Home-cooked Japanese Dinner

The main dish is Salt-grilled Pacific Saury

 

 

 

 

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Thailand’s Khao Soi Named Best Soup in the World

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Tuesday said Thailand will capitalise on the growing popularity of its cuisine to boost the country’s soft power on the global stage after a local dish topped the list of 50 best soups in the world.

“It’s good news that Thai food is becoming so well known among foreigners,” Prayuth said as he enjoyed a bowl of the traditional northern dish of khao soi at a government-run food exhibition in Bangkok.

Khao soi – a coconut milk-based fare that also includes meat, egg noodles, fresh lime, pickled cabbage, shallots and chillies – was named the best soup in the world by TasteAtlas, a digital platform chronicling local food and authentic restaurants.

The broth is believed to have been brought to northern Thailand by Chinese Muslim traders from Yunnan during the 19th and 20th centuries.

TasteAtlas called khao soi a “delicious coconut soup in which numerous regional influences were combined to create a truly spectacular dish”. Thailand’s tom yum kung and tom kha gai soups were also featured in the list.

The deeply unpopular Prayuth, who took power after a 2014 coup, said khao soi was now part of Thailand’s soft power push to boost the economy and called on the digital economy and society ministry to elevate the status of local food by roping in social media influencers.

In April, Thailand launched the “5 Fs soft power” policy that aims to promote food, films, fashion, fighting (Muay Thai boxing) and festivals overseas.

Earlier this year, Prayuth also lauded Thai rapper and government critic Danupa “Milli” Kanateerakul for popularising mango sticky rice during her performance at the Coachella music festival in California.

The government said it is planning to propose to Unesco to include the dessert in Thailand’s intangible cultural heritage list.

Source: SCMP

 

 

 

 

Bento of Meisen Japan

Deep-fried Oysters and Pork Fillet

The price is 940 yen (tax included).

まい泉

 

 

 

 

Could Black Tea Lengthen Your Life?

Steven Reinberg wrote . . . . . . . . .

A cup of tea can soothe your spirit, but drinking a couple of cups each day may also lower your chances of dying early, new research suggests.

In the study of nearly 500,000 men and women who took part in the U.K. Biobank, researchers found that compared with people who didn’t drink tea, those who drank two or more cups a day lowered their risk of dying by 9% to 13%. And it made no difference if they took milk and sugar with their tea, or also drank coffee.

These results suggest that black tea, even at higher levels of intake, can be part of a healthy diet. Yet, “while these findings may offer reassurance to tea drinkers, they do not indicate that people should start drinking tea or increase their tea consumption for health benefits,” lead researcher Maki Inoue-Choi said during a recent media briefing by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. She’s a staff scientist in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Although this study can’t prove that tea alone is responsible for extending your life, it does contain compounds that have been linked to reducing inflammation, Inoue-Choi said.

“Compounds such as polyphenols and flavonoids, namely catechins, have the potential to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, which protect against cancer, cardiovascular disease and other health conditions,” she said.

“If you drink one cup per day already, I think that is good,” Inoue-Choi said. “Please enjoy your cup of tea.”

The U.K. participants in the study were ages 40 to 69, and 89% reported drinking black tea.

Researchers also found that drinking tea reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease but didn’t appear to have the same benefit when it came to deaths from cancer or respiratory disease, Inoue-Choi said.

The report was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

“I think it’s really good confirmation that tea can be a part of a good diet, a healthy diet,” said Lauri Wright, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and an assistant professor at the University of South Florida.

It goes back to inflammation, she said, which seems to trigger so many chronic diseases. Tea has powerful anti-inflammatory properties that help offset inflammations that can lead to disease.

Wright, who wasn’t part of the study, added that tea by itself won’t counteract the effects of an unhealthy diet, but tea can amplify the benefits of a healthy diet.

“We’re looking at the whole diet and making sure that you include a lot of foods that have anti-inflammatory properties like fruits and vegetables and healthy fats from nuts and avocados,” she said. “So, it really is more of the whole diet that tea is a part of in helping decrease inflammation.”

Dr. Guy Mintz, director of cardiovascular health and lipidology at Northwell Health Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., said a recent study in China also found benefits from tea. However, in that case, it was green tea.

“In China and Asia and Japan, they’re drinking more green tea. So, this study gives black tea a place on the mantel,” said Mintz, who had no role in the new research. “I think the takeaway message is tea may be protective.”

He cautioned that tea alone is not a substitute for keeping your blood pressure and cholesterol low. “Tea has beneficial cardiovascular and vascular benefits as an adjunct to medical recommendations,” Mintz said.

Source: HealthDay

 

 

 

 

Stewed Pork Belly with Chestnuts

Ingredients

8 oz chestnuts (shells removed)
1 lb belly pork
4 garlics (sliced)
few slices ginger
1 tbsp sugar
2 stalks spring onion (sectioned)

Seasoning

2 tbsp cooking wine
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1-1/2 cup water

Method

1. Par-boil pork in boiling water for 15 minutes. Take out and wash. Slice pork in thick pieces.
2. Sauté chestnuts with 2 tbsp oil. Remove and drain.
3. Sauté pork, garlic and ginger with 1 tbsp oil. Add seasoning and chestnuts. Bring to a boil. Stew over low heat for about 40 minutes.
4. Mix in sugar, and cook for a few more minutes. Add spring onion and stir to combine before serving.

Source: Chinese Stews

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