Greetings to everyone!
Today we have come to an end to our summer recipes recommendation sharing using fresh seasonal summer vegetables growth in Aso by the locals.
What are your favourite summer vegetables so far? For me it’s kind of hard to make a choice since I am a great fan of all vegetables. And today let me share two other recipes mainly using Bitter gourd, eggplant and Kabosu which is a type of citrus fruit and other summer vegetables which I had mentioned on our previous blog.
Bitter gourd/Bitter melon which are widely known as Goya (ゴーヤ／ゴーヤー) in Okinawa and is a significant ingredient in okinawan cuisine, but did you know that it has a few different names? It is also known as Nigauri (苦瓜～ニガウリ) or Tsurureishi (蔓茘枝～つるれいし) which origins from the name of the vegetable in agriculture and horticulture, despite the difference in names, they are all the same vegetable. And the name “goya” origin from Okinawa became widely known throughout the country when NHK TV novel drama “Churasan-ちゅらさん” broadcasted in the year 2000. In short, Bitter gourd = Goya = Nigauri = Tsurureishi!
Now let’s look at the Health benefits: –
It is a low-calorie food with the same calorie content as cucumbers, which is about the same as 43 calories even if we eat all 250g of one goya. Dark green bitter gourd contains beta-carotene, but it is also a light-colored vegetable which are rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber.
Particularly, vitamin C content is very high, 76mg/100g when consumed raw or stir-fried, and are more than five times higher than cucumbers and tomatoes, and even exceeds 50mg of lemon juice and 69mg of kiwi fruit. Vitamin C is easily lost by heating, however bitter gourd has a characteristic structure that makes it difficult to destroy even if it is cooked. At the same time, it helps to recover from fatigue and prevent infections, and helps to produce collagen, which prevents the overproduction of melanin pigments.
Why don’t you try these recipes to battle against the hot summer season?
Dish 1: Stired fried sliced pork with bitter gourd and Japanese eggplant (バラ肉とゴーヤ、茄子のチャンプル)
Ingredients (makes 2 serving)
2 Dried chilli (鷹の爪)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
200g of sliced pork（バラ肉）
1 Bitter gourd（ゴーヤ）
1 Japanese eggplant (茄子）
About 2 tablespoon of cooking oil
About 1-2 tablespoon of Sesame oil
1 tablespoon of powdered Katsuo-dashi (bonito stock)
2 tablespoons of liquid Katsuo-dashi (bonito stock)
1 tablespoon of white sesame seeds
Steps:-
- Cut the chosen vegetables to palatable size.
- Place sesame oil in a frying pan, on the same pan, mix in the cooking oil and once heated up, stir fried the dried chilli together with chopped garlic.
- Sauté the eggplant and bitter gourd until the eggplant is soft and well cooked, place in granulated katsuo-dashi (bonito soup stock), add in the sliced pork and stir fried further.
- Lastly, when the sliced pork are cooked, add in the liquid katsuo-dashi (bonito soup stock), mix them well, sprinkle with white sesame seeds and it is ready to be serve.
Next, let’s look at recipe using Kabosu which has a refreshing taste.
Health benefits: –
Kabosu contain substantial amounts of Vitamin C, folate, and potassium, and are low in fat, sodium, and calories. Japanese locals often use the Kabosu juice to protect the liver and to stabilize blood pressure. And there are many ways to use it into food recipes too, here’s one of them which you may wish to try it.
Dish 2: Chilled Soba with kabosu and summer vegetables (夏野菜とかぼす入り、豚バラの蕎麦)
Ingredients (makes 2 serving)
150g-200g of sliced pork（バラ肉）
2 bunch of soba（そば）
1-2 Kabosu (thinly sliced)
4 mini tomatoes (cut into half)
5 lady fingers, okra (オクラ) lightly boiled and cut them as shown on picture
250-500ml of water
50-100 ml of white dashi (白だし)
Steps:-
- Cut the chosen vegetables to palatable size.
- In a pot of boiling water, add the sliced pork spreading them out one at a time, once cooked, run the sliced pork on tap water and place them aside.
- Filled pot of water for cooking soba, cook them about 7 mins or as instructed and rinse them on tap water till cool.
- Mix the white dashi and water together.
- Place the soba in a bowl, top it with sliced pork, sliced kabosu, and the rest of the ingredients. Lastly pour in the white dashi mixed which have been diluted with water. (as white dashi alone is very salty) and it is ready to be serve! Enjoy a bowl of refreshing soba!
Thank you for reading our blog and we hope you enjoy these series of summer recipe. Don’t hesitate to share it with your friends who may be interested to try them.
☆～Yoshimi
