Ninja Food

Typical sake bottles

A pile of sesame seeds

My pupils I want you to learn about the ninjas food supplies. Besides herbs and some rice a ninja also kept a supply of special tablets. These tablets were used to keep energy up while on a long stakeout or mission. One recipe for such a tablet to stave off hunger is honey, grains (such as wheat), carrots, rice, and sake. For those of you who don't know sake is a Japanese rice based alcohol. Another recipe for these "hunger pills"includes ginseng, rice, flour, and potato, soaked in sake for three years and then formed into little balls. There is even a recipe for "thirst pills" (consisting of pickled plums), intended to help a ninja stave off dehydration. Sesame seeds and leeks were chewed or sucked on to stimulate saliva production to help stave off thirst. I have asked a nutrition expert and she said that these tablets were indeed effective. You now know one of the ninjas secrets to surviving. Until we meet again.