The Ancestral Table: Traditional Recipes for a Paleo Lifestyle (5 page)

Rice isn’t exactly nutritious when compared to meats, fruits, and vegetables, so I like to increase its nutritional profile by cooking it in broth (as in my recipes for Seafood Paella,
see here
; and Mexican Rice,
see here
) or with other foods like coconut milk, butter, ghee, and turmeric (Basic Steamed Rice,
see here
). When my family does eat rice plain, we top it with furikake, a Japanese rice seasoning made from seaweed, dried fish, and sesame seeds. All of these additions make rice both delicious and more nutritious.

Consider this: a meal of chicken breasts, lettuce, and steamed broccoli is technically “Paleo,” while a recipe like my Dirty Rice (
see here
) is often not considered “Paleo” at all. But look at the ingredients used to make dirty rice: butter, vegetables, broth, chicken livers, gizzards, and sausage. I would argue that dirty rice has a much more robust nutritional profile than the “Paleo” meal above, despite the fact that it’s made with 11/2 cups of white rice spread out among six guests. And I’ll let you guess as to which dish is more delicious and rewarding and less prone to make you want to jump off the deep end to satisfy food cravings.

Rice isn’t eaten on its own, either, but as part of a whole meal, often with fats and acids; evidence suggests that eating carbs combined with fats and acids improves their digestibility and reduces blood sugar spikes.
³
This combination naturally occurs in most traditional meals, including those found in this book. Also bear in mind that rices differ in glycemic load. Basmati rice is a long-grain rice that has a very low glycemic load and can be used in place of short-grain or medium-grain white rice in this book. Jasmine rice is long-grain but carries a very high glycemic load, and is not used in this book.

Potatoes

Potatoes are also a source of controversy in the Paleo and ancestral communities, despite the widespread acknowledgement that underground storage organs, otherwise known as tubers, are an important staple food for nearly every indigenous culture on the planet. They were likely important during the Paleolithic era as well.
⁴

Potatoes have a fair amount of nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, and vitamin C. They are also relatively free of toxins. Glycoalkaloids, their most prominent toxin, are significantly reduced when the potatoes are peeled and cooked gently (most traditional cultures peeled their potatoes). Modern potatoes were also cultivated over time to reduce glycoalkaloids and improve digestibility; russet potatoes have some of the lowest levels of toxins in potatoes today. There are studies showing that potatoes increase inflammation markers in some people, and the potato’s status as a pro-inflammatory nightshade is due to its glycoalkaloid content. This effect may be more attributable to the form (fried potato chips) or skin content of the potatoes used in these studies. In other words, eating peeled and boiled potatoes is less inflammatory than eating fried potatoes or potato skins.

Some forms of potatoes encourage overeating, which gives potatoes in general a bad reputation. Scientists have developed what they call the Satiety Index, which rates foods by how good they are at satisfying hunger. Boiled potatoes were the most satiating food, far outpacing and nearly doubling the next foods on the list, fish and beef. Potato chips and French fries, however, were only one-third as satisfying as boiled potatoes, which means that you could eat three times as many potatoes in the form of French fries or chips before feeling full.
⁵
This is why you can eat a whole basket of fries or an entire bag of chips and not feel satisfied, but can barely make it through one or two boiled potatoes.

Sweet potatoes were on the original list of “approved” Paleo foods when the diet was first emerging, because white potatoes had a higher toxin profile and contained fewer nutrients. Sweet potatoes have the same carb content and glycemic load as white potatoes. Today, many Paleo nutritionists concede that when cooked properly, white potatoes can have a place on the dinner table equal to sweet potatoes.

Every form of potato in this book is peeled in order to minimize the glycoalkaloid content and gently cooked by baking or boiling.

Dairy

Let’s talk about why dairy is in this book in the first place. Dairy is an excellent source of calcium, and it is hard to get an adequate amount of calcium just from eating greens and certain fish unless you’re prepared to eat fish heads often. Dairy is also a good source of vitamins A, D, and K2, nutrients that are sometimes difficult to find in other foods. While conventional wisdom associates high-fat dairy with obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disease, observational studies have found the opposite to be true.
⁶

From a culinary perspective, dairy products are essential in any refined kitchen. Butter imparts delicious flavor when cooked at medium and low heats. Cream adds body and depth of flavor, and cheese is overwhelmingly delicious. So I believe that there are nutritional and culinary reasons to find out how to prudently incorporate dairy into our diets.

The major reason people have issues with digesting dairy is that they lack the enzyme called lactase, which is highly dependent on ancestry; only about 40% of us maintain the enzyme past childhood. It’s also highly dependent on the state of bacteria growth in an individual’s digestive system.

Even if you’ve had issues with dairy in the past, you may still be able to enjoy dairy again. As popular Paleo health practitioner Chris Kresser points out in his excellent blog (www.chriskresser.com), symptoms related to lactose intolerance can often be alleviated through the use of probiotic supplements and small doses of yogurt (a few spoonfuls a day).
⁷
His process is a long-term solution for those hoping to heal their gut issues so that they may be able to eat dairy again one day. For ten years I believed that I had a form of lactose intolerance and avoided dairy. But after a couple years of eating my version of Paleo, which includes daily probiotic foods, I found that I had little to no issues eating most forms of dairy. For more information, check out Chris’s article in the references that follow.

Not all forms of dairy are equal. First and foremost, if you are ever in a position to consume raw dairy (which highly depends on the state you live in), DO IT. Many people who have adverse reactions to pasteurized dairy don’t have issues with raw dairy. If you don’t have access to raw dairy, try to find pasteurized dairy from grass-fed cows; grass-fed dairy products have a significant amount of vitamin K2. Fermented dairy products like yogurt, kefir, sour cream, and hard cheeses are often better tolerated than milk. Butter and cream also have less lactose in them since they have a higher fat content than milk. Ghee, a form of clarified butter, has its milk solids separated from the fat and is generally easier to digest than butter. All the same, you’ll find that the dairy amounts in most of my recipes are negligible or easily substituted (see pages 275-278 for my substitution guide). Experimenting with the milk of other mammals (for example, goat’s or sheep’s milk) for cheese and yogurt is another option.

To summarize, dairy fats are excellent sources of calories, but lactose can be problematic; however, lactose intolerance is often affected by overall gut health. Improving your gut health by eating probiotic foods (many are found in the Vegetables chapter of this book) may improve your ability to digest dairy. My advice is to find out what works for you and to challenge it every once in a while. Healing your gut bacteria can take a long time, so I would try dairy every few months to see how your body reacts to it.

References

¹
“Rice.”
The Cambridge World History of Food.
Ed. Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas.
www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/rice.htm

²
“Phytic Acid in Common ‘Paleo’ Foods.” HuntGatherLove. Melissa McEwen. huntgatherlove.com/content/phytic-acid-common-paleo-foods

³
“Glycemic Index of Single and Mixed Meal Foods among Common Japanese Foods with White Rice as a Reference Food.”
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
M. Sugiyama, A. C. Tang, Y. Wakaki, and W. Yokama.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12792658

⁴
“A Multidisciplinary Deconstruction of Palaeolithic Nutrition That Holds Promise for the Prevention and Treatment of Diseases of Civilisation.”
Nutrition Research Reviews.
Remko S. Kuipers, Josephine C. A. Joordens, and Frits A. J. Muskiet. dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954422412000017

⁵
“A Satiety Index of Common Foods.”
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
S. H. Holt, J. C. Miller, P. Petocz, and E. Farmakalidis.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7498104
(chart:
www.mendosa.com/satiety.htm
)

⁶
“The Relationship Between High-Fat Dairy Consumption and Obesity, Cardiovascular, and Metabolic Disease.”
European Journal of Nutrition.
M. Kratz, T. Baars, and S. Guyenet.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22810464

⁷
“How to Cure Lactose Intolerance.” Chris Kresser.
www.chriskresser.com/how-to-cure-lactose-intolerance

Less-Common Pantry Ingredients

RICE WINES

The recipes in this book use three types of rice wine: mirin, a sweet rice wine; saké, a Japanese rice wine; and Chinese cooking wine, which is sometimes called Chinese sherry or Shaoxing wine. Look for high-quality wines that are free of corn syrup; since they are generally used sparingly, they will last a long time.

WHEAT-FREE TAMARI

Tamari is the original soy sauce introduced to Japan from China, and it is made without wheat. While most forms of soy are best avoided, I think that fermented forms of soy (tamari, miso, natto, and tempeh) are okay; of those four, only tamari is represented in this book. Tamari is the liquid that is left over when making miso. It has a much bolder and sharper taste than many other soy sauces, so I often cut its sharp taste with honey, as you’ll see in the recipes.

FISH SAUCE

Much like anchovy paste, fish sauce is an easy way to add umami flavors and is used in many Asian dishes. Fish sauce is usually made from fermented anchovies. Don’t let the initial fishiness of the sauce fool you—adding it to a dish often creates a very un-fish-like flavor. Look for varieties without added sugar, like Red Boat Fish Sauce.

SHRIMP PASTE

Shrimp paste, made from fermented shrimp, is a common flavor enhancer in Southeast Asia. It is similar to fish sauce but often more pungent. I prefer the terasi version, which is sold in blocks, but it is sometimes hard to find. Shrimp sauce, a Chinese invention, is a saltier version of shrimp paste and is more easily found. Adjust salt levels in your recipes accordingly.

CHINESE GREENS

There are four major kinds of Chinese greens found in this book:

Bok choy – Both bulbous and leafy, bok choy is the most popular of the Chinese greens. It can have a white or green stem. Immature cabbages are often sold as baby bok choy.

Choy sum – A slender version of bok choy with thick, cylindrical stems; it is sometimes called flowering Chinese cabbage (pictured in my Chinese Greens recipe,
see here
).

Kai-lan – Also known as Chinese broccoli, kai-lan also has thick stems. It looks like choy sum, has a flavor similar to broccoli, and has small, edible flower heads (pictured in my Chicken Pad See Ew recipe,
see here
).

Won bok – Also known as Chinese or napa cabbage, won bok is a large, dense cabbage not unlike head cabbage. It is most commonly used in Kimchi (
see here
) or sliced and added to Nabemono (
see here
) or Fried Rice (
see here
).

FLOURS AND STARCHES

I use a wide variety of flours and starches to replace wheat flour and cornstarch. Rice flour (not to be confused with sweet rice flour, also known as mochiko) is my go-to flour for thickening; coconut flour can also be used, but it has a grittier texture. Almond flour and coarse-ground almond meal work well in small amounts, especially as a binder. Arrowroot and potato starches are suitable replacements for cornstarch. Tapioca starch acts as a starch but can become stretchy; this property is desirable in some contexts, like in my pizza crust recipe (
see here
).

SWEETENERS

My favorite sweeteners are pure honey and maple syrup, but others should be noted. Coconut palm sugar is made from the sap of coconut palm flower buds and is often sold in granulated form. It is the closest substitute for real sugar out there, and it is used sparingly in some dishes in this book. Palm sugar, often confused with coconut palm sugar, is made from the sap of the Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) and is used to sweeten Southeast Asian dishes.

SPICES

It is worth your time to invest in a robust spice rack; having and knowing a wide variety of spices will greatly expand your breadth of cooking. Some less-common spices found in this book include cardamom pods, dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) and seeds, Kashmiri red chili powder, mace, Korean red chili powder (gochugaru), turmeric, and white pepper.