Photo/Illutration Couscous salad (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

Editor’s note: In the Taste of Life series, cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.

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Couscous, granules made of durum wheat, has yet to become a fixture in Japanese households.

It is used in typical dishes of Morocco and Tunisia and is eaten in Western and other countries as well. The cooking expert who is versed in dishes from around the world and goes by the name Yummy is also a couscous lover.

There was even a time when she ate couscous as a staple food.

Couscous can be enjoyed in many ways, such as with meat, mixed with vegetables to make a salad or added to soup.

Although she had known the name, Yummy picked it up for the first time at a store in Tokyo when she had come to attend a university.

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Yummy (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

When she reconstituted it in hot water and topped it with a simmered dish, “the texture was not sticky even after absorbing a lot of savory sauce and I got hooked!”

She also thought it was quite filling and that it might help her save money. She liked it so much that she had it often along with pasta and rice.

Yummy has been introducing international home cooking after adapting the dishes to be made fuss-free in Japan. When introducing the recipes in magazines and TV programs, she changes the ingredients to those readily available in Japan.

Once she switched coriander out for celery leaves.

Yet, she sometimes feels frustrated for not fully conveying the actual local flavors that had delighted her and continues to introduce in her recipe books cooking procedures featuring the original ingredients.

This reflects her desire for people to broaden the range of ingredients they choose and “add excitement to the usual dinner table.”

The keys to this week’s recipe are not just couscous but also Italian parsley and mint.

“Although they tend to be seen as trimmings in Japan, they are popularly eaten locally as vegetable. I would be happy if this recipe will be a start to check out new ways of eating,” says Yummy.

Born in 1976, Yummy became a cooking expert after her cooking blog, which she began in 2006, drew attention. Her recent book is “Yamisanno ouchide sekaiisshu reshipi” (Yummy’s around-the-world recipes at home) published by Shufunotomo.

BASIC COOKING METHOD

Main Ingredients (Serves 2)

30 grams couscous, 50 ml hot water (adjust amount according to instructions on package), 1 small tomato, 1/2 cucumber, 1/4 onion, 1 pack (about 15 grams) Italian parsley, 1 pack (about 13 grams) mint, 1/2 tsp salt, bit of pepper, 1/2 lemon, 1 Tbsp olive oil

1. Place couscous and bit of salt and olive oil (both not listed above) in bowl and pour hot water in circular motion. Mix lightly with fork and place lid. Steam for about 5 minutes and loosen granules with fork.

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Add hot water in a circular motion. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

2. Cut tomato in half horizontally, spoon out seeds and cut into dices 1 cm on a side. Remove cucumber seeds also with spoon and cut into 1-cm dices. Finely chop onion, parsley and mint.

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Remove cucumber seeds with a spoon. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

3. Place all vegetables in another larger bowl, add salt, pepper and olive oil. Squeeze in lemon juice and mix. Add couscous and mix. Refrigerate for 30 minutes so the flavors settle.

About 160 kcal and 1.8 grams salt per portion
(Nutrient calculation by the Nutrition Clinic of Kagawa Nutrition University)

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Add couscous and mix. (Photo by Atsuko Shimamura)

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From The Asahi Shimbun’s Jinsei Reshipi (Life Recipe) column

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