What are these foods we're eating? Part 2

So again, reading through my posts I noticed we're eating quite a bit of food that isn't so common in the states. So it's time for another post to talk about some of the foods we're eating.

Nori
Nori is dried sheets of seaweed. It's the same stuff that's on your sushi. It's really nice if you eat it fresh, since it's very crispy. I don't know how good it might be for the diet, but Korean Nori is really tasty, since it's got salt and sesame oil on it, and baked a bit. You can eat it as a snack. I'll have to check on those nutritional facts though.

Mentaiko
Mentaiko is the roe of cod, which is covered in red chili paste. It's not really that spicy, but it has a nice taste and a little kick. It is a little bitter though, and depending on whether or not you like fish roe, this can either be really great to eat, or it might ruin your dinner. (Cod roe without chili is called Tarako).

Hanpen
Hanpen is a kind of steamed fish cake, much like kamaboko.  But it's very light and fluffy. If you bake it, it kind of swells up like dough. It's a bit spongy and very soft with a light taste.

Daikon
Daikon is a large white radish popular in Japan. It can be eaten raw and is often shredded (called Daikon Oroshi) and used as a topping for foods like fish or noodles, or sliced for salads. Or it can be boiled until it's tender. Both ways are very good. Try to get as fresh daikon as possible, because it can be a bit spicy (like horseradish) if it's not picked at the right time.

Low Sodium Soy Sauce / Low Sodium Salt
Not much explanation here. It's just that Sawa loves soy sauce, so making her live without it wasn't much of an option. Luckily, there is low sodium soy sauce. Same with salt. Why get regular salt when you can use low sodium salt. Brilliant.  Of course they both still have quite a bit of sodium in them, so use them sparingly.