Diet Food

I don’t do diets well. Frankly the problem is that I love food and I really don’t like not being able to eat whatever I want and as much as I want. The truth is I don’t eat a horrible diet. Honestly, I don’t. The real problem is I eat too much (and those pints of beer probably aren’t good for the waistline either). On a recent trip to the library, I noticed I had reserved a book on the Okinawa diet. The funny thing was I didn’t remember putting it on my reserve list. I had been expecting a copy of 100 Deep Fried Foods You Can Make at Home and Lard Every Day, but they conspicuously missing. Perhaps it’s related to the fact that my wife has my library card number and the login info for the library website.

The Okinawa Diet is based on some studies of the inhabitants of Okinawa who have longer than average life spans. Not surprisingly, their diets have a lot to do with it. I will avoid the details of the studies and the diet itself to concentrate on what I consider the more interesting point. Okinawa has traditionally been a poorer part of Japan. The traditional diet was filled with whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, some fish and very little meat. It doesn’t differ that dramatically from the diets of a lot of people in a lot of traditionally poorer areas. They ate very few expensive foods, like meat, which accounts for their healthy, long life spans. Take these same people and feed them a more affluent diet that’s higher in fat and animal products and they drop dead as fast as the rest of us.

Studies have been done on other populations with healthy diets with similar results. The Mediterranean diet has been touted as a very healthy one as well. It, too, is filled with whole grains, fruits and vegetables, some fish and very little meat. I read once of a study of the Greek diet in the early 1950’s that showed how healthy the typical Greek diet was. However, when they asked the participants of the study what they would change about their diet if they could, the largest response was that they would eat more meat. Traditional diets are healthier than modern ones, because traditionally, food was more expensive and the biggest problem has been getting enough calories every day.

The real problem with our modern diet is our affluence. In US, people spend a lower percentage of their income on food now than they did in 1970. Good food is still expensive, but calories are cheaper. We have reached a period in human history where food is so plentiful and cheap that a large percentage of us are becoming unhealthy from overeating as opposed to many of us being unhealthy from a lack of calories. I am not arguing that we have eradicated hunger, or that all of the cheap abundant food is good or good for us. But our affluence is in fact killing us.

I’m a perfect example of this. I eat too much because I can. But I do need to lose weight, both for health reasons and because I’d like to avoid being forced to buy a new wardrobe. I am using books like the one on the Okinawa diet for ideas, but the truth is I know how to lose weight. It’s easy, but the process is heinous. Eat more whole grains, more vegetables and fruits, cut down dramatically on meat and cheese, use less fat in cooking and get lots more exercise. And watch those portion sizes. There that’s easy. Now I just need to do it.

But the idea of going back to traditional diets where the unhealthy foods, like meat and other high fat foods, are used in lower quantities is likely the only way I’m going to be able to do this. So what am I cooking? Last night was pretty good. I’m not particularly adept at really authentic Asian food. I do some dishes, like traditional Thai curries, really well, but I’m not an expert in any particular Asian cuisine. But I do Pan-Asian (or faux Asian), where you can mix things from different traditions pretty well.

Last night was soba noodles with poached chicken breast and vegetables. Soba is a buckwheat noodle from Japan. If you go to a good Asian grocer you will see a variety of soba at different prices. Most of them are a combination of wheat and buckwheat flours. In general, the more expensive they are, the more buckwheat they contain. Buckwheat contains no glutens and the more buckwheat you use the more difficult the noodles are to make. Unfortunately most packages won’t give percentages. Experiment with different ones until you find one that has a good buckwheat taste and isn’t insanely priced.

Poaching is a great way to cook meat or fish because it doesn’t require added. You can poach the chicken in water or in a flavored broth. Obviously a flavored broth gives you better flavor. My favorite currently is a mix of water with soy (about 50/50) with several slices of ginger in it. The high salt content of the soy keeps the chicken moist. You don’t need to cover the chicken with the liquid to poach it, but it should be almost completely covered. Remember, poaching isn’t boiling. If you boil it, you’ll get stringy meat. You want the liquid to shimmer but not in a rolling boil. If you’re using chicken breast, you should be able to cook it in 10 minutes or less. Thighs may take a little longer and won’t overcook as easily.

When the chicken is cooked, take it out to cool and slice it into bite size pieces and add them to a large mixing bowl. You can use a variety of vegetables including grated carrots, julienned cabbage, and scallions, and don’t need to cook any of them. You can also add herbs like cilantro, Thai basil or mint. Last night I used shredded carrots, scallions, mint and cilantro. Cook the soba (they cook quickly so don’t overcook them), drain them and toss them with the chicken and vegetables.

You can use a variety of sauces. Last night’s was faux Southeast Asian so I made a sauce of fish sauce, sugar, green chile, garlic, ginger, and lime juice. Previously I did a sauce from soy, miso, mirin, and garlic. Add the sauce to the noodles and toss it again. You can garnish it after with toasted sesame seeds or chopped roasted peanuts.

Add a malty beer to balance the chile heat and you’ve got a good dinner with no added fat. Diet food I can actually eat.