by : Reiko Mushroom, Sandwich, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tofu Portabella Banh Mi
豆腐きのこバインミー

I like Banh Mi but it’s not very easy to find a good one.

However, the Asian grocery store 10 minute from our house recently opened a deli inside the store, and I found their Banh Mi quite tasty.

The one reason I was not 100% satisfied was that they only serve the meat version.

So I decided to make a plant-based Banh Mi myself.

Inside my plant-based Banh Mi you’ll find Renkon lotus Cashew pate, garlic tofu, roasted portabello, pickled radish and carrot, jalapeno slices, and cilantro.

The sandwich was absolutely delicious.

Love the freshness of all the veggies, but more than anything, the combination of everything is so amazing.

I just recently found these adorable wood crates and tray at Target for amazing prices.

The Farmers Market logo is just awesome.

When you pack the sandwich with fresh fruit like this in the crate and bring it to a park with lemonade, it can be a perfect picnic lunch, don’t you think?

Tofu Portabella Banh Mi – This is rather a note for myself. The amount of each ingredient should be adjusted and modified to your liking.

4 soft crust buns for sandwich
Renkon lotus cashew pate
– about 1 cup sliced Renkon lotus braised in soy sauce(2 parts), maple syrup(2 parts), white vinegar(1 part), salt
– about 1/2~1 cup cashew nuts soaked in hot water and rinsed
– 3 cloves garlic, cooked in boiling water until cooked through
– about 1/2 tablespoon mustard
– about 1/2~1 teaspoon lemon juice
– salt
– sugar
– water in which garlic was cooked
Garlic tofu
– 1 package fried tofu, thinly sliced
– canola oil
– 2~3 tablespoons soy sauce
– 2~3 tablespoons maple syrup
– garlic powder
– salt and pepper
Roasted portabella
– 3~4 portabella mushrooms (roasted with olive oil/salt/pepper at 400F for about 20 minutes, then sliced)
Lightly pickled radish and carrot
– 1/2~1 cup julienned radishes
– 1/2~1 cup julienned carrots
– about 2 tablespoons sugar
– about 2 tablespoons white vinegar
– salt
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into sticks
A few jalapeno slices
Cilantro

1. Make pate. Combine all the ingredients. Use a band blender and puree until smooth. Add water where garlic was cooked 2 table spoons at a time until it achieves the preferred texture.
2. Cook tofu in oil. Add soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook until the sauce coats the tofu.
3. Make pickles. Combine sugar, vinegar, and salt. Add vegetables. Let them pickled for about 15 minutes.
4. Assemble sandwiches. Slice the buns. Spread the pate. Place the tofu, the portabella, and the veggies.

by : Reiko Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tofu Salad
冷奴サラダ

Soft or firm, which do you prefer?

I like both, but for a salad like this, I typically go for the soft tofu.

It’s coming toward the end of the week, and I’m beginning to clean the veggie section of our fridge.

So, I cut up the veggies I find, and I open a can of beet (one of a few canned vegetables I like to keep in my pantry).

Isn’t it beautiful?

On this plate are soft tofu, avocado, beet, radish, kohlrabi, carrots, cauliflower, and scallion.

The salad was served with wasabi maple soy dressing.

Some of the vegetables used for the salad were from the local farmers market.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Tofu Salad

1/2 package soft tofu, sliced
vegetables (for this salad I used avocado, beet, kohlrabi, radish, carrot, cauliflower, scallion)
wasabi maple soy dressing
– 1 tablespoon soy sauce
– 1 tablespoon maple syrup
– 1/2~1 tablespoon white vinegar
– 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
– a few drops sesame oil
– salt and pepper

1. Make dressing. Combine and mix well all the ingredients.
2. Serve sliced tofu and vegetables with the dressing.

by : Reiko Mushroom, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

King Mushroom Tako-Yaki
エリンギたこ焼き

This is one of the things I bought in Japan and brought back to the U.S.

Do you know what this is for?

This is a Tako-Yaki pan.

Tako-yaki is savory ball snack with octopus (tako in Japanese) pieces inside.

I was thinking about buying a tako-yaki pan for a while, and this time I decided to finally get one.

There are different types of tako-yaki pans, but I chose this one because this pan evenly heats up unlike the tabletop ones, and also that it works on the electric stove.

The pan comes with a brush and a pick.

I used king mushrooms instead of octopus, mostly because it’s hard to find fresh octopus in Minnesota but also because I do prefer the texture and taste of king mushrooms.

The other must-haves for my “tako”-yaki are scallion and red ginger.

But you can basically add anything you like…

I was warned that the first batch typically sticks to the pan when the pan is brand new, and mine certainly did that…

But I was somewhat successful at the second try.

The only error made was that the heat was too high and the outside got a bit too dark.

You can buy pre-made tako-yaki mix, but I decided to make my own batter, because I wanted to make mine vegan.

Considering that I put it together without using any specific recipes, I think it turned out better than expected, but it definitely needs some improvement.

I will list what I used to make this “tako”-yaki batter below, but it is a note for myself. Do not try this at home (lol).

“Tako”-yaki batter: 325g tofu (microwaved for one minute); 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (probably needs more next time); 2 tablespoons corn starch; 2 teaspoons baking powder (maybe a bit less next time), 1~2 cups? (not remember exactly how much) water with 1~2 tablespoons Shio-kombu soaked (removed), soy sauce, mirin

by : Reiko Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Italian “To-sage” Pizza
イタリアン豆腐ソーセージピザ

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Italian “To-sage”.

Yep, you guessed it.

Italian sausage made of tofu.

It’s not only possible but also tasty!

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It takes a few steps to make Italian “To-sauge”

First I make Italian sausage flavored tofu “meatballs”.

Then I roughly crumblemi them into smaller pieces and fry them until crispy.

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This is what it looks like as the final result.

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Mise en place for my Italian “To-sage” Pizza.

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This is what it looked like when just out of the oven.

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Served with cashew cheese.

Italian To-Sage

1 package extra firm tofu, microwaved for a minute and extra water is removed
1 cup sliced, boiled, and then chopped king mushroom
spices (ground fennel seeds, Italian herb mix, paprika, crushed red pepper, black pepper)
a pinch sugar
salt
corn starch
canola oil

1. Mash tofu with a masher.
2. Add chopped mushroom, spices, sugar, and salt. Mix well.
3. Add corn starch 2 tablespoons at a time until the mixture is firm enough to be formed into balls.
4. Make balls.
5. Cook them in oil until the outside is browned. Remove from the pan.
6. Add more oil to the pan. Roughly crumble the balls and put them back to the pan and sautee until browned and crispy.

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Happy Friday everyone!

by : Reiko Bento/Lunch Box, Pasta/Noodle/Rice, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Quad-Color Bento
四色弁当

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Yes, it’s okay to make your bento pretty.

To make a bento like this you place rice at the bottom and add different colored food on top.

This is a popular way to make a bento in Japan.

It’s typically called a tri-color bento because you usually have three different colors, but then I realized that mine had four colors!

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For this bento I had shiso tofu, yuzu radish, sugar snap peas, and sesame carrots.

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Making this bento feels like painting a picture.

I really enjoy this process.

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Pretty, healthy, and tasty.

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If you don’t have a bento box, you can still enjoy this meal in a bowl like this.

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I usually make some extra.

These come in handy for the rest of the week, as they can be used for a lot of different things like salad, stir-fry, soup, fried rice, etc.

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

Tofu Burgers
豆腐バーガー

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I love tofu burgers.

These are a smaller version, and they look adorable.

Perfect for lunch or snack.

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First, I bake buns.

This is me impatiently waiting for buns to be ready.

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So happy with the result.

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And I make tofu burgers.

These are so easy to make, yet, delicious!!

I like tofu burgers better compared to bean-based ones, because tofu burgers (at least this one) tend to have the texture that I prefer; bean burgers tend to be a bit too mushy to me.

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These burgers are tasty as they are, but this time I coated them with Sriracha teriyaki sauce. Yum.

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And then I slice the veggies I want in our burger.

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These were so good.

Definitely one of my favorite sandwiches to make and share with my hubby.

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You can probably get a better idea of how small these burgers are in this picture.

Well, just to let you know Terry was working on his car right before lunch, so he looks like a hard-working man; and he is!

Tofu Burger

1 bun (I used homemade one)
tofu burger (make 8~10 small burgers)
– 1 package extra firm tofu, microwaved for about one minute and excess liquid was removed, and then mashed
– 1/2 cup mini frozen Lima beans, thawed and chopped
– corn starch
– sugar
– salt and pepper
– chopped scallion
canola oil
Sriracha teriyaki sauce
– 1/3 cup cane sugar
– 1/3 cup soy sauce
– a few drops Sriracha sauce
sweet mustard sauce (Sorry no measurements. Taste frequently to get the right balance you like.)
– tahini
– Dijon mustard
– sugar
– white vinegar
tomato slices
onion slices
Shiso (Japanese basil leaves)

1. Make tofu burgers. Combine all the ingredients and make form burgers.
2. Cook tofu burgers with oil, for a few minutes each side, until browned. Remove from the pan.
3. Make Sriracha teriyaki sauce. Add all the ingredients in the pan. Cook and reduce until the sauce it thickened.
4. Put the cooked burgers back to the pan. Coat them with sauce.
5. Make sweet mustard sauce. Mix all the ingredients with a hand blender well until creamy.
6. Assemble.

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