Cucumber and seaweed salad

This is a very delicious and healthy seaweed salad recipe perfect for a side dish or to snack on.

Seaweed (or kelp) has more minerals like calcium and zinc than any terrestrial vegetation! This makes seaweed exceptionally high in nutrients and vitamin A, B, C and E, essential for hair growth and stimulation. This includes the nori, or dried black seaweed wrapped around sushi rolls, seaweed in soups (like miso or osuimono), dried nori snacks now found in many supermarkets, salads, etc..

A little seaweed goes a long way - You only need to eat about 1/3 of a cup a day to reap the benefits, so make a habit to include a little seaweed in your daily diet for strong hair and nails.

Note: For dried seaweed, don't let the seaweed sit in water for too long - 5 minutes should do it, otherwise it will get slimy.

Cucumber and seaweed salad recipe
Serves 4

For the dressing:

4 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp dashi stock
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp mirin

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber, cut into sticks
1/4 cup dried seaweed

Directions:

Put cucumber stick in a tupperware and sprinkle generously with salt. Mix with your fingers and let sit for about 20 minutes. Quickly rinse in cold water and dry with paper towel Set aside.

Soak the dried seaweed in cold water for about 5 minutes, no longer than that. Drain well, transfer to a cutting board and chop into bite size. Divide among 4 bowls and do the same for the cucumber sticks.

Put all the ingredients for the dressing into a bowl and mix well. Pour evenly among 4 bowls and serve cold.

Onigiri - Japanese rice balls

What could be more Japanese than onigiri! The more laid back cousin of sushi maki, they're usually filled with ume (pickled plums), mentaiko (spicy cod roe), okaka (bonito flakes), tarako (salty cod roe), tuna mayo, and kombu (pickles). Sold in most convenience stores in Japan (and here a Bamboo too!) these tasty rice balls are a favorite snack among the Japanese community because they're easy to make and also very healthy.

Makes about 8 onigiris

Ingredients

•  cooked Japanese rice (I use Nishiki)
•  umeboshi (Japanese picklked plums)
•  mentaiko (spicy cod roe)
•  nori (seaweed)
•  salt

Cooking Directions

1. A couple of tricks to make good Japanese rice; soak your rice for a few minutes and massage a little until the water turns milky white. This removes some of the starch. Do it 2 or 3 times until the water is almost clear. Follow instructions and measurements listed on packaging. When you add your rice, give it a quick stir, put the lid on and leave it alone! I use a timer each time I make rice, this way I don't have to worry about under or over cooking it, and it always turns out perfect.
2. When the rice is cooked, put it in a bowl and let cool. Grab a wooden spoon and gently fold over the rice (do not stir, you want to keep it fluffy!) while adding some salt (until you get your own perfect level of saltiness). Now let's make our onigiris!
3. Grab a small handful of rice, shape it into a triangle (or ball) and make a dent in the middle. It's good to have a bowl of water nearby so you can wet your fingers (it helps with shaping the rice). Add filling of your choice. Wrap a strip of nori (a wider strip will make it much easier to eat) around the rice and you're done! It's that easy!

NOTE: You can keep onigiri by wrapping it in cling film and refrigerate overnight. Zapping it in the microwave for about 30 seconds the next will day make the rice balls nice and soft again.