Tuesday

See weed?


Goodness gracious gentle reader, its been too long!! How have you been? Hugs!!

What an incredible two months I've had! Life has been beyond good to me. November and December brought with them, an embarassment of riches. Much good food has been consumed, my soles are worn and my heart is full.

I've been an absolute slug about blogging because I wanted the dust to settle. I waited for my experiences to crystalize into perfectly shaped, clear droplets. I hoped that memory and reflection would smooth any rough edges and bring clarity and perfect understanding. Like the perfect glass menagerie.

As much as I treasure my little unicorns, life, with cheerful boisterousness, jostles us all. The past is happily enmeshed with the present and the future. So much for staying inside the lines!

And so I will acquiesce and jump in. Joyfully. All those tastes, touches, smells and smiles still linger in my brain. Perhaps, they will rush unbidden into my mind one afternoon. Maybe shimmer lightly just before I open my eyes. Like invisible threads, they draw me to future tastes and smiles. The mysterious wonderful web that the universe weaves around us.

On to less abstract matters - wakame! A Japanese girl I knew swore by the power of seaweed - she said her hair had been lustrous in Japan because she ate more seaweed when she lived in Japan! Many moons later, I found myself in a mighty-foods phase and her seaweed testimonial rang in my ears.

Long story short, I found Wakame in an Asian grocery store. Rehydrating it was like magic. I immersed the wakame in a little water and in a few minutes, presto, silky green sheets emerged where dry, black tendrils had been!

Wakame salad (based on recipe from Epicurious)
- 3 tablespoons rehydrated wakame (1 tablespoon dry)
- 1/2 inch ginger, chopped fine
- 2 cloves garlic chopped fine
- 3 tablespoons tamari
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- fresh cilantro / sesame seeds for garnish

Make the dressing and toss in the rehydrated wakame. Thats all there is to it! Its unbelievably delicious! Turned out just like the seaweed dim sum at Golden Port.

10 comments:

evolvingtastes said...

Welcome back! Drop us an hint or two on what made you so happy, other than 'those tastes, touches, smells and smiles' :). Or just pass along whatever it is that you are drinking.

Suganya said...

My Dear... Where have you been all these days?

FH said...

Hugs to you sweetheart, I was thinking about you last week!:))
Glad you are enjoying life and blog when you can. Take it easy.
Sea Weed, NEVER tried it girl. Looks like Spinach but does it taste like Spinach!:D

amna said...

seaweed? if you had told me that's spinach then probably I would have tasted it! :)

I am also curious to know what you were upto!

Tracy said...

I'm not sure I'm ready for seaweed, but I sure am glad you're back! I'm also glad that life has been good to you during your time away from blogging.

zlamushka said...

This is amazing. A recipe for my absolute favorite Japanese seaweed salad? OMG! I am so shocked, I am so making this one. But please, Smita, what do you mean by rice wine? SAKE or? Can you please tell me the brand´s name? I am super excited, thanx!

ServesYouRight said...

Evolvingtastes - you crack me up!!

Dear Suganya - For months and months, I was such a homebody and last year found me travelling like mad!! Canada, US, Australia and India, all in one year!!

Asha - so good to see you here :-)

Nags - mostly travel and all the excitement that comes with travelling :-)

Tracy - Delighted to hear from you :-)

zlamushka - I used Marukan Organic Rice Vinegar. I suppose brown rice vinegar would be better / healthier. I've sent you an e-mail. But do let me know if Rice Vinegar is hard to come by in Malmö. If the customs rules allow it, I would be happy to ship you some.

Bestest,

Smita

David said...

Back at last!!! Now I shall look forward to Sundays even more! Even if it means seaweed (sigh!)!!

zlamushka said...

Smita,

I just made it for lunch, and for dinner. This is by far the best sea weed salad I ever had. I ll be making it now every day ;-) Thank You so much for such amazing dish.

Btw. I managed to buy Japanese Rice Vinegar. Turned out fantastic.

Your big fan, Z!

ServesYouRight said...

zlamushka - you sweet thing - totally made my day!! Delighted that the recipe worked for you!