I'm winding down from my juice fast. Three days seems like enough this time. My emotions were very front and center today. This can happen when you fast. You become a little vulnerable. Seriously, I'm not being a drama queen. (I'm no Saint Teresa of Ávila, performing devotions of ecstasy, but allow me my little musings, won't you?) I've been working hard on some advertising projects for Target and I may need a few more carbohydrates for brain power. But I have definitely noticed how easy it is to get by on a lot less food. A LOT less. I'm going to try and remember that the next time I'm packing in three squares. OK, yes, I am talking about calorie restriction. (Gasp!) Apparently, it helps you live longer. Not entirely sure that's what I'm striving for; I'll settle for fitting into some of my skinnier jeans. I've just made a pot of very simple vegetable soup: onion, cabbage, celery, carrot, spinach and parsley. Big hunks of everything simmered together in water with a little salt, until it all gets soft. This is the perfect way to break a fast and it's actually quite delicious, clean-tasting and a little sweet. (Also good for when you're sick as it delivers a lot of vital green nutrition and doesn't tax your system.) It's best to come off a fast gently, although I've also been known to cram a fried chicken drumstick doused with Tabasco sauce in my mouth. This time, I'll hopefully segue to a hot pot for tomorrow evening, using my new donabe and a bunch of ingredients G picked up at Mitsuwa, the mecca for Japanese cooking (and eating) in Edgewater, New Jersey.

 

After that, we'll be in NYC for a couple of nights. G is working and it's also his birthday, so we have a fun evening planned—dinner at Co. (forbidden, gluten-ridden pizza! I already know that G will have the fennel-sausage and I will swoon again over the bacon-&-béchamel flambé, a better version even than the one at the Modern, and god knows what Stephanie and Philip will have, no slackers they) and then on to see Fela, the musical celebration of Fela Kuti and his Afrobeat sounds. I'll try to post from the road so you can see the beauty of Co.'s crispy pies.Until then, here is a recipe for the first hot pot we made with our donabe. I don't have that much experience with Japanese cooking, although I've done quite a lot of eclectic Japanese eating, both here and in Japan. Again, it's all about the right ingredients. I'm really loving my new cookbook, Japanese Hot Pots by Tadashi Ono (chef at Matsuri) and Harris Salat. It's very edifying and well written. They've even set up a website all about hot pots, and of course they both have blogs.

Many Japanese soups and sauces are based around dashi, a simple water-based stock imbued with potent umami flavor from kombu (giant kelp) and dried, shaved bonito. (I'm confused as to whether this last is mackerel or skipjacktuna--do you know?) Healthy, right? Seaweed AND oily fish?! What? You don't know what umami is? Jesus, this is a long post. Umami is the fifth taste (after salty, sweet, sour and bitter), sometime known as "savoriness." (So awkward; let's just say umami, OK? And I'm hereby abandoning the italics.)

Umami flavors contain specific amino acids that create a rich, meaty, savory taste, like that of many fermented, aged or protein-heavy foods, including parmesan, soy sauce and beef. It's sort of a je ne sais quoi flavor that you would totally recognize even though you might be scratching your head right now. The kombu comes as a big, honking piece, by the way, like something you just dragged off the beach. So go forth, visit Edgewater, New Jersey, or the Sunrise Mart in New York City, or look for a Japanese market in your area, and get the good soy sauce, the real mirin, the giant Japanese negi that they claim is nothing like either a leek or a scallion, and expand your kitchen horizon this month. New year, new you.