Hello everybody, it’s Brad, welcome to our recipe site. Today, we’re going to prepare a special dish, japanese leek kinpira. It is one of my favorites. This time, I’m gonna make it a bit tasty. This will be really delicious.
Kinpira Gobo is braised burdock root and carrot in a sweet and salty sauce. This is another mom's home cooking kind of dish rather than restaurant food. The name Kinpira comes from legendary muscleman, and that shows how nutritious the dish really is. Kinpira Gobo is a great side dish you can make ahead.
Japanese Leek Kinpira is one of the most well liked of current trending foods in the world. It’s easy, it is quick, it tastes delicious. It’s appreciated by millions daily. They’re nice and they look fantastic. Japanese Leek Kinpira is something that I’ve loved my whole life.
To begin with this particular recipe, we have to prepare a few ingredients. You can cook japanese leek kinpira using 10 ingredients and 6 steps. Here is how you can achieve that.
The ingredients needed to make Japanese Leek Kinpira:
- Get 2 Japanese leek
- Prepare 1 Aburaage (thick type)
- Make ready 150 grams Lotus root
- Get 1/3 Carrot
- Get 100 ml Dashi stock
- Take 1 tsp Sugar
- Prepare 1 heaping tablespoon Usukuchi soy sauce
- Take 1 tbsp Mirin
- Take 1 tsp to stir-fry, 1/2 teaspoon to sprinkle Sesame oil
- Prepare 1 Red chili pepper (optional)
Keep cooking over high heat from the beginning. Kinpira Gobo is a popular side dish in Japan, and something you would find in bento boxes, mom's or grandma's cooking. Gobo (burdock) and carrots are sauteed and seasoned with mirin, soy and sesame oil. It has a sweet tangy flavor with crunchy, earthy texture.
Instructions to make Japanese Leek Kinpira:
- Peel the lotus root and slice into 2mm half moons. Cut into quarters if it is large. Soak in a bowl of water with a little vinegar (not listed) for 10 minutes. Rinse well and drain in a sieve.
- Slice the Japanese leek diagonally. Cut the carrot into thin strips. Cut the aburaage in half lengthwise, and slice into 2-3mm pieces.
- Heat sesame oil in a pan, and stir-fry the Japanese leek, carrot and aburaage over high heat for 1 minute. Once the Japanese leek is tender, add the lotus root and fry a bit more.
- Add dashi stock, sugar, usukuchi light soy sauce, and mirin to the pan. Stir-fry and simmer over high heat. Turn off the heat when the cooking sauce is almost completely cooked off. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil and stir. Then it's done.
- This dish tastes even better if you let it cool down to absorb the flavor. Cook in the evening and it will be a great lunch box filler the next day.
- If you like it spicy, add deseeded and thinly sliced chili peppers in Step 3.
Gobo (burdock) and carrots are sauteed and seasoned with mirin, soy and sesame oil. It has a sweet tangy flavor with crunchy, earthy texture. Despite its popularity in Japan, Kinpira Gobo is relatively unknown elsewhere. Crisp yet tender with bursts of sweet and savory flavors, Kinpira Renkon, or Japanese Lotus Root Stir Fry, is a classic home-cooked side dish. One of the reasons I love about Japanese home-cooked meals is that root vegetables are used in a whole range of dishes.
Try Using Food to Improve Your Mood
Mostly, people have been conditioned to believe that “comfort” foods are bad for the body and should be avoided. Sometimes, if the comfort food is a high sugar food or some other junk food, this is true. At times, comfort foods can be utterly nutritious and good for us to eat. There are several foods that really can raise your moods when you eat them. If you seem to be a little bit down and you need an emotional pick me up, try several of these.
Eggs, believe it or not, are fantastic for helping you battle depression. Just see to it that you do not throw away the egg yolk. Whenever you wish to cheer yourself up, the egg yolk is the most vital part of the egg. Eggs, the egg yolks especially, are high in B vitamins. B vitamins can actually help you improve your mood. This is because they help in bettering the function of your neural transmitters, the components of your brain that control your mood. Eat an egg and cheer up!
Make several trail mix of nuts or seeds. Your mood can be improved by consuming peanuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. This is possible because these foods are rich in magnesium which increases serotonin production. Serotonin is called the “feel good” substance that our body produces and it tells your brain how you should be feeling day in and day out. The higher your serotonin levels, the more pleasant you will feel. Not just that, nuts, in particular, are a great protein source.
Cold water fish are great for eating if you are wanting to battle depression. Cold water fish like tuna, trout and wild salmon are rich in DHA and omega-3s. These are two substances that increase the quality and function of the grey matter in your brain. It’s the truth: eating tuna fish sandwiches can truly help you battle your depression.
Some grains are actually excellent for driving away bad moods. Quinoa, barley, teff, millet, etc are all wonderful for helping you be in a happier state of mind. They can help you feel full for longer too, which can help your mood too. Feeling hungry can be a real downer! The reason these grains are so great for your mood is that they are not difficult to digest. You digest these grains quicker than other things which can help increase your blood sugar levels, which, in turn, helps make you feel happier, mood wise.
Your mood can actually be helped by green tea. You just knew it had to be included in this article, right? Green tea is found to be rich in an amino acid referred to as L-theanine. Studies have found that this specific amino acid can basically stimulate brain waves. This helps focus your mental energy while simultaneously making the rest of your body more relaxed. You already knew green tea could help you be healthier. Now you know that green tea can improve your mood as well!
Now you know that junk food isn’t necessarily what you need to eat when you want to help your moods get better. Try a few of these hints instead.
