Japan – StyleNectar

Wakame, Agar, Sugnori, Tsunomata & Mafunori Seaweed freshly rehydrated

One of my favorite, must-order dishes whenever we eat at Japanese restaurants is seaweed salad. The exotic textures, colors and flavors are an irressitable treat for me, not to mention a bona fide cocktail of minerals & vitamins, including B12. Ocean sea vegetables are macroalgaes that possess an impressive profile of protein, minerals and trace minerals. It is said that a piece of raw, unwashed seaweed will retain every single mineral held by the ocean. Seaweed can purify the blood because its chemical compositions are very similar to blood plasma in human beings. Not only are these gorgeous sea vegetables a powerhouse of macrobiotic nutrition, they're anti-inflammatory and possess cholesterol lowering, anti-cancer & anti-viral properties as well… oh, they also make your hair lustrous & healthy too!

You can imagine my excitement when I realized I could make this beautiful salad at home. It's a delicious, light summer meal which takes only minutes to assemble. I often use SeaSnax SeaVegi seaweed salad mix, by a great company with strict sourcing from only the purest ocean waters.

Please enjoy this magical and exotic salad!

Japanese Seaweed Salad

Makes 4 side course servings or 2 main course servings if you're like Jim and me:-)

Ingredients:

1 oz package dehydrated Seaweed Salad Mix (or equivalent of mixed seaweeds such as Wakame, Agar, Sugnori, Tsunomata & Mafunori Seaweed)
1 fuji apple, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion thinly slivered
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp raw honey or agave

Method:

Place seaweed in a large bowl and cover with cold, filtered water. Set aside to rehydrate for 7 minutes, then drain into a collander.
While the seaweed is rehydrating, assemble the dressing by whisking together the vinegar, tamari, sesame oil and honey. Stir in the minced ginger and garlic.
Lastly place the rehydrated seaweed, sliced apple, sliced onion in a large serving bowl and toss with the dressing until coated.
Serve with chopsticks and enjoy!

Japanese Seaweed Salad

Puccini's Madama Butterfly

Last Saturday, Jim treated me to Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Kennedy Center Opera House. The sold-out performance was absolutely magnificent, closing to a standing ovation, bravos galore and me (and a whole lot of other people) in tears.

Set in Japan, depicting the love affair between the 15-year-old Japanese geisha, Butterfly, and a young American naval officer, Madama Butterfly is beloved by music lovers everywhere for its wealth of melody and poignant, heart-on-the-sleeve emotionality. Take a peek at the opera through its spellbinding aria Un Bel Di Vedremo (note; same opera, different production than one we saw).

Perhaps the roots of my love for opera go back to my maternal grandmother who was a trained opera singer. My parents, avid opera patrons, first exposed me to performances via the Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcasts, aired each weekend, spicing up our family's weekend chores. However, it wasn't until my late twenties, during a performance by Placido Domingo, that I became permanently transfixed, on a whole new level, by the passion and power of opera.

It delights me to see the appreciation of opera on the incline, perhaps due in part, to the Met's high definition simulcasts, making first-rate opera available in theaters around the world. Have you been to any of these fabulously up-close productions? If so, which opera did you see?

For an extra treat, here is footage into scenes and music from a very old production of Madama Butterfly, featuring the glamorous Maria Callas, one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century.

Oil on Archival Linen Covered Board (Click Image for better, larger view)

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