Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and The... (57 page)

JAPANESE NOODLE SOUP

Serves 6-8

1½ quarts
fish stock
,
Clarified Stock
or
bonito broth

½ cup dry white wine

4 tablespoons naturally fermented soy sauce

1 cup brown rice or buckwheat noodles, broken into one-inch pieces

½ cup chopped dried seaweed (See
Sources
)

1 cup chopped spinach

2 tablespoons fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
)

Combine stock or broth, wine, soy sauce and seaweed and simmer at least 1 hour. About 10 minutes before serving add noodles, spinach and fish sauce.

Analysis of ancient Chinese texts reveals that the soy bean was originally cultivated for its nitrogen-fixing qualities and not as a food source. This is because soy beans contain potent enzyme inhibitors that cause intestinal problems, cancer and growth retardation. Soy is also high in phytic acid, which blocks the absorption of essential minerals, such as iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc.

It was during the Chou Dynasty (1134-246 BC) that soy beans were first designated as the fifth sacred grain, along with barley, wheat, millet and rice, as the Chinese had learned to ferment soy beans to make them edible. Fermentation of cooked beans to make soy sauce,
miso, natto
and
tempeh
removes not only enzyme inhibitors but phytates as well. The process of precipitation to make
tofu
and bean curd removes a portion of the enzyme inhibitors but only small amounts of the phytates.

Miso
is thus superior to
tofu
from a nutritional point of view. It is a salty paste—smooth or chunky—with a meat-like flavor. It is used as a seasoning and as a dietary staple in the daily preparation of
miso
soup in Japanese homes. It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids and has a complete protein profile because it is made with grains as well as soy beans.

For optimum nutritional benefit,
miso
and
tofu
should be combined with fish stock. In the Orient, these products are consumed in small amounts as nourishing condiments—not as substitutes for animal foods.

Various phytoestrogens, such as genistein, diadzen and isoflavones, which occur in high quantities in modern cultivars of soybeans, are currently promoted as panaceas for heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Analysis shows that they are goitrogens—substances that depress thyroid function. SWF

MISO SOUP

Serves 6-8

1½ quarts
clarified
fish stock
or
bonito broth

4 tablespoons naturally fermented soy sauce

4 tablespoons naturally fermented miso (See
Sources
) 1 onion, sliced

½ green or Chinese cabbage, coarsely shredded

2 tablespoons fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
), optional

Bring stock or broth to a boil, skim and whisk in miso. Add remaining ingredients and simmer gently until vegetables are soft.

TOFU IN BROTH

Serves 6

1½ quarts
fish stock
or
bonito broth

4 tablespoons naturally fermented soy sauce 12

½-inch cubes tofu

Bring stock or broth to a boil, skim and add soy sauce. Place 2 cubes of tofu in each of six individual bowls and ladle stock over. Serve immediately.

THAI FISH SOUP

Serves 6-8

1½ quarts
Oriental fish stock

¾ pound shelled shrimp

¾ pound fish, skinned and cut into chunks

1 cup brown rice

2 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

grated rind of 1 lemon

5-6 basil or kaffir lime leaves (available at Oriental markets), chopped

4 tablespoons fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
)

Bring stock and rice to a boil and skim. Add garlic, ginger, lemon rind, basil or kaffir lime leaves and fish sauce. Simmer at least 1 hour. Add fish and shrimp and simmer about 10 minutes more.

. . .vegetable oils also cause premature aging in millions of Americans. A plastic surgeon did a study in which he examined the diets of his patients and correlated them with facial skin wrinkling. Those patients eating a high vegetable fat diet had 78% more facial wrinkles and many appeared 20 years older than they were. William Campbell Douglass, MD
Eat Your Cholesterol

Chinese doctors 2,000 years before Christ rejuvenated aging patients with failing faculties by means of an animal thyroid soup, with the result that patients felt younger, had more energy, and often regained ability to think and remember. Many centuries later, during Queen Victoria's reign, London's most prominent Harley Street doctors took a cue from the Chinese and served elderly and failing patients special sandwiches whose main ingredient was raw animal thyroid gland. Stephen E. Langer, MD
Solved: The Riddle of Illness

CREOLE FISH SOUP

Serves 6-8

1½ quarts
fish stock

½ cup red wine or brandy

1 pound fish, skinned and cut into chunks

¾ pound shelled shrimp or crab meat

2 onions, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons tomato paste

3 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
) and pepper

several sprigs fresh thyme and rosemary, tied together

In a large pot, saute onions in olive oil. Add tomato paste and stir around. Add fish stock and wine, bring to a boil and skim. Add garlic, cayenne and herbs and simmer about ½ hour. Add fish and shrimp or crab and simmer 10 minutes more. Season to taste. Remove thyme and rosemary before serving.

Pickled fish brine or sauce, made from fish heads, organs and bones, is called "ke-tsiap" in the Chinese Amoy dialect. This became the Malay "kechap," a condiment that Dutch traders imported from the Orient. It was a fish sauce similar to the Roman garum. It wasn't until American seamen added tomatoes from Mexico or the Spanish West Indies to the condiment that tomato ketchup was born. The original universal condiment was fish sauce, not tomato sauce! Fish sauce is rich in special substances that nourish the thyroid gland and makes a most nutritious addition to soups and stews. SWF

JAPANESE FISH SOUP

Serves 8

1 whole fish, including head, about 3 pounds

2 medium onions, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil or lard

½ cup white wine

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

3 quarts filtered water

2 zucchini, cut into a fine julienne

1 carrot, peeled and grated

2 bunches green onions, finely chopped

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
)

In a large, stainless steel pot, saute onions and chopped carrot in lard or olive oil until soft. Add wine and bring to a boil. Add fish, water and ginger. Bring to a boil and skim. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for several hours or overnight. Remove fish and pour remaining stock through a strainer into a clean pot. Remove flesh from fish and return to stock along with grated carrot and zucchini. Season generously with sea salt or fish sauce. Simmer several minutes and serve.

Essential fatty acids are traditionally thought of as being polyunsaturated fatty acids. These are the fatty acids that the body cannot make; they must be obtained in the diet. Most saturated fatty acids can be made in the body; the basic fatty acid that the body makes is palmitic acid, the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid from which other fatty acids such as stearic acid (an 18-carbon saturated fatty acid) and palmitoleic acid (a 16-carbon monounsaturated fatty acid) are made.

However, one saturated fatty acid can only be made by the mammary gland; this is lauric acid, the 12-carbon saturated fatty acid. The body needs lauric acid to make antimicrobial monoglycerides used for fighting pathogenic viruses, bacteria and protozoa. Thus, lauric acid is a conditionally essential saturated fatty acid. Except for human milk and small amounts in bovine and other ruminant milks, the major sources of lauric acid are lauric oils, such as coconut oil and palm kernel oil. Mary G. Enig, PhD
Know Your Fats

COCONUT FISH SOUP

Serves 6-8

1½ quarts
fish stock
or
bonito broth

1½ cups coconut milk or 7 ounces creamed coconut (
About Coconut Products
)

1 pound fresh fish, cut into small cubes

3 jalapeno chiles, diced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2-4 tablespoons lime juice 5-6 basil leaves chopped

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
)

chopped cilantro for garnish

Combine stock or broth, coconut milk, fish, chiles, ginger, lime juice and basil and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste and garnish with cilantro.

CRAB SOUP

Serves 6

2 quarts
fish stock

¼ teaspoon red chile flakes

generous pinch saffron threads

several sprigs fresh thyme, tied together

l pound fresh lump crab meat

3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

3 ears white corn, cut off the cob

sea salt or fish sauce (
Fermented Fish Sauce
) and pepper

½ cup fresh chives, chopped, for garnish

To peel tomatoes, see
Kitchen Tips and Hints
. Bring fish stock to a boil and skim. Add red chile flakes, saffron and thyme. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour. Remove the thyme. Add crab, tomatoes and corn. Simmer about 5 minutes until corn is tender. Season to taste. Ladle into heated soup bowls and garnish with chives.