Supplemental Reading

First I'm going to share a recipe, and then I'm going to do a boring old-lady post, since I'll be 60 soon! No, that is not an April Fools' Day joke. It's true.

I kept reading about Korean rice cakes, called tteokbokki, and they sounded intriguing. So I bought a pack of vacuum-sealed tubes (apparently they also come in disk shapes) on Amazon and tried them out in a recipe from the Times. They are dense and chewy and we liked them very much. 

Rice Cakes with Peanut Sauce and Hoisin (There's a photo at the link.)

RICE CAKES
2 pounds rice cake sticks or sliced rice cakes, fresh or frozen [Mine came in a 1½-pound package. Not frozen but not fresh either?]
2 tablespoons neutral oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
8 ounces yu choy or other Asian greens, halved lengthwise [I have never even heard of yu choy, so I bought baby bok choy, which we love.]
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, diluted with 1 teaspoon water
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds

PEANUT SAUCE
⅓ cup smooth peanut butter
3 tablespoons hot water
1½ teaspoons granulated sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the rice cakes and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened. Drain and refresh under cold water. The commenters all agreed that this was unnecessary, and in fact might make the rice cakes even gummier (hard to imagine!). So instead I soaked them in a big bowl of cold water for about a half hour and then drained them just before cooking, and it worked fine.

Meanwhile, make the peanut sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, hot water, sugar, garlic, and soy sauce. Set aside.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. (I happen to have a wok-shaped nonstick pan, which worked great. Some of the commenters complained that the rice cakes stuck horribly to their regular wok, so I would definitely suggest a nonstick skillet instead.) When the pan is hot, add the oil and rice cakes and toss to combine. Add the soy sauce and stir-fry for 6 to 8 minutes, until the rice cakes begin to caramelize. If more than a few clump together, add a tablespoon of water at a time and break them up with your spatula. Hoo-boy, did they ever start to clump. There's almost nothing you can do about it, but I did hack at them as best I could with two wooden spatulas. Add the yu bok choy and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the greens are wilted. Turn off the heat, add the peanut sauce, and toss to coat.

To serve, drizzle with the diluted hoisin sauce, scatter the scallions on top, and garnish with the sesame seeds. Yum.

I have to admit to you that I wasn't sure the recipe would turn out OK, so I also made chicken wings. So much for meatless Monday!

OK, now on to the boring stuff, but with something interesting at the end:

I take a big handful of supplements every morning. I even broke down this year and bought one of those weekly pill containers to put them all in. I used to take them all first thing in the morning, but then I started having GI issues every morning. First I blamed the milk in my tea, so I went without and ruled that out. Then I thought maybe it was the tea itself, nope. (Interestingly, I never went back to tea! After something like 40 years of having a big cup of tea every morning—PG Tips since at least 1995—I now have nothing. Once in a great while I'll have a cup of herbal tea, but I haven't had caffeine in well over a year now. Weird.) Then I ruled out the little smudge of butter on my toast. Then I tried giving up the toast entirely! Then the half banana. Nope nope nope. Finally, out of nowhere a friend happened to mention that she got an upset stomach from her calcium supplements... And yup, that was the culprit. So now I gulp down all my pretty pills in the late morning, after my breakfast. 

Here's what I take:

Multivitamin for women over 50, sans iron: I have read that multivitamins are useless, but I figure it can't hurt just in case there happens to be some nutrient I don't get enough of in my diet. Every once in a while there will be one of those exciting "Diagnosis" stories by Dr. Lisa Sanders in the Sunday Times Magazine about someone who almost died because they didn't have enough copper in their diet or something. (Is that my favorite feature in the Magazine? YES)

Super B-complex: I can't remember why I take this, but it was recommended to me by someone somewhere at some point... I think it has to do with stress? And/or drinking wine? 

Calcium: For my aging bones. See above. I once accidentally got calcium + magnesium, and let me tell you about GI issues! (My readers of a certain age will remember those old Phillip's Milk of Magnesia TV commercials, for "occasional irregularity.") 

Cranberry concentrate: Thanks to this, I have not had a UTI in many years, possibly a couple decades.

Probiotic: In addition to one every morning, I also pop one of these anytime I have a stomach ache.

Fish oil: I buy Fisol brand, because it's enteric-coated so I don't get disgusting fishy burps while I'm eating chocolate chip cookies.

Milk thistle: As with the B vitamins, I can't remember why I take this, but I know it's for liver health so I must have read something about it being good for people who drink wine. Did I mention I drink wine?

Fatty15: This is the newest addition to my pill container. It's an essential fatty acid, the first one discovered since omega-3's. Among other things, it promises more energy, healthier skin, better heart/liver/immune health, calmer mood, deeper sleep, and less snacking. (But I like snacking! I have continued to snack.) I've only been taking it for a few weeks, so I can't comment on any of this. But I did read up on it a bunch (and not just on their website!), and it looks promising. (If you want to try it, you can use this link for 50% off your first purchase, and I'll get 20% off my next purchase. Or just order on your own—I won't be offended. I'll never even know!)

Functional mushrooms: Here's the coolest one of all. About 6 months ago I started taking these, and I really and truly have noticed two things: a much more upbeat mood overall, and better memory! Really, I kid you not. I just feel more cheerful and positive in general, and I can definitely remember things better. For instance, when I solve my beloved nonogram puzzles, it helps to remember long strings of numbers, like 1-1-3-3-1-14-6. I used to have to keep looking back, but now I can just keep them in mind! And I've been able to remember things (like people's names) from many years ago that I thought had long since exited my brain. I convinced Andy to start taking them about a month ago, and he had to (sort of sheepishly) admit that he has noticed an improvement in his memory too. There are many different brands; the one I take (or here, if you are avoiding Amazon) comes as yummy raspberry gummies, and it contains 10 different mushrooms. They are supposed to increase mental clarity, boost memory, improve mood, provide immune support, and have anti-aging and anti-inflammatory benefits too. I am really a believer. 

Comments

[Nancy]

Mazel tov on your blogiversary! I thought I was a veteran--going on 16 years--but you've got me beat.

I also thought I was hip to the latest nutriceutical news, but apparently I've been in the dark, although not the kind of dark in which mushrooms thrive. "Functional mushrooms" is a new-to-me category, and now I want to write about the brand names. (Four Sigmatic?) I wonder: Would it also work to just EAT MOAR MUSHROOMS? I can do that!

I found an interesting article about what to look for and what to avoid in mushroom supplements: https://www.reviewscout.org/top-5-mushrooms/

I'm willing to give them a try if I can find a non-gummy variety, because gummies are frankly a dealbreaker for me, raspberry or otherwise.

[Margaret]

I take some of those same supplements but hadn't heard about the mushroom one which I'm very tempted to try. Like Nancy, I don't like gummies though. P.S Spent some time in Korea but never tried those. Darn!

[Karen]

Nancy, somehow I think you'd have to eat a shit-ton of mushrooms to get the benefits of having them all reduced down into supplement form. And in any event, I'm not sure you can get all those varieties fresh. As far as gummies go, many of these formulas also come in tinctures and I believe capsules, although that article you cite says not to do powders, and I think that's what's in capsules. The brand I chose is not listed in that article but fits all the criteria. (There are some other articles like that, and that's how I ended up choosing the one I did.) I don't take gummies for anything else, but these go down fine and aren't overly candy-ish.

[Karen]

Margie, usually these rice cakes are prepared VERY spicy in Korean cuisine, so I wouldn't have been likely to make them that way. But I did see that Trader Joe's now has a frozen spicy tteokbokki meal, so maybe that would be a good way to try it!

[Beth F]

Oh, you're just a youngster 😉 (I'm 67). I'm going to have to look into mushrooms. I take eye vitamins (my dad was optometrist and believed in them, as does my current optometrist), D3, B12, and biotin. I've heard good things about milk thistle, but because I have some pollen allergies, I haven't tried it. I used to take fish oil, but about 8 years ago my doctor (a DO) told me to stop, so I did.