Daikon to ika no misoni / daikon radish and calamari simmered in miso-flavored broth

The humble daikon takes on the flavor of calamari, becoming something gentle yet deeply aromatic. This is my mom's kind of dish, which I grow to like as I get older. While miso paste typically is the only main seasoning, modifying the dish to reduce sodium content by partially replacing miso with sakekasu sake lees, kurozu brown rice vinegar and shoyukoji soy sauce rice malt successfully results in a pleasantly mild flavor that lets you unwind after a busy day. If a bit of extra flavor is wanted, add grated ginger for a zesty punch or taka no tsume red chili pepper for picante heat.

1/2 of recipe:
125 calories; 12.2 g protein; 1.3 g fat; 11.4 g carbohydrate; 10.1 g net carbs; 155 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 163 mg cholesterol; 1.3 g fiber

Petoraaru karei no yuanyaki / grilled yuan-marinated petrale sole

This is one of my favorite ways to eat white-fleshed fresh fish. The marinade is a simple mixture of soy sauce, mirin and sake in equal parts, which gives the fish a slightly salty sweet note. It is very good with somewhat fatty or sweet fish as well as sea scallops.

1/2 of recipe (fish only, no condiment included):
112 calories; 19.6 g protein; 1.2 g fat; 7.3 g carbohydrate; 2.7 g net carbs; 210 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 44 mg cholesterol; 0 g fiber; 177 mg potassium

Taiwan-fu tamago kureepu / dan bing / Taiwanese egg crepes

Found both on the street and at specialty takeout & eat-in eateries, egg crepes with various fillings are one of the many breakfast choices in Taiwan. Dan bing with ham was my usual choice at an eatery near my work. The crepes presented here are adapted from a Japanese translation of a Taiwanese cookbook by Zhou Qingyuan (周清源). To lower sodium content, I skip the salt and use cold milk instead of cold water. Below is my current favorite combination with alderwood smoked salmon, a Pacific Northwest specialty, and Thai basil with a note of anise.

Whole recipe (2 dan bing egg crepes with fillings, without dipping sauce):
533 calories; 22.9 g protein; 20.4 g fat; 59.7 g carbohydrate; 56.9 g net carbs; 269 mg sodium; 427 mg cholesterol; 2.8 g fiber

Kurumafu no katsu / gluten cake cutlets

Tasty, filling yet light cutlets made with gluten cakes. Compared to more commonly known tonkatsu pork cutlets, this dish is much lower in calories and gentler on your stomach. Gluten cakes are first flavored with dashi stock, shoyukoji soy sauce rice malt and vinegar to get a meaty taste, followed by usual preparation of cutlets, but in a leaner way (below). No shoyukoji available? Balsamic vinegar does a great job in that case.

1/2 of recipe (katsu only; sauce & vegetables not included):
222 calories; 7.9 g protein; 13.0 g fat; 17.3 g carbohydrate; 11.8 g net carbs; 67 mg sodium (with shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 53 mg cholesterol; 5.5 g fiber; 288 mg potassium

1/2 of recipe (katsu & sauce; vegetables not included):
228 calories; 7.9 g protein; 13.1 g fat; 18.7 g carbohydrate; 13.2 g net carbs; 163 mg sodium (with shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 53 mg cholesterol; 5.5 g fiber; 298 mg potassium

Ebi to kabu no misoshiru / miso soup with shrimp and Japanese turnip

This very gentle yet full-flavored miso soup features our local coon shrimp -- baby-size botan ebi spot shrimp -- and kabu turnip. Sweet Saikyo white miso is used for maximum tenderness, which is countered by the nostril-clearing sensation of karashi mustard.

1/2 of recipe:
73 calories; 8.2 g protein; 1.0 g fat; 4.8 g carbohydrate; 3.5 g net carbs; 338 mg sodium; 46 mg cholesterol; 1.3 g fiber; 287 mg potassium

Yakinasu, atsuage to ebi no raisunuudoru sarada / rice noodles with grilled eggplant, deep-fried tofu and shrimp salad

The sweet and sour flavor of a spicy dressing or dipping sauce is a big appeal in warm or hot weather. While grilled eggplant, atsuage deep-fried tofu and shrimp make a great salad individually or in combination, pairing them with rice noodles makes a quick, filling meal. Grill eggplant and atsuage until slightly burnt for a stronger aroma! This is something similar to what I used to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant in Portland, Oregon, years ago.

1/2 of recipe:
473 calories; 21.8 g protein; 15.2 g fat; 62.5 g carbohydrate; 57.3 g net carbs; 439 mg sodium; 58 mg cholesterol; 5.2 g fiber; 636 mg potassium

Dressing only (including shami dried shrimp solids; 1/2 of recipe):
25 calories; 1.9 g protein; 0 (0.08) g fat; 4.5 g carbohydrate; 4.2 g net carbs; 375 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 0.3 g fiber; 49 mg potassium

Iri-kuromame gohan / steamed rice with toasted black soybeans

When something crunchy is wanted in steamed rice, how about toasted kuromame black soybeans? Kuromame's dark skin also adds nice color to the rice. Its deeper flavor than regular daizu soybeans is another benefit, ensuring tasty results without seasoning. I mix in some mochigome sweet rice, partly because the uruchimai regular rice I use is medium grain. If you use short-grain regular rice, which is more glutenous than medium-grain regular rice, adding mochigome is optional.

1/3 of recipe:
221 calories; 6.5 g protein; 2.3 g fat; 41.8 g carbohydrate; 39.9 g net carbs; 0 (0.4) mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.9 g fiber; 226 mg potassium

1/2 of recipe:
331 calories; 9.7 g protein; 3.4 g fat; 62.7 g carbohydrate; 59.9 g net carbs; 1 (0.6) mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 2.8 g fiber; 338 mg potassium

Sansai tanuki soba / buckwheat noodles with mountain vegetables and tempura pearls

As a noodle topping, sansai mountain vegetables alone give a refreshing taste but could be a bit too light. Tenkasu tempura pearls add a rich note but could lack texture. They soak up the soup, which could also mean you get more sodium than desired. Combining these two ingredients while reducing the volume of each is one delicious solution. Sliced young myoga stems offer a clean aroma and taste.

For the recipe below, usukuchi pale soy sauce and regular dark soy sauce, not reduced-sodium soy sauce, are used for the soup to achieve stronger umami. Dried enoki mushrooms are also added to enhance the umami effect. The strong soup means more satisfaction with a smaller amount compared to a weaker soup, and this naturally makes us refrain from taking extra sips, preventing excess sodium consumption. This works especially well with unflavored toppings or toppings that contain lots of moisture.

1/2 of recipe: 
425 calories; 17.7 g protein; 3.6 g fat; 78.6 g carbohydrate; 8.4 g net carbs; 479 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 7.2 g fiber; 371 mg potassium

Miso yasai raamen / vegetable ramen noodles with miso-flavored soup

Finally, a sodium-savvy ramen with plenty of vegetables and great-tasting soup! More toppings mean more soup going into your mouth, especially when toppings are cut or sliced into small sizes, as a greater surface area is likely to carry more soup into your mouth. So for a reduced-sodium version, having lots of toppings is counter-intuitive, yet we opted for julienned vegetables for the extra flavor they add.

After being on a reduced-sodium diet for more than three and a half years, this is quite salty for us and definitely tasty. The recipe below is at the low end of the sodium content spectrum (soup has a salt level of 0.8% whereas soup at ramen shops averages 1.5%). Feel free to add more seasonings to taste, at your own risk ...


1/2 of recipe (approx. half of soup left in bowl): 
515 calories; 17.0 g protein; 9.3 g fat; 88.1 g carbohydrate; 15.8 g net carbs; 781 mg sodium* (with reduced-sodium miso and shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 11 mg cholesterol; 7.5 g fiber; 706 mg potassium 
*Stir-fried vegetable toppings alone contain 100 mg sodium per serving.

Mineoka-dofu / Mineoka-tofu / milk kudzu pudding

Often made today with cream and sugar as a dessert, this milk pudding originally was improvised as a quasi-tofu dish about 300 years ago when the Shogun, during a visit to the pastures of Mineoka, simply mentioned his desire to eat tofu. Upon hearing the Shogun's words, a cook accompanying the Shogun made the pudding using cow's milk and kudzu found at the pastures. Traditionally, milk is the only dairy ingredient that goes into the pudding; I mixed it with additive-free tonyu soy milk to cut back on sodium in the recipe below. This pudding contains no sweetener, but its milky taste and creamy texture are quite gratifying.      

1 serving (1/4 of Mineoka-dofu recipe, 1/2 of sauce recipe, shrimp & arugula):
113 calories; 5.7 g protein; 5.3 g fat; 10.8 g carbohydrate; 9.9 g net carbs; 105 mg sodium; 19 mg cholesterol; 0.9 g fiber

Whole recipe of Mineoka-dofu only:
388 calories; 14.4 g protein; 20.6 g fat; 37.8 g carbohydrate; 10.8 g net carbs; 85 mg sodium; 24 mg cholesterol; 2.4 g fiber

Seri okowa / steamed sweet rice with water dropwort

The mellow aroma that wafts up from okowa steamed sweet rice is comforting in cold seasons. Seri water dropwort acts as a counterpoint even when a smaller amount is used, as seri's slightly bitter taste and vibrant color provide just enough punch.

1/2 of recipe:
277 calories; 5.4 g protein; 0.9 g fat; 59.3 g carbohydrate; 58.3 g net carbs; 96 mg sodium; ０ mg cholesterol; 1.0 g fiber

1/3 of recipe:
185 calories; 3.6 g protein; 0.6 g fat; 39.6 g carbohydrate; 38.9 g net carbs; 64 mg sodium; ０ mg cholesterol; 0.7 g fiber

Ebi no nikogori suigyoza / shrimp shui jiao dumplings

Delightful and tasty dumplings featuring shrimp. I used to use coconut oil as a pork fat substitute, but I could not fully get used to its clingy taste. Other oil or fat seemed to lack something. Then I realized that juiciness does not have to come from fat or oil. For example, with xiao long bao steamed soup buns/dumplings, the juiciness of the filling comes from the soup. Below I applied the technique of making nikogori jelly with the water used to rehydrate dried scallops, and mixed it in with the shrimp filling.

1/2 recipe (dumplings only; yu choy sum on top and dipping sauce not included):
251 calories; 15.0 g protein; 2.1 g fat; 40.3 g carbohydrate; 38.2 g net carbs; 149 mg sodium; 80 mg cholesterol; 2.1 g fiber

Okara-konnyaku / soybean pulp yam cakes

Okara-konnyaku is a hybrid of okara soybean pulp (rich in soluble fiber) and konnyaku yam cake (rich in non-soluble fiber), and has been around for more than a decade in Japan. It is mainly used as a meat substitute for health, weight loss and diet preference reasons. As with konnyaku, okara-konnyaku becomes very chewy after being frozen and defrosted. While konnyaku simply become fibrous after the same process or tofu becomes spongy (like koyadofu freeze-dried tofu after rehydration), okara-konnyaku takes on a meaty texture. Among dishes I have tried, it seems to work best when used like ground meat, especially poultry and pork. Because it is basically fiber, it is very filling by itself. Moreover, it does not cause any heartburn or upset stomach in people who are not accustomed to eating meat, such as myself. This would be a great option for those who routinely eat meat and want to cut back to reduce fat or calories or for other health reasons. You would not notice that your hamburger patties or meat loaf contains okara-konnyaku if the proportion is moderate.

You can find a number of preparation methods and ingredient proportions. Below is my current standard way of making okara-konnyaku at home.

100 g okara-konnyaku, boiled:
52 calories; 2.6 g protein; 1.4 g fat; 8.5 g carbohydrate; 2.0 g net carbs; 3 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 6.5 g fiber

100 g okara-konnyaku, defrosted:
63 calories; 3.1 g protein; 1.7 g fat; 10.4 g carbohydrate; 2.5 g net carbs; 3 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 7.9 g fiber

100 g okara-konnyaku, excess water removed:
86 calories; 4.3 g protein; 2.3 g fat; 14.0 g carbohydrate; 3.3 g net carbs; 4 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 10.7 g fiber

Kabocha-dofu no akadashi / Japanese pumpkin tofu with red miso soup

A variation of gomadofu [sesame tofu] featuring kabocha pumpkin. Among the many ways to enjoy this creamy tofu, serving it with blanched kabu Japanese turnip leaves and pungent karashi mustard in red miso soup is my favorite. Kabu leaves retain their spiciness even after blanching, and together with karashi mustard they create an interesting spark in your mouth when paired with mild and sweet kabocha. This dish alone is quite small and is more suitable for a very light meal or as part of a course-type meal.

1/2 of kabocha-dofu no akadashi recipe:
45 calories; 1.6 g protein; 1.0 g fat; 7.8 g carbohydrate; 6.5 g net carbs; 109 mg sodium (with reduced-sodium miso); 0 mg cholesterol; 1.3 g fiber

Kabocha-dofu only (1/6 of kabocha-dofu recipe):
35 calories; 0.7 g protein; 0.8 g fat; 6.5 g carbohydrate; 5.5 g net carbs; 8 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.0 g fiber

Mukago ginnan gohan / steamed rice with mountain yam aerial tubers and gingko nuts

A great combination of fall harvest -- mukago, small marble-size aerial tubers, and ginnan gingko nuts. Ginkgo nuts' slightly chewy texture and bittersweet taste perfectly compliment the somewhat creamy texture and subtle nutty taste of mukago. To bring out the best of both ingredients, the steamed rice below is flavored with salt (shiokoji salted rice malt). Mochigome sweet rice is also mixed in to enhance the aroma. 

1/2 of recipe:
281 calories; 4.8 g protein; 0.8 g fat; 59.1 g carbohydrate; 59.3 g net carbs; 104 mg sodium; ０ mg cholesterol; 0.4 g fiber

1/3 of recipe:
187 calories; 3.2 g protein; 0.5 g fat; 39.4 g carbohydrate; 39.5 g net carbs; 69 mg sodium; ０ mg cholesterol; 0.3 g fiber

Satsumaimo no taruto / sweet potato tart

A very easy and delicious tart with satsumaimo sweet potato. One of our favorites for fall, it tastes like a rich sweet potato pudding.

Whole tart:
1,114 calories; 12.6 g protein; 66.4 g fat; 96.2 g carbohydrate; 80.7 g net carbs; 47 mg sodium; 131 mg cholesterol; 10.0 g fiber

1/8 slice:
139 calories; 1.6 g protein; 8.3 g fat; 12.0 g carbohydrate; 10.1 g net carbs; 6 mg sodium; 16 mg cholesterol; 1.3 g fiber

Tosho chaamen / dao xiao chao mian / fried hand-shaven noodles

A cheater version of hand-shaven noodles made with a peeler, and stir fried with an assortment of goodies. Noodle dough is basically the same as teuchi udon handmade wheat noodles but uses less water, which makes the dough prep a bit more time consuming (dry and wet ingredients need to rest together longer before kneading). Less water in turn ensures easy shaving and cooking at the end. While any goodie works great in this noodle dish, dried shiitake mushrooms with their deep flavor and aroma function like underlying seasoning to bind everything together. Very tasty and satisfying.

1/2 recipe: 
596 calories; 26.6 g protein; 15.0 g fat; 85.8 g carbohydrate; 73.1 g net carbs; 595 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce and shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 226 mg cholesterol; 6.1 g fiber

Chabukusa, matcha-aji / crepe wrapper cake, matcha flavor

Also called tsuyabukusa or fukusa, this little cake tastes similar to everyday dorayaki or taiyaki. The sea sponge look is not just unique; the air pockets lighten the cake's chewy texture. With this matcha version, the delightful aroma of green tea fills your mouth as you take a bite.

This is fun to make. The batter you spread on the hot pan quickly produces air bubbles, which you gently rub or touch with paper or cloth to open up and make craters.  Keep the heat level relatively high for the best bubbling results.

1 cake (1/5 of recipe):
110 calories; 3.2 g protein; 1.0 g fat; 21.5 g carbohydrate; 19.8 g net carbs; 23 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 1.7 g fiber

Zukkiini no shami-itameni / braized zucchini with dried shrimp

Very aromatic and flavorful, shami dried shrimp instantly transform a simple saute. Soaking shami in water ahead of time as below ensures that zucchini is softly and thoroughly seasoned. If you don't have time to soak or want to enjoy the contrast between tender zucchini and crunchy shami, they can simply be chopped and sauteed. The dish is equally tasty either way. Great with plain steamed rice, and can be served as one of starter dishes with drinks.

1/2 of recipe:
34 calories; 3.7 g protein; 1.2 g fat; 2.7 g carbohydrate; 1.6 g net carbs; 132 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 24 mg cholesterol; 1.1 g fiber

Zukkini to tamago, feta chiizu no pan / zucchini, egg and feta cheese pastry

This is another savory pastry we like. Sauteed zucchini is paired with fluffy fried or microwaved egg and feta cheese. Dill makes this combination truly savory.

1 pastry (1/9 piroshki-style dough recipe and 1/3 of filling recipe):
266 calories; 12.9 g protein; 12.8 g fat; 25.5 g carbohydrate; 20.9 g net carbs; 151 mg sodium; 89 mg cholesterol; 4.6 g fiber