by : Reiko Mushrooms, Potatoes/Squash, Tofu

2023 Thanksgiving
２０２３年感謝祭

This year I have to cook in a new kitchen, where space and the access to the appliances are rather limited.

So I decided to keep the menu simple.

Although the dishes did not require too complicated steps, that doesn’t mean I compromised on taste.

I mostly stuck with the traditional ingredients/dishes but wanted to add some fun flavors.

This was today’s main dish.

Tofu steak with Nira garlic chive “stuffing”.

I’m not a huge mashed potato fan, but my husband is.

So I make it at least once a year, usually for Thanksgiving.

This is garlicky mashed potatoes with Mikan tangerine Shichimi seven spices.

A friend of mine got me this “Mikan Shichimi” spices from Japan.

It’s a great mixture of refreshing and sweet citrus and spiciness.

The label design is lovely, too.

King oyster mushroom gravy.

It was made with garlic, king oyster mushrooms, flour, water, vegetable bouillon, salt, pepper, sugar, nutritional yeast, soy milk, soy sauce, Italian herbs.

This was probably the best gravy I’ve ever made!

Sauteed haricot verts with garlic.

Simple and tasty.

I like that Aldi sells these fancy (skinny) green beans.

Roasted Kabocha squash with cumin cilantro salad.

I was going to make a “hot” dish with the Kabocha, but I thought it would be nice to have something on the lighter side with extra vegetables.

This year I made cranberry sauce myself.

My original plan was to buy canned cranberry sauce, but I did not care for the ingredients of the one I found at a store.

At the same store I saw this bag of fresh cranberries, and it was so cheap, which made the decision easy for me.

Cranberry sauce is so easy to make!

Who knew?!

I added some fresh grated ginger, and I absolutely loved the final result.

Why do I always cook AND eat too much for Thanksgiving???

Cardamom apple upside down cake.

For the dessert I deviated from the traditional choice and went against a pie this year.

I served it with vanilla coconut yogurt.

I was extremely happy with how the whole meal turned out.

It was a bit of challenge not only cooking and baking in a kitchen I’m not too familiar with but also taking photos in a different setting, but it all worked out fine.

Hope your meal was delicious and your day was wonderful as well.

A few day ago I saw this in front of the Union Depot building in St. Paul.

I was surprised to see them putting lights on the tree before Thanksgiving, but I’m okay with that.

I just love this time of the year when things are becoming festive around the city.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Mushrooms, Soup/Stew, Tofu, Vegan Egg

Autumn Sukiyaki
秋のすき焼き

Sukiyaki is a popular Japanese Nabe(pot)-style dish.

You cook various meats and vegetable in a soy sauce based sweet broth.

Thin sliced beef is usually the main ingredient.

As you can see, in my plant-based version you won’t see any meats, but instead there are a lots of mushrooms (three kinds!) and two types of tofu (fried and extra firm).

You can basically use any vegetables, but the ones you see here are probably often expected in Sukiyaki pot: Napa cabbage, Shungiku, mushrooms, tofu, carrots, and yam noodles.

Luckily, I can get all these ingredients at the local Asian grocery store today.

One thing that is not authentic is the addition of an apple.

Since it’s in the season and I got beautiful fresh apples from a farmers market that morning, I decided to add some to the pot.

I also used a little bit of the apple cider I also got from the farmers market to the broth.

Not everyone, but many people enjoy Sukiyaki with a raw egg as a dipping sauce.

The Sukiyaki broth tends to be quite strong, and the egg balances it.

I did grow up with this tradition, but I never liked the egg white.

So this time I made my vegan “yolk” with carrots and it worked great!

It was rich, creamy, and the beautiful orange color was bright and appetizing.

It was so delicious!!

Let me share some pictures from my last weekend’s trip to the local farmers market.

What’s your favorite kind of squash?

Love this one!

So beautiful.

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by : Reiko Air Fryer, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Tofu Karaage Onigiri Lunch
豆腐唐揚げおにぎり定食

It was a busy week, and I was glad that I decided to give myself a day off today.

You need to listen to your mind and body, right?

Instead of working, I decided to make a nice lunch for myself and my hubby.

This salted Kombu seaweed is one of my favorite things to keep in my pantry.

It’s not always easy to find in the U.S., so when I find it, I always buy it.

The salted Kombu and chopped pickled beets were added to freshly cooked Japanese rice.

Taste it first and then add salt if it’s needed.

The salted Kombu is quite salty, so you want to make sure if additional salt is needed first.

These Onigiri turned out so pretty with the pink color from the beets.

But they are also super tasty!

Kombu Onigiri is one of my favorites.

I also made Karaage with the extra firm tofu from Costco.

The Costco tofu is so firm, firmer than the regular extra firm one I buy from other stores, and it works great for this dish.

Karaage is a Japanese fried chicken.

You marinade the chicken first, and I do the same with my tofu.

I used my air fryer to fry the marinated and floured Tofu.

It works every time.

Also found the lunch tray are miso soup, kimchi, and curried chickpea salad.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Tofu

Koya-Tofu Nanban
高野豆腐南蛮

Chicken Nanaban is a popular dish in Japan.

It’s fried chicken coated with sweet tangy glaze and then served with chunky mayo-based sauce.

To veganize the dish I used Koya-tofu (freeze dried tofu) in place of chicken.

I “fried” my Koya-tofu in my air fryer first.

Make sure it’s coated well with this delicious sauce.

Soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes.

It’s best to enjoy this dish with white rice.

I can eat bowls of rice endlessly!

Traditionally, you add chopped boiled eggs to the mayo sauce.

But instead I used capers, which added some interesting flavor and texture.

I also added finely chopped radish.

Homemade vegan mayo, mustard, ketchup, salt, pepper, chopped radish, chopped capers.

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by : Reiko Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta, Tofu

Fettuccine with King Mushrooms, Ground Koya-Tofu, and Garlic Chives
きのこ高野豆腐”挽肉”ニンニクの芽フェットチーネ

I like pasta with red sauce.

And we have that a lot for a weeknight dinner.

It’s an easy and tasty meal.

But I also like pasta without sauce, especially when I have certain ingredients.

I love any mushrooms, but king mushroom is one of my favorite mushrooms, mostly because of its meaty texture.

Ground Koya-Tofu (freeze dried tofu; cooked with soy sauce based sauce).

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2023/04/10/rice-with-bean-sprouts-and-ground-koya-tofu

I can’t help buying it when I find fresh chive flower (or garlic chives) at the local Asian grocery store.

I also used baby bella mushrooms.

They (and garlic) were all sauteed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and combined with freshly cooked fettuccine.

No sauce needed.

Simple and delicious.

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by : Reiko Rice/Grains, Tofu

Rice with Bean Sprouts and Ground Koya-Tofu
豆もやしと高野豆腐そぼろでごはん

I love bean sprouts, but they are usually served as a side dish, never a main dish.

I had such a large bag of them, and I was in a mood for eating a lot of it with my rice.

So I made this yummy dish with thick rich sauce.

It’s sweet, sour, and spicy, all in one!

I got this freeze-dried tofu, Koya-Tofu, at the same Asian grocery store where I bought my bean sprouts.

This tofu was marked down because the use-by date was near.

The freeze-dried tofu is very unique.

The texture is firm, so it can be used in place of meat.

This time I made them into small pieces by using the food processor to make them resemble ground meat.

The bean sprouts were topped off with the Koya-Tofu ground “meat”.

Itadakimasu – Thank you for the food.

Generously place the bean sprouts-koya-tofu mixture on top of the rice.

Yum!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Gluten Free, Tofu

Wonderfully Chewy Boiled Dumplings (vegan)
もっちり米粉水餃子（ヴィーガン）

My husband and I are both big dumpling fans.

I usually opt for fried dumplings (or pot stickers), but this time I was in a mood for the boiled version.

The filling was made of tofu, garlic, ginger, cabbage, onion, and green onion, plus soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and some corn starch.

I’m so proud that I made the wrappers myself, too.

They were made of rice flour, and as a result, you get a really wonderful chewiness when they are cooked.

They were served with a chunky type of sauce (soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds, onion, cilantro).

So tasty!!

This recipe (Japanese) was adapted for the wrappers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqIRQPRgLIR/

Because I used Thai rice flour purchased in the U.S. I had to adjust the amount of water (I needed some extra).

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta, Tofu

Arare Tofu Soba
タモリさんのあられ豆腐のせ蕎麦

Making this Arare Tofu is quite easy.

You remove excess water from soft tofu.

Cook the tofu in sesame oil, and add flavor with soy sauce and sake.

I added tomato in addition to tofu, and I also used some sugar and salt to finish.

The original recipe was created by Mr. Tamori, who is a Japanese celebrity who hosted a popular daily show called “Waratte Iitomo” for many years.

In Japan it is customary to eat Soba noodles on December 31.

It’s supposed to be a good luck because the long noodles represent a long life and happiness.

We are having a quiet evening tonight.

Just me and my husband at home.

We will watch some TV.

Not sure if we can make it to 12:00…

We’ll see.

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by : Reiko Bread, Sandwiches, Tofu

Tofu Nugget Sandwich Lunch
豆腐ナゲットサンドイッチランチ&ちょこっと”大掃除”

This is the kind of lunch plate I like to eat.

Tasty sandwiches, salad, and soup.

There are a lot of veggies, and the whole plate is plant-based.

Homemade buns.

I loe them when they are just out of the oven.

They are so soft and smell good.

Homemade tofu nuggets.

This is a basic recipe for which I only wanted to use ingredients that are easy to come by and for which I don’t need to use a knife.

I used Ao-nori (seaweed flakes) to give them umami.

These are small sized ones.

They make a great snack.

These are the larger ones that I used for the sandwiches.

I love how these mini sandwiches looked.

Gochujang veggie soup.

Who is interested in this lunch plate?

This is the time when you deep-clean your house, called “O-soji” in Japan.

I’ve been keeping the house in a good shape, by cleaning a little every day, so I don’t feel like we need to do “O-soji”.

But today I cleaned the fridge inside and out, and I felt good.

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by : Reiko Tofu

2022 Christmas Eve Lunch
２０２２年クリスマスイブランチ

This year I decided to have a low-key Christmas meal.

I just wanted to have a quiet relaxing day.

Initially the plan was not having a plan (lol), but at the last minute I wanted to have something still a bit special for lunch.

I saved this recipe for a while ago, but I didn’t have a chance to try it.

The recipe looked easy enough, so I thought it would be a good main dish.

It WAS easy to make, and it turned out great!

I happened to have leftover roasted cabbage from yesterday, so I made this roasted cabbage lentil sesame stew.

For the buns I made this microwave stuffed buns in the Christmas colors.

The red ones are stuffed with vegan meatballs, and the green ones are stuffed with sweet Adzuki bean paste.

The brown sugar mustard glaze was so tasty that I wanted to lick the plate!

The glazed tofu recipe – > https://www.instagram.com/fitgreenmind/

Stay warm and safe if you live in a cold climate like we do.

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