Raw

"Eating raw pineapple fried rice. It's weird, you want some?"
"Oh...ok."

Yesterday in my sad "Wah, I miss my dog and bear!" state I went to Border's (now everything 50-70% off!) and wanted to buy the entire cookbook section (or what's left of it). Hoping my dog and bear would magically appear and save me from my cookbook hoarding frenzy I stayed there a long time. Seeing as they probably weren't coming to rescue me from myself I sat in a corner and looked up reviews (thanks Amazon!) and settled on two- a book about New Orleans food (to get me pumped for the trip) and a book with Asian raw food (to try out this whole raw food thing). Yes, I do realize these two books are completely contradictory. I also finally picked up a Cozy Hugs hippo with a belly full of lavender goodness that does give cozy hugs. I wish I could bring her everywhere.

I picked a Pineapple Fried Rice recipe from the raw food book and bought ingredients at Sprouts. Pineapple fried rice is always so pricey at Thai restaurants (like $12.95), even though regular fried rice is like one of the cheapest, easiest Asian dishes ever (so cheap in fact, the $2 they charge at Chinese restaurants is way overcharging). I was hoping to learn how to make the dish for cheap but I ended up spending $20 on groceries (don't you miss the days when your parents paid for these things? sigh, grownup days). Albeit, I did not use up all my supplies and it was a good opportunity to venture out of my mac-n-cheese-eating ways and purchase things like agave syrup, jicama, and use the bulk food area of the store.

Some things I've learned about raw food:

* The author likes raw food because heat denatures the plants natural proteins, vitamins, etc. (this makes sense to me because that's what the sun/UV rays/harmful chemicals do to your body and causes things like cancer) and getting natural water retained in her meals means she has to drink less water. I think it's interesting how some people say you extract and therefore get more nutrients out of a meal when its cooked whereas raw foodies believe in trying to leave food in a pure form.

* Whenever heating things, the author encourages using a dehydrator (is that how they make astronaut food?) and food is never heated above 104 degrees F.

* Author avoids "cooking" with grains, dairy and soy because they are usually genetically modified, experience high pesticide levels or cows are injected with antibiotics and hormones. I kind of like this because that stuff is in practically every boxed food.

* Raw food requires lots of raw (aka fresh) ingredients meaning you have to go the grocery store more than once a month. Sigh. Also, the food must be devoured immediately. (The pineapple fried rice dish I made only lasts one day. At least everything is allowed in the compost.)

* Rice does not count as raw food. How do you make Asian food, especially pineapple fried "rice" without rice??? In the recipe I made cashew "rice" by pulsing jicama, cashews and salt. I've never had jicama before, it looks like a hybrid between a potato and a brown rock. It's a root that is crunchy like water chestnut. Don't try to peel it (I had to make a mess and watch a youtube video). Slice away the hard exterior with a big knife. 

{Note: I had the biggest issue with this. Not eating rice is like going against thousands of years of discovery and innovation that allowed Asians to move from hunter/gatherer society to settle and farm with guaranteed sustenance, as well as create such important inventions like mochi, the rice paper on white rabbit candy, and fried rice. Making Asian food while excluding rice is like denying culture and eating a lie.}

* How do you make sauces with no simmering? Most recipes involved coconut milk (from fresh coconut or soaking shredded coconut and squeezing out the juice) mixed with various crushed spices.

{Note: I cheated. I did not buy all those expensive spices or make coconut milk. I bought a pre-made red curry sauce. I will buy those $1 bags of spices from World Market or choose from bulk containers at Rainbow Grocer when I have time. I don't like paying $7 for a jar of something when I only need a pinch.}

The result:

It's weird. Yes, I slightly deviated from the recipe... a lot. I couldn't find fresh pineapple so I bought crushed pineapple and mango chunks. I didn't realize the mango chunks came in mango juice which might have totally thrown off the taste of the dish. 

Even without the deviation, I don't like the idea of cold, crunchy rice. Without cooking, I imagine most dishes to be cool and crunchy. I wouldn't mind a cold starter or cold dessert, but I'd prefer a warm main course. (Doesn't chinese medicine say things are best consumed warm or lukewarm?) The book's desserts received great reviews. I saw green tea ice cream and halo halo (Jbear's mom's favorite) which I'm excited to try for myself.

I don't think I could survive on a raw food diet. I like pastries and cookies and mac-n-cheese too much. I will try a few more recipes and try to do them right, but for now I have a giant dish of pineapple fried rice to consume in one day. Sigh, I want in-n-out.