Hey everyone, it’s Brad, welcome to my recipe site. Today, I will show you a way to prepare a special dish, shio-koji & sake lees hot pot. It is one of my favorites. For mine, I’m gonna make it a little bit tasty. This is gonna smell and look delicious.

Shio-Koji & Sake Lees Hot Pot is one of the most favored of current trending foods in the world. It’s appreciated by millions daily. It is easy, it’s fast, it tastes yummy. Shio-Koji & Sake Lees Hot Pot is something which I have loved my entire life. They are nice and they look wonderful.

Shio koji is a Japanese cure/marinade made by fermenting grain koji (cooked grain, traditionally rice, that has been inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae, the mold that gives us miso, soy sauce, and sake), water, and salt until the mixture thickens to a porridge-like consistency and takes on a sweet, funky aroma. Shio koji is primarily used as a marinade for poultry, meat, and seafood. It's made by fermenting a mixture of grain koji (cooked grain, most commonly rice, that has been inoculated with Aspergillus Oryzae and then dried), salt, and water to create a porridge-textured product with a sweet, funky aroma. Shio koji isn't quite so glutamate-rich.

To get started with this particular recipe, we have to first prepare a few components. You can have shio-koji & sake lees hot pot using 17 ingredients and 5 steps. Here is how you can achieve it.

The ingredients needed to make Shio-Koji & Sake Lees Hot Pot:

1. Get To make the sake lees soup:
2. Make ready 1000 ml Japanese Dashi soup stock
3. Make ready 80 grams Sake lees
4. Take 50 grams Saikyo miso
5. Get 1 tbsp Usukuchi soy sauce
6. Get 1 tsp Kombu tea (granules)
7. Take 1 Chicken (thigh, drumettes, or other cut of your choice)
8. Prepare 1 tbsp Shio-koji
9. Get 50 ml Sake
10. Prepare Vegetables and other ingredients you have on hand:
11. Make ready 8 cm Daikon radish, cut into matchsticks
12. Get 2/3 Carrots, cut into matchsticks
13. Make ready 1/4 Chinese or napa cabbage
14. Prepare 5 Shiitake mushrooms (or shimeji, enoki, or mushroom of your choice)
15. Take 1/2 Japanese leek (green onions)
16. Make ready 1/2 pack Mitsuba (or chrysanthemum greens, mizuna, or spinach)
17. Get 2 Kurumabu (optional)

When Aspergillus oryzae is combined with salt and steamed rice, then left in a warm environment to age, the rice grains break down into enzymes, glutamates, and sugars, imparting a mild salty taste with big umami (the so-called fifth human taste) flavors. Shio koji (塩麹, 塩糀) is a natural seasoning used to marinate, tenderize, and enhance the umami, or richness (one of the five basic tastes) in foods. It's made of just a few simple ingredients: salt, water, and rice koji. I wanted to make shio-koji with reduced sodium.

Steps to make Shio-Koji & Sake Lees Hot Pot:

1. Sprinkle salt on the chicken, add sake, cover with a lid, then steam over medium heat. Once cooked through, remove the lid, add the dashi soup stock, and bring to a boil.
2. Add the vegetables that take longer to cook, such as daikon, carrots, or other root vegetables. Skim off the scum the soup boils.
3. Combine the sake lees and saikyo miso in a bowl, and add the dashi soup stock from Step 2 a little at a time. Dissolve until smooth, then add the soy sauce and kombucha, then add it to the pot.
4. Add the Chinese cabbage, shiitake, and other ingredients, finish with mitsuba or other greens, then it's ready to serve.
5. [To prepare the kurumabu:] Rehydrate the kurumabu in lukewarm water, gently press out excess water by pressing down with the palm of your hand. Then, chop into bite-sized pieces.

It's made of just a few simple ingredients: salt, water, and rice koji. I wanted to make shio-koji with reduced sodium. I make fresh malt with my rice cooker using the warming function, so I tried making shio-koji using the same method. Shio Koji is an ancient seasoning that has enjoyed a recent resurgence of popularity in Japan. Slowly, the rest of the world is catching on.

Turn to Food to Boost Your Mood

Most of us think that comfort foods are terrible for us and that we should keep away from them. Often, if the comfort food is a high sugar food or another junk food, this is very true. At times, comfort foods can be very nutritious and good for us to eat. A number of foods really do raise your mood when you eat them. If you seem to be a little bit down and in need of an emotional pick me up, try several of these.

Eggs, you may be surprised to discover, are great at combating depression. You should make sure, however, that what you make includes the yolk. The yolk is the most essential part of the egg in terms of helping you cheer up. Eggs, particularly the egg yolks, are full of B vitamins. B vitamins can genuinely help you elevate your mood. This is because they help your neural transmitters–the parts of your brain that affect your mood–work better. Eat an egg and be happy!

Put together a trail mixfrom different seeds and nuts. Almonds, cashews, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc are all helpful for elevating your mood. This is possible since these foods are rich in magnesium which raises serotonin production. Serotonin is the “feel good” natural substance that tells your brain how you feel all the time. The more serotonin you have, the more pleasant you will feel. Not only that, nuts, specifically, are a great protein source.

If you want to beat depression, you should eat some cold water fish. Tuna, trout, mackerel, herring and wild salmon are all high in omega-3 fatty acids and DHA. These are two substances that boost the quality and function of the grey matter in your brain. It’s true: consuming a tuna fish sandwich can actually help you fight back depression.

Grains can be excellent for fighting a bad mood. Millet, quinoa, barley, etc are terrific at helping you feel better. These foods can help you feel full for longer too, which can help your mood too. It’s easy to feel low when you feel hungry! The reason these grains can improve your mood is that they are not difficult for your body to digest. These foods are easier to digest than others which helps jumpstart a rise in your glucose levels which in turn takes your mood to a happier place.

Your mood could really be helped by green tea. You just knew green tea had to be mentioned, right? Green tea is high in a certain amino acid called L-theanine. Studies have discovered that this amino acid actually induces brain waves. This will improve your brain’s concentration while also calming the rest of your body. You knew green tea could help you feel better. Now you know that green tea can elevate your mood as well!

As you can see, you don’t need to consume all that junk food when you want to feel better! Try these tips instead!