Reiko

Reiko

by : Reiko Sweets

“Ugly” Vegan Macarons: Raspberry and Lemon
ぶさいくヴィーガンマカロン：ラズベリーとレモン

This is my third time to make vegan macarons.

I used the same recipe every time.

The first two times were successful, but this time something went wrong!

They grew big weird “feet” and some of them ended up with a little nipple.

I almost threw them away.

But they tasted good and the more I looked at them, the more adorable they looked to me.

Two versions: raspberry and lemon flavor.

I’m so proud that I didn’t use artificial coloring paste.

The beautiful pink color was made possible by ground freeze-dried raspberries powder, and the bright yet natural yellow color was created by cumin.

The raspberry macaron cookies were served with raspberry butter cream filling, and the yellow ones with lemon butter cream.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Sweets

Potato Doughnuts
芋ドーナツ

Doughnuts are not the healthiest snack, but we do love them.

I coated the doughnut rings with cardamom sugar, and these holes with cinnamon sugar.

They were both so tasty!

I used purple potatoes for these potato doughnuts, and here is an evidence.

However…

They turned green!

Apparently, the purple color in the potato reacted to other ingredients (baking powder/soda).

This minty green color is not unappetizing, and I actually found it a fun color, although I couldn’t hide my initial disappointment in not seeing the bright purple color inside.

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Breakfast, Mushrooms

Sourdough Biscuits and Gravy
サワードウビスケット＆グレイビー

Since my first sourdough biscuits turned out great (previous post), I knew I wanted to make this dish.

Biscuits and gravy!

I made vegan sausage and mushroom gravy, without traditional roux.

Since there was no flour added to the gravy, it turned out flavorful yet light, which my husband and I really enjoyed.

Served with scrambled tofu and peas.

This was a super enjoyable and satisfying breakfast.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Japanese Food, Soup/Stew

Miso Balls
味噌玉

Don’t they look pretty?

They almost look like chocolate truffles, but they are actually miso balls.

You combine miso and other things and make it into balls.

It’s kind of like instant miso soup.

You just put a ball in a bowl and pour hot water over it.

Voila, you’ll have delicious miso soup in seconds.

You can use any type of miso, but this time I used super dark, called Haccho (left) and white (right) miso.

We use this very dark type of miso in the region where I’m from, but it’s hard to find in the U.S.

So when I saw it at the local Asian market, I was so excited.

Now when it comes to other ingredients, you get to pick what you like in your miso soup.

But you do need to add something like dried fish flakes (for non-vegans) or dried salted seaweed called “Shio-kombu”, something that works as the soup base.

I also like to add some sweetener (e.g., sugar) just to give some “umami.”

Other than that almost anything that typically tastes good when frozen-and-thawed is a good choice.

Easy, right?

↑ I couldn’t wait for them to be frozen, so I tried one right away.

It was so good!

But I did freeze the rest of them for the future use.

Put them in a container and freeze them.

This is how they looked after placed in the freezer for a few hours.

They were still somewhat soft but hard enough to be handled easily and not stick with one another.

Now we can have miso soup without any hassle whenever we want!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Asian Food, Breakfast, Tofu

Breakfast Spring Rolls
朝食生春巻き

I know some people like breakfast food for breakfast, but I don’t mind eating food that istypically not categorized as a breakfast food for breakfast.

When I was still a meat-eater, I was happy to eat food like steak, sushi, and curry in the morning.

So why not having spring rolls, one of my favorite things to eat at Vietnamese restaurants, for breakfast?

Inside the rolls you’ll find romaine lettuce, cucumber, carrots, glass noodles, cilantro, mint, and scrambled tofu.

I need to practice to be able to roll them a little more tightly.

But I think they turned out great for the first try.

The flavors are explosive.

So good!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bread

Turmeric Sourdough Bread
ターメリックサワードウブレッド

Here is my second attempt at baking sourdough bread.

This one is “Number 2a.”

It’s “2a” because I baked another loaf at the same time (so the other one is 2b).

I added turmeric per my hubby’s request, and it definitely shows its color.

I’m still so in love with this rustic look of sourdough.

Now you can really see the beautiful golden color.

I was interested in sourdough bread, and when Tartine bakery published their bread book, I was so close to trying it.

But then it took me almost a decade before I finally made my own sourdough starter.

(I didn’t use Tartine’s instructions for my starter or bread; Ten years ago I was able to look at the book from the libary after waiting for a couple of months, but their instructions werer too long and too overwhelming to me.)

If you are thinking about it, do it.

It’s not as hard as you think, and the whole experience from raising my baby starter to actually baking bread has been so amazing.

Leave a comment