by : Reiko Asian Food, Gluten Free, Tofu

Wonderfully Chewy Boiled Dumplings (vegan)
もっちり米粉水餃子（ヴィーガン）

My husband and I are both big dumpling fans.

I usually opt for fried dumplings (or pot stickers), but this time I was in a mood for the boiled version.

The filling was made of tofu, garlic, ginger, cabbage, onion, and green onion, plus soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and some corn starch.

I’m so proud that I made the wrappers myself, too.

They were made of rice flour, and as a result, you get a really wonderful chewiness when they are cooked.

They were served with a chunky type of sauce (soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds, onion, cilantro).

So tasty!!

This recipe (Japanese) was adapted for the wrappers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqIRQPRgLIR/

Because I used Thai rice flour purchased in the U.S. I had to adjust the amount of water (I needed some extra).

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta, Vegan Egg

Vegan Ramen with Homemade Noodles and Egg
自家製麺でヴィーガンラーメン、プラスヴィーガン卵

I was in the mood for ramen.

When I thought I got everything to make a couple of bowls of ramen, I realized I was out of ramen noodles!

So I decided make noodles myself.

By the way, this is the noodles I usually keep in my pantry.

I get them either at a local Asian grocery store or from Amazon.

I’ve done made this type of noodles before, so I was pretty confident.

But still I was so happy when they turned out well.

For the toppings I chose Ikea ground “meat”.

Ear wood mushrooms (sauteed).

And my homemade vegan egg!

If you have time and do not mind cleaning up the floured kitchen later, I definitely recommend making noodles yourself.

Just like homemade pasta, homemade ramen noodles are sooo good!!

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by : Reiko Air Fryer, Asian Food, Mushrooms

Wood Ear Mushroom Air Fryer Egg Rolls
きくらげ入りエアフライヤーで春巻き

Another idea to use my air fryer came to me.

Egg rolls!

I like egg rolls, but I don’t like using a lot of oil and I don’t like deep-frying in my kithcne either.

So, this was exactly the type of food I should make with my air fryer, but the air fryer solves both problems.

I just happened to find beautiful fresh ear wood mushrooms, and I thought they would be great for my egg roll filling.

The Asian grocery store, United Noodles, carry them, and I love their package.

This is how they look after quickly rinsed.

They have a unique but pleasant texture, and I enjoy them very much.

They don’t have a strong taste themselves, so I like to use them for many Chinese dishes where you use rich strong sauce.

For the filling, along with the ear wood mushrooms, I used carrots, clea noodles, and plant-based ground “meat” from Ikea.

I like many vegan products at Ikea, and this is one of them.

Ready to be cooked!

The air fryer is amazing!

These egg rolls turned out great.

Perfectly crunchy, just like deep-fried, but with much less oil!

I hope you can see how crispy they are from this picture.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Gluten Free, Main Dish

V-Meat and Veggie Jeon (Korean Savory Pancake)
元気もりもりチヂミ

I’ve tried various types of savory pancakes, and at this point I have to admit I like them all (lol).

This Korean version is packed with a lot of vegan meat (Next Meats) and veggies.

Like I need cabbage for the Japanese version, for the Korean version I have to have “nira”.

I was surprised to find it at the local Asian grocery store.

It’s got wonderful garlicky flavor.

I would strongly recommend if you’ve never tried it.

As you can see, the batter is very thin.

I made the batter with rice flour this time, and it turned out perfectly fine.

Doesn’t it look great?

I enjoyed it simply with a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar.

Tasty!!!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Sandwiches, Vegan Meat

V-Chicken Waffle Banh-Mi
Vチキン・ワッフルバインミーサンド

I love banh-mi sandwich.

Its flavor combination is so good.

It’s traditionally made with a short baguette, airy inside with light crust.

Today I thought about giving a little twist and decided to use a waffle instead of a baguette.

A waffle.

Vegan butter.

Cucumber slices.

Vegan ham.

Vegan chicken.

Pickled veggies.

Cilantro.

Vegan mayo-like sauce.

So you ask how I made the “chicken”?

(or maybe you didn’t?! (lol))

I used Butler’s soy curls.

I love this product.

I don’t know exactly when it came out for the first time, but I know it has been in the market for a long time.

It was there before Impossible, Beyond, or Next…

One of the things I like about this product is its simple ingredient.

Another thing I like is that you can store them in the pantry, as it is dry.

And it doesn’t take time to have it prepared when you are ready to use them.

They need to be soaked in water for 10 minutes and they are ready to be cooked!

I like to cook them well and add some color.

This is looking so good!

I wasn’t sure if it would keep its form when folded, but it did!

Scrumptious!!

The slightly sweet and soft waffle was so good.

I will definitely make it again.

The carbs/fillings ratio passed my test, too.

Carbs < fillings.

Always.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta

Tsukemen: Dipping Noodles
こってりつけ麺

Have you tried dipping noodles?

I’ve always liked this type of noodle dish.

I made the dipping sauce and noodles cold, and it was perfect for a hot Minnesota day.

I made the sauce with tahini and miso.

So it’s a rich sauce.

You can use any type of noodles.

Can you see how well the sauce sticks to the noodles?

Or if dipping is not your thing, you can always put the whole noodles in the bowl and enjoy it this way too.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Main Dish, Uncategorized

Vegan Beef & Broccoli (and Mushrooms)
ヴィーガン・ビーフ＆ブロッコリ（アンド・きのこ）

Chinese food is something I crave for regularly.

When we lived in the suburbs there was a Chinese restaurant five minutes from our house from where we would get a takeout probably every other week.

Unfortunately, since we moved to the city (and we started the plant-based diet), we have not been able to find “our” Chinese restaurant.

That means I have to make it whenever I want to eat Chinese food.

Since we still have Next Meats vegan meat, I decided to make Beef and Broccoli.

But then I also added mushrooms (who else feels beef and broccoli needs more veggies?).

Wait!

I had a few take-out boxes I had bought a while ago.

For some reason Chinese food tastes better when it comes from the container (lol).

I quickly cooked the store-bought (frozen) egg rolls in the toaster and also sauteed some peppers.

This was super tasty!!

Next Meats’ meat is already sliced, so it’s super convenient and works particularly well for Asian dishes.

For this I used their short ribs.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Main Dish, Vegan Cheese

Corn Shisho Oatmeal Topokki with V-Cheddar
コーン紫蘇甘辛オートミールトッポギ、Vチーズがけ

I loved oatmeal gnocchi so much

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/02/24/oatmeal-gnocchi-with-v-cheese-sauce

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/04/11/oatmeal-gnocchi-with-garlic-seaweed-butter

that I decided to try the topokki recipe (Japanese),

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbkNG9_AK9o/

This is when I just added the oatmeal topokki to the sauce.

The sauce thickens while the topokki cooks.

For my version I added corn and Shiso leaves, and I used my homemade vegan cheddar for cheese.

This turned out amazing!

I loved the oatmeal topokki, but that was expected because I loved the oatmeal gnocchi.

The sweet and spicy sauce mixed with the rich V-cheddar was so tasty that I licked the plate shamelessly!

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

Vegan Bibimbap
ビビンバ丼

I was going to make a simple rice bowl with “meat”.

Because I still have Next Meats!

But you know me, I love vegetables

If I want to add a lot of vegetables, Bibimbap would be perfect!

In addition to the usual suspects (carrots, bean sprouts, spinach, kimchi), I added Japanese Nagaimo for an interesting texture.

For this I used Next Meats short ribs.

Doesn’t it look great?

And lucky me.

I just made fresh vegan “eggs”.

This turned out great!

Rice, “meat”, and veggies, and “eggs”.

Who would have thought this is possible as a plant-based meal!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta, Soup/Stew, Vegan Egg

Summer is Coming! Cold Noodle Soup
もうすぐ夏~!ピリ辛冷スープ麺

It’s not quite summer yet.

But I know once winter is over, summer comes quickly here in Minnesota.

The soup is cold.

Spicy.

Sweet.

And a bit sour.

It’s also got texture, from onions, ginger, and sesame seeds, which cling to the noodles so well.

In addition to a lot of veggies, I added vegan omelet (homemade) and vegan mini egg rolls (from Costco).

I have a feeling that I will be eating this a lot for the next several months.

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