Shoga gohan / steamed rice with ginger

What I usually say about dishes using ginger for cold seasons -- ginger warms up your body --  is still true in hot seasons. Overly chilling your body to beat the heat would numb its function. Ginger also has a refreshing taste and aroma, making steamed rice taste light, even served hot. Shoga gohan goes really well with dishes cooked with oil -- either grilled or deep-fried -- or even steamed dishes served with oil-based sauce.

1/3 of recipe:
187 calories; 3.1 g protein; 0.5 g fat; 39.7 g carbohydrate; 39.3 g net carbs; 67 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 0.4 g fiber

1/2 of recipe:
281 calories; 4.7 g protein; 0.7 g fat; 59.6 g carbohydrate; 59.0 g net carbs; 101 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 0.6 g fiber

Meshida no kobujime / kelp-sandwitched lady fern

Pickled fiddleheads fully boosted by kombu kelp. Yummy!

Somen no tomato-iri tsuketsuyu / dipping sauce with tomato for thin wheat noodles

This dipping sauce takes full advantage of the mighty tomato, which is known for its high umami content among vegetables. Many dipping sauces for noodles contain lots of sodium, and leaving more in the sauce cup naturally results in taking less sodium. But since Tom still likes to taste a bit more of the sauce than is good for him, here is a Tom-friendly variation. You can safely have a big taste of what is left in your sobachoko dipping sauce cup after finishing your noodles.

1/3 of recipe:
53 calories; 1.5 g protein; 0.1g fat; 9.6 g carbohydrate; 7.8 g net carbs; 281 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.8 g fiber  

Ohyo no kobujime no temarizushi / mini sushi balls with fresh halibut sandwitched in kelp

Temarizushi, small globes of sushi with assorted ingredients, is another fun way to serve homemade sushi. Here is an example with ohyo halibut made into kobujime. Despite my strong image of temarizushi as being for girls’ parties, this is one of Tom’s current favorite ways to enjoy fresh halibut.

Somen, udon no tsuketsuyu / dipping sauce for somen or udon noodles

Strong dashi is the key to a flavorful dipping sauce.

Rice vinegar with kombu kelp

Kombu magic!

For a long time, I didn't especially like simple sunomono dishes in rice vinegar-based dressing. I did not appreciate that edgy, sharp sourness on my tongue and the almost piercing aroma in my nostrils, even if only for a moment – and both of these really stand out when vinegar is not heated with other dressing ingredients such as sugar and soy sauce.