Do you like rice porridge? It's called okayu or kayu in Japan and is known as an easily digestible dish. I like simple okayu seasoned with salt, but you can make it more nutritious by cooking with chicken, vegetables, and so on, or adding lots of toppings. I sometimes make okayu for breakfast when I don't have much appetite in the hot weather. It's really easy on our stomachs.

Plain Okayu Recipe

Basic Congee Recipe from About.com Chinese Food

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Lots of vegetables are deep-fried and marinated in dashi based soup. This type of dish is often called age-bitashi. It's usually served chilled, so it's a good dish to make during the hot season. You can use a variety of colorful vegetables for this dish. As deep-fried vegetables are marinated in soup, they aren't so oily. It's simple but makes a good main dish.

Deep-fried and Marinated Vegetables

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When I don't feel like eating much on hot days, I eat umeboshi (ume pickles) which are often available at Asian grocery stores. As they are very salty and sour, you might not like the flavor. But it helps stimulate the appetite and also can add a nice flavor to many dishes. For example, they are used in salad dressing, simmering dishes, fried dishes, and lots more. In this dish, wakame seaweed and boiled okra are seasoned with sour umeboshi based sauce. It has a slimy texture and makes a refreshing side dish.

Wakame and Okra with Ume

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It's a traditional tofu dish called hiyayakko. Chilled tofu is simply served with various toppings. They can be a wide variety of fresh or cooked ingredients of your choice. Common toppings are katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), grated ginger, green onion, shiso (perilla), and so on. I like to use silken tofu for this dish. When it's too hot to cook, hiyayakko is a quick appetizer to prepare.

Hiyayakko

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