

I've been trying at all costs to find ways to avoid standing near the stove. Here's what I've come up with...


An instant okayu (gruel) made with 10 different grains made by DHC. This company is also in the U.S. and has a wonderful skin care line. It is kind of like oatmeal and appears a lot as a breakfast item--except in Japan, we top okayu with nori, tsukemono (pickled veggies) and pair it with grilled fish. Just stick this bag into a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes and you have part of your meal! Okay, it is instant, but at least you only need to stay near the stove for 5 minutes...

Furofuki daikon (well boiled turnip, is the definition in my book, but I think it has more imagery of bathing since the Chinese characters for this dish are for bath--furo). This dish is really easy to make.

Slice your turnip into 4 cm. slices and make a cross at the top (be sure not to go all the way through). This is to let the stock soak through and it makes it easy to eat with chopsticks.

Next, get some kombu (kelp) and fish shavings, like bonito and soak in boiling water for about 30 minutes until your stock is formed. Add your sliced turnip. Add 1 tsp. shoyu (soy sauce) and 1 tsp. mirin (sweet rice wine) and boil everything until soft (about an hour).

The next step is the only one which you need to stand near the stove (10-15 minutes tops!)....The sauce on the top is a miso (soy bean paste) base. Put 5 tbsp. of miso, 3 tbsp. of sugar, 2 tbsp. of sake (rice wine) and 2 tbsp. of mirin (sweet rice wine) into a small pot or pan and stir on low heat, with a wooden spoon until smooth--be sure not to burn the sauce!

Store leftover turnip separately from the miso sauce.

Enjoy!