Vegans and plant-eaters.
Who is tired of “subtraction” vegan dishes?
Well, I am.
You go to a restaurant.
Find a dish that says “vegan upon request” and ask about it.
Your server tells you it’s “no problem” to make the dish vegan.
They will just remove this, this, this, and that.
So you’ll end up with something really bland.
Once in a while, the server will go to the kitchen to talk to the chef, and he may offer “substitution.”
Avocado for cheese, or sautéed mushrooms for bacon.
Unfortunately, this happens rarely, and often times I have to initiate the process and make substitution suggestions.
And interestingly, I often get charged for the “extra,” like one vegan item I got in place of five nonvegan items.
The other day I had craving for bibimbap.
I found a restaurant whose website says they accommodate vegans.
When we asked them to make their tofu bibimbap vegan, our server said “no problem.”
He would just take the egg out.
I was not too happy about it, but what could I do at that point.
I was hungry, and when our food came, our bibimbap had this beautifully cooked egg on top.
We had to remind our server that we do not eat eggs, he apologized fiercely and took the dish back to the kitchen.
When he came back, our bibimbap had an empty spot in the middle.
It just looked sad.
That’s when I decided to tell myself, “no more subtraction.”
Each ingredient has a role in the resulting dish.
Egg is an important component of bibimbap, and I simply didn’t want my bibimbap “sans egg.”
It took me a while to come up with this idea, but I decided to try grated naga-imo.
Naga-imo is not a new food to this Japanese girl.
It has a very unique sticky texture, but the flavor is very mild.
I thought this will give the rich creamy component I was looking for.
In this bowl over the rice you’ll find tofu, portobello mushrooms, sesame carrots, sprouts, and zucchini.
It was served with grated naga-imo and gochujang on top.
Naga-imo has a very unique texture and if you’re not familiar with it or you are not a fan of sticky food in general, this may not be for you.
But to me this was DELICIOUS!
Loved the creamy naga-imo mixed together with everything else.
No more subtraction!! 🙂
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