Everyone loves BLT sandwich.
And we love our TLT sandwich.
The tempeh was marinated and then baked/broiled until crispy.
The “T” is for the tempeh.
It’s delicious, and let me tell you I do NOT miss “B”.
Isn’t it just beautiful?!
For this sandwich I made homemade vegan mayo myself too.
We are not big mayo fans, but we do enjoy a little bit (or not so little!) of it in our sandwiches.
Happy Friday and have a great weekend everyone!
When we found Vegan East who makes vegan cakes, we (I (lol)) thought it would be perfect to order one for my birthday, and Terry kindly ordered for me.
I was so happy that they offer Matcha cake as one of their options.
The cake was delicious!
It has the perfect sweetness (many cakes in the U.S. are too sweet for me).
The owner was very accommodating and she patiently listened to how we would like it to be decorated.
The cake was so elegant, just the way I wanted, or better!
This weekend turned out to be a very sweet one for us.
When we found out Totally Baked Donuts was having a pop up shop at Eureka Compass, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try it.
We got the following six flavors: OMG! Chocolate; Maple with Sea Salt & Cashews; Pumpkin; Gingerbread Ma’am; Lemon Hempseed; Jalapeno Cheese.
All were good, but our favorites were OMG! Chocolate, Maple with Sea Salt & Cashews, and Lemon Hempseed.
I am so excited to see vegan sweets are becoming more and more available in the Twin Cities!
Here is another dish I made using the Kuruma-Bu Katsu.
This is called Katsu-Don, which means Katsu (something breaded and deep-fried) on rice served in a bowl.
The Katsu is usually paired with onions and softly cooked eggs in soy sauce-based sweet broth.
In my version, the eggs were substituted with silken tofu and soy milk.
I haven’t had Katsu-Don for a long time but this was absolutely delicious!!
Just how I remembered.
Since the Kuruma-Bu Katsu was such a great hit that I decided to use it for a few more dishes.
Katsu Curry is a popular dish in Japan.
It is basically a bowl of rice, Japanese style curry (it’s a bit thicker and has the stew-like texture) and Katsu.
The crunchy Kuruma-Bu Katsu goes well with the curry.
Happy Tuesday everyone.
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.
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!
