Ask a Japanese person to define him/herself by any one food item, and the answer will invariably be rice. That is because, despite the mind-boggling, elaborate intricacy of Japanese cuisine, the most basic representation of it is plain white rice. This might also have been influenced by how rice was cherished during war-time Japan rife with food shortages and rationing. Anyhow, rice is the staple diet of Japan, their fall-back carbohydrate.

I could relate to this during my expat sojourn there; since rice is also the staple carb. in S. Indian cuisine. I do have an equal affinity for rustic breads-campagne, batards, bialys; the works; so it is often one or the other in my kitchen. Nonetheless, rice has always been the major part of at least 1, if not 2, of my daily 3 meals.

The problem, however, was finding room for more multi-grains, seeds and nuts in my daily diet. While I like the idea of including more and more brown rice, flax seeds, barley and the like in my daily meals, it does get to be a bit of challenge-after all, it isn’t too hard to give up on something so difficult to chew and well, bland. (There, I said it.)

So a search for inventive ways to include these holy grains was on, and that is how I came upon the concept of Zakkoku-mai. No points for figuring out that’s a Japanese term; but perhaps for seeing how it’s not just the language; you could trust them to come up with healthy solutions.

Lately, this thing, which literally translates to ‘Grains with Rice’ , has been a hot trend in the Land of the Rising Sun. In a move to encourage people to include more dietary fiber, they have come up with a ridiculously simple way to make it a habit: a mixture of grains, etc., sold in serving-sized packets, to be added to an appropriate amount of rice, and cooked together. And the mixture is put together in such combinations that there is no need to get frazzled with figuring out water measurements and all that.

Am I the only one who thinks this is bloody brilliant?! While I’m no advocate of the recent ‘cater-to-your-children’s-whining-and-use-your-creativity-to-mask-

healthy-foods-to-appear-non-threating’ trend, I do think it’s terribly helpful to find ways to avoid the grinning and bearing with having to cook and consume whole grains and the like. Hypocrisy? Perhaps, but it’s no secret that I have no tolerance for whiny kids of any sort. Hmph.

So, where was I..? Yes, the Zakkoku-mai. Another one of its kind is Kokumotsu-gohan, which is essentially the same thing in principle, differing only in contents. Both comprise of different grains, seeds, lentils and pulses rich in fiber, and the combinations may vary by brand. And this is where the idea gets even more brilliant; the ingredients are all easy to find at any reasonable health food/bulk bin store, and can be mixed and stored in desired combinations as well. The reason you might want to do this on your own at some point is just that while the Japanese pre-made packs are superb, they could end up costing a bit in the long run.

That being said, here are the ones I purchase from my local Japan town grocery; this here is a Zakkoku mix; consisting of (among other things) barley, glutinous rice, red rice, soy beans, amaranth, millet and lentils;

and a pack of Kokumotsu, with 15 single-pouches containing (among other things) brown, glutinous, black and red rice varieties, white and black sesame seeds, black and red beans, amaranth, pressed barley, Job’s tears, and foxtail and regular millet each.

Cooking with them is not at all difficult; simply throw them atop washed rice with water into the rice cooker.

and cook. The resultant rice might have a slight hue to it, depending on whether the mix contains any beans or the like prone to ‘bleeding’. If you are one of those for whom rice has to be sparkling white and nothing but, there are Zakkoku packs with only ‘white’ ingredients too.

The flavors are deliciously nutty, and warm, and might not require any more than some Umeboshi for a quick but complete meal.

Making your own mixes might take a bit of trial and error, but is well worth it. While there isn’t any error quotient, you might want to make sure to combine things that have somewhat similar cooking times. For instance, pre-soaking some beans overnight may be required should they be a part of your Zakkoku.

Common and nutrition-wealthy ingredients include:

• Amaranth
• Barley
• Black Beans
• Flax Seeds
• Lentils
• Millet
• Mung Beans
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Sesame Seeds