Have you counted how many kinds of foods you eat in a day?
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan used to encourage us to eat 30 kinds of foods a day.
But in reality, it is a bit difficult to eat 30 kinds of foods a day.
Nowadays the ministry doesn’t say that anymore. It is unrealistic to take 30 items every day. But it is important to have a balanced diet and better to eat many kinds of foods.
If you cook rice, an easy way to take many kinds of foods is to put some other grains or beans together into the rice and cook!
For example, I mix barley, chickpeas, lentils, and black-eyed peas with brown rice. So, when I cook rice, I can take several kinds of foods already.
Takikomi Gohan
When you cook “Takikomi Gohan,” you can take even more kinds of foods.
Takikomi Gohan is rice cooked with various vegetables, tofu puff, chicken, etc. "Gohan" means rice. It's the Japanese version of pilaf or biriyani. It is easy, yummy, and nutritious!!
There are so many recipes of Takikomi Gohan because we can put anything we like. It is custom-made. Not only vegetables but also shellfish, seaweed, meat, and fish can be mixed. Of course, some food doesn’t match. But exploring is fun!!
I cooked Takikomi Gohan with what I had in my fridge. Takikomi Gohan is good when you want to clear food in your fridge as well.
This is the recipe for my Takikomi Gohan
<Ingredients>
Brown rice 200 cc (1 cup)
Water 200 cc (the same amount as rice)
Pumpkin 100 g
Carrot 50 g
Tofu 100 g
Salt a little
When I cook brown rice, I usually soak it in water overnight.
Here is how we cook.
1 Rinse brown rice
2 Add water to the rice – soak it in water overnight for about 8 hours
3 Cut pumpkin, carrot, and tofu into small pieces
4 Add vegetables, tofu, and salt to the rice
5 And cook with your rice cooker
You can put whatever vegetables you like. For example, sweet potato, edamame, mushroom, peanuts, asparagus, tomato, corn, lotus root, etc. Be creative!!
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