by : Reiko Asian Food, Sweets

Dark Date Steamed Cake
濃厚デーツ蒸しケーキ

First of all, this steamed cake turned out beautiful and delicious!

It was soft and moist with dark rich flavor, and I already ate a half of it by myself.

I do have to make a confession, though.

This was actually my second try to make Ma Lai Gao.

The first one was delicious, but the texture was too different.

It was moist but dense.

For this one I completely changed the ingredients, and it resulted in a much softer, not dense, texture.

However, the texture is still not like the authentic one, (again based on pictures and descriptions I see online because I’ve never tried the real thing).

It’s soft but not springy.

So at this point, I just call this a steamed cake.

But a damn good one!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Vegan Meat

Kung Pao V-Chicken
カンパオVチキン

Chinese food is very popular in Japan, and I felt I had a good grasp of their cuisine.

So when I came to the U.S. and found a lot of dishes on many Chinese restaurant’s menus that were not familiar to me, I was shocked.

Kung Pao Chicken was one of them.

I never had the dish in Japan, but it quickly became one of my favorites.

I’m always looking for a fun product to try.

I found this vegan soy meat at the Asian grocery store, and I thought this would be a good “meat” to be used for Kung Pao as “chicken.”

The instructions on the package tell you to soak them in water for 30 minutes to make them soft, but they were far from “soft” after being soaked for more than 45 minutes.

Eventually, I cooked them in boiling water for 5 minutes or so.

Next time I will definitely boil them to avoid wasting time.

The “meat” browned well, and the texture was pretty good.

I think coating with strong sauce is the key when it comes to soy meat, and this dish worked well.

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

Ankake Yakisoba：Crispy Fried Noodles (homemade) with Vegetables and Thick Sauce
あんかけ焼きそば（手打ち）　　

This is what I wanted to make with my first homemade Chinese noodles (previous post).

It’s called “Ankake Yakisoba” in Japanese, but basically it’s “crispy fried noodles with vegetables and thick sauce”.

This was my first time making this dish with homemade noodles, and I absolutely loved it!

Homemade noodles really make a huge difference.

There are two important things about this dish, and one is that you want to make sure that your noodles are fried super crispy so that you can really enjoy the great combination of the crispy noodles and thick sauce, which is the second important thing (the sauce has to have the right thickness, not too thin, but not too thick either!).

YUM!!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta

Homemade Chinese Noodles
手打ち中華麺

I make other types of noodles, like pasta and Udon, and I thought it was time to try Chinese noodles that can be used to make ramen or fried noodles.

I think my general noodle-making skills are getting better, and Chinese noodle making was not too different from other types of noodle making.

The only thing that was tricky was that you have to cut it into thinner strands.

I did my best, but they could be even thinner.

They cooked beautifully!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta

Vegan Oyster Sauce Fried Noodles
Vオイスターソース焼きそば

After some extended winter time off, I went back to work this week.

During my time off I ate fried noodles for lunch almost every day.

Before we started the plant-based diet, I never really paid much attention to oyster sauce.

I liked it, but I always felt that had a strange name because for some reason I didn’t think there was actually any oyster in it!

So when I realized that oyster sauce was off our list, I was bummed because I liked the rich flavor.

Then I found how to make oyster sauce vegan in “The Homemade Vegan Pantry” book, and I had to try it.

The sauce turned out fantastic!

It’s thick, rich, and flavorful, and even has some “ocean” flavor.

These canned vegetables make any dish instantly “Asian”!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Sweets

Vegan GF Ma Lai Gao
Vマーラーカオ

Based on a little reading I did, Ma Lai Gao is a traditional steamed cake, popular in Hong Kong.

I’ve never had a chance to try Ma Lai Gao, in Hong Kong, or anywhere else, but when I found a vegan gluten-free recipe in a book by Ms. Hiroko Shirasaki, a popular Japanese recipe developer, I got interested.

It steamed beautifully.

I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I liked what I saw and tasted.

This cake is soft and moist, and has a depth in the sweetness, but not overly sweet.

But after making it, I did a little more research, and I found out that the authentic one has a rather fluffy (rather than moist or sticky, which I was going for!) texture.

I’m not sure if there is a next time, but if there is, it would be fun to make some changes to get the fluffy texture,

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by : Reiko Asian Food

Chinese Lunch on NYE
チャイニーズで年末

I asked my husband what people eat on new year’s eve in the U.S., but I got the impression that there isn’t really any specific dish.

So I decided to make Chinese-themed food, which I’ve been having craving for.

Vegetable pot stickers.

Mapo Eggplant and Tofu.

Vegan “Duck.”

I also made fried noodles, fried rice, and broccoli with chili garlic oil.

My craving was completely satisfied!

Now I need a little nap (or workout actually) before dinner.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Sandwiches

Vegan Banh Mi
ヴィーガンバインミー

I love Banh Mi, but I don’t get to make it as often as I like.

Because this sandwich requires certain ingredients, I do need extra planning or time to make one if I have to make from zero.

Luckily today I happened to have several key ingredients already.

Thus, I was able to put this together without much hassle.

I just purchased Daikon radish and cilantro.

I had homemade vegan meat (actually two types of meat!) already.

I had some leftover dishes that could be put together to make “pâté”.

And when this idea came to me, I was at an Asian grocery store which sells the type of baguettes (soft and light) that were perfect for Banh Mi sandwich.

Doesn’t this look great?!

I used homemade “pork” and “chicken” vegan meat for this, and they worked great, by providing different flavors and textures.

Ta da!

You can probably see the meat better in this picture.

You can also see how strong I look (I’m not that muscular, but in this picture I look very strong, don’t I (lol)?).

Definitely satisfied my Banh-Mi craving!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Homemade Chinese Takeout
おうちでチャイニーズ・テイクアウト

I was in a mood for Chinese food.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a go-to Chinese restaurant to get takeout from.

(I really need to get serious about finding one soon!)

So I decided to make Chinese “takeout” myself.

It took me 10 minutes, but I found these takeout boxes I had bought a long time ago and almost forgotten about.

So I was all set.

Lucky me. I happened to have homemade vegan chicken in the freezer.

So I made General Tso’s Chicken as a main dish.

Steamed and sautéed baby bok choy.

Salt and Pepper Crispy Tofu.

And fried rice.

Super happy with my plate!

No you don’t need to put the food in the container, but eating out of the container is a big fun part of eating Chinese takeout.

Who is with me?!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains

Kimbap
キンパ

When I’m in a mood for rolled rice, I usually go for sushi rolls, but this time I wanted something different.

So I made Kimbap.

Sushi is Japanese, whereas, Kimbap is Korean.

When people hear the word “sushi,” they often think sushi means “raw fish.”

But it has nothing to do with the toppings but everything to do with how to flavor the rice.

Sushi actually means sushi rice, which is cooked rice flavored with salt, vinegar, and sugar.

Kimbap, on the other hand, does not use the same flavoring for the rice.

Its rice is flavored with salt and sesame oil.

I like my rolls with a lot of toppings and a little rice so that I can eat many without getting full to quickly (lol).

This time inside the roll are vegan omelet, vegan meat, kanpyo, cooked carrot, and fresh spinach.

It makes a perfect lunch.

Since there is a lot inside the roll, you can just grab and go if you are busy, but it’s still a pretty nutritious meal itself.

(But if it’s served with miso soup, that will be ideal!)

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