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

Vegan Ramen
ヴィーガンらーめん

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!

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Soup/Stew

Somen in Gazpacho
ガスパチョそうめん

I wanted to post this before September, because this dish screams summer!

I did make and enjoy it on one hot summer day, and it was delicious.

The cold somen noodles served in cold and refreshing gazpacho was exactly what I needed.

It was topped off with “ground” tofu and radish slices.

The weather changed so dramatically here in Minnesota.

It definitely felt like “fall” today.

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Soup/Stew

V-Cheese Ravioli in Lemon Asparagus Soup
Vチーズラビオリを浮かべたアスパラガススープ

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.

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

Curry Udon
カレーうどん

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.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Soup/Stew

Miso Balls
味噌玉

Don’t they look pretty?

They almost look like chocolate truffles, but they are actually miso balls.

You combine miso and other things and make it into balls.

It’s kind of like instant miso soup.

You just put a ball in a bowl and pour hot water over it.

Voila, you’ll have delicious miso soup in seconds.

You can use any type of miso, but this time I used super dark, called Haccho (left) and white (right) miso.

We use this very dark type of miso in the region where I’m from, but it’s hard to find in the U.S.

So when I saw it at the local Asian market, I was so excited.

Now when it comes to other ingredients, you get to pick what you like in your miso soup.

But you do need to add something like dried fish flakes (for non-vegans) or dried salted seaweed called “Shio-kombu”, something that works as the soup base.

I also like to add some sweetener (e.g., sugar) just to give some “umami.”

Other than that almost anything that typically tastes good when frozen-and-thawed is a good choice.

Easy, right?

↑ I couldn’t wait for them to be frozen, so I tried one right away.

It was so good!

But I did freeze the rest of them for the future use.

Put them in a container and freeze them.

This is how they looked after placed in the freezer for a few hours.

They were still somewhat soft but hard enough to be handled easily and not stick with one another.

Now we can have miso soup without any hassle whenever we want!

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

Japanese Style Dinner
和食で夕食

We had a Japanese style meal for dinner tonight, per my husband’s request.

We both enjoy this kind of meal, but we usually don’t eat like this.

It’s not that it takes time to prepare, but I make a western style meal out of habit.

It was nice that he asked me, because when I do prepare a meal like this, I really enjoy the whole process, from cooking, choosing dishes, plating, and to of course eating.

I don’t have a lot of Japanese dishes, but many of what I have are white x blue.

I have a small collection of chopstick rests.

This is a new addition.

I got it from our recent trip to Japan.

Can you tell what it is?

It’s a slice of bitter melon.

My husband ate the same thing, except for Natto.

White rice.

Garbanzo bean, pea, scallion miso soup.

Sesame carrots.

Lemon feta zucchini.

Hiya-yakko (cold tofu) with tomato, fried onion, scallion, and a drizzle of soy sauce.

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

Vegan Chashu Ramen
ヴィーガンチャーシューラーメン

You must have guessed that I was going to post this.

Well, if you make Chashu (previous post), you are almost obligated to make ramen!

I was going to make my own noodles too, but since flour is hard to come by right now, I decided to go with store-bought ones.

These noodles are not specifically for ramen, but I like them because of its right wideness and color (slightly yellow).

And you know what?

The ingredients are good too.

Other similar noodles I found at the same store contain yellow #5 and 6, but this one uses turmeric to add the yellow color.

So much better.

I was super happy with the result.

Doesn’t my vegan Chashu look great?

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

Curry Udon with Asparagus Tempura
アスパラガス天ぷらカレーうどん

When I make curry for dinner, the next day’s lunch has to be curry udon.

That’s an unwritten rule at my house, but I religiously follow it.

I thought tempura would be a nice addition to it and decided to make some with asparagus.

I always make my tempura batter from scratch (all purpose flour, baking powder, cold water, salt), but of course I never measure the ingredients.

So it turns out different every time.

This time it turned out PERFECT!

Tempura is not the same as fritter, and it should be super light, just like this one you see in these pictures!

I’m so proud of this.

(I should have written down how I made this batter…)

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

Natto Green Chile Soba
納豆グリーンチリ蕎麦

I usually have a lot of energy on weekends (lol).

It takes me forever to get out of bed usually, but I’m wide awake at 5:00 a.m. when I don’t go to the office.

But today my energy was a bit low, and I was kind of lazy.

A good thing is that I never lose appetite even on a day like this.

I was in a mood for soba soup for lunch.

So, this is what I ended up with.

Soba noodles, Kombu-soy sauce based soup, Natto, and green chile.

Yes, the green chile is an outsider here, but I really enjoyed the fresh spiciness in the soup.

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