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Miso Soup

26 Nov

After a full weekend of indulging at Thanksgiving, all I wanted was something light and brothy last night. I have two cans of no-chicken noodle soup around, but miso soup sounded so much more delicious.

Sometimes when I get a stomach ache I like to make a quick version with just vegetable broth and miso, but since I had time, I simmered the kombu to make a vegan dashi stock, which adds more flavor and depth to the soup. I also used some thinly slice nori, since I didn’t have wakame to add to the soup. I prefer wakame, because it unfurls and is softer, so if you can find it, definitely use it. I also added shiitake mushrooms back into the soup after making the stock, but they are completely optional. Button mushrooms would be nice too.

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Japanese Pan Noodles

16 Nov

A while ago I worked right next to a Noodles and Company-it was less than a two minute walk away. I was such a regular there they had my order memorized-Japanese Pan Noodles with extra sauce and extra extra extra cilantro.

Yes, I really do like cilantro that much. Unfortunately, my local market didn’t have any fresh cilantro today, so I had to do without.

The original recipe calls for udon noodles, which you can find fresh at some Asian markets. I’ve also found some in soup packages at my local grocery store-they look a bit like this. I substituted rice noodles, but if you can find udon noodles, feel free to use them.

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Homemade Sushi

13 Nov Homemade Sushi

I fell in love with sushi years ago. I was lucky enough to be given a rolling mat and the beginning ingredients when I was 16 and I’ve been making it at home ever since. I recently learned how to do an inside out roll and I wanted to share. Things you will need:

  • Rice cooker
  • Rolling mat
  • Saran wrap/cling wrap
  • Nori sheets
  • Short grain white rice
  • Rice vinegar
  • White sugar
  • Avocado, cucumber, green onion, carrots, etc. for filling
  • Sesame seeds
  • Gari(pickled ginger) and wasabi for garnish *you can find these is most large grocery stores

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Sweet Chili Baked Tofu

12 Nov

I had quite a bit of chili sauce leftover from making Thai summer rolls yesterday, so I wanted a recipe that would use most of it. I found the recipe for the sauce here.

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup water
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tbsp sambal oelek
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 4 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat to a boil then lower to simmer until thickened.

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Vegan Pad See Ew

11 Nov Vegan Pad See ew

There’s a period of time every week where I get a craving for Thai food. However, most Thai restaurants cook with oyster sauce and fish sauce, which makes trying to order vegan complicated. I realize it’s hard on the wait staff and sometimes they don’t know if the sauces are premixed or added during cooking, so it’s easier to cook it myself. It’s also much cheaper!

I’ve found an Asian grocery store in Springfield that orders all the fresh noodles for the Thai restaurants in the area. However, if I don’t go on Friday, they’re usually already gone. I like to use these for Pad Thai and Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) as well. If you can’t find them, extra large rice noodles will work just as well.

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Vietnamese Spring Rolls

30 Oct Vietnamese Spring Rolls

After a friend was seriously injured in my apartment in Washington, I spent the night in the hospital and went straight to work. The last thing I wanted after my shift was to go back to the place of the accident. I was graciously invited to have dinner with a Vietnamese family and the meal is something I’ve never forgotten.

They served a family-style spring roll meal-there were rice noodles, bean sprouts, chopped herbs, stacks of wrappers, and a table-top stove for cooking meats. After everyone arrived, we sat down and the fun began. Each person would dip their wrapper in a bowl of warm water, swirl, and the top with any of the ingredients-roll them all up in the wrapper and devour. I ate until I couldn’t eat anymore and slept like a baby in the car ride home.

Spring rolls usually involve shrimp or shredded pork in some way, but I think they’re even more delicious without those ingredients. After you get used to soaking the wrappers, this is an easy, delicious, and mostly raw lunch.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

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Pad Thai

23 Oct

Story time guys!

When I was young and innocent (read: 18 years old) I ran off to Washington in pursuit of love and an education. I lived outside of Seattle for over a year and had a lot of new and exciting experiences. Riding a city bus for the first time (which became a daily routine), getting my first real job (Thanks Nintendo!), and catching a shark (it was a small shark.)

Some of my best memories from Washington came from tasting new dishes-I ate oysters straight off the beach, had a first date at a pho place when I didn’t even know what the pho-ck it was, tried my first yellow curry, ate soto ayam that I helped prepare with an old Indonesian man and hated it. One of my favorite memories is sitting on a hillside near the Pacific Science Center and eating pad thai during my first music festival. I’d heard of pad thai, of course, and there was a tent serving it there-It was amazing. I ate my own plate and someone’s leftovers. The combination of sweet and sour and cilantro and bean sprouts is something I crave.

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Mapo Tofu

22 Oct

All I’ve been wanting today is something spicy. Mouth-numbingly spicy. I want it to burn my lips, my mouth, my stomach. Mapo tofu is the only answer.

This isn’t a perfect recipe. It’s probably not true to the dish (mapo tofu usually had szechuan pepper) nor are the measurements perfect. When I make this I add what feel right. Sometimes I need more sugar. Sometimes I need more black beans. It’s one of those great pms-week dishes because it’s fiery and angry but can be sweet and salty.

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Deconstructed Sushi

20 Oct Deconstructed Sushi

I love sushi.

Let me say that again: I LOVE sushi!

Some days though, I don’t feel like rolling it and cutting it and setting it up nicely. I just want to eat! In those cases, I make my deconstructed sushi bowls.

I got the recipe/idea for this a few years ago when my father was undergoing a quadruple bypass surgery. When you’re in a waiting room, even Reader’s Digest magazine is enough to keep your attention for just a few minutes.

The ingredients are easy-anything you would normally put in your sushi. I used carrots, cucumbers, green onion, avocado, and shiitake mushrooms for this. In the past (preveganism) I used crab, shrimp, cream cheese, or smoked salmon.

The only difficult thing is the rice. The rice is really what defines sushi. If you’re not using the proper rice, then this is just a raw stir-fry.

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