Reiko

Reiko

by : Reiko Sweets

Spiced Baked Chocolate and Chocolate Chip Cookies
スパイス焼きチョコとチョコレートチップクッキー

We had a fun family event outside.

The host cooked burgers for everyone, and everyone was asked to bring a dish to share.

I was going to bring a big salad with spiced and roasted chickpeas and skip sweets.

I’ve been trying really hard not to eat sweets, and the best way for me to avoid extra sugar is not having them around.

But I did initially say I would make chocolate chip cookies, vegan, mostly for my husband to eat at the event, and he looked so disappointed when I told him I changed my mind.

I felt so bad that I got up at 5:45 a.m. the morning of the event to go to the grocery store that opens at 6:00 a.m. to buy chocolate chips.

The cookies turned out great.

Crispy outside and chewy inside.

I had to admit I was glad that I had missed them.

But the best thing was that my husband really enjoyed them.

I always feel bad a little when we go to family gatherings and he cannot eat any sweets when others munch on sugary options after a meal.

I took advantage of this opportunity to try the recipe I had been interested in for a while.

This is a Japanese recipe and they call it “Yaki-Choco” literally means baked chocolate.

Super simple ingredients, chocolate, flour, and corn starch.

I added cinnamon to mine.

The batter was harder than expected, which made it impossible for piping, but they still turned out great.

The texture is delicate, and I really liked it.

They were good when frozen and crunchy too.

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Oat Cinnamon Strawberry Sourdough Waffles
オーツシナモン苺サワードウワッフル

I didn’t post any for a little while because I’ve been busy both with work and private stuff (yes, now I have a little more things to do outside work (lol)).

But I’m still cooking and baking, and there are a lot of pictures to share.

These sourdough waffles were so delicious!

I had a lot of strawberries that weekend, and I added some to the dough and sprinkled the rest on top later.

The cinnamon and strawberry combo is one of my favorites.

Served with homemade vegan ricotta cheese and and maple syrup along with lots of fresh strawberries.

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by : Reiko Bread

Peace Bread
ピースブレッド

When I made the Candy Shop Bread (a few posts back), I was left with extra dough.

So this was how I used it.

I didn’t know what to expect, but I was happy with how it turned out.

Apparently, the pink dough was a bit less than the other two, but the tricolor came together and made this cool design.

I didn’t know what to name it, but the word “peace” came to my mind when I looked at it.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains, Vegan Egg

Enoki Tenshin-Han
えのき天津飯

Tenshin-Han is a Chinese dish popular in Japan.

It’s rice covered with omelet and served with thick sauce.

Tenshin-Han, is what we call this dish, but I’m not sure what Chinese people call it (or if it’s even a Chinese dish) or if it is served at Chinese restaurants in the U.S. and if so, what they call it.

I added a lot of Enoki mushroom, one of my favorite mushrooms.

It has a unique texture, and because of that some love it and others not so much (unfortunately my husband is not a fan of Enoki, so I feel a bit guilty buying them quite regularly; I made sauce without Enoki for him ).

I had craving for this dish, and it made me happy.

So good!

My vegan omelet (main ingredients are tofu and chickpea flour) turned out great too.

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by : Reiko Breakfast

V-Egg Pan Sandwich
V卵フライパンサンドイッチ

I’m not adventurous when it comes to other things, but I am when it’s about food.

When I saw a video showing the egg sandwich hack which has been popping up on Instagram lately, I had to try it myself.

I had all the ingredients ready, and I felt pretty good about it although I was going to make a vegan version.

And then I had a mishap pretty early in the process.

Flipping the egg with the toast turned out to be challenging, as my vegan “egg” was much more fragile.

We (my husband came to rescue) barely managed it.

It was not pretty, but it was rescuable.

I only made one and my husband ate it.

He said it was good.

I may try it again with a few changes.

We like hot sandwiches for breakfast.

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Breakfast Enchilada
朝食エンチラーダ

I had some leftover tortillas in the freezer.

The smallest bag is still a lot for us, and I sometimes let them stay in the freezer too long.

This time, however, I made a mental note to use them soon, and I decided to make enchilada.

I filled the corn tortillas with hash browns, “egg” mousse, and sauteed peppers.

In the morning you don’t want to spend too much time preparing.

Quick and easy is the key.

More sauce and homemade vegan nutty cheese on top.

It was served with black beans and cabbage salad.

Hearty and delicious.

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by : Reiko Asian Food

Curry Tteokbokki
カレートッポギ

I got a bag of Tteokbokki from a Korean grocery store the other day.

I thought I would like it, but what I didn’t know at that time was that I would love it.

My husband is not a big fan of rice cake in general, but he even liked it.

So I was excited to cook it (or eat it) again.

The rice cake doesn’t have strong flavor, so I like to serve it in rich thick sauce/soup.

This time Japanese curry and Hijiki seaweed accompanied it, and it was a good idea.

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by : Reiko Bread

Candy Shop Bread
パステルちぎりパン

I LOVED the Pillowy Pink Bread (a few posts back) so much that I wanted to make something similar again.

Something better.

How fun is it?!

These bright colors were all added naturally.

They are beet juice, turmeric, and spinach.

By the way this is before put in the oven. ↑

This is the “after”, right out of the oven.

I was relieved that the colors stayed.

It was so soft like the pink one I made.

When you handle it, it’s so hard not to mush it.

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by : Reiko Sandwiches, Tempeh

Apple Fig Tempeh Sandwich
林檎いちじくテンペサンドイッチ

We recently had a great sandwich from Herbivorous Butcher the other day.

It had their vegan meat and cheese (of course), but we really enjoyed that they were combined with apple and fig jam.

So I decided to re-create the flavor combination, with tempeh and my homemade vegan cheese.

I had high expectation, and I was not disappointed.

Fig jam is too sweet by itself (for my taste), but it shines when paired with saltiness and bitterness.

Thus, the tempeh, cheese and arugula were the perfect companies in this sandwich.

I will make this again for sure!

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Vegan Meat

Vegan Swedish Meatballs
ヴィーガンスエーデン風ミートボール

My husband and I had a conversation about my car a few months ago.

It’s getting old, and he asked me if I wanted to buy a new car or keep the one I have and put money into it for proper maintenance.

I chose the latter.

Apparently there was a reason he brought it up because he told me there were some issues that needed to be fixed.

So he made an arrangement with his brother, who is great with cars (or anything that moves!), and they worked on my car at his garage yesterday.

My husband told me that he had no idea how many hours it would take to finish what they needed to do when he left the house at 8:30 a.m.

Well, they, my husband, his brother, and their cousin (who joined to help them) worked for 17 hours!

My husband did not come home until close to 5:00 a.m.!

I was speechless.

So grateful to all three of them for their hard work.

Also super impressed that they are so equipped with the right tools and skillful.

So I wanted to make one of my husband’s favorite dishes for lunch today.

Yesterday I secretly made a big batch of vegan meatballs.

I used to make these a lot, but I haven’t for a while lately.

We’ve been buying vegan meatballs at stores, but my husband always liked these homemade ones better.

The dish turned out great, and he loved it!

It’s such a hearty meal, but my vegan version does not have heaviness while being flavorful and satisfying.

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