Do you throw away vegetable scraps such as carrot and potato skins, broccoli stems, beet tops, onion skins, cabbage cores, and radish roots?
In Japan, we have a tradition called "一物全体食” - Ichibutsu Zentaishoku - which means eating the whole food. This idea emphasizes the importance of consuming all parts of the food for a balanced and healthy life.
Food is essential for our well-being. By eating the entire food, including its various parts, we can achieve a better balance in our bodies.
Previously, I used to discard the outer layer of onions, but then I discovered something interesting.
Onion's brown skin combats aging, cancer, and lowers blood pressure.
The brown skin of onions contains 20-30 times more quercetin, a type of polyphenol, than the white part we usually eat.
Quercetin is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and has potential anticancer properties. It can also help lower blood pressure.
We can incorporate onion skins into our diet by making tea or powder from them.
Initially, I was hesitant because I worried about its taste, but it turned out to be just a made-up concern.
Let me share how to make onion skin tea.
Here's how to make onion skin tea:
Ingredients: Onion’s outer skin for 3 onions, 1 liter of water
1. Peel off the brown skin.
2. Wash it thoroughly.
3. Put the onion skin in a pot with 1 liter of water and boil it for about 10 minutes.
That's it!
One tip: It's preferable to use organic onions.
The tea might taste slightly bitter with a hint of onion flavor, but if you imagine it as drinking coffee, the onion taste won't bother you much.
Onion skin is too valuable to discard. It can be used to make nutritious tea, and other vegetable scraps can be used to make delicious soup stock.
Let's reap the benefits of phytochemicals from vegetable scraps
If you enjoy cooking, you may find yourself throwing away vegetable scraps after each meal preparation. However, these scraps can actually be used to make flavorful soup stock.
You might think it takes a long time to accumulate enough scraps for stock, but you can store them in a ziplock bag and keep it in the freezer.
To make vegetable stock, remove the tops, bottoms, stems, and skins of vegetables and store them in a ziplock bag until it's full. Keep the bag in the freezer to preserve the scraps for longer.
Once the bag is full, transfer its contents to a pot and add water to your liking.
Simmer the mixture for at least 30 minutes, and take out the vegetable scraps. You'll have homemade vegetable stock.
This stock contains phytochemicals that are beneficial for our health.
Phytochemicals are naturally occurring chemicals found in plants. They protect plants from insects, fungi, viruses, and ultraviolet rays.
Normally, these phytochemicals are not easily absorbed when we eat vegetables raw because they are trapped inside the cell walls. However, simmering vegetables allows these beneficial compounds to be released and easily extracted.
So, instead of throwing away vegetable scraps, consider using them to make nutritious soup stock. It's a great way to reduce waste and maximize the nutritional value of your meals.
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