Reiko

Reiko

by : Reiko Leaf Vegetabes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Kuruma-Bu Katsu
車麩カツ

Katsu typically means “breaded (with Panko) and deep-fried meat” in Japanese.

Katsu also means “victory” in Japanese, so people like to eat Katsu the night before an important day (e.g., sporting game, exam, etc.).

Apparently I don’t use meat since we are on the 100% plant-based diet now, so this “Katsu” was made of one of traditional Japanese ingredients called “Kuruma-Bu”.

Kuruma-Bu is mainly made of flour and gluten, and because of its texture, it is often used as a fake meat option for vegetarians and vegans.

To tell the truth, I’ve never had Kuruma-Bu before even when I lived in Japan, and I was so excited to try it.

(I bought this in Japan when I went back to see my family in May.)

The name “kuruma” came from the round shape (“kuruma” means a wheel in Japanese).

The “Hu (or “Bu” in this case)” typically has a soft texture, but Kuruma-Bu seems to have a bit firmer texture compared to the regular “hu (or “bu”)”, particularly the brown edge.

Kuruma-Bu is usually sold dry, so first you need to soak it in flavored liquid in order to bring it back to life and also to add flavor; Kuruma-Bu does not have a very strong flavor itself.

Then make sure you remove excess liquid so that it won’t splash oil when cooked.

I used Kikkoman Panko for the first time.

This worked just fine and the result was very pretty.

But try different brands if you prefer a little coarser crumbs and extra crunchiness.

Beautifully fried!

Shredded cabbage is a must for any Katsu.

They go hand in hand like French fries and a burger.

Same thing (lol).

Looks good doesn’t it?

At this point I was dying to try my first Kuruma-Bu Katsu.

But wait!

Sauce first.

It’s a personal preference, but I like ketchup, Japanese worcestershire sauce, Japanese Okonomi sauce, or a mixture of some of these three.

The Kuruma-Bu Katsu was delicious and I really enjoyed it.

The texture of the Kuruma-Bu is firm enough and quite satisfying, yet, it’s not so heavy as some of the fake meat.

I wish I had brought more from Japan.

Kuruma-Bu is one of those food items that are still rather hard to find in the U.S….

I’ve made a few dishes using this Kuruma- Bu Katsu.

Come back soon to see in what other ways I enjoyed it.

by : Reiko Breakfast, Nuts, Vegan, Vegetarian

Cashew Cream Breakfast Parfait
カシュークリーム朝食パフェ

Remember these cookies?

They were awesome, but they crumbled easily, and I ended up with a tasty mess.

I didn’t want to waste it, and I came up with this idea.

First, make cashew cream.

Puree pre-soaked cashew nuts, maple syrup, lemon juice, and salt, until creamy.

You can use any berries, but blueberry is probably my favorite kind of berry.

Recently the blueberries I’ve been buying have been particularly sweet.

Make layers.

Cashew cream first, blueberries, more cashew cream, and then top it off with more blueberries and the crumbled Breakfast Cookies.

This breakfast parfait is not only tasty but also pretty!

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

Happy Sunday everyone!

by : Reiko Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Vegan, Vegetarian

Soft Omelette Rice
ふわとろオムライス

Omelette Rice or “Omurice” is a popular Japanese dish.

As the name suggests, it is fried rice covered with omelette.

When I visited Japan in May, I came back with many vegan cookbooks, and I got an idea from the recipe in this book (Japanese) for the omelette part of my omelette rice.

(My hair is getting long!)

This is a soft scrambled “egg” version, and I really liked it.

(A note for myself: the yellow color from turmeric becomes brighter when cooked.)

The fried rice of the traditional omelette rice is flavored with ketchup.

I happened to be out of ketchup today, and I decided to use store-bought red pasta sauce as a flavor base instead.

The omelette rice is then typically served with a few spoonfuls of ketchup on top, and again, mine was served with red sauce based sauce (I added a few things to the store-bought red sauce like sugar and Japanese worcestershire sauce).

Love my IKEA utensils.

I bought them several years ago, but the more I use, the better they look.

This was SO TASTY!!

I definitely did NOT miss eggs.

And my non-ketchup version took the omelette rice to the next level!

There are so many fun ideas in this book.

I can’t wait to try others!

by : Reiko Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Soup, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tantan Ramen
担々麺

There are now a handful of restaurants that serve ramen in our neighborhood.

But there are still large gaps in quality from one restaurant to another.

And it is hard to get a table if you want good quality ramen.

I’m happy to see that ramen is becoming popular in the U.S., but it’s also frustrating that you can’t just go get good ramen any time you want.

So once in a while I do make my own ramen.

My vegan tantan ramen starts with marinating deep-fried tofu.

The broth is rich, creamy, and has depth of flavors.

I found these noodles at a local Asian market.

They were selling them as “Chinese noodles”, so I thought it would be perfect.

It also looked more yellowish through the packaging.

I particularly picked this brand because the yellow color was added by turmeric and not artificial dye.

When they were cooked, the color was almost gone, and I also realized that the noodles were rather flat and wider than I thought when they were before cooked.

I was a bit disappointed, but they still tasted good.

Baby bok choy is one of my favorite green leaves.

These are not only pretty but also very flavorful and refreshing.

I was so happy with the result.

Tantan Ramen – Vegan

1 package deep-fried tofu, crumbled
marinade (soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic powder, onion powder)
canola oil
1/3 cup chopped scallion
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1~2 tablespoon tobanjan (豆板醤Doubanjiang: chili bean paste)
700 cc water
1~1.5 tablespoons white vinegar
1~1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
3~4 tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon miso
200 cc soy milk
salt
sesame oil
garlic chili paste
Chinese noodles, cooked
baby bok choy

1. Marinate crumbled deep-fried tofu in the marinade mixture overnight.
2. Cook scallion and ginger in oil. Add the crumbled/marinated tofu and tobanjan. Continue to cook over high heat. Stir constantly. Salt and pepper if needed. Set aside 2 tablespoons.
3. Add water and boil. Turn down to low heat.Skip the foam from the top.
4. Add vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, tahini, miso, milk, and salt. Add soy milk. Heat up the soup.
5. Place cooked noodles in a bowl. Pour the soup over the noodles. Put the tofu/ginger/scallion mixture that was set aside on top. Serve with sesame oil, garlic chili paste, and baby bok choy.

by : Reiko Breakfast, Potato/Squash, Vegan, Vegetarian

Sweet Potato Crusted Vegan Quiche
ヴィーガンキッシュ

There are a lot of things you can make vegan, and then there are still a lot of things that you cannot make vegan.

Quiche is one of the latter, or that’s what I thought.

Until I found this “Can’t tell the difference Quiche” recipe.

The first thing’s first.

The most important ingredient, aka vegan egg maker?, in this case: garbanzo bean flour.

I could have just followed the recipe, but I was craving for my old-time favorite, the sweet potato crust, and decided to make my first vegan quiche in this version.

The idea of sweet potato crust  is from this site. (I’ve made the egg version, before, and I loved it.)

This is what the filling looks like before putting on the crust and bake it.

I added onion, orange peppers, and broccoli to the filling.

And then I placed vegan cheddar cheese on top for the last five minutes of baking.

This vegan quiche recipe with the use of garbanzo bean flour is brilliant.

My husband and I both really enjoyed it.

You would probably ask if we couldn’t tell the difference.

If I was not told anything about how it was made, I probably wouldn’t question.

It’s not the same, but it’s pretty close.

One thing I would say is that it is so tasty that I would eat it as what it is, not as a fake-egg dish anyway!

A few changes I made to the filling recipe are the following…

– I used different veggies (broccoli, onion, orange peppers)
– I used 1.5 cup of vegetable broth instead of 1.5 cup of water and stock cube
– I used Italian herbs in place of sage
– No tomatoes.
– I used olive oil to brush the top.
– I sprinkled vegan cheddar on top and baked for the last five minutes.

by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast, Sandwich, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Breakfast Sandwich
朝食サンドイッチ

When it comes to breakfast, I have never been so sure of what to do.

I know people always say it’s the most important meal of the day, but I know a lot of people skip breakfast, and I’m usually just not hungry when I get up.

But I’ve been doing some reading about breakfast and general meal time, and I’ve found out that breakfast IS important (duh).

So I’ve started making some changes.

1. Eat breakfast. Actually consume more calories from breakfast than from dinner. It’s okay to eat carbs.
2. Eat dinner early.

I’m not a dietitian, and I’m not saying these are good for everyboey, so these are certainly not any type of recommendations.

But my new meal schedule has been going quite well for me, and I do like how my body feels.

This sandwich was something I recently made for breakfast.

Since there are more hours between the time I finish dinner and the time I get up the next day, I now wake up hungry and am so ready to eat!

So this type of sandwich perfectly makes a great breakfast for me.

Toasted English muffins.

Crunchy tempeh (Tempeh was marinated overnight and then baked. This is delicious!).

Scrambled tofu.

Assembly station.

I’m not a big fan of any processed food, but I’ve been becoming a little more relaxed about vegan cheese lately.

I still don’t eat a lot, but I think it’s okay to enjoy it once in a while.

I’ve tried Provolone and Creamy Original, and they were both pretty good.

I don’t remember which one, but I used one of them for this sandwich.

Breakfast is ready!

I like my sandwich with both mayo and ketchup (I happened to have homemade vegan mayo).

I also like to eat fruit for breakfast; actually I eat fruit pretty much throughout the day.

Have a great weekend everyone!