The food we eat every day is putting a burden on the environment and people in many ways, and we must not go on this way. To solve this problem, we proposed eating sustainable food that is good for the environment and people, which we named “Chikyu-meshi” (literally: Earth food), in the temporary exhibition “Chikyu-meshi - Tasty, Healthy, Earth-friendly” at Miraikan, from September to December 2024. In this blog, I will introduce two recipes for “Chikyu-meshi” that were made especially for this exhibition. One recipe was created by cooking expert Koh Kentetsu, and the other by cooking expert / registered dietitian Akari Hasegawa.
For those of you who are wondering what “Chikyu-meshi” is or why it is necessary, please refer to part 1 of this blog, “Let’s eat ‘Chikyu-meshi’!”.
To continue eating delicious food forever, we propose turning your daily meals into “Chikyu-meshi” as suggested in the “Chikyu-meshi” exhibition. But what is “Chikyu-meshi” in practice? In part 1 of this blog, I introduced “protein shift” - shifting your protein intake away from protein sources with a high environmental and health burden and towards those with a low burden - and “food loss-less” (reducing food loss), to give you a general idea of “Chikyu-meshi”. However, these are broad strategies, so by doing a “protein shift” and going “food loss-less” you could come up with a myriad of recipes for “Chikyu-meshi”. Your “Chikyu-meshi” and my “Chikyu-meshi” may be vastly different, yet both still good for the environment and people.
To provide some inspiration, we asked cooking expert Koh Kentetsu and cooking expert / registered dietitian Akari Hasegawa, as well as everyone visiting the “Chikyu-meshi” exhibition what they would, and could personally do. Koh Kentetsu came up with a “protein shift” recipe for “Rice bowl with grilled tofu and microwaved colorful Namul (Korean vegetables)” and Akari Hasegawa made “Whole turnip pasta” with a focus on going “food loss-less”.
Rice bowl with grilled tofu and microwaved colorful Namul (Korean vegetables)
Koh Kentetsu cooks both meals and box lunches for his children on a daily basis. He wants cooking and shopping to be less of a burden, so he saves time by microwaving the Namul instead of boiling it. This also saves energy, so it reduces both the burden on the cook and on the environment; killing two birds with one stone!
Rice bowl with grilled tofu and microwaved colorful Namul (Korean vegetables) - recipe
<Grilled tofu>
Ingredients (for two people)
- 250g momendofu (firm tofu)
- 1 egg, beaten
- Flour (as much as needed)
- 1 tbsp sesame seed oil
[Sauce]
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- Sugar and orange marmalade or jam, 1/2 tbsp each
- Sake, sesame seed oil, white sesame seeds, 1 tbsp each
- 1 clove garlic and 1 small to medium piece of ginger, grated
<Microwaved colorful Namul＞
Ingredients (for 2-3 people)
- 1/2 bag bean sprouts
- 2-3 sprigs Chinese chives (nira)
- 1/2 carrot
- 1 package wood ear mushroom (kikurage)
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sesame seed oil
- Slice the tofu into 7-8 mm strips, pat dry, and lightly coat with flour. Mix the sauce.
- Add sesame seed oil to the frying pan and heat, coat the tofu in step 1 with the beaten egg and place it in the frying pan.
Grill for about 2 minutes until it turns brown. - Once grilled, add the sauce and quickly coat both sides.
- Chop the Chinese chives to about 4-5 cm pieces. Slice the carrot (without peeling), at an angle and then cut into thin strips.
Thinly slice the wood ear mushrooms. Lightly rinse the bean sprouts. - Place the wet bean sprouts into a heat-resistant dish, place the carrots and wood ear mushrooms on top, then cover the dish with plastic wrap. Heat in the microwave about 4 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap, add the Chinese chives, then replace the plastic wrap. Heat in the microwave for about 1 minute. Add salt and sesame oil, mix well.
- Place the items from steps 3 and 5 on top of the rice. Enjoy!
Whole turnip pasta
Akari Hasegawa worries about leftover food, so she only buys what she needs at one time. With this pasta, too, she makes sure to use every part of the turnips, including the peel, stems and leaves. On the other hand, since boiling the pasta separately from the other ingredients makes it tastier, she created a recipe in which the pasta is boiled separately. Those of you who wish to save more energy can boil the pasta together with the other ingredients.
Whole turnip pasta - recipe
Ingredients (for two people)
- 160g pasta (Akari Hasegawa recommends 1.9mm)
- 3 turnips (about 500-550g, including the leaves and peel)
- 1 clove of garlic
[A]
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp white wine
- 1 tsp salt
- Add 2 liters of water and 1% salt (20g, not included in the ingredients) to a large pot, and boil at high heat.
- Thoroughly wash the turnips, separate the leaves and tuber (white part). Chop the leaves and cut the tuber into 8 mm cubes. Mash the garlic clove.
- Place the ingredients from step 2 and [A] into a wok, cover with a lid and simmer over medium heat. When you hear it simmering, slightly reduce the heat, and steam cook the vegetables.
- After 10 minutes, open the lid, and stir everything. Replace the lid, and steam cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Start cooking the pasta in the pot from step 1.
- Add 2 ladles of boiling water from the pasta (100mL) to the wok. Mash the turnips with a wooden spatula, over low heat, and mix.
- Drain the boiled pasta in a colander and mix with the ingredients from step 6. Enjoy!
*Although the pasta tastes better when boiled separately, it can also be boiled in the same frying pan as the turnips. In that case, add 100 mL of water and a pinch of salt after step 4, and mix as in step 6, then add about 450 mL of water to the pan and cook the pasta. This is eco-friendlier. Try and see how it goes.
I hope these recipes offered you some inspiration. Please do try them if you are interested!
For those of you who are looking for something that better fits your own tastes and habits, I will introduce comments and ideas shared by visitors of the “Chikyu-meshi” exhibition in part 3 of this blog, “Let’s think about ‘Chikyu-meshi’!”. I hope you can find something there that helps you make or eat “Chikyu-meshi” in your own way.
