I know kimchi is not for everyone because of its strong flavor, but I happen to be a big fan of kimchi.
I found beautiful fresh sprouts at the local Asian grocery store over the weekend, and it’s always a cue to make Yakisoba fried noodles.
It smells so good!
Who could resist this?!
I sometimes serve the noodles with kimchi on top.
Other times I add kimchi to the pan and cook with the noodles.
Who else loves noodles and kimchi together?
Daifuku is a kind of popular Japanese sweets.
It’s a slightly chewy mochi stuffed with sweet red beans.
You can buy pre-made sweet red beans, this was homemade.
If you make it yourself, you can control the amount of sugar and the texture.
It takes a few hours, so I keep store-bought package in my pantry, but whenever I have time I make my own.
So, where are the veggies?
Well, actually in the mochi.
The green one has spinach, and the orange one is carrot.
I love the colors, and I feel good to know that the colors naturally come from plants.
These are so good.
I love anything with sweet red beans.
Maybe it’s time to make them again.
Recommended beverage: hot green tea.
Carrot Shiri-Shiri is a simple dish that originated in the Southern island of Japan, Okinawa.
The very basic is shredded carrots sautéed with eggs.
I used tofu in place of eggs, and I also added “shira-taki” which is a type of traditional Japanese noodles made of konjac yam; I cut them into small pieces.
This is a very simple dish, and by not adding too strong flavors, you can really enjoy the natural sweetness of the carrot.
I usually serve this with rice, but I really enjoyed my sandwich roll version, too.
When you don’t know what to make for lunch, a rice bowl is always a good idea, if you ask me.
Tofu Katsu or deep-fried crispy tofu is one of my favorites to use for a rice bowl.
Brown rice, tofu katsu, and sweet miso glaze in a bowl.
Served with miso soup and fresh veggies.
Love this kind of meal.
It’s not only a delicious meal, but also a pretty well-balanced one.
Have a great weekend!
If you are on the plant-based diet, you may have a similar experience to mine.
You go to a restaurant, find a vegetable dish on the menu, ask if they can make it 100% plant-based, and then end up with a dish that is exactly like what the menu described, MINUS this, this, this, this, this, and that.
And you end up with something… well, what’s the word?
Boring?
So when I was in the mood for ramen for lunch today, I initially thought about trying to find a ramen restaurant that serves vegan ramen.
And then I changed my mind.
Well, I had so many great veggies at home.
So when I asked myself, do I really want to go get ramen with a few pieces of veggies?
My answer was NO!
Making ramen at home is not that difficult.
Especially now I have this noodles that I like to use for my ramen, it has become really fun to make it myself.
So happy with the result.
Love all the veggies.
No subtraction.
Only addition at home.
Today we had our first snow this season.
Well, this is officially the beginning of the Minnesota winter, y’all.
This lovely sushi plate was our lunch today.
Ideas for food come from various places, but this one came from a very unexpected place.
It all started with these apples.
These apples don’t look that special outside.
But look!
The inside has this lovely pink color.
I found these apples at the grocery store inside the Midtown Global Market.
I’m so glad that they were sampling them, because otherwise I would have had no idea how special they were.
They were being sold as Pink Pearl Apples.
I wanted to make something to really showcase the beautiful color of these apples.
And this is what I came up with.
Nigiri Sushi!
Forming rice into a certain shape sounds easy, but once you try, you quickly realize why sushi chefs have years of training, just to master this skill.
So I use my little tool.
This is definitely not approved by any sushi chefs, but they are perfectly okay at our house(lol).
This tool does a good job at making these rice balls uniformly like little soldiers.
I was going to make just apple sushi, but at the last minute I decided to make other versions too.
Plant sushi.
I just love how they look and taste.
Pink Pearl apple.
Beet.
Radish and Yuzu pepper paste.
Tomato and seaweed.
It was perfect when served with veggie wakame (seaweed) miso soup and hot green tea.
The leftover was made into Chirashi (scattered) Sushi.
It’s been a while since last time I made Bento.
Carrot Namul.
Braised Daikon and Soy Curd.
Curried Green Peppers.
Love these veggies.
I didn’t have to take it anywhere, but it was still fun to pack and wrap it just like a real bento box.
Mock fried oysters.
This may be one of my favorite bento boxes I’ve made.
Flavors, colors, and textures…
Everything kind of came together and worked wonderfully.
A view from the other side.
The leftover was saved in the fridge for me to enjoy the following week.
By the way, “Shojin” cuisine is a Japanese Bhuddist plant-based cuisine traditionally prepared by monks.
Curry is not the most popular soup flavor for ramen, but it does exist and it is tasty.
This is my second ramen bowl.
I found it at the local Asian grocery store, and I liked the colors and the design.
I didn’t notice it when I saw it at the store, but when it was compared to my other bowl, it’s significantly larger.
I wonder if it’s made in US, reflecting the general portion size difference?
Noodles go in.
It doesn’t look much in this bowl, but I actually placed more than I typically use for one person.
Since I don’t make curry ramen often, I was a little uncertain about what to use for garnish.
I simply topped it off with corn, scallion, and tomatoes.
Loved the combination of the sweet corn and curry.
If you like ramen and if you like Japanese curry, this is a must!
I made my curry soup from scratch without using the store-bought roux, and it turned out delicious!
Recommended beverage: Cold Brew Sencha Green Tea.
When I go grocery shopping, I’m pretty good at sticking with my list.
But there are a few items that I impulsively purchase.
Well, okra is one of them.
It’s hard to find fresh okra at grocery stores, and when I found these beautiful ones at the farmers market this morning, I had to have them.
When sliced, they are like flowers.
My husband has come a long way, and he now eats a wide variety of vegetables, so many more than he used to.
However, okra is something he still won’t touch.
I think one of the reasons why okra is not that popular in the U.S. is its stickiness.
Interestingly, people in Japan adore okra for that.
I decided to make this spaghetti dish for lunch today, because my husband wouldn’t be home.
So why not adding all the things he does not like but I love.
So along with okra, natto (Japanese fermented soy beans), kimchi, and avocado all joined in the bowl.
With a little drizzle of soy sauce and olive oil, it became a perfect lunch for one.
I hope everyone is enjoying this long weekend.
This is one of the most popular snacks among the male teens in Japan.
I remember that when I was in high school, a lot of boys would go buy this role (often more than one) for their afternoon snack.
Why is it popular?
Well, it’s DOUBLE CARBS: bread and noodles!
First, you make fried noodles, Yakisoba.
Typically it’s garnished with red ginger.
It’s easily found at many Asian stores in the U.S. now, but I decided to go with pickled beets for the color instead the red ginger, because it’s natural; red ginger is actually ginger colored artificially.
I actually really liked the look of the beets.
They reflect light and are very pretty.
You scoop up noodles.
Stuff the bun with as much as Yakisoba.
I used a homemade bun.
I actually never had a Yakisoba roll in my life even when I was in Japan, probably because I always associated it with a guy food.
But I actually really liked it.
Tasty, and of course very filling.
Anyone interested??
