It’s usually known as Sundubu Jigae, spicy Korean tofu soup.
But since this is Halloween, I asked my husband to give this a fun name, and Devil Spit was what he came up with.
Yes, it’s spicy, but it’s delicious at the same time.
We used to go to a Korean restaurant by the University of Minnesota campus that served this soup, but since theirs is not vegan, now I make my own at home.
And you know what?
Homemade one is as good as the restaurant’s, if not better!
My mother-in-law gives me magazines that she is done reading because she knows I like to get food ideas from them.
My bath time is my magazine time as well.
A few nights ago when I was looking at Womansday (June 2020) , I found a recipe for Banana Cream Pie Overnight Oats, and I thought it would be fun to make something similar.
I love the combination of banana and coconut.
So it was a no-brainer for me to go for that version.
I also modified the recipe in order to make it vegan.
It turned out delicious!
It was creamy, coconutty, full of banana flavor.
And no added sugar or any sweetener.
The only sweetness comes from the banana.
Serves 2 — 1 small can (5.6 oz) of coconut milk + about 1/4 cup cashew nuts (pureed together in blender until smooth and creamed); 2 bananas (roughly mashed); vanilla extract; 2 tablespoons chia seeds; 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats a pinch of salt – Combine all well and refrigerate overnight.
I’ve been taking a little break from making sourdough bread.
But yesterday I was in the mood.
The tricky thing about sourdough break making is that it dictates my day (and evening),
I don’t make it often enough, I don’t have a good idea about how long it takes for my starter to be at the peak.
Yesterday it got ready so much faster than I had expected, which messed up my schedule completely!
I ended up staying up late, baking the bread at 2:00 in the morning…
My original plan was to bake it the next day.
But, well, when it’s ready, it’s ready.
I’m not complaining much though.
Look at this final result!
So beautiful.
Cream pasta is another dish that I enjoy on a cold day in Minnesota.
I wanted it creamy, but I didn’t want it to be too heavy.
So this time I decided to use tofu as a thickening agent, instead of flour.
And it worked!
In addition to the past, mushrooms and lentils were added to this delicious creamy white miso sauce.
Completed with a sprinkle of Shichimi spices.
This makes a great dinner to have on a couch and enjoy a lazy evening.
I could just curl up with a blanket and watch a show with this cup in my hand.
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.
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.
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.
I made this sandwich this morning.
This is a slightly altered version of BLT, as you probably guessed.
ATLT…
A: Avocado.
T: Tempeh “bacon”.
L: Lettus.
T: Tomato.
This homemade everything bagel was perfect for this sandwich.
Served with scrambled turmeric tofu, salad, and cashew milk yogurt.
A satisfying and nutritionally balanced meal for breakfast!
Another weekend.
More bread-baking.
This time it was easy to decide what kind of bagels I wanted to make because I found this at Aldi.
I liked that all the bits and pieces mostly stayed on the bagels so that I didn’t have to waste too much during the baking process.
My husband really likes everything bagel, and I have to admit the seasoning does add nice flavor.
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.”
