After a few months of being on the AIP (Autoimmune Protocol), I really started to get tired of not eating rice, tired of not having sushi, or even pho. I LOVE all kinds of Asian dishes, they are my absolute favorite type of food to eat. Not having real pho noodles wasn't too hard. I experimented with zucchini noodles and kelp noodles, too. Not quite the same, but good enough. Pho is all about the broth anyway, right? But then, because of a close friend, I discovered japchae noodles.
They only take about 6 minutes to cook, and you can use them in a salad, soup, or as a base to top with a vegetable and meat(or seafood!) stir-fry. Traditionally they are boiled, then mixed with the japchae ingredients and not cooked any further. There are so many ways to use them, and I stock up so I can have noodles whenever the craving hits! I live in Seattle, so I find mine at Fred Meyer or QFC, which both carry Kroger brand. For less than $2 a package, they are pretty affordable. If you can't find them near you, here's a link to them on Amazon.
On the Autoimmune Protocol, it's important to incorporate nutrient dense foods like organ meat, seafood, greens, and sea vegetables. Now, I know that isn't so easy for some, especially organ meat. There are lots of recipes out there for liver and other organ meats that make incorporating them easier. But I haven't seen many recipes using sea vegetables like wakame, dulse, and others. I think nori is the most familiar to people, or even the "snack" seaweed that comes in the little individual packages. For many, the texture and flavor of nori or snack seaweed is off-putting, unless it is as a sushi roll. Well, rice is out on the AIP, so you might find it difficult to incorporate seaweed like nori, but the recipe below uses wakame, which is easy to find and prepare, and the flavor isn't very strong.
If you are interested in signing up for Thrive Market, and earning 25% off your first order, just use my sign up link, here. I will get a coupon for me to spend on groceries if you sign up and complete an order, which I'd appreciate so much! I get my wakame, fish sauce, ume plum vinegar, and coconut aminos there, among a lot of other great things.
Japchae with Seaweed (AIP friendly)
Serves 2-4, depending on how you serve it (as a main or a side)
Ingredients:
1 package sweet potato glass noodles (japchae or dangmyeon)
1/4 cup dried wakame
1 medium carrot, grated small
1/2 small English cucumber, or two Persian cucumbers, sliced thinly
1 cup red cabbage, finely shredded
1 rib celery, sliced thinly
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
1 Tablespoon avocado oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional AIP re-intro)
1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon ume plum vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons coconut aminos
sea salt if needed
Directions:
1. Cook the noodles according to package directions, rinsing in cold water and putting into a medium sized bowl.
2. While the noodles are cooking, prep your seaweed. Place wakame into a bowl and cover with plenty of cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
3. Slice or grate the carrot, cucumber, cabbage, celery, green onion and basil. Toss with the noodles.
4. Add the seaweed to the veggies and noodles, toss.
5. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Depending on your coconut aminos and which vinegar you choose you may need to add salt. (ume plum vinegar is salted)
6. Pour the dressing over the noodles and toss well. Taste for seasoning, and add salt if needed.
Serve as is as a side dish to accompany your protein of choice. I grilled some shrimp to go with mine. Grilled or sauteed chicken would go well, and so would any kind of fish.
Comments
Post a Comment