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General
Guidelines For The Weekly Consumption of Condiments:
USE OF LEFTOVERS AND REHEATING FOODS
When you are healing or beginning your macrobiotic practice, 100%
fresh cooking for every meal is ideal. Sometimes, however, we may
use leftovers without detrimental effects to our health.
In general, when you cook a particular dish, it is best to eat it
within 24 hours. After that time, the food has lost substantial vitality.
Regular consumption of long-leftover food can make us tired, weak,
hungry, crave excess food or sweets. It is essential to prepare certain
dishes fresh daily; light miso soup is best eaten immediately, If
you prepare it for dinner, it is best not to eat it as a leftover
the next morning or afternoon, although it may fall within a 24 hour
time frame of freshness.
Likewise, it is best to make fresh steamed or blanched greens or boiled
salad in the morning or afternoon rather than eat those leftover from
the night before. Since they are so lightly, quickly cooked, the benefit
they offer us is that very freshness. If they sit even just overnight,
they lose that lively, vital quality. It is best to learn to cook
appropriate, small amounts for 1 or 2 meals. The same goes for quick
sautéed crispy vegetables and steamed roots and their tops.
Longer cooked and more seasoned dishes, however, may be enjoyed the
next day. For example, if you prepared Nishime, Kinpirit, Dried Tofu
and Vegetable Stew, Beans, Grains and longer cooked soups for dinner,
you may lightly reheat or take them at room temperature the next day,
preferably at lunch. In keeping with the new morning, it is ideal
to make a fresh, light vegetable dish (such as blanched greens) to
eat with breakfast.
It is preferable to reheat food in a steamer on top of the stove rather
than in the oven. A handy way of quickly reheating is to place a ceramic
plate of cold leftovers in a wide (9-12") bamboo steamer on top
of a skillet filled with boiling water. Allow the whole plate of food
to steam for 3-5 minutes until all the food is warm. Do not include
pressed, boiled or fresh salads on the plate, however. This method
saves time, fuel, pots and your energy. If you only need to reheat
soup or beans, however, then place it in a saucepan with a touch more
water and simmer lightly on a low flame for 3-5 minutes until the
food is warm. Be careful not to tire the food out by leaving it on
the flame too long.
A WORD ABOUT LEFTOVER
While, as a general principle, it is a great idea to recycle all things
and not waste, be careful how you do it. Nishime, Kinpira, Dried Daikon
with Kombu, Azuki Squash. and Stewed Vegetables have already been
seasoned with shoyu/soy sauce, or occasionally miso. It is best to
eat them as they are the second time around rather than add them to
a soup that you will season with miso, shoyu/soy sauce, etc. You may
get creative and mix a seasoned leftover vegetable dish into plain
noodles or other grains, for example, but try to avoid overcomplicating
things or using too much seasoning.
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