Kozakana No Nitsuke - Small Fish Simmered In Japanese Sauce

Song:  Caribbean Blue

Artist:  Enya

You may buy these small pre-gutted and frozen small fish 

from almost any Asian market.

The bones are easily eaten...

and, most importantly...

give a balanced form of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

This means that it is readily absorbed by the human body

and utilized in the formation of bone in our own bodies.

(That is why an excess of calcium builds plaques and deposits in the body.

Without enough magnesium and phosphorus in the right amounts...

calcium won't go towards the building of the bones...

and causes harm to the body).

Start by just covering the bottom of the pan with water.

Add soy sauce or diluted Memmi (ratio of 1 Memmi to 4 water)...

and a couple tablespoons of sugar.

Defrost and wash off the small fish.

Add the fish to the partially completed sauce.

Bring to a low boil... 

Then add Mirin (to taste...about 1/4 cup).

Then add about the same amount of Sake.

and then let it simmer for approximately 15 minutes.

Note:  You could easily add all the sauce ingredients at the beginning.

My mother simply wanted to get the cooking process done more quickly...

as a lesser amount of sauce boils more quickly.

The then added sauce quickly brings down the temperature to the simmering level.

Carefully remove the fish (very soft at this point)...

and add just enough of the sauce to cover about half the fish in a bowl.

They are then ready to eat.

In the meantime...

I made some more 'Reno Red Hots' to compliment tonight's supper

(I covered the making of these in an earlier article).

You may use Korean Radish...or turnips.

These were Korean Radishes.

I used just the smaller one for this night's pickles.

My mother then sliced up some Japanese Daikon...

and simmered them in the remainder of the sauce for about 30 minutes.

Earlier in the day...

I had gone to an Asian market.

I also picked up some fresh Bim Bap (Korean equivalent of Japanese Makizushi).

You could also eat the heads of the fish...

but we just removed them...

and gave them to Hana (my mother's dog).

Hana loves cooked fish.

This is a quick and very healthful meal...

besides being quite inexpensive.

(Note:  The beer we drink is O'douls.

It is essentially non-alcholic.

We call it non-beer :)

Even if you are not a big fish eater...

this is a great way to get so many essential nutrients

in a small, but delicious, package.

This meal is highly digestible...

very flavorful...

gives many essential fish oils...

and other easily assimilated nutrients.

My Mother's Exercise Room And Program

Song:  You're A God

Group:  Vertical Horizon

My mother's exercise room.

She now has everything she needs to workout at home.

I had her try each exercise for demonstration purposes.

This is her Bowflex M5.

Even on the lowest resistance setting...

it will provide a very thorough workout for my mother.

This incline sit up board will also serve as her bench for bench pressing...

and for incline pull ups.

I spot her.

She will only be in this room when I am there to supervise her exercise.

As my mother has not lifted for a few months...

we will once again...

start with light weights.

This is the Trap Bar Deadlift.

Regular exercise is one of the keys to a long and healthful life.

Right now...

besides these exercises...

we are looking into getting her into a good Tai Chi class.

All exercises will be conducted shortly before bedtime

(It drains the body of all stress...

sets the metabolic rate on high).

Nothing ingested but water until breakfast

(except on weight training days - 1 serving protein drink)

With nothing else to burn...the body burns fat all night long.

A hot shower or bath after a cool down to cleanse and relax the body.

All weight training will be with single reps

with 30 seconds to 1 minute rest between sets.

The set scheme will start with 10 sets. 

Each week 1 more set will be added until 25 sets are reached.

The next week weight will be added (5% to 10%)

and the sets will drop back to 10 to start the ascension once again.

As it stands now...

her exercise program will be as follows:

Sunday

Incline Situps

Trap Bar Deadlifts

Pull Ups

Monday

Bowflex M5

(steadily increasing the number of intervals done)

Tuesday

Tai Chi

(1.5 hours)

Wednesday

Bowflex M5

Thursday

Tai Chi

(1.5 hours)

Incline Sit Ups

Bench Press

Pull Ups

Friday

Bowflex M5

Saturday

Rest

Of course...

this schedule is tentative.

We have yet to find a good Tai Chi school.

There is one possibility we have yet to check out...

but Tues and Thurs are when it is taught there.

The key is to train without undue strain...

and to enjoy the process...

as well as the results.

The elderly adapt at a rate much slower than do the young.

If it is painful...

it will be too psychologically burdensome.

After each exercise session...

a cool down while drinking water (no food for the rest of the night)...

a hot shower or bath...

and then bed...

will lead to fat loss and deep restorative sleep.

The basic three:  

Exercise (weights and aerobic training)

Nutritious and Delicious Diet

Deep Restorative Sleep

The basic three will enhance all of life...

physically, intellectually, emotionally.

My mother is now 77 years old.

The greatest gift I can give her is the lifestyle of the basic three.

Spam Musubi / Inarizushi

Song:  Girl From Ipanema

Performed by:  Calikokat

Spam Musubi is a popular local dish from Hawaii.

Spam is a precooked canned pressed ham.

The spam is pan grilled...

put on a formed rice rectangle...

and both are covered with a sheet of Nori (roasted seaweed).

The slices may be 1/4 to 1/6 of the block of spam.

My mother had cut the spam into 1/5ths.

As the rice was just made...

my mother put a desired amount into a bowl to cool off...

as she would make the formed rice rectangles by hand.

She then cut the nori in half.

The size and shape of the hand formed plain rice.

Simply grill each side of the spam until lightly crisped and browned.

The rice rectangles are ready here.

All the ingredients are assembled here.

Place one rice rectangle on the end of the sheet of nori.

Place a piece of grilled spam on top of the rice.

Then wrap the nori around the rice and spam.

Spam Musubi

As my mother had plenty of rice left over...

she added some sushi rice seasoning to the rice to taste...

and she then prepared the Inarizushi wrappers...

and filled them with the seasoned rice.

Each can comes with about 25 wrappers.

Now...

in Japan...

many housewives are very creative with their food.

Many will arrange their finished food into flowers or cranes.

I am not nearly so creative or artistic.

I know the musubi looks like a starfish...

but I had wanted to make it look like...

Musubi Man :)

That's all folks...

that is the limit of my artistic talent  :)

At least my mother and I had food that tasted good  :)

Earlier today...

my mother had received her exercise machine...

the Bowflex M5.

I put it together for her...

and she tried it out for a little bit.

 I will go into it some more...

tomorrow.

Let me tell you about the assembly...

and my initial impression of it.

First of all...

it had arrived in just a matter of a few days.

It comes in two boxes...

with a total weight of over 150 lbs.

All of the structural components were of very heavy gauge steel...

and all portions were covered with a very high quality coating.

The instructions were very well detailed and logically laid out.

It comes with all the hardware and tools necessary for full assembly...

and all were labeled so assembly was very easy and frustration free.

All components...

were of the highest quality.

The fully assembled product

performed smoothly, quietly...

flawlessly.

There are preprogrammed resistance...programs.

You may set the resistance from 1 to 16.

Just for the few minutes I had tried it for...

I could feel how this machine provides a thorough workout

(It is non motorized.  The user provides all the power...

and so...he/she gets a really good workout).

I will include pictures of my mother on the machine in my next article.

It was $1,599.00 plus tax...and free shipping.

For someone who would rather have the privacy and convenience

of working out at home...without having to go outside...

I have never experienced a better machine.

The Bowflex M5...

well worth the money.

While Alex and I will get our workouts with the Strongman Yoke...

this machine is perfect for my mother.

Rather than paying for off site gyms...

this machine and a good weight set...

is all anyone will ever need.

And with the savings on dues and gas...

they will pay for themselves...

and the continuing health and wellness dividends...

are simply well worth it.

I will cover my mother's home gym in my next article.