K-Drama with a side of Green Beans

If your a fan of K-Dramas, or shows like No Reservations you will have had some experience seeing the food I am talking about.

 There are a few things that popped the light bulb on over my head. Meat is almost always thinly sliced while being packaged in small amounts. The ratio of meat to vegetable is almost 1 to 4 (unlike Americanized versions of the food).  Meals are often a variety of items and not one dish. Flavor is king, the flavors of the food are diverse but filling to eat even when in smaller portions. If you know me well you know my disdain  for veggies, God made the animals to eat them so we could eat the animals.  

Who would have guessed that when you don't boil the crap out of them and turn them into green puddings of putrid odors they taste good. (I reserve the right to continue to call Brussels Sprouts the evil satanic balls of death).

The plain repetition of the same basic vegetable items in everyday cooking has bored my taste buds for too many years. The corn starch gloopy sauces we find on American Chinese foods do not compare to the flavor punch of the basic sauces and seasoning of the real deal.

Today was Beef w/Green beans

-4 slices of thin beef

-Long green beans,  about a handful

-about 1.5Tbsp light soy sauce, a pinch of cane sugar, small shallot, ginger.

-cup or so of cooked rice

Sauté on high heat for just a couple minutes and done, now drool and eat.

Oven Roasted Chicken w/pesto

-about 4oz of chicken sliced about 1/4 in to 1/2 in thick

-wheat sub roll cut to 4 inches long

-1 teaspoon of pesto

Hara hachi bu

The Japanese have a great way of expressing views on habits we take for granted about eating. The one that has gotten my attention is Hara hachi bu; which means "eat until 80% full" (or literally, stomach 80%).

This is the spark that has led me to re-evaluating a lot of ways we approach things. Hara hachi bu will be my start to a new way of eating well and being healthy. "A Boy who found his chopsticks" will be my way of documenting the experience and helping it work for change.

After facing a long time on the job hunting front and gaining way too much weight along the way, I needed a way to start fresh. Diets; lets face it they just tend to give us short term habits that will slide to the way side and you will yo-yo'ing you back and beyond your original starting point. So.. here is my plan, I am going to follow the Hara hachi bu path to eating.

The basic steps: slowing down, eating regular, eat well and cook smarter. Slowing down, hence the chopsticks, will help get to that 80% without eating fast and not feeling full. Eating well, not skimping on yum factor, taste and variety. To eat regular and cook smarter, prep as much as possible after grocery shopping to make cooking as well as portioning easy. While I do not plan to eat exclusively Asian recipes, there are a lot of aspects of the food culture that will be of benefit to me. 

If your a fan of Anime, K-Dramas, or shows like No Reservations you will have had some experience seeing the food I am talking about in future posts.