What Gaigin Eat: Peel Good Rice Porridge Pancake

This dish was named by my sister this morning (visiting from Korea) as she experienced a traditional Tomoe-Kevin household breakfast. The distinctive ingredients of "Peel Good Rice Porridge Pancake" are:

kuromai (black rice): (low-chem). Kuromai is an "ancient" rice grown throughout Asia. It is referred to as "ancient", because it was grown in Japan in ancient times, then cultivation stopped and was forgotten until seeds were re-discovered while excavating an ancient ruin.

Since then it has been used both as a staple at festivals, and for medicinal purposes. The "festiveness" probably comes from the beautiful deep-purple coloring it gives white rice when cooked together. The medicinal uses are related to the same coloring agent - anthocyanin (Polyphenol) - which prevents hardening of arteries and slows aging.

Macrobiotics considers it to be a "detoxing" agent. Some people apparently have a very strong physical reaction to it - presenting typical exaggerated detox symptoms such as headache, body ache, tiredness, dizziness, and dry, itchy, pimply skin.

Genmai (brown rice): organic/no-chem of course.

Kaki (persimmon) peels: While I usually eat my Kaki as an apple - skins and all (non-pesticide, of course). Japanese people usually cut the peels away and just throw them away! (I know... I can hardly believe it either!)

While Tomoe is Japanese enough not to eat the peels with her kaki, she at least uses the peels in other dishes. In this case, they were blended and mashed together with the rice and other ingredients to add a wonderful fruitiness to the pancakes.

Raisin: Raisins where added to the mash as a natural yeast, to promote fermentation in the pancake dough. She let it set two days, but this time it only resulted in a few bubbles - it didn't work as well as it apparently does in campagne, a country bread from France which I am told uses raisin yeast.

Toppings:

kome ame (brown rice syrup) & Goma paste (sesame paste): Kome ame is a sweet syrup that takes longer to digest than corn syrup and other sweeteners, providing a longer lasting energy source. (we are planning to make some granola with this for our next hiking trip). According to macrobiotics, this is good as well because it prevents quick rises in blood sugar, thus reducing the bodily stress caused by quick increase in insulin production. It also is said to help "mental health" - preventing insomnia, depression, and psychological disorders sometimes attributed to sugar.

Also, with regards to macrobiotics, I am told, this pancake is good because it is better to eat whole grains instead of regular flour - which gets sticky in your stomach. Rice, with 35% protein, is the highest protein content for a grain, has the perfect combination of protein and carbohydrates to provide energy for our bodies utilize the proteins. (In more northern latitudes, with climates better for wheat production, people had to eat more meat to provide the protein lacking in flour)

What else do gaijin eat?

What Gaijin Eat: First Harvest Sweet Potato Pie
What Gaijin Eat: Grain is Good
What Gaijin Eat: Kuroirigenmaiko Coffee