by : Reiko Japanese Food, Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta, Soup/Stew

Ankake Noodles with King Oyster Mushrooms and Soy Curls
キングオイスターきのことソイカールのせあんかけ蕎麦

Ankake or thick soup is one of my favorites.

It makes any dish a bit special.

I like this brand.

The noodles are NOT fried but “air-dried”, and the ingredients appear very good too.

Also the texture is wonderful when cooked.

Soy curls.

I get these mushrooms at the local Asian grocery store, Ha Tien Supermarket.

They are always fresh, and I like their size and how they look.

it’s currently one of my favorite mushrooms.

Today I put away our Christmas tree and all the decorations.

The spot where the tree was looks so empty now.

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by : Reiko Bread, Gluten Free, Japanese Food, Salad, Soup/Stew, Uncategorized

V/GF Curried Cabbage Bread, with Japanese Oden Stew and Shungiku Apple Salad
ちゃちゃっとできちゃうカレーキャベツパン、そして、おでん、春菊りんごサラダでワンプレート

This bread is so easy and quick to make.

But it’s also so tasty!

That means I make it a lot.

This is the same bread as this one (below), with different fillings.

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/11/14/v-gf-tomato-onion-corn-basil-bread

This time I added curried cabbage, peas, and curried mayo.

It turned out great!

I put together a one-plate meal with the bread for lunch.

This is Japanese style stew called Oden.

The main base is Kombu stock and soy-sauce.

It’s an ultimate comfort food for me this time of the year.

This Shungiku apple salad was super refreshing.

I was happy that this plate turned out to be a not only tasty but healthy meal with lots of veggies!

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Leaf Vegetables, Rice/Grains, Soup/Stew, Tofu

Nabe Hot Pot – Miso
味噌豆乳鍋

Nabe, hot pot, is the ultimate winter comfort food in Japan.

You can add pretty much anything, from meat, fish, seafood, to vegetables.

But these you see here are some of my favorites.

It’s sold as “Tongo” at the local Asian grocery store, but we call it “shungiku”.

It’s one of my favorite things to add to Nabe.

It has a fresh mustard-like flavor, and I absolutely love it.

I’m not a chef, but I do enjoy making these 3-D carrot flowers.

I found them at the Asian grocery store too.

They were not only adorable but also delicious.

We’ve recently started adding fish back into our diet.

It probably consists of 5 % of what we eat.

We really enjoyed this meal.

It’s nice to sit at the dining table and share a meal like this, which Nabe requires you to do.

At the end, you add some kind of carbs, rice, noodles, which is almost obligatory.

The soup is delicious, and the rice (or noodles) soak it up.

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

Soba Noodles with Chickpea Kakiage Tempura
ひよこ豆かき揚げ蕎麦

I was in the mood for a bowl of soba soup.

The craving comes once in a while, and when I make it, I ask myself why I don’t make it more often.

I wanted some kind of tempura.

Kakiage is one of my favorites.

Kakiage is a medley of vegetable pieces put together, battered, and fried.

This time I added some chickpeas to onions and carrots.

Craving…

Satisfied.

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by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Bread, Mushrooms, Potatoes/Squash, Soup/Stew

Grilled Matsutake
焼き松茸

Matsutake is considered a delicacy in Japan.

It’s something that is enjoyed only during the fall season, and yes people spend big bucks for it.

I was lucky because a friend gave them to me as a gift.

And she even gave me Sudachi as well.

Sudachi is a citrus fruit that typically accompanies Matsutake.

I simply grilled the Matsutake.

When the ingredient is tasty, you don’t want to do too much to it.

This one plate meal consisted of grilled matsutake, herb chickpea salad, cranberry-pecan Kabocha salad, mushroom soup, and toasted Boule.

Kabocha, homemade vegan mayo, salt, pepper, maple syrup, dry cranberries, pecan nuts.

Chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, yellow pepper, cumin, mint, basil, olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper.

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by : Reiko Potatoes/Squash, Soup/Stew

Cauliflower Potato Thyme Stew with a Secret Ingredient
カリフラワーじゃがタイム煮込み、秘密材料入り

This is a dish I made as part of my Sunday meal prep.

That’s when I try to make several vegetable and protein dishes for the week with whatever I have in the fridge.

As a result, they usually end up with a no-name dish.

And it’s also often the time when a really great dish is created.

This dish is one of them.

It’s a rather long story.

But in the morning, I made this for breakfast.

A few days ago I finally bought Marmite which I had been wanting to try for a long time.

When I first tasted it, I didn’t think it was for me.

I don’t know what I expected, but it tasted totally unexpected.

But I didn’t want to give up on it too quickly, and asked people if they knew a good way to use it.

Someone sent me a recipe where you roast potatoes with Marmite.

I didn’t have any potatoes at hand, but I had dried hash browns, and I decided to use Marmite for it,

It turned out…

Hmmm, how can I put it…

Interesting?

It wasn’t bad, but it was not great either.

Since I didn’t think either I or my husband would eat the leftover, I decided to use it to create a different dish.

That’s how this stew was born!

I just threw things in, but it turned out super tasty!!

Marmite definitely gave depth and richness in the flavor.

I will leave a note here for future reference for myself…

Cauliflower Potato Thyme Stew: olive oil, garlic, ginger, cauliflower, water, Marmite hash browns, soy milk, curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, sugar, salt, pepper, thyme

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by : Reiko Koji, Soup/Stew, Tofu

Umami Soup
旨味たっぷり白菜とろみスープ

When the temperature dips from 90F degrees to 60F degrees in just one day, I know it’s time to make a big pot of soup.

Napa cabbage is one of my favorite ingredients for my autumn/winter soup.

I wanted to keep this soup tasty, but I didn’t want to add too much stuff to overpower the natural flavor of each vegetable.

Here is the secret ingredient, although I am going to tell you what it is, so it’s not that secret.

This is something I started about two weeks ago.

It’s a mixture of Koji, grated onions, and salt, and it was slowly fermented over the period of two weeks.

Koji is a naturally occurring culture that is used to make various things, such as sake, miso, and soy sauce.

When it is fermented, it becomes an umami powerhouse.

A few spoons of my newly created onion koji really worked well in this soup.

This soup is packed with veggies, tofu, and noodles.

It’s warm and comforting.

Exactly what I wanted.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Soup/Stew, Tofu

Vegan Katsu Curry
ヴィーガンカツカレー

Since I bought the air fryer, I cannot stop thinking about what to make with it.

What fried food I liked but avoided making because I didn’t want to use too much oil?

Well one of those foods was “katu”, panko-crusted deep fried meat.

This time I used Koya Tofu ↑ for meat .

Koya tofu is basically freeze-dried tofu, and its texture works great for “katsu.”

With the air fryer…

The katsu turned out great.

Since I got my air fryer was out, I went ahead and fried Enoki mushrooms too.

I lightly dusted them with flour first, sprayed oil, and voila!

The Katsu Curry was served with cheesy corn cream.

The sweet corn balanced the spicy curry well.

That’s a lot of fried food in one bowl.

Can you tell how much I like my air fryer?

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Soup/Stew, Vegan Egg

Sticky Cury
ねばねばカレー

Last time I made a kind of sticky curry with Natto,

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/05/11/natto-curry%e7%b4%8d%e8%b1%86%e3%82%ab%e3%83%ac%e3%83%bc/

I said it was just okay.

Well, this time I made it a bit differently, and I LOVED it!

As you can see in the title, this time I added a few other sticky things, like this one, Okra.

The reason I decided to make this curry was because I found this at the local Asian grocery store.

It is Japanese nagaimo.

And as you can guessed, it is sticky.

Nagaimo is interesting.

Nagaimo literally means “long potato” in Japanese, but this “potato” can be eaten raw.

And the texture is unique.

Nagaimo is often enjoyed grated in Japan.

But because of the wonderful texture I like it diced.

And you can’t forget Natto.

The king of sticky food, if you ask me.

Are you ready for this?

Another thing I did differently is that I made the curry a bit thinner without losing flavor.

I think this soup style curry works well for this sticky curry.

It’s getting better and better with rice and a vegan egg.

This was so delicious, but I know it’s a love or hate kind of food.

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

Summer is Coming! Cold Noodle Soup
もうすぐ夏~!ピリ辛冷スープ麺

It’s not quite summer yet.

But I know once winter is over, summer comes quickly here in Minnesota.

The soup is cold.

Spicy.

Sweet.

And a bit sour.

It’s also got texture, from onions, ginger, and sesame seeds, which cling to the noodles so well.

In addition to a lot of veggies, I added vegan omelet (homemade) and vegan mini egg rolls (from Costco).

I have a feeling that I will be eating this a lot for the next several months.

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