Monday, January 9, 2017

Seven Herbs Rice Porridge(Nanakusa-Gayu) and birds etc;


*Seven Herbs Rice Porridge (Nanakusa-gayu.七草粥) *

Nanakusa-Gayu with side dishes (Spring Roll)

Jan.7th, is the Seven Herbs Rice Porridge eating Day. This is a New Year's Tradition of eating a rice porridge with seven-medicinal herbs to pray for good health and longevity.  After enjoying New Year food (osechi), this simple vegetarian rice porridge Okayu (お粥) is very refreshing and help digestive system that is stuffed and exhausted.   It is the traditional meal to eat when you’re sick;  Can be the Japanese equivalent of chicken soup for eastern people:-)

*Seven Herbs*
My husband's acquaintance who works at the agricultural high school kindly gave us 
this package of seven herbs which were grown by the students of the school.
Please enlarge the graph below to know what herbs are used :-)
I remember my late mother memorized the names and saying them like a song.
We can buy the seven traditional greens conveniently packaged together at supermarket.
I found the one we are given sold at the store we regularly use like last year. (left side)


*Dusky thrush and Pale thrush *
I was happy that some kinds of birds came to the tree in front of my ouse.  I took pictures of them last year while there were tree nuts for them to have.  Both birdies and nuts are all gone now :-)   I LOVE these Creatures (for  Friday’s Hunt)
*White Camellia Sasanqua
Taken last year from the road side. Wished to see them more as I haven't 
seen them as many as the most year.

Thank you SO much for your kind visits, 
Start Visiting you from tomorrow ♡♡♡  
Wishing you all had a wonderful start of New Year.

Linking this post to, "Our World Tuesday","NatNotes","Outdoor Wednesday", 

30 comments:

  1. Oooh, Nanakusa-gayu. Yummy! It'd go really well with spring rolls. I love this simple, healthy and refreshing dish. As a Japanese, chicken soup doesn't suit me for a dish when I'm sick :-)
    Love the photos and videos of birdies enjoying tree nuts. They are adorable! And sasanqua is so beautiful!

    Have a wonderful new week, Miyako san xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Miyako, what an enjoyable and interesting post! Your photos compliment the story so well! Enjoy your week, Karen

    ReplyDelete
  3. That seven herb porridge is tempting. I love porridge. Happy New Year.

    Worth a Thousand Words

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely beautiful post from the 7 Herbs to the gorgeous floral photos ~ thanks,
    'received in love and light.'

    Wishing you a Happy Week ahead ~ ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  5. The recipe is very interesting and the pictures are very beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think I would prefer the rice porridge to chicken soup when I wasn't feeling well ... and definitely if I had over-indulged (although I don't do that any more -- I am old enough to have learned that eating and drinking too much rich food is not worth the pain afterwards ;>))..... I recognized the English names of some of those herbs, but not all of them. It makes me happy that the school class is growing and packaging them -- and keeping the tradition alive for the younger generations.

    Your bird and flower photos are as always outstanding.... fine art!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's a healthy New Year's tradition (our Dutch is not so healthy, haha!). Very interesting - I don't know many of these herbs!

    Thank you much for sharing this interesting post with ALL SEASONS this week!
    And Camellia are my second favorite flower - never can see too many of them:) Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your porridge of the seven herbs sounds very interesting - and healthy too. The herbs on your list are almost all unknown to me, I think I only knew reddish... The white camellia is beautiful with the floral garland - a true joy. Thank you for linking, wishing you a lovely day Miyako ❤︎

    ReplyDelete
  9. The camelias are beautiful. I look forward to seeing them in bloom here soon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I look forward to viewing your blog every week. Today was like a breath of fresh air and a clean slate for the New Year. Wishing you good health and many photographs ahead. Enjoy those fresh herbs. What a wonderful gift!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The herb soup looks delicious and lovely! Wonderful to see the pretty birds and camellia flowers, too. x Karen

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lovely interesting post. I am fascinated by your 7 traditional herbs - wish we could get them her. Pretty birds -maybe they will come back. Fancy being able to find camellias growing wild on the roadsides. So lucky. We nurture them carefully in our gardens.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dearest Miyako,
    Wish those herbs would be available here as well!
    Sounds delicious and for sure it will be healthy.
    But I was so impressed by your two videos; thanks so much for letting us share in that beauty near you.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  14. Happy New Year to you and your Husband with all beautiful children,
    Rice porridge Okayu I love very much. All japaned wa daisuki desu.
    Okaradani okio tukete Kudasai mase. Miyako San!
    We had hot weather with too much rain most of not nice.
    Michiko

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love camellias and enjoy them a lot in spring. There are even some still blooming here into summer in New Zealand.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love bth the videos and flowers. Have a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Interesting post. Lovely birds.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Happy New Year. The Thrushes are so lovely and I enjoyed the video clips as well. Have a Happy weekend~

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hello Miyao, the fresh herbs look wonderful. I love the cute birds, the photos and videos are awesome. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello Miyako - another beautiful post from you for Friday's Hunt! It was very interesting to learn about this 7 herb porridge that you make - I have never heard of it before. I love to learn about your traditions! The birds are wonderful and also new to me, although we do have different species of thrush here. Have a wonderful week, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is a great post...very interesting...and, as always, your photos are outstanding.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Both of these Thrushes are so beautiful up close. We walked on a trail this morning and my hubby said we should do a little video of some of the birds we see next time. You are so smart! Enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love the Seven Herbs New year's tradition! And the thrush is wonderful! Have a beautiful week!

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Thrush are so beautiful. I always enjoy bird watching. Thank you for linking up and I hope to see you back next week!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Pretty birds....that rice recipe sounds very good!!!

    ...sending along my thanks for your contribution for all the birders at I'd Rather B Birdin' this week. Very enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your rice porridge looks so good and the 7 herbs are fascinating. Chicken soup would not work for me (vegan diet) but i think the porridge would be wonderful. I loved your little birds and the flowers too. Such a beautiful blog! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dearest Miyako,
    For some mysterious reason my latest blog is not showing on the side line... ?!
    But here it is and than you know where I am at: https://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2017/01/after-40-years-somethings-gotta-give.html
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  28. I enjoy hearing about your new year traditions. The birds and blooms are beautiful! Thanks so much for joining Friday's Hunt. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete