This is another somen soup dish I love.
I make this when I want something light yet rich and satisfying, if that makes sense.
The soup is not the cream type, but it’s full of flavor.
Then chili garlic oil was drizzled at the end.
Tasty!!
This dish is good cold or hot.
Topped off with tempeh, scallion, and sesame seeds.
A new and fun discovery.
This is called Amaranth, and it’s a type of seed.
Apparently, it is very nutritional, and because of the unique texture and look, some people use it to make “caviar”.
This is my first attempt, and it turned out great!
I enjoyed my first Amaranth caviar with pasta.
This was really good.
I enjoyed this dish so much!
Ankake means thickend sauce in Japanese.
Spaghetti served with this type of sauce is very popular in the Nagoya region where I grew up.
It’s far from so-called gourmet type of dish, but it’s loved by the locals.
I’ve never made it myself, because there is a restaurant called Yokoi https://yokoi-anspa.jp/ in Nagoya that makes the best Ankake spaghetti (I believe they are the one who created this dish), and I would just go to the restaurant whenever I had craving for it.
Now living in the U.S., I can’t find it anywhere near me (Unfortunately no Japanese restaurants in the U.S. make this dish).
I would tweak things a bit next time, but overall my first Ankake Spaghetti turned out really good.
Definitely satisfied my craving.
Noodles, veggies, soup, together, cold, and refreshing.
This was exactly what I needed!
Yaki-bitashi is a Japanese cooking method.
It means fry (or sautee) first and then marinade.
I gathered all my favorite vegetables for this dish.
Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, but I tend to go for smaller sized versions like the one I grew up with in Japan.
Their seeds are smaller and the skin is softer.
So when I found these at Costco, I decided to try them.
Funny they call them “baby” eggplant, but this is the regular size in Japan.
Many Japanese noodles have become known in the U.S. the past several years (e.g., ramen, udon, soba, etc.), but I don’t think a lot of people know this one, “somen.”
Somen is the thinnest version of Japanese noodles (I believe).
And we (and I) enjoy eating Somen in summer for some reason.
This is good hot or at room temperature, but GREAT cold!
The idea came from my husband.
I impulsively bought a large bag of asparagus at Costco, and after eating sauteed asparagus for every meal for days, I needed to come up with a new way to eat the rest.
I was initially thinking about making asparagus cream sauce and serve it over spaghetti, but when I shared the idea, my husband told me that I should make a ravioli dish instead.
I actually really enjoy making ravioli.
I always thought it would be difficult, but it’s really not, and homemade ones are so much better than store-bought ones.
I like my ravioli lightly sauteed so that the bottom is a bit crispy.
Vegan cheese ravioli in asparagus soup, served with extra virgin olive oil (from Italy!), nutty Parm, freshly ground black pepper, and lemon zest.
Soba salad is one of my favorite kinds of salad.
I love noodles, but I make sure there are lots of veggies mixed with them.
You can really use any veggies you like, but this time I used green peppers, carrots, cauliflower, edamame, and radish.
Peanut dressing is so good.
It’s rich, creamy, and tangy.
Doesn’t this look good?
I initially thought I made too much, but it was gone in no time.
It makes a perfect lunch.
Here the salad was served with scrambled tofu and fresh arugula-spinach mix.
Napolitan Spaghetti is a popular spaghetti dish in Japan.
Because of the name, I believed it was an Italian dish for the longest time.
It’s basically spaghetti sauteed with veggies like onions, peppers, and sausage, and coated with ketchup.
But first I want to talk about the sausage.
This is vegan sausage, just in case you are wondering.
I found this at a co-op store.
We really like it.
Everything from taste to texture, to look.
I cooked them with a little oil, but the sausage gives out a lot of oil itself.
(I’ve since started cooking these with no oil, and it works out better.)
This was so tasty!
We’ve been having hot and humid weather lately in Minnesota.
On a hot day like this I like something light, and Bukkake Soba is a perfect dish.
“Bukkake” means “dump stuff”, so you can basically use anything.
Enoki mushroom is one of my favorite mushrooms.
I like my Enoki simply sauteed.
It becomes sweet and super flavorful.
Freshly cooked Soba noodles.
This Bukkake version was made with Natto, turmeric tofu, Enoki, and salted Shio-Kombu.
But at the last minute I decided to add roasted Yaki-nori seaweed.
A drizzle of soy sauce.
And it was ready!
I love ravioli because it makes a pretty dish.
The filling was a mixture of homemade vegan Feta cheese, mushrooms, and garlic.
One of the reasons I decided to make ravioli was because I found this cool tool.
It worked well!
The cooked and sauteed ravioli was served on a bed of garlicky cauliflower puree, fresh arugula, lemon zest, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil.
This turned out to be a great dish, and I was super happy with the result.
I think my husband liked it even more, though.
I make curry udon often, but this is a bit different from what I typically make.
For this version I made the soup much thinner than usual, yet it was packed with wonderful flavors.
One of the toppings I chose was this turmeric cauliflower.
I cook regular cauliflower in water with turmeric, which gives the bright yellow color.
Vegan meatballs from Aldi.
We keep two to three bags in our freezer all the time.
