How do you get your ‘happy’ on?  For me it is quite simple, sharing a meal with my family.  My Dad was born in Shanghai so Northern Chinese food is what our family gravitates towards, much to the chagrin of my husband and my sister-in-law (not Kale) who are not used to the carb heavy foods that are characteristic of that part of China.  The first time my husband joined us for Shanghai food, he joked that it would take him a week to digest all the noodles and breads that made up most of the meal.

What can I say, I love carbs, and so do my family.  One of the dishes that we always order, and is snapped up as soon as it arrives at the table, is the beef roll.  Even my husband and sister-in-law love it too, which says a lot about how good it is!  It is a fairly basic dish, but it is the flatbread that makes it great and holds it together, literally.

When Kale’s Mom gave us some roast beef that she made, I immediately thought of a beef roll.  Because I always have a package of frozen green onion pancakes in my freezer, it seemed the perfect opportunity to make my own beef roll using this pancake.  To make it extra special, and to give it the kake2kale touch, I decided to make a sauce with miso as the base.  The beef roll tasted even better than the ones I’ve had in restaurants!  Me so (get it, miso) happy with this beef roll!

Superfoods in the sauce:
Miso –  This is a fermented paste usually made from soybeans.  The one I used is genmai miso made from soybean and rice. The fermentation process renders miso full of nutrients like vitamins B2, K, E, calcium, iron, potassium, choline .  It also contains live good bacteria and antioxidants.  To preserve its nutrients, especially the live bacteria, it is best not to cook it.
Ginger – Ginger is anti-inflammatory, has antiseptic properties and is effective for treating an upset stomach.
Shiso – Also known as perilla, has been used in Chinese medicine for morning sickness, bronchitis and asthma.  You may see these leaves used for embellishing sashimi plates or resting on a pile of daikon ribbons.   I like to wrap the daikon with the shiso leaf and dip lightly in soy sauce, the pop the whole thing in my mouth.  In one of the pictures I have the shiso leaf in my palm ready to be slapped, this releases the aroma of the leaf (as told by my friend who worked at a very high end Japanese restaurant in LA).

Me So Happy Beef Roll  makes 2

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of roast beef
• 4 shiso leaves
• 2 large lettuce leaves
• 2 *green onion pancakes
• 2 Tbsp miso
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp grated ginger

*The green onion pancakes will be in the freezer section of the Chinese or Asian supermarket.

Directions:

• Heat a frying pan to medium heat, then fry the pancake, until golden brown on each side, set aside.  Fry the second one.
• Mix the miso, mayonnaise and ginger until smooth.  Spread this on the pancakes.
• To assemble, divide up evenly between the two pancakes, the shiso leaves, lettuce and the roast beef.  Then roll up and secure with toothpicks.

Perhaps this beef roll will make you happy too!

Eat superfoods, live a super life!  {Kake}