by : Reiko Fruit, Japanese Food

Trying to Eat More Sustainably
サステイナビリティに目を向ける

I’ve been interested in eating more sustainably for a while, but I wasn’t quite sure where to start until I found Happy Grocers.

It’s a store/organization in Thailand that focuses on organic farming, locally sourced produce, and seasonal consumption, all of which are things I’m very interested in.

They offer delivery service, so I decided to order some online.

You can choose items from their list, but while I was doing it, I came across something called “surplus set”.

It’s a mix of vegetables and fruits that need to be eaten or cooked right away.

It seems like a great way to help reduce waste, so I got that along with a few other items.

Because of the area where we live and how much spend, I qualified for free delivery.

My bags arrived on the day, during the time slot that I specified.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount and the variety.

The quality was overall very good, too.

Other than one ear of corn which was past its prime, everything else was fresh, and many of them looked so fresh that I didn’t feel the need to eat or cook right away.

In addition to the surplus set, I bought tofu, tempeh, soy meat, and a Jerusalem bagel.

Since you don’t know what you get until they arrive, once they arrive, you have to make a game plan quickly.

Since I got them at 11:00 a.m. I decided to cook some for lunch and some others after lunch.

I thought ratatouille was a good way to utilize the yellow pepper, zucchini, eggplant, and onions.

I also decided to make another dish with the sweet potatoes.

The fruits were perfectly ripe and ready to eat.

They were so sweet!

This was my first time trying Jerusalem bagel.

It came with za’atar spice mix.

It was very tasty.

I love trying new things.

It turned out to be a great meal!

After lunch I prepared a few more dishes by using other vegetables.

Once cooked we could enjoy them for the next few days.

Like this.

This is miso eggplant x soy meat.

My husband is not a big fan of eggplant, but he liked this and had a second helping.

I served this over rice.

Celery kinpira.

Kinpira is a type of Japanese side dish, typically made of root vegetables.

Japanese style potato salad.

The mayo is home-made and vegan.

Pickled cucumber and shio-konbu.

I’ve also prepared a few more dishes with the produce from the surplus set.

Trying to come up with dishes to make based on what are provided is a challenge and fun.

It kind of reminds me of the old TV show, “Iron Chef” (lol).

Happy Grocers – https://happygrocersbkk.com/

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Fruit, Gluten Free

Tropical Paradise Pancakes & Wax Wraps
と・こ・な・つ パンケーキ & 蜜蝋ラップ

My kitchen in our new home is not complete yest, but it’s got the basics and it is functional.

So, I decided to cook for the first time since we moved to Bangkok.

My husband had been requesting my banana-mango rice flour pancakes.

The ingredients are a few and simple…

-Bananas

-Rice flour

-Mango powder

-Salt

-Baking powder

The key is not add too much flour, which makes the pancakes dense.

Luckily, I was able to get all the ingredients needed, including 100% mango powder.

This is the mango powder, made in Thailand.

It has a bright color and taste!

It’s a simple recipe, but since it is my first time using the kitchen, it takes time to do anything!

So I set up the table while waiting for the pancakes to cook so that I didn’t have to scramble at the end.

My husband got our drinks ready.

He is so helpful around the kitchen!

(By the way, he did the dishes afterwards, too!)

Green tea for me, and butterfly pea tea for him.

The pancakes turned out great!

I was happy to see that the bright yellow color from the mango powder stayed.

Everything in general costs less compared to the U.S., except for certain things such as western foods.

For instance, maple syrup.

First of all, we couldn’t find maple syrup in regular grocery stores, so we had to go to one that is a bit fancy.

And it was the most expensive item we’ve bought at grocery stores in Bangkok so far. 🙂

On the other hand, beautiful dragon fruit like this is easy to find and much cheaper. 🙂

Here is a plate of paradise!

Unfortunately, I forgot to serve it with coconut milk, which I had bought just for this.

(I’m so angry with myself about this!!!)

Thankfully, I remembered later.

The creamy coconut milk went so well with all the tropical fruit flavors.

By the way, do you know wax wraps?

I had been interested in them for a while, and finally I decided to try them.

I was looking for something different than plastic wraps to cover food, and I thought this might be a good way to replace plastic.

What attracted me to this product are 1) organic cotton 2) plastic and silicon-free, 3) easy to wash, and 4) reusable.

I decided to start with SuperBee ( https://superbee.me/ )’s beginner set, which includes 3 wraps.

There are many different designs, but I liked this simple Hexagonia (with a little bee!).

Oh, I just found out that this is a Thai company, located in Chiang Mai!

This makes me happy because I’ve been trying to support products that are made locally, preferably by small businesses.

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by : Reiko Fruit, Other

Strawberry Rhubarb Amazake Mojito & Grapefruit Amazake Mojito
苺ルバーブ甘酒モヒート風カクテル＆グレープフルーツ版

I don’t drink alcohol much at all.

If you ask me how much I drink, I would say a few times a year, a few sips in one setting.

Zero beer (too bitter!).

Zero zake (too strong!)

A bit of wine.

Cocktail? Yes!

Mojito used to be one of my favorite cocktails.

And I thought it would be fun to make a mojito-like cocktail with my homemade Amazake and fresh mint I got from the farmers market.

This turned out to be absolutely delicious!!

It’s almost dangerous because it’s so good that I drink too much.

You can make this amazing cocktail by combining strawberry puree, rhubarb jam, sugar, Amazake, mint, club soda, and ice cubes.

I also happened to have sweet juicy grapefruits, and I made the grapefruit version too.

Which would you like to try?

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by : Reiko Fruit, Pizza/Flatbread, Potatoes/Squash

Apple Kabocha Pizza with Cashew Yogurt and Pecan Nuts
林檎かぼちゃピザ、カシューヨーグルトとピーカンナッツのせ

Walking to the local farmers market is something we do in the morning on most Saturdays.

I love this little routine we have.

But you can tell things are quickly changing, with less leafy vegetables and more root vegetables…

This means we only have a few weeks left before they close until next spring.

One of the things we got from the market was these Regent apples.

This particular vendor was so knowledgeable and friendly, and she helped us pick which to cheese.

We loved these apples.

They are crisp, sweet, juicy, and just super tasty!

The Kabocha is from Trader Joe’s.

I have bought Kabocha from the farmers market in the past, but some of them that they were labeled as “Kabocha” did not taste like actual Kabocha.

So unfortunately, now I only buy Kabocha from stores.

I cooked the pizza with Kabocha slices (quickly pre-cooked in the microwave) and apple slices first, and then, it was served with cashew yogurt, pecan nuts, maple syrup, and cinnamon.

This was delicious!!

There is something so special about fall foods.

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by : Reiko Fruit, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Plant-Based Chirashi-Sushi
菜鮮ちらし寿司

Chirashi literally means “scattered”.

Chirashi-sushi is a bed of sushi rice with various things (usually fresh fish) scattered over rice.

As I said above, it’s usually fish (especially those found at Japanese restaurants in the U.S.), but in Japan a lot of people use other things, including a lot of vegetables.

The one you find here is still a bit unusual even for Japanese people, mainly because it contains fruit.

I actually really enjoy fruit with sushi rice.

It’s delicious, especially when they are also with wasabi soy sauce!

Yum!!

I always like to have a bowl of miso soup with my sushi.

This one has a lot of vegetables and Wakame seaweed.

And more seaweed!

This one is called “Hijiki”, braised.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Fruit, Rice/Grains

Apple Fried Rice
りんご炒飯

Yes, I’m still enjoying creating dishes featuring apples.

This time fried rice!

You know, many Thai restaurants serve pineapple fried rice, and the idea came from it.

Apples get caramelized and create wonderful flavors.

Apples and tempeh were cooked first, rice and green onion were added and then they were fried together.

Looks good, doesn’t it?

It was so tasty!

If you like pineapple rice, you will love this one.

The apple fried rice was served with a little bit of this and that.

I love having small dishes like this for my meal.

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by : Reiko Fruit, Noodles/Pasta

Nectarine Bow Tie Pasta
ネクタリン蝶ネクタイパスタ

It was one of those “lucky” dishes that I didn’t plan to make but ended up super tasty.

I had leftover homemade pasta.

I had these beautiful vined tomatoes and nectarines (not in the pic).

(This time of the year I almost always have nectarines in the house.)

Homemade bow tie pasta, mini tomatoes, nectarine, herbs (Shiso basil, mint, parsley), lemon zest, apricot white balsamic vinaigrette.

It was super refreshing and such a great way to enjoy the seasonal produce.

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by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast, Fruit

Earl Grey Cardamom Nectarine Toast
アールグレイ・カルダモン・ネクタリントースト

This is a great time of the year for someone like me who loves stone fruit.

I like them all, but my favorite is probably nectarine.

When I look at the shelf where peaches, nectarines, and plums are displayed next to one another, I typically go for the nectarine, mostly because when it comes to texture and taste it seems the most consistent.

My prune walnut earl grey crusty bread came handy.

It was lightly toasted, a thick layer of cardamom cashew cream cheese was spread, and then served with slices of fresh nectarine.

Simply scrumptious.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Fruit, Jackfruit

Bulgogi JF Tacos
プルコギ風タコス

Happy Taco Tuesday!

These tacos were famous Korean meat dish, Bulgogi, inspired ones.

Bulgogi means “fire meat” according to Wikipedia, and my beautiful jackfruit from Trader Joe’s was cooked over high heat after marinated overnight.

The trick is that you really want to get the charred look and flavor to the “meat” at this point.

If you ask me, the fixing is as important a part of any tacos.

This time I prepared napa cabbage slaw and home-pickled Shiso (Japanese basil) cucumber.

Also mashed avocado.

Don’t they look fabulous?

This was a bit messy to eat, but I never mind getting messy when I’m eating something delicious.

By the way, I finally had a chance to eat ripe fresh jackfruit at a party thrown by a friend who is from Cambodia.

She said her dad did all the work, and pulled apart the fruit, which I hear is a lot of work.

It was so delicious that a few days later I went to a local Asian grocery store and bought some.

Thankfully, they had a package of fruit that has been already taken out of the whole thing.

It’s a bit expensive, but I LOVE this fruit.

Very tropical, and a mere bite instantly takes me to the imaginative tropical island!

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