by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta

Ginger Ankake Udon
生姜あんかけうどん

Udon noodle soups is a great meal on a cold winter day.

Let me tell you, this year Minnesota mostly skipped autumn, and now we are definitely in winter even though it’s still October.

So this dish was absolutely needed.

Thick and chewy Udon noodles and garlic chives were served in thick ginger ground Koya (freeze-dried) tofu soup.

Oh, and it was topped off with a vegan yolk.

Well, it tasted as good as it looked.

One of my favorite bowls.

Made by a local potter.

He is not Japanese, but this particular bowl looks so organic and “wabi-sabi” to me.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Mushrooms

Nagaimo Okonomiyaki
長芋お好み焼き

I didn’t have a plan to make Okonomiyaki, but…

I found this beautiful “Nagaimo” at the Asian grocery store, and that reminded me of the Okonomiyaki, or Japanese savory pancake, my mother used to make.

My mother (well, actually it was my dad’s job for some reason!) would grate Nagaimo and add it to the Okonomiyaki batter generously.

So I did the same.

It makes the texture softer, less floury.

Since I don’t use meat or seafood, my go-to ingredient for my Okonomiyaki is mushroom.

I used these from the same Asian grocery store.

These Asian mushrooms have the perfect texture for it.

Also added to the batter were cabbage, garlic chives, scallion, and also julienned Nagaimo.

Tasty!!

I like to serve my Okonomiyaki with red ginger.

It’s a popular topping, and you can buy it at many Asian stores.

But I don’t like that most of them are colored with artificial red color, so I quickly made mine by soaking ginger in the liquid from the jar of pickled beets.

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by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast

Soy Milk Silky Shokupan
豆乳絹食パン

I’ve been going back and forth between water and soy milk in pursuit of the best Shokupan.

I thought I decided to go with water last time, but I thought I would try one more time using soy milk before I completely get rid of the idea.

And now I’m again undecided because this milk shokupan turned out awesome.

Super soft and silky.

Exactly what I want in my Shokupan.

BUT at the same time the texture is slightly different from the one made with water.

It’s hard to precisely describe the difference without a side-by-side comparison.

Bus as my trusting foodie friend pointed out not long ago, the water version seems a little more “relaxed” than the milk version.

It doesn’t mean which is better or worse.

At this point I just have to accept the fact that they are slightly different from one another, but they are BOTH great.

I was having craving for raisin shokupan.

My husband is not a big fan of raisin, so I just put them in half of the loaf.

This is the half with raisins.

I soak them in warm water (this time rum) for 10 minutes before adding them to the dough.

I like to do this so that the raisins become plump and juicy.

Love having Shokupan for breakfast.

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Japanese Hotcake
昭和のホットケーキ

Hotcake is a Japanese style pancake.

This is the kind of pancake I grew up with.

The big difference between Japanese hotcake and American style pancake is thickness and texture.

Hotcake is typically quite thick.

It’s soft but more dense, not as fluffy as American pancake.

This is my first time making hotcake.

When I lived in Japan, my mother always made it for me, and since I came to the U.S., we’ve always had “pancakes.”

This morning I had this strong craving for hotcake, and my first hotcake turned out great!

So good!!

From now on we are going to alternate between “pancake” and “hotcake.”

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Tofu Nugget Ginger Teriyaki Rice Bowl
豆腐ナゲット生姜照り焼き丼

Who like Teriyaki?

Well, I do, and I know there are a lot of people who like this sweet sauce.

No wonder it’s a popular Asian flavor in the U.S.

This dish may be a good one to introduce people who are not familiar with Asian food to.

Homemade tofu nuggets.

I made quite a bit and froze them.

They are so easy to use because they can be easily thawed and warmed in a microwave while keeping the right texture and moistness inside.

White rice.

Tofu nuggets.

A vegan egg.

Ginger teriyaki glaze.

Delicious!!

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by : Reiko Bread, Leaf Vegetables

Pirozhki
ピロシキ

Wow, it’s been such a long time since the last time I had pirozhki.

I was probably 8?

My mother used to make them when I was little.

I almost forgot about its existence until recently I happened to see someone’s picture of pirozhki.

It’s a kind of Russian (if I’m not mistaken) bread stuffed with vegetables, meat, eggs, or jam.

I think my mother learned how to make it when she was taking bread-baking classes (she used to take so many different classes when I was little, and she was always so good at everything!).

It’s not a hugely popular bread in Japan, but many people do know about it.

Unfortunately it’s not known well at all in the U.S.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard pirozhki since I came to the U.S.

My mother deep-fried her pirozhki, but I recently learned (when I did a little research about this bread) that in Russia fried and baked versions are both equally popular.

So I decided to bake mine.

My mother used to stuff her pirozhki heavily with meat and some vegetables, but I decided to go with all veggies (garlic, onion, cabbage) and spices (caraway and coriander).

This turned out great!

The bread is soft and the simple filling was very flavorful.

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