"Macrobiotics does not offer a single diet for everyone but a dietary principle that takes into account differing climatic and geographical considerations, varying ages, sexes, and levels of activity, and ever changing personal needs."
[Michio Kushi]

"Macrobiotics amounts to finding our physiological limitations and trying to live within them. This is the cultivation of humbleness. When we think we can do anything we want, we become arrogant. This arrogance causes sickness."
[Herman Aihara]

Recipes

Sweet Kuzu Drink

Natural Epicurean Class Handout (Source: Kushi Institute)
Yields: 1 serving

  • 1 teaspoon organic kuzu, diluted in 2 teaspoons cold spring or filtered water
  • 1 cup spring or filtered water
  • 1 - 2 tablespoons organic rice syrup

Directions:

  • Bring kuzu and water to a gentle boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumping.
  • When kuzu thickens and becomes translucent, add sweetener and stir in well.
  • Drink warm.

Variations:

  • May be prepared with 1/2 cup amasake or apple juice and 1/2 cup waterinstead of using grain malt syrup.
  • Malt-sweetened drink may have a pinch of freshly grated ginger added.
  • Add barley malt in place of rice syrup.

Vega Morning Tea

Courtesy Vega Study Center (Herman & Cornelia Aihara)
Yields: 1 serving

This is a great remedy anytime of day for nausea, upset stomach, or to balance the effects of too many sweets!

Herman and Cornelia Aihara originally developed this medicinal tea for cancer patients. It is designed to strengthen the stomach and intestines, and to help you create a more alkaline condition in your body.

It is best to drink Morning Tea on an empty stomach in place of breakfast so that the kuzu can pass thru your stomach and into your small intestines. By forgoing breakfast (and thus lengthening your fast), you give your digestive system a chance to rest and become stronger. If you are used to eating breakfast, you might want to experiment by substituting Morning tea (with perhaps one or two rice cakes to help satisfy hunger) for breakfast for a week or two. If you decide you cannot go without a more substantial breakfast, you should drink Morning Tea first, then wait for a little while (minimum 15 minutes, but 30 minutes or up to an hour or two is best) before eating.

  • 1/3 organic umeboshi plum (or 1/8 teaspoon umeboshi paste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon organic shoyu (soy sauce)
  • 3 - 5 drops fresh organic ginger juice
  • 1 teaspoon spring or filtered water
  • 1 level teaspoon organic kuzu (ground to a powder)
  • 1/2 cup organic kukicha twig tea, brought to a rolling boil

Directions

  • Mash umeboshi into a paste using flat side of knife and place in teacup. Grate ginger and squeeze 3 - 5 drops of juice thru cheesecloth into cup. Add shoyu, kuzu and water to cup. Mix ingredients together with a chopstick, making sure kuzu is fully dissolved.
  • Bring kukicha tea to a rolling boil, remove from flame and quickly pour into cup. The kukicha must be very hot to ensure that the kuzu will cook and thicken. If the tea is hot enough, the mixture will change to a dark color. If the mixture remains milky, the kuzu has not cooked completely, and you should start from scratch.
  • After adding kukicha, allow the mixture to steep for 15 - 30 seconds, then stir with a chopstick. Serve hot.

Variations

  • Use less shoyu for a lighter tea

Notes

  • All the ingredients of Morning Tea are alkaline-forming. In terms of yin and yang, the tea is a good balance of properties.
  • The umeboshi plums are pickled in sea salt and shiso leaves (beef steak plant). Umeboshi is a yang alkaline-forming food that aids in digestion, promotes healthy intestinal flora, and has a wide variety of uses in macrobiotic cooking. Kuzu (or kudzu), a white starch, is a yang alkaline-forming food made from the root of the kuzu plant. As a starch, it thickens liquids, so it is often used in soups, sauces, and desserts.
  • Kuzu is useful for strengthening the intestines, and is a component of many home remedies for diarrhea.
  • Shoyu, a yang alkaline-forming food made by fermenting soybeans and wheat with salt, is widely used as a seasoning in macrobiotic cooking.
  • Kukicha twig tea, unlike many teas that are acid forming, is a yin alkaline-forming food made from the leaves and twigs of the Japanese tea plant.
  • inger juice is a yin alkaline-forming food made by grating ginger root and squeezing the juice from the pulp

More recipes coming soon!