Dan Butner (founder of Blue Zones) Okinawa's main longevity food for a long time, Okinawa people have been telling their children and grandchildren to eat something from the land and the sea respectively every day. I find that these proverbs are handed down from generation to generation for a reason, just like other dietary traditions that are beneficial to health and longevity. Bitter gourd Bitter gourd is a kind of long and knotted gourd, which looks like cucumber and has many warts. Eat it while it's still green. It tastes bitter. Bitter gourd is called goya in Okinawa, and it is often fried with other vegetables, such as bitter gourd fried assorted vegetables, which is the most representative cuisine in Okinawa and the cornerstone of Okinawa diet. Recent studies have found that bitter gourd is an effective anti-diabetic food, and its effect of regulating blood sugar is no less than that of drugs. Bitter gourd, like sweet potato, turmeric and seaweed, is the most common ingredient in Okinawa cuisine, and the chemicals contained in it can slow down the production of destructive free radicals. Bitter gourd is becoming more and more common in the American food market. In our daily cooking, no ingredients can replace its efficacy. Tofu Tofu is to Okinawa what bread is to the French and potatoes are to the Eastern Europeans. It is a must-eat thing every day. Okinawa people currently eat about eight times as much tofu as Americans. The method is to let the soybean milk solidify, let the protein of the soybean solidify, then press it into large pieces, and then cut it into small pieces like a cake. Tofu, like other bean products, is highly regarded for its heart-protecting effect. Studies have shown that replacing meat with soy products can reduce the contents of cholesterol and triglycerides in the body, thus reducing the risk of heart disease. Sweet potato Okinawa sweet potato is a kind of purple sweet potato with high nutritional value, which is a variety of common Chengcheng Huang sweet potato. Although purple potato tastes sweet, it won't make blood sugar soar suddenly like potatoes. This sweet potato has been a local staple food since the17th century, and its leaves can also be added to miso soup as vegetables. Okinawa sweet potato, like other kinds of sweet potatoes, contains a lot of protein. protein is an antioxidant with many powerful anti-aging properties, while purple sweet potato has higher antioxidant content than other sweet potatoes. Garlic Okinawa people sometimes eat pickled garlic. Garlic is one of the most powerful natural medicines in nature. Recently, a report reviewing thousands of scientific studies shows that "human consumption of garlic can prevent or reduce the incidence of major chronic diseases related to aging", including arteriosclerosis, stroke, cancer, immune system diseases, brain aging, arthritis and cataracts. Turmeric, the golden cousin of ginger, is called Yujin in Japan. It is an important part of Okinawa's diet and can be used for seasoning and making tea. Turmeric is a powerful anticancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. At present, scientists are studying the anti-aging properties of several compounds contained in turmeric, especially their ability to simulate the calorie restriction pattern of human body. In clinical and ethnic studies, curcumin, one of the compounds, has been proved to have the effect of slowing down dementia, which can explain why the proportion of Okinawa people suffering from Alzheimer's disease is much lower than that of Americans. Moreover, Okinawa people are used to adding black pepper to turmeric, which can improve the bioavailability of curcumin by 1000 times. Brown rice Centenarians in Okinawa eat rice every day. They love brown rice and white rice. From the point of view of nutrition, brown rice is better. The hulling process of producing white rice will cut off dietary fiber and nutrients, including most vitamin B groups and all essential fatty acids contained in rice. Okinawa brown rice is more delicious than we generally know. It will be soaked in water until it is about to germinate, releasing enzymes that break down sugar and protein, making brown rice sweet and soft. Green tea Okinawa people drink a special kind of green tea, which they call fragrant tablets, that is, fragrant tea. This is because jasmine is added to it, and usually a little turmeric is added. Studies have shown that the unique substances contained in green tea can prevent many problems related to aging, including various forms of heart disease, as well as cancer, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes and mental retardation. Mushroom is a kind of smoky fungus, which naturally grows on the dead bark in the forest. Okinawa people often use it in their unique miso soup and stir-fry it to add flavor. Lentinus edodes contains 100 kinds of compounds that can enhance immunity. Mushrooms are generally dry when bought, and can be recovered by soaking or boiling in soup or sauce, and most nutrients can be retained. Seaweed is usually used to increase the satiety of diet, which is low in calories and high in nutrition. Kelp (kelp) and kelp bud (Undaria pinnatifida) are the most commonly eaten seaweed in Okinawa, which can enhance the taste of many soups and stews. Seaweed is rich in carotenoids, folic acid, magnesium, iron, calcium and iodine, and contains at least six compounds unique to marine plants, which seems to be an effective antioxidant at the cellular level. Edible Undaria pinnatifida has been harvested in Japan and Korea for centuries, and now dried Undaria pinnatifida can also be bought in the United States. Kelp is a kind of kelp and a basic ingredient in Asia with a long history. Now, the United States can also buy small packages of dried kelp.
Okinawa cookbook Vegetables Miso Soup Although Japanese restaurants in the United States often use miso soup as an appetizer for lunch or dinner, Kamada Nakazato, a centenarian in Okinawa, likes to put vegetables she picked from the garden in the soup for breakfast. In the United States, miso and fresh mushrooms can be bought in Asian markets and many large supermarkets. Dark miso tastes stronger and more salty than light or yellow miso (common miso in the market). Dosage: 4 persons Materials:
3 tablespoons of miso sauce, white miso, miso (that is, red miso) or Huangxinzhou miso 1.5 tablespoons of pure rice vinegar 1 large clove garlic, peeled 4 cm long tender ginger slices, peeled 230 grams of hard tofu and cut into 65438 pieces. Slice the mushroom umbrella, 2 cups of pea seedlings (about 85g), 6 medium-sized onions, remove the unwanted parts, and cut into chopped green onion with 2 teaspoons of sesame oil 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.
Put miso, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger and a glass of water into a food processor or a large blender, cover and stir until smooth and even, and scrape off the stirred sauce. Pour the stirred miso sauce into a medium saucepan, then add 4 cups of water and stir. Add tofu, shiitake mushrooms, pea sprouts and shallots, heat over medium heat until boiling, and keep stirring. Turn to low heat, cover and simmer, turn off the heat after 5 minutes, and mix with sesame oil and soy sauce before serving. Tip:
If you want to make the soup taste better, you can chop garlic and ginger, but don't put them in the food processor or blender. Save them for the second step and add them directly to the tofu soup. If you can't buy fresh mushrooms, you can soak four dried mushrooms in warm water in a small bowl for 20 minutes. Drain the mushrooms, leaving the mushrooms soaked in water, and filter out the particles in the water with a strainer. After the pure water in the sauce pot is reduced by the same amount, add mushrooms to soak in water instead. You can use spinach leaves or cauliflower instead of pea seedlings. Coconut mashed sweet potato Japanese sweet potato Imo refers to the purple sweet potato in Okinawa. Purple sweet potato has been the staple food of Okinawa people since the beginning of the 20th century. The orange sweet potato that we are used to eating is also a good substitute. Dosage: 6 people, as side dishes:
Five medium-sized sweet potatoes (about 1350g), peeled, cut into squares with a side length of 2.5cm, up to 3/4 cups of full-fat or low-fat canned coconut juice 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder, and more than half a teaspoon of salt can be added if necessary (unnecessary);
Put the sweet potato into a large pot and add water to make the water level 2 to 3 cm higher than the sweet potato. Bring the fire to a boil, then turn to medium heat and cook for about 25 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft. Pour the sweet potato into the filter basin in the sink to drain the water, and then move it to a big bowl. Add half a cup of coconut juice, mash it into a creamy shape with a mud spoon or an electric stirring rod at medium and low speed, and then add more coconut juice to make the sweet potato puree smoother. Stir in cinnamon or add some salt. Tip: To make different flavors with lower fat, use fresh orange juice instead of half coconut juice when squeezing mud. But remember to add cinnamon! Shi roasted sweet potatoes roasted Okinawa purple sweet potato or orange sweet potato will give off a rich fragrance and smooth taste in your mouth. Many Okinawa people still like to buy stone baked sweet potatoes sold in pickup trucks, but you can also bake them in the oven at home. If you use pizza slate or cast iron frying pan, you can also add the effect of stone baking.
Dosage: 4 persons Materials:
Four medium-sized sweet potatoes (about 280 grams each) are served with aluminum foil paper salt and cinnamon powder. How to place plates:
Put the grill in the middle of the oven, preheat the oven to177 C, use a cast iron frying pan or baking tray covered with aluminum foil, or spread a layer of aluminum foil paper on the pizza slate, and fold each side of the aluminum foil paper into 2-3 cm high edges to prevent juice from oozing out. After baking for 25 minutes, turn the sweet potato over by hand through a heat insulation pad or a dry kitchen towel, and continue baking for more than 20 minutes until the sweet potato feels soft. The longer the baking time, the more juice there will be next to the sweet potato skin. Caramelization, Okinawa people especially like to eat this kind of baked sweet potato. Let it cool for a few minutes, then peel it and eat it. You can also sprinkle some salt or cinnamon powder for decoration. Su Mian Su Mian is a kind of Japanese fine noodles cooked very quickly (not to be confused with soba noodles). Vegetarian noodles are usually eaten cold. Dosage: 4 persons Materials:
1/4 cup of soy sauce, preferably 1/4 cup of Japanese bottled Lin Wei, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of Asian red pepper sauce like Ba Shen sauce, 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, half teaspoon of peeled tender ginger, 400g of dried noodles, 1 cup of shredded green pepper.
Mix soy sauce, miso, sesame oil, Chili sauce, garlic and ginger in a large bowl. According to the instructions on the package, cook vegetarian noodles in a large saucepan, then pour them into the filter basin in the sink, rinse the noodles with cold water and stop cooking. After draining, add the mixed soy sauce and stir gently. In the same pot where noodles are cooked, add 1/4 cup of water to boil, then add green pepper, carrot and cabbage. Cover the pot, turn to low heat and cook for about 3 minutes, until the ingredients are soft, pour them into the filter basin and drain them, then rinse them with cold water. Shake the filter basin several times to drain thoroughly. Add vegetables to noodles and soy sauce and stir carefully. Can be eaten directly, or covered and refrigerated for 4 hours. Decorate with chopped green onion before eating. Tip: Lin Wei is a sweet Japanese rice wine, which is often used in cooking and can be bought in almost all large supermarkets in North America. If you really can't find it, you can also use 1/4 cups of dry white wine and 2 teaspoons of sugar instead. If you don't like cooking with alcohol, you can use sugar-free grape juice instead