by : Reiko Asian Food, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Sweets

Afternoon Tea: Asian
和なアフタヌーンティー

It took me a long time to decide to purchase this tiered tray.

But when I made the decision, I told myself to use it.

To use it often, not once a year.

Here, https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2020/05/09/vegan-afternoon-teaヴィーガンアフタヌーンティー/ was my first homemade afternoon tea.

Since my first one was quite traditional, this weekend I wanted to make something a bit different, with an Asian flair.

On the bottom tray you’ll find red and green sushi rolls and smoked V-salmon Temari sushi balls.

On the second tray are mango, red cabbage, v-bacon spring rolls and rice paper egg rolls.

The top tray is a dessert tray, of course!

Strawberry mochi daifuku.

Butter and red bean mini pancake sandwiches.

This is what an individual plate looks like.

Yes, I eat dessert first sometimes.

Since it’s called afternoon tea, I have to have tea (well, I have green tea for almost every meal).

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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!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Mushrooms, Tofu

Banh Trang Lui
ライスペーパーぐるぐる

You find interesting things on Instagram.

When I was casually looking at pictures, something like this caught my eye.

I did some research and found out that this is a Vietnamese dish called “Banh Trang Lui” (I’m missing commas here and there), and I loved how they look.

This was my first time using rice paper.

I eat them all the time.

I was always intimidated by the delicate look.

Well, I don’t know why I waited so long.

Rice paper is so much easier to handle than I anticipated.

And these were fun to make.

I couldn’t find an English recipe, but I did find a recipe written in Vietnamese with pictures.

I got a rough idea from the pictures, but I basically did my own thing.

Inside are garlic, onion, orange peppers, mushrooms, and tofu, all cooked.

These were served with sweet and spicy garlic chili sauce.

YUM!!

These were so good!!

I could have eaten a dozen more skewers.

By the way this is what the rice paper looks like before soaked in water and softened.

I wonder why they put this design on.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta

Kimchi Scallion Yaki-Udon
ねぎキムチ焼きうどん

It’s been a while since I posted a meal like this, because I’ve been baking so much.

But this is the kind of food I make when I cook just for myself.

Sauteed Udon noodles.

Kimchi, cabbage, scallion, scrambled turmeric tofu, and homemade vegan bacon.

The kimchi adds a big flavor, so I just used a little soy sauce and sugar to create umami.

It was topped off with Aosa, Japanese dried seaweed, and chili pepper.

Yum!!

I’m thinking about making kimchi myself.

Recently I’ve been tackling a lot of things that have been on my list, and I feel I’m finally ready to make my own kimchi at this point.

The only thing that makes me hesitant is that my husband is not a fan of kimchi.

But he has eaten some kimchi dishes lately, so I may seriously think about it.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta

Mapo Eggplant Tofu
V麻婆茄子豆腐

Should I make Mapo Tofu?

Or Mapo Eggplant?

Since I couldn’t decide, I made Mapo Eggplant Tofu.

This was spicy and tasty.

Did I say spicy? (lol)

Don’t get me wrong.

I say it in a good way!

All I needed as a side dish was this.

I like mini-sized vegetables, and whenever I find fresh baby bok choy, I have to bring them home.

They are delicious fresh, and they are delicious sautéed.

I usually like Mapo with rice, but this time I enjoyed this over noodles.

By the way, for Mapo I like soft tofu, although I prefer firm one for many dishes.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I used tempeh in place of ground “meat”.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Beans/Lentils

Mung Bean Crepes
ムング豆クレープ

Since I liked the pancakes I made, https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2020/04/10/bindaetteokノクトゥジョン/ so much that I decided to make crepes with mung beans as well.

Okay they are a little thicker for “crepe” but too thin to call it pancake.

So I go with crepe.

Mung bean crepe batter: mung beans (soaked in water for 4 hours; about 2 cups after soaked), 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 1 clove garlic grated, 1 tablespoon canola oil; combine all and puree in mixer. Add water until it achieves the preferred consistency.

Ginger tofu pate, sautéed bean sprouts and king mushrooms, fresh tomato, and cilantro were placed on one side of the crepe.

Served with some fresh vegetables and garlic chili sauce.

Super tasty.

Since the crepe does not contain rice or wheat flour, this dish is satisfying while being wonderfully light.

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by : Reiko Asian Food

Bindaetteok
ノクトゥジョン

Have you ever watched a show called “Kim’s Convenience”?

It’s about Mr. Kim who owns and runs a convenience store in Toronto and his family.

Mr. Kim and his wife are from South Korea, and their adult kids were born in Canada.

I don’t share exactly the same background with them, but there are still so many things that they say or do that make me chuckle.

One episode we just watched a few nights ago was about Bindaetteok.

Their daughter, Janet, makes Korean pancakes “Bindaetteok” using a recipe she found online instead of her mother’s recipe

Her dad tries and loves it, but of course he hides that from his wife.

Eventually Janet’s mom tries it herself, realizes that it’s better than hers, and tries to get the recipe from Janet without admitting it’s better than hers or looking defeated.

Well, the scene was funny, but I quickly got interested in this dish itself.

I did a little research and decided to try making some.

They turned out great.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the batter made of pureed mung beans, but they were delicious!!

I mostly followed https://www.koreanbapsang.com/nokdujeon-savory-mung-bean-pancakes/ ‘s recipe.

I used sautéed king mushrooms in place of pork.

I will definitely make them again.

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by : Reiko Asian Food

Veggie Pot Stickers
ベジ餃子

I’ve been trying to perfect my vegan pot stickers for a while.

For the filling, I’ve tried different things, like various veggies, mushrooms, and tofu…

I think this one may be the best I’ve ever made.

One new thing I tried this time was clear noodle.

I got the idea from a ramen shop in Kyoto where we had the best pot stickers.

I’ve never thought about putting noodles in pot stickers, but it works!

Another thing I added to my filling this time was this.

I found it at the local Asian market, and the label said “garlic flower.”

I believe it’s garlic chive; well it certainly tasted like one.

Filling: salted cabbage (excess liquid removed), onion (microwaved), clear noodles (cooked), garlic (grated), ginger (grated), garlic chive, soy sauce, corn starch

The wrappers I got from the Asian market were so thick!

The thickest I’ve ever seen.

Put them on the griddle like soldiers.

Perfectly browned.

I was not sure about the thick wrappers, but they turned out great.

We really liked the nice chewy texture.

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