preg·nan·cy

Adapted from Dictionary.com

Ah, pregnancy, a time in your life to cherish. In time in which you are “glowing” and everyone remarks on the lovely beauty of bringing a child into the world. The part no one talks about until you are too far in to back out, is the food. Current guidelines for pregnant women ban all sorts of delicious foods that would normally be fine for any able bodied human. Food that “may” cause harm, but best not to risk it.

Let’s list off some of these foods. If you’ve never been pregnant or don’t know anyone intimately enough to know their eating habits whilst pregnant, I will enlighten you.

Foods Banned completely during pregnancy:

• Soft cheeses (BRIE!)
• raw and undercooked eggs (the ONLY kind I eat, and which also means no cookie dough)
• meat cooked below medium (is there such a thing?)
• Deli meats and patés (no cheese and meat platters for me over the holidays)
• Sushi containing raw fish (what do Japanese women do then?)

So there you have it, the not so glamorous side of pregnancy for food lovers.

So, it is in this vein of thinking that I created a meal close to one I would enjoy regularly alongside a nice big plate of raw fish. One of my favourite things to order for lunch when I worked in a busy office, was the unagi bowl. Unagi is barbequed eel slathered in a sweet sauce called kabayaki. It is served on a bed of rice and more kabayaki is poured over. Delicious! When we would go out for sushi for dinner, I would always have unagi rolls or nigiri and all assortments of other, more raw bits as well. Well, now that I am in the family way, raw fish is out, and therefore, I have to be a bit more creative.

So if you, like me, cannot eat raw fish, or maybe you simply cannot stomach it, then try this “sushi” bowl on for size.

Deconstructed Sushi Bowl

1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 cups water or broth
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
300g mixed seafood (I used prawns, octopus, squid and mussels)
2 green onions, sliced
3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp Mirin
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp shiracha chili sauce
1 Tbsp dry wakame seaweed
1 avocado, sliced
sesame seeds (optional)

1. Add water, rice, butter and salt to a medium size sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stir a few times, lower to simmer for 45 minutes.
2. In small saucepan, combine green onions, soy sauce, Mirin, sesame oil, rice vinegar, garlic and chili sauce. Heat to simmer and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Reconstitute seaweed. In small bowl, add dry seaweed flakes and 1/4 cup hot or boiling water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
4. In a small sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp butter and add in seafood. Sauté for 5-6 minutes, just enough to cook thoroughly.
5. Slice your avocado, and set aside.
6. In bowls, layer rice, seaweed and seafood. Pour sauce generously over top. Top with 1/2 of the sliced avocado.
7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired and serve. Kampai!