by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Bergamot Tea Cinnamon Rolls
ベルガモット紅茶風味シナモンロール

There is something so satisfying about baking on the weekend.

It was a bit cloudy last Saturday, and I didn’t feel like going out.

So, it turned out to be a perfect day for me to stay in and spend some time in the kitchen.

There was a cinnamon roll recipe I wanted to try, but I also wanted to add some interesting flavor.

So when I found this at my tea station, I knew this would be a fun project.

I ground the tea in my mill and generously added it to the dough.

They turned out great!

The recipe is a Japanese recipe, and the recipe creator call it “Starbucks” Cinnamon Roll Copycat.

Apparently, the cinnamon rolls sold at Starbucks in Japan look like these.

These are baked in the muffin pan, so they are smaller than what is expected in the U.S., and also has a nice height.

I actually really liked their size and shape.

I am particular about the amount of icing on my cinnamon roll.

I don’t want too much or too little.

A good thing about making your own is that you can adjust these things.

They look so good!

I was ecstatic about the result.

I like my cinnamon rolls with black coffee.

I don’t drink a lot of coffee, probably less than once a week.

So whenever I do have coffee, it makes any occasion special.

Time to taste!

It was perfectly soft, and perfectly delicious!

I used this recipe (Japanese) as a base.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsJFmglS5HN/?img_index=1

I made a few changes to the ingredients (milk -> soy milk; butter -> vegan butter; cake flour/bread flour -> all-purpose flour; honey -> maple syrup).

These freeze well and get thawed well in a microwave oven.

I will definitely make these again for sure.

Because of the smaller size I can enjoy it for my 3 o’clock snack or even an after-dinner snack.

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by : Reiko Eating Out

July 2023 Restaurants No.2
２０２３年７月レストラン記No.2

One of my favorite neighborhood cafes.

It’s actually a restaurant/bar/coffee shop.

It’s very spacious but a comfortable place.

I had iced Chai.

Their coffee is very good too.

https://lostfoxlowertown.com/

This is one of our favorite places to go for lunch.

This time we went to celebrate my husband’s July birthday.

It’s called the Market at Malcolm Yards.

https://malcolmyards.market/

There are eight different vendors inside, but Advellum is our go-to place.

https://advellumvegetableeatery.com/

This is one of the best vegan burgers I’ve ever had.

Their Miso, wild rice, mushroom burger is so good.

It’s served with yummy Napa cabbage coleslaw.

Herbivorous Butcher’s vegan BBQ ribs.

(My husband ordered, and he liked it. I didn’t try.)

Slammin Salmon.

Grilled Salmon, Carrot-Tahini Puree, Kale, Grilled Peppers, Sweet Potatoes, Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette

Apparently not vegan, but it was a nice pretty dish.

All vegan crepe and ice cream shop in Minneapolis.

https://www.crepeandspoon.com/

We went there for a dessert after his birthday meal.

They have a lot of interesting flavors, but I always end up with this one, Ube.

It’s delicious!

It should be noted that they are closing after this season, though.

Sadly…

Hi Flora! is a newly opened all vegan restaurant, owned by the creator of Root to Rise, Heather.

https://www.hiflora.restaurant/

The decor is so beautiful, and the whole space is nice and airy.

Their drink menu is large.

It’s an alcohol-free establishment, but they serve THC drinks.

Interesting, right?

We didn’t try their drinks, but they looked popular (everyone else at the restaurant appeared to be enjoying their drinks).

They have a lot of small plates, and it’s fun to order several and share.

Hi! Quesadilla.

Shroomy Shawarma.

We were initially planning to order one more dish after these, but we were full.

They now serve brunch on weekends.

So, I would like to come back for that next time.

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by : Reiko Sweets

2023 Hubby’s Birthday Cake
2023年夫の誕生日ケーキ

My husband has a birthday in the middle of July.

I offer buying a birthday cake from a professional baker, but he says he wants me to make one, which makes me happy.

He is lucky to have his birthday this time of the year because there are a lot of beautiful produce available, especially in my mother-in-law’s backyard.

I enjoy showcasing them on his cake.

I’m so grateful that my mother-in-law always invites me to pick her red currants.

We pick them together, but she is so much faster than I am and lets me take some of what she picked.

They are so pretty.

Look like jewelry!

They are easy to remove from the stem when frozen.

This time I removed the seeds because my husband and I both like our jam smooth, without seeds.

Currants have a lot of seeds.

The ruby color is amazing, and it tastes absolutely delicious, perfectly sweet and tart.

It turned out to be a bit less thick than I expected, but it’s okay.

I also got something else from her garden I wanted to use for his cake.

Freshly harvested rhubarb!

By the way, their leaves are huge!!

Rhubarb ribbons are what I wanted to try making for the first time.

Peel the rhubarb into thin strips.

Cook them at a low temperature.

Sprinkle sugar.

I’ve seen completely dried version, but these stay soft after cooked.

If interested, check out Carleigh’s post ↓ .

https://www.instagram.com/p/CuP4mkLp5_B/

There are a lot of vegan cake recipe out there, but this has been my (and my husband’s) favorite so far.

https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-lemon-cake/

It does not require any special ingredients, and it’s so easy to make.

It’s a very moist cake, which we love.

Making the cake sponge is an easy part.

But I struggle to come up with an idea of what to serve the cake with.

I’m not a huge traditional frosting fan as it tends to be a bit too sweet for me, so I’ve been experimenting with other options lately.

This time I decided to make something similar to diplomat cream, but a vegan version.

I made my pastry (custard) cream first and then mixed it with coconut cream.

It turned out great!

Smooth, creamy, and delicious!

I made it vanilla flavored and carefully controlled the sweetness.

I used the recipe on this page to make vegan custard/pastry cream.

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/recipes-ive-tried-and-liked/

I kept the decoration simple as usual.

I like my cake to look rustic.

The frozen red currants looked so pretty on the cake.

Just in case if you were wondering what happened to the sugared rhubarb ribbons.

I made roses with them!

Yes, you can eat them, and they are tasty!

And no, I didn’t forget about the currant jam either.

I drizzled the jam on the serving plate.

It was mainly for the look, but it turned out that the tartness of the jam went so well with the vanilla cream.

He loved the cake!

We are planning to have my mother-in-law over today to celebrate his birthday together.

I hope she likes the cake!

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by : Reiko Products, Restaurants

July 2023 Food from Restaurants/Stores
2023年7月レストランご飯・市販品

We had takeout from http://www.himalayanmomo.com/ Himalayan Restaurant when we had a friend over.

We had vegetable momos and the eggplant dish.

We go there because of their momos.

They are so good.

Often times we just get momos. That’s it.

If I want something else, I get their eggplant dish, but this time it was not as good as usual unfortunately.

The eggplant was overcooked and almost dissolved, which was disappointing.

This is Vegan Breakfast Hash at Keys Cafe and Bakery on Robert Street downtown St. Paul.

They have many locations around the Twin Cities, but you should be careful because they have different menus from one location to another.

This is pretty much the only vegan option at the restaurant, but we like it because it has really everything you want for breakfast.

Here is the menu of this location.

https://keyscafe.com/restaurants/st-paul-robert/#menu

Vegan East is a local vegan bakery.

They started their business out of their own home, and now they have two store locations in Minneapolis.

I used to go to their house to get a cake!

I’m so happy for their success.

My husband had this lemon blueberry cupcake (gluten free).

I enjoyed this Pina Colada cupcake.

Both were delicious!

Great place to get cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, ice cream sandwiches, or order a whole cake for a special occasion.

https://www.veganeast.com/

And here is Herbivorous Butcher that every vegan in the Twin Cities knows!

They sell vegan meat, vegan cheese, and vegan sandwiches (and some other meals).

Their shop is really something unique, and everyone, vegan or not, should visit it if they are in the Twin Cities.

This is our favorite thing at this shop, Italian Cold Cut Sandwich.

(This is a half of the sandwich ↑）

The only complaint is that the whole is a bit too much, and a half is a little too small for me…

I don’t eat a lot of “fake” meat or “fake” cheese, but I do get craving for this sandwich once in a while, and this is DELICIOUS!

https://www.theherbivorousbutcher.com/

We didn’t know anything about this little popup market in a small town, in the Lino lakes area.

We happened to be in the area and saw this lady with a sign, saying Gluten Free + Vegan.

It was so unexpected, and we were curious to see what she had.

We got this Lavender Cookie.

We also had this Cherry, Lemon, Berry crumble cake.

They were both delicious!

I like discovering small local vegan creators.

https://www.facebook.com/violetsglutenfree/

I used to go to Uptown all the time, but it has been a while since last time I was in that area.

We went kayaking at Bde Maka Ska Lake, and after that we decided to have lunch nearby.

I heard about this place offering vegan dishes, and we decided to try it for the first time.

This restaurant was spacious.

They had nice outdoor space in addition to the front area.

My husband had red curry with mock duck and a vegetable spring roll.

I had Pad Thai with mock duck and a vegetable spring roll.

They were both lunch special (one entree and one appetizer) and very reasonable (I believe it was $13 each).

My pad Thai was good, but I wasn’t too impressed.

The flavor was not what I expected for Pad Thai.

It tasted maybe a bit Americanized?

The spring roll was okay, but pretty basic.

I would also have preferred vinegar-based dipping sauce.

My husband liked his curry.

https://www.amazingthailandusa.com/

Now this is something I found at Trader Joe’s, and we decided to try for the first time.

There were twelve in the box!

This was small but TASTY!

I will definitely buy this again.

The problem (or not) was that I can’t stop eating just one.

I have to have at least two!

The chocolate at the bottom of the cone is my favorite part.

This is from Trader Joe’s too, and we like it so much that we buy it repeatedly.

You are supposed to add water, eggs, and oil or butter to the mix.

I just use flax egg (flax seed meal + water) in place of eggs to keep it vegan.

It works just fine.

These are so good!

What I like the most about it is its texture.

There is a reason they call it “mochi”.

It’s super chewy, and I LOVE it.

I hope you enjoyed this post!

I’m thinking of adding this type of post mixed in with my home-cooked food going forward. 🙂

I’m excited to share more local plant-based food/restaurants.

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by : Reiko Bread

Japanese Melon Bread
青いメロンパン

Japanese Melon Bread consists of soft bread and a thin crust layer of cookie on top/around.

This time I decided to make the cookie blue by using this powder.

You don’t have to, but it’s fun.

It’s called “melon” bread because the lines on the top imitate the lines on the skin surface of the muskmelon, the popular type of melon in Japan.

My mother adds melon flavor by using melon extract, but people make it with other flavors, too.

My mother puts raisins in the bread, and I wanted to do the same.

My husband is not a big fan of raisin, so I decided to use dry cranberries.

The bread turned out great!

It’s been a while since my last post.

To tell the truth, I’ve been struggling to find the purpose of my blog.

I now post pictures and videos on Instagram, not only of food but also of some of my life.

I’m not sure at this time, but I may close my blog, if I cannot figure out how this can provide a different content that is still interesting to the readers.

Check out my Instagram page.

I’ve recently started posting reels as well.

https://www.instagram.com/culinarytribune/

Thank you!

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Cocoa Pancake with Yo-Coco Cream and Cherries
ココアパンケーキ、ヨーココクリームとチェリーのせ

It was Friday, but I was home, so I decided to make pancakes for lunch.

I went to get this again.

This plant-based yogurt is so good.

You can see the vanilla beans.

This is a mixture of the yogurt, coconut cream, and sugar.

Delicious!!

This was a meal for lunch, so I served salad along with the pancakes.

My husband’s homemade peanut butter dressing.

It was good, but I also learned that the pancakes should be cool (not warm) so that the cream won’t melt!

Happy Friday!


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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Vegan Fish

Vegan Fried “Oyster” Japanese-Style Lunch ヴィーガン”牡蛎”フライ定食風

I’m not a big fan of “fake” food, especially those store-bought processed ones.

On the other hand, I do enjoy some of the homemade “fake” food made from scratch.

This vegan fried “oyster” is one of my favorites.

They were served with Japanese Worcestershire sauce and tartar sauce.

They are so good!

This was the main dish of our lunch.

Others included on the tray were Japanese rice, onion-sweet potato miso soup, roasted veggies, soy sauce koji cucumber, and green tea.

The roasted peppers and zucchini were topped off with pecan Bolognese sauce.

We had friends over for dinner last week, and they surprised us by bringing this bag of rice!

I got so excited because this was the brand I had wanted to try for a while.

It’s called “Yumepirika”, and many Japanese people living in the U.S. agree that this is the best (or one of the best) Japanese rice available in the U.S.

The rice was very good.

My friend told me that the good flavor remains even when it cools down, so you don’t have to warm it up.

Can you tell how crunchy they are?

Panko crumbs work wonders.

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by : Reiko Sweets

Strawberry Cinnamon Crumble Bars
苺シナモン・クランブルバー

We had some guests over the other day.

I’ve never met them before, and I had no idea what kind of sweets they like.

Actually, I had no clue if they eat sweets.

So I decided to make two kinds so that if they do not like one, there will be at least one other option.

One was the rhubarb brownies (previous post), and this was the other option.

Since the other one was chocolate/cocoa-based, I decided to make something fruity.

I love my bars with a lot of crumbs!

It turned out beatuiful!

Buttery bottom, lovely strawberry filling, and cinnamon crumbs on top.

I loved them when they were cold.!

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by : Reiko Sweets

Rhubarb Brownies
ルバーブブラウニー

There is something special about rhubarb.

It’s one of the first things you see growing after a long winter in Minnesota, so it almost represents the beginning of a beautiful spring/summer.

And it’s so season-specific, and this is the only time you see it fresh, which makes this extra special.

Also, I love that my mother-in-law and I can spend time together in her backyard for havesting.

So when I got my this year’s first rhubarb from my mother-in-law’s backyard, I made it into jam.

It’s been fun to use the jam in different things, but this time I decided to add it to brownies.

It may sound strange, but the tartness from the rhubarb was great in these fudgy brownies.

I used this recipe as the base.

https://thebigmansworld.com/vegan-brownies/

I liked to bake mine for about 35 minutes (I tend to like “chewy” better vs. “fudgy” texture).

I thought it was a bit too sweet, but everyone else loved it.

My other favorite vegan brownies recipe is this one.

https://eatwithclarity.com/homemade-vegan-brownies/

You can see how they turned out in this post.

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2023/03/19/very-good-brownies-vegan

Rhubarb has begun appearing at the local farmers market as well.

Looking for ideas on how to enjoy rhubarb?

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/06/06/vegan-grilled-cheese-with-tempeh-and-ginger-rhubarb-jam

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2021/05/16/rhubarb-pickles

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/06/12/rhubarb-thyme-scones

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2020/05/30/ginger-rhubarb-banana-cake

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2019/05/30/soy-bbq-rhubarb-coleslaw-sandwich

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta

Penne Rigate with Creamy Pepper Sauce
ペンネパスタ、パプリカソース和え

It’s been a busy week.

And for some reason I ran out of fresh veggies quickly this week, so I had to rely on frozen vegetables for a few days.

I was able to finally go grocery shopping yesterday, so tonight I enjoyed cooking the veggies I had just bought.

I didn’t have a concrete plan on how to make the sauce, but it turned out great.

My husband said it was the best pasta sauce I’ve ever made.

Creamy pepper sauce: sauteed garlic (4 cloves), half onion, and 2 orange peppers, about 1/4 cup cashew nuts, sundried tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, soy milk, soy sauce Koji

The soy sauce Koji is a Umami powerhouse and did an awesome job in this sauce too.

I’ve recently made soy sauce Koji, and I’m loving it.

I’m hoping to have a whole post to talk about it soon.

The pasta was served with corn and sauteed asparagus.

No meat.

No fish.

But it was so satisfying.

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