by : Reiko Asian Food, Drinks

Bitter Melon Smoothie
ゴーヤスムージー

Bitter melon is a popular summer vegetable in Japan.

I’ve never tried it in Japan or in the U.S.

But when I saw it at a local Asian grocery store, I decided to give it a try.

This is what I got.

I thought it was pretty reasonable.

I initially made namul with it.

My reaction to my very first bite of bitter melon?

“Bitter!”

I knew it was supposed to be bitter, but it was much more bitter than I thought.

Unfortunately, I had to throw it away.

I asked other people including my mother some ideas on how to cook/eat bitter melon.

My parents grow bitter melon in their garden, but my mother told me that it’s not her favorite.

She did tell me that she does like bitter melon smoothie (and tempura).

She gave me her smoothie recipe (bitter melon, banana, apple, milk), and I decided to give it a try.

I didn’t have apples, so I used gold kiwi and cherry plum.

I could still taste the bitterness from the melon, but the bitterness was rather pleasant.

Interestingly, a lot of people told me that they initially did not like the bitterness, but then they have come to love it.

So I’m hopeful…

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta, Tofu

Spicy Mango Pad Thai Spaghetti
スパイシーマンゴーパッタイスパゲッティ

Happy Wednesday!

I started doing meal-prep a few weekends ago, and I’m loving it.

It makes it so much easier to prepare weekday meals.

Healthier.

And less stress.

However, it usually becomes challenging to create dinner that doesn’t make you feel like you are eating the same things over and over.

I got to come home from work a bit earlier tonight.

So I decided to spend a little more time than usual to make dinner using what has been prepped and also adding something new.

I happened to have a lot of foods already that would be perfect for pad thai, but I didn’t have rice noodles.

So I decided to go with spaghetti!

Lots of veggies.

And scrambled tofu flavored with fermented mango sauce (from Trader Joe’s).

As you can see this “pad thai” was not prepared the traditional way at all.

But who cares!

It’s a home-cooked and home-served meal, and as long as it’s tasty, it goes on our dining table.

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

Mapo Tofu Ramen
麻婆豆腐ラーメン

I love Mapo Tofu, and I love ramen.

So this is a no-brainer for me!

The soup was made with slightly burned and caramelized onions and garlic, water, Kombu seaweed, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and hot pepper flakes (picture above).

The main ingredients of the “meat” part of this “Mapo” were tempeh and mushrooms.

This definitely has a kick to it, but is also super flavorful!

Super delicious!!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains, Soup/Stew

Supreme Veggie Curry
特上ベジインドカレー

When I go to an Indian restaurant, I have a hard time deciding which curry to order.

Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies.

Cauliflower curry is also great.

But it’s hard to say “no” to chickpea curry either.

So when I made curry at home, I decided to put all my favorites in it.

I recently had a chance to cook with my friend, D from India, and she introduced me to some interesting ingredients that I had not been familiar with.

We then went to an Indian grocery shopping together, and I was able to get some of the things that she was using to make her curry.

They definitely help create authentic Indian curry flavors.

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by : Reiko Asian Food

Bhelpuri Lettuce Wraps
ベルプリレタスラップ

It’s always fun to check out an ethnic grocery store.

But the experience gets better when you go with someone who is familiar with their food.

A few weeks ago I got to go to an Indian grocery store with my neighbor friend, D, and I had a blast!

It was so nice to have someone who can answer every single time when you ask “What’s this?” and tells you which brand is good and which one I should avoid.

When I found this bag of some kind of snack, I got interested.

But when D told me that you can make an Indian street food with this, I had to buy it.

It’s a mixture of rice puffs, peanuts, potato chips, and some other things.

D also introduced us to these yummy chutneys, which are also used to make the Bhelpuri.

Chopped tomato, red onion, and cilantro were added and combined well.

(D added tamarind and cilantro chutney and mixed well at this point, when she showed me how to make it the first time.)

This time I decided to add the chutney later, right before serving.

This is delicious as it is, but I wanted to add some more vegetables, and I decided to serve it in lettuce wraps.

Another twist was that I added fresh mango on top.

Loved the little sweetness from the mango.

This makes as awesome snack.

Or can be served as a light lunch.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Vegan Bibimbap
Ⅴビビンバ

Vegans and plant-eaters.

Who is tired of “subtraction” vegan dishes?

Well, I am.

You go to a restaurant.

Find a dish that says “vegan upon request” and ask about it.

Your server tells you it’s “no problem” to make the dish vegan.

They will just remove this, this, this, and that.

So you’ll end up with something really bland.

Once in a while, the server will go to the kitchen to talk to the chef, and he may offer “substitution.”

Avocado for cheese, or sautéed mushrooms for bacon.

Unfortunately, this happens rarely, and often times I have to initiate the process and make substitution suggestions.

And interestingly, I often get charged for the “extra,” like one vegan item I got in place of five nonvegan items.

The other day I had craving for bibimbap.

I found a restaurant whose website says they accommodate vegans.

When we asked them to make their tofu bibimbap vegan, our server said “no problem.”

He would just take the egg out.

I was not too happy about it, but what could I do at that point.

I was hungry, and when our food came, our bibimbap had this beautifully cooked egg on top.

We had to remind our server that we do not eat eggs, he apologized fiercely and took the dish back to the kitchen.

When he came back, our bibimbap had an empty spot in the middle.

It just looked sad.

That’s when I decided to tell myself, “no more subtraction.”

Each ingredient has a role in the resulting dish.

Egg is an important component of bibimbap, and I simply didn’t want my bibimbap “sans egg.”

It took me a while to come up with this idea, but I decided to try grated naga-imo.

Naga-imo is not a new food to this Japanese girl.

It has a very unique sticky texture, but the flavor is very mild.

I thought this will give the rich creamy component I was looking for.

In this bowl over the rice you’ll find tofu, portobello mushrooms, sesame carrots, sprouts, and zucchini.

It was served with grated naga-imo and gochujang on top.

Naga-imo has a very unique texture and if you’re not familiar with it or you are not a fan of sticky food in general, this may not be for you.

But to me this was DELICIOUS!

Loved the creamy naga-imo mixed together with everything else.

No more subtraction!! 🙂

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