by : Reiko Asian Food, Potatoes/Squash, Soup/Stew

Kabocha Thai Green Curry
かぼちゃタイカレー

The first time I tried Thai curry with Kabocha squash in it, I fell in love.

The sweet and soft squash was just perfect in the creamy spicy soup.

The restaurant that I know serves Kabocha Thai curry is a bit far from our house, and I’ve also learned that it may not be vegan; our waitress told us it was the first few times, and then another waitress said it wasn’t.

So I decided to make it myself.

I made a big pot.

Since we are having extremely cold weather in Minnesota right now, it’s not a bad idea to have a big pot of soup in the house.

Delicious, and very satisfying.

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

L-Style Dan Dan Noodle Soup
Lスタイル担々麺

Dan dan noodle soup is rich, spicy, flavorful, and warm.

Noodle soup makes you warm, but dan dan noodle soup seems to make you particularly warm, maybe because of the spiciness and the richness in the flavor combination.

The traditional dan dan noodle soup has spicy ground meat as the main topping.

My version has mashed lentils, and this was an awesome idea (if I may say so myself!).

I loved the texture and how they soaked up the soup.

The soup is rich, flavorful, and spicy, just the way I wanted.

Noodle soup has always been my comfort food.

It always makes me warm, physically and my soul as well. 🙂

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains

Pineapple Fried Rice
パイナップルライス

Our neighbor friend brought us this beautiful pineapple the other day.

I waited for a few days until it became ripe.

I initially thought about making a pineapple upside-down cake because we just got coconut ice cream from my father-in-law.

A pineapple cake and coconut ice cream together sound like a dream treat!

(My father-in-law always gives homemade ice cream as a Christmas gift to all his children, but this year he made ours with coconut milk because we don’t eat dairy. Yes, he is the best!)

But at the same time I didn’t want too many sweets in our house, so I decided to go with something savory.

I’ve seen something like this being served at a Thai restaurant that we used to go to often.

I’ve never tried it myself, but apparently it was one of their specialties, and a lot of people were ordering it.

This sauce from Aldi was a perfect way to finish this dish.

The result was fruity, a little sweet, a little spicy, and delicious.

The best part was that my husband really liked this being served in the pineapple boat!

Well, presentation is important.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains, Tempeh, Tofu

Deconstructed Bahn Mi Rice Bowl
解体バインミー丼

You have all the ingredients for your banh mi sandwich, but you are missing the right bread for it.

What would you do?

Make deconstructed bahn mi rice bowl!

I talked about this Trader Joe’s super firm tofu before.

This is REALLY firm and dense, and when cooked, the texture resembles that of chicken.

That’s why I say it’s a good first tofu to cook for tofu beginners.

We are definitely not beginners, but we still like it, as it’s different from other tofu.

Looks good, doesn’t it?

In addition to the tofu, I also prepared crunchy tempeh.

You first start with brown rice, and then add everything that would make banh mi otherwise.

Fresh crunchy veggies are a must.

How did I do?

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

Tonkotsu-Style V-Ramen
とんこつ風Vラーメン

I grew up eating ramen a lot.

It’s so popular in Japan, and when I found out that a lot of Japanese people post ONLY ramen pictures on their Instagram page, I was not surprised.

Some of them go out to eat ramen every day, and they don’t run out of new ramen shops to try!

Anyway, I’ve become a little more serious about ramen myself recently.

When I found this dried ramen noodles at Amazon which had great reviews, I had to order a package.

I also got myself a new bowl.

I always wanted to have a traditional ramen bowl.

I typically like a lot of toppings on most dishes, but when it comes to ramen, I’m probably a bit more traditional and stick with a few.

The most popular ramen topping is probably “Char Siu” or barbecued pork slices.

Instead of pork, I prepared yummy portabella mushroom slices.

The mushrooms were so delicious; a bit sweet and a bit spicy from these Japanese “shichimi” spices.

The noodles were cooked perfectly.

Ramen looked so good in my new bowl!

Made me feel like I was back in Japan.

I really liked these noodles as they are so authentic.

They have the right chewiness, flavors, and look.

The soup turned out to be super tasty too.

Tonkotsu ramen is known for its rich flavored soup.

“Tonkotsu” ramen became quite popular in the U.S., but I’m not sure if people really know what that means.

Tonkotsu literally means “pig/pork bones”, and you make your soup from them.

(My vegan version contains no pork or any type of meat, but it does have a similar rich flavors that are very satisfying.)

“Tonkatsu” is another popular Japanese dish in the U.S., and I sometimes hear people say “Tonkatsu” ramen, but that’s incorrect, unless the ramen is served with “tonkatsu” as a topping.

Tonkatsu is “pig/pork cutlet”.

Just a little not-so-necessary piece of information  (lol).

But if you say “Tonkotsu ramen” correctly, you will certainly look like someone who knows your ramen (lol).

The soup was delicious as it was, but a little splash of this Yuzu hot sauce I found at Trader Joe’s brightened up the flavors.

I always wanted to take a picture like this.

If you eat good ramen, I think it’s obligatory.

And this is an acceptable way in Japan to finish your soup.

I do not recommend doing this in the western countries though.

Tonkotsu-Style ramen soup: onion and garlic sauteed in canola oil, water, kiridashi-kombu, tahini, soy milk, mirin, sugar, soy sauce, salt, pepper

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

T-Roll with Mayo and Teriyaki
T巻き、マヨと照り焼きだれ。

I make sushi rolls often, but I still get excited when I make one.

As a result, I tend to prepare too much stuff to roll in.

I don’t always do this, but it is fun to serve with sauce.

I happened to have just made V mayo using this recipe (except that I used apple cider instead of lemon juice).

What you see here are sushi brown rice, cucumber, sweet and spicy tempeh, avocado, and radish.

It barely closed!

So good!!

The mayo and teriyaki are a golden combination.

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

RED Ramen
赤ラーメン

When people travel, they often bring something home.

For me it’s usually a food idea(s).

This RED Ramen was inspired by Vegan Tonyu Red (ramen) I had at Marukin Ramen in Portland which I visited last month.

I tried to upload my picture of their ramen, but for some reason I was not able to.

But trust me, their soup was red!

I mean really red.

When I first saw it, I instantly thought it would be way too spicy to eat, but it wasn’t.

It was spicy, but more than anything, it was tasty.

So now back home I wanted to make my own red ramen.

These are not really ramen noodles because they are a bit wider and flatter, but I like these.

First of all, they are vegan (no eggs).

And I like its ingredients.

Simple.

No artificial yellow coloring.

Believe it or not, lots of noodles contain artificial yellow coloring.

Next, I pick a bowl for my ramen.

This is not a traditional ramen bowl, but the “white x red” color combination with the unique design makes it a good candidate.

(I’m actually shopping for a traditional ramen bowl right now.)

Made in Japan!

Noodles go in first.

Soup, and then grilled king mushrooms and toppings.

My RED Ramen was super tasty!

And spicy.

So I think I accomplished my mission with this one.

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