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Pickles in the Macrobiotic dietMake your own pickles. Or, if it is too troublesome, buy them ready made. But make it a habit to eat small amounts regularly. Salt-pickled vegetables and other fermented foods, especially fermented soy products like miso, shoyu, natto and tempeh, nourish the digestive and immune system by providing plentiful probiotics or friendly bacteria. They also provide valuable enzymes. One criticism of the macrobiotic diet – and of cooked foods in general – is that the diet lacks enzymes. This is why some health advocates recommend eating mainly raw foods like fruits and salads/ But such a diet creates other health problems.
For reasons that are not always totally logical, it seems that humans are more suited to eating cooked foods – and make up for the lack of enzymes by eating salt-pickled as well as fermented foods. Chewing the food well also generates enzymes in the saliva.
People in traditional societies usually include a small amount of pickles in the diet. But in modern societies, I think many of us, myself included, still have not made it a habit to eat them regularly. But don't overeat. Otherwise, you may become too yang – that is, tight, tensed and contracted. There are basically two types of pickles – strong, salty, long term types and light, quick types. Both types are important. With strong, salted-pickles, one or two tiny pieces are enough. With milder types, you can afford to eat a bit more, perhaps one or two tablespoonful daily. You may have read that pickled foods can cause cancer. This is true only if you eat poor quality types made with harmful ingredients like artificial vinegar, chemical colouring and preservatives. Small amounts of good quality salt-pickled and naturally fermented food made with natural ingredients will not harm you. They will support your health. You can buy good quality, naturally picked foods at other natural food stores. They include:
This is truly an important item to have at home. It is a sour plum (actually a apricot) that has been pickled in sea salt and a herb called shiso, which gives it a purple colour. Umeboshi is important both as food and a medicine. It effectively solves most digestive problems: lack of appetite, indigestion, nausea (travel sickness, morning sickness, etc.), vomiting, diarrhoea and so on. It also stops fluids from flowing out of the body – runny nose, excessive urination, excessive menstruation and diarrhoea. People with asthma, especially, would benefit from eating umeboshi regularly. And, it has very strong alkalinizing power. Because of this, it can ward off colds, flus and other common illnesses that usually arise whn the body becomes over acidic. Umeboshi is similar to what the Chinese call “sng buay”. Most of the Chinese version nowadays, however, is poor quality. The umeboshi in Japanese supermarkets are also usually not good – as they tend to be artificially colored. So always buy umeboshi from natural food stores. You can eat umeboshi as a condiment with rice or porridge, use it to make a sauce for vegetables, add to soups or cook with steamed fish. Umeboshi can also used in macrobiotic home remedies. Adults can take half to one umeboshi daily. Young children can take half that amount. For medicanal value, the whole plum is best. For convenience, the paste can be used. Click here to read more about umeboshi pickles, including the home remedy ume-sho-kuzu.
Shiso leaves This is the purple leaf that sometimes comes with umeboshi plums. It is also sold separately. Shiso is very rich in iron and helpful as a remedy for anemia. But pickled-shiso is very salty – coated with huge grains of salt. So soak in water for 15 minutes or longer before using. Try this vegetable “sushi”:
Or simply cut shiso finely and eat it on its own. One or two shiso leaves per day is okay for most people.
Japanese restaurants often serve two or three slices of bright yellow takuan – which is pickled white radish, or daikon – with their set meals. Don’t eat this! Natural takuan is brown, not bright yellow. Takuan, or chye poh in Chinese, is good for people with weak intestines – those with frequent indigestion, flatulence, diarrhoea or constipation. Two small slices, making up about a 1/2-inch section, is about all that you need. Again, this is very salty, so wash off the salt before eating. And don’t eat too much. Otherwise, you may devlop symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) later. You will feel hungry to the point of being weak.
Powerful Sea Pickles From Maine Coast in North America comes this delicious pickle made with kelp, a sea vegetable related to Japanese kombu. It is made with natural soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and olives. Eat no more than a few small pieces each time. It’s especially nice with porridge. The pickling liquid can be used in soups, stir-fried vegetables or fried rice or noodles. I used to sell this at Brown Rice Paradise when I owned the store, but am not sure if it is still available. Haven't eaten it in years! Must go look for it again ;-)
A German speciality, sauerkraut is cabbage pickled in salt. It’s sour taste comes from acids that form naturally during pickling, not from added vinegar. Sauerkraut sold in jars or cans would have been pasteurized to kill the friendly bacteria. So it's best to take unpasteurised sauerkraut, sometimes sold in health stores. But these are hard to find and pasteurized sauerkraut is still beneficial because of the natural acids. It’s easy to make your own sauerkraut:
You can eat one or two tablespoonfuls of sauerkraut at the end of your meals. Or try cooking tempeh with sauerkraut. This is a vegetarian version of a popular German dish, sausage with sauerkraut:
Dill pickles Dills are small “cucumbers” pickled in salt water and vinegar. Simply slice and serve about 1 inch section per person. Or, cut into small cubes and mix into Nayonnaise, a vegetarian, egg free “mayonnaise”. Use this as a dressing for boiled vegetables.
Apart from buying ready made pickles, it is good also to make your own. Try these: Fresh kiam chye Regular kiam chye is the Chinese version of sauerkraut, made with mustard green – a green vegetable that grows somewhat like a cabbage but with leaves that are more open (I'll upload a photo later). Those sold out of jars in Asian markets are probably okay. These are brownish in color. Those in packets, artificially colored bright yellow, are best avoided. This is a "fresh" version made in just a few hours and still retaining its green color. It's like a refreshing version of kiam chye.
This method of light pickling is called "pressed salads" in macrobiotic books. You can use the same method using almost any vegetable. Experiment and, if it does not work out well, try something else the next time. Once, my fellow macrobiotic cook Genevieve and I tried some leek "pressed salad" made this way. They turned out extremely pungent, to be point of being inedible. Well, we wasted some leek but learned a useful lesson.
Shallot / garlic in shoyu
The Japanese serves this with sushi. It is recommended to eat a small piece of this ginger between different types of sushi to "wash" the mouth of the flavour of the preceeding piece, so that you start the next piece with a "freshÆ mouth to appreciate its full flavour. The Chinese serve this vinegaed-ginger, made with rice or other vinegar, with preserved "century" egg.
Tofu “cheese” This is very delicious – to me, anyway.
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