I typically enjoy Natto over rice, but it goes well with Soba noodles as well.
This time I decided to add another sticky thing, grated nagaimo.
“Sticky” is not used as a good description for food in the U.S., but people love sticky food in Japan, including myself.
Yum!
Yakisoba, or fried noodles, has always been one of my favorite lunch dishes.
It’s easy to make, and I was probably making Yakisoba by myself at age 8.
I like to fry my noodles crispy for the ankake version.
Lots of veggies with thick sauce over crispy noodles.
So good!!
I didn’t have a plan to make Okonomiyaki, but…
I found this beautiful “Nagaimo” at the Asian grocery store, and that reminded me of the Okonomiyaki, or Japanese savory pancake, my mother used to make.
My mother (well, actually it was my dad’s job for some reason!) would grate Nagaimo and add it to the Okonomiyaki batter generously.
So I did the same.
It makes the texture softer, less floury.
Since I don’t use meat or seafood, my go-to ingredient for my Okonomiyaki is mushroom.
I used these from the same Asian grocery store.
These Asian mushrooms have the perfect texture for it.
Also added to the batter were cabbage, garlic chives, scallion, and also julienned Nagaimo.
Tasty!!
I like to serve my Okonomiyaki with red ginger.
It’s a popular topping, and you can buy it at many Asian stores.
But I don’t like that most of them are colored with artificial red color, so I quickly made mine by soaking ginger in the liquid from the jar of pickled beets.
Who like Teriyaki?
Well, I do, and I know there are a lot of people who like this sweet sauce.
No wonder it’s a popular Asian flavor in the U.S.
This dish may be a good one to introduce people who are not familiar with Asian food to.
Homemade tofu nuggets.
I made quite a bit and froze them.
They are so easy to use because they can be easily thawed and warmed in a microwave while keeping the right texture and moistness inside.
White rice.
Tofu nuggets.
A vegan egg.
Ginger teriyaki glaze.
Delicious!!
It’s been a while since the last time I made ramen.
I don’t really have any specific restaurant that I like to go for vegan ramen at this time, so if I want to eat ramen, there is no choice but to make it myself.
One of the reasons I decided to make ramen this time was because I found this at the local Asian grocery store.
Wood ear mushrooms!
It was the first time I saw it at that store, and I got so excited because wood ear is one of my favorite toppings on my ramen.
This is what it looks like.
It looks more “alive” when rinsed.
Th other toppings I used were corn, a vegan egg, scallion, and roasted seaweed.
It was so good!
Japanese Pullman bread called Shokupan is a simple bread.
Despite that (or because of that), little things do matter.
For the longest time I thought milk instead of water results in softer bread, but apparently that is not the case.
This is the first time I used water instead of milk.
And it turned out great!
By Friday morning I usually have a pretty solid list of dishes I want to make for each weekend.
This was not on my list, but I had strong craving for Yakisoba (with cheese), and I had to make it.
My favorite vegan kimchi.
Looking at these pictures make me want to eat this again.
Perfectly cheesy.
In the U.S. pumpkin comes to everyone’s mind as a fall food.
It’s a little different in Japan.
For this curry I decided to showcase some of the foods that represent fall in Japan.
This is king mushroom, but any mushroom is considered a fall food in Japan.
Chestnut is another popular fall food.
And Satsuma sweet potato.
The Satsuma potato is delicious when simply roasted (and buttered) as well.
This is another way to showcase my vegan char-siu.
I simply placed sliced char-siu over brown rice and served with my vegan egg (yolk).
So good!!
I feel a bit silly when I say “Vegan” to name the dishes I post.
Because everything I post on this blog are vegan.
But with a few dishes like this one I feel it’s necessary to say it because otherwise people may think I am eating animal-based food.
When I posted my vegan egg on Instagram recently, a vegan friend said she almost had a heart attack because she thought it was a real egg.
Since my first vegan Char-Siu (previous post) turned out fantastic, I decided to make ramen to enjoy it.
Char-Siu is one of the most popular toppings for ramen in Japan.
It has been a long time since I had my last Char-Siu ramen, and I was so excited.
There are ramen shops in the U.S. that serve ramen that “can be made vegan.”
But often time you find out it’s made vegan by subtraction, and you realize four out of the five toppings disappear from your bowl.
Well, that’s why I eat out less and less and cook at home more and more because I can make what I want, exactly the way I like it.
Ta-da!
Vegan ramen with an “egg” and “char-siu.”
No subtraction here.
Have a great weekend everyone!
