Why making banh mi with croissant?
Well, why not?!
Vegan croissant from Eureka Compass Vegan Food, homemade vegan butter, Thai sweet basil, zucchini slices, tofu steak, seitan steak, Daikon-carrot Asian slaw, and mint.
My husband had a chance to share this sandwich with one of his friends, who is definitely NOT a vegan, reportedly enjoyed this sandwich, tofu, seitan, and everything!
Woo-hoo!
Happy Sunday, everyone!
When I received a food request from my hubby that is not “Swedish Meatball” I do accept it (lol).
(He says “Swedish Meatball” too many times, and sadly it is often dismissed…)
He wanted a sandwich with some kind of chicken-like meat and lingonberry.
So this is what I came up with.
When I want a really firm texture that will resemble that of chicken, I like to use a specific tofu from Trader Joe’s.
I forgot to take a picture before I took the tofu out, but at least you can see the package.
This is super firm, and my husband really likes it when I cook it like chicken.
Doesn’t it look good?
For the bread I used vegan croissants from my favorite local vegan bakery/Bodega, Eureka Compass Vegan Food.
Homemade vegan Swiss cheese also gets recruited to the sandwich.
Vegan croissant, garlic herb “ticken,” homemade vegan Swiss cheese, arugula, homemade vegan mayo, and lingonberry jam.
The jam is from World Market.
They recently changed their label, and it’s very pretty.
Is there a dish that you grew up eating all the time as a kid because your mom made it, and then later as an adult you realize that no one else makes it?
This “egg” and lettuce hot sandwich is one of those foods.
My mother made this for my sister and I all the time when we were kids, and I thought everyone else was eating it too.
I was apparently wrong.
You spread mayo and mustard on two slices of bread.
Place generous amount of lettuce leaves and soft scrambled eggs.
Sandwich and then cook it in an oven toaster.
Of course to make it vegan, I used soft tofu to make the scrambled “egg” and my own homemade mayo.
I also added mayo later after the sandwich was out of the oven because I was not sure how my mayo would react the high heat (I didn’t want my mayo to become liquid oil during the cooking process).
This was actually my second attempt to make this sandwich.
The first attempt was rather disappointing.
I thought it would be better to add lettuce later after the cooking to keep it fresh, but it was a big mistake.
Cooking the lettuce along with the eggs really makes this sandwich special.
The lettuce gets soft and almost sweet, but not soggy.
Of course you have to eat quickly as soon as it’s out of the oven, but it’s not a problem (lol).
The other key is the mustard.
You cannot skip mustard in this sandwich.
It’s a must.
It tasted exactly like the one my mother used to make.
Loved it.
Egg Rice Bowl is one of my favorite lunch dishes on the cafeteria menu at the college I attended in japan.
It was cheap (I believe it was about 400 yen (approximately $4.00), filling, and tasty.
Egg rice bowl is basically eggs and onions cooked in soy sauce-based slightly sweet broth and served over rice.
Simple yet (or because of that) I would order it multiple times a week and I never got tired of it.
Making soft “eggs” with silken tofu.
Instead of cooking the “eggs” and onions in broth, I decided to serve the “eggs” and onions with broth on the side.
Pour the broth right before serving.
This was exactly what I was craving for so many years.
Served with miso soup.
Wakame seaweed is one of my favorite things in miso soup.
Don’t forget roasted seaweed as a topping.
Have a great week everyone.
This dish is one of the best examples, “simple is best.”
What you need to make Silken Tofu Rice are…
Rice.
Silken tofu (warm or cold).
Soy sauce.
These are the basic ingredients.
And toppings of your choice.
This time I had avocado mash (avocado plus wasabi and chopped radish), chopped tomatoes, and Japanese Shiso basil.
This was my breakfast this morning.
I love a meal like this.
Simple, yet, fresh and very satisfying.
By the way, my husband had the same food.
This is one my favorite rice bowls.
Love everything, the organic shape, the colors, and the design.
Vegans and plant-eaters.
Who is tired of “subtraction” vegan dishes?
Well, I am.
You go to a restaurant.
Find a dish that says “vegan upon request” and ask about it.
Your server tells you it’s “no problem” to make the dish vegan.
They will just remove this, this, this, and that.
So you’ll end up with something really bland.
Once in a while, the server will go to the kitchen to talk to the chef, and he may offer “substitution.”
Avocado for cheese, or sautéed mushrooms for bacon.
Unfortunately, this happens rarely, and often times I have to initiate the process and make substitution suggestions.
And interestingly, I often get charged for the “extra,” like one vegan item I got in place of five nonvegan items.
The other day I had craving for bibimbap.
I found a restaurant whose website says they accommodate vegans.
When we asked them to make their tofu bibimbap vegan, our server said “no problem.”
He would just take the egg out.
I was not too happy about it, but what could I do at that point.
I was hungry, and when our food came, our bibimbap had this beautifully cooked egg on top.
We had to remind our server that we do not eat eggs, he apologized fiercely and took the dish back to the kitchen.
When he came back, our bibimbap had an empty spot in the middle.
It just looked sad.
That’s when I decided to tell myself, “no more subtraction.”
Each ingredient has a role in the resulting dish.
Egg is an important component of bibimbap, and I simply didn’t want my bibimbap “sans egg.”
It took me a while to come up with this idea, but I decided to try grated naga-imo.
Naga-imo is not a new food to this Japanese girl.
It has a very unique sticky texture, but the flavor is very mild.
I thought this will give the rich creamy component I was looking for.
In this bowl over the rice you’ll find tofu, portobello mushrooms, sesame carrots, sprouts, and zucchini.
It was served with grated naga-imo and gochujang on top.
Naga-imo has a very unique texture and if you’re not familiar with it or you are not a fan of sticky food in general, this may not be for you.
But to me this was DELICIOUS!
Loved the creamy naga-imo mixed together with everything else.
No more subtraction!! 🙂
Instagram is an awesome thing.
I was away from the Japanese food scene for a long time, but now I feel like I’m catching up.
When I saw a picture of a dynamic tofu rice bowl, I knew that was something I wanted to create myself.
Apparently, this is a special dish served at a restaurant called “Otako-Honten” in Japan, and it has been very popular since stories about this dish were picked up by the media a few years ago.
They call this dish “To-Meshi,” in Japanese.
I’m assuming that the “TO” is a shortened “tofu” and “Meshi” means rice.
My tofu was slow-cooked for hours in slightly sweetened soy/seaweed/mushroom-based broth.
At the end of the process the tofu has absorbed all the delicious flavors.
A bowl of miso soup and a small dish of kimchi complete this awesome meal.
Simply delicious.
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!
I was in the mood for a big sandwich, and I decided to make Wanpaku sandwich for the second time.
Wanpaku sandwich is a popular Japanese sandwich.
I’m not sure exactly what is the definition, but basically it’s a sandwich with a LOT of stuff sandwiched.
Like those New Jersey deli sandwiches, as my husband says.
(“Wanpaku” means naughty or mischievous, typically used to describe physically active young boys.)
These tofu cutlets are so delicious!
People say anything deep-fried tastes good, and I do agree (lol).
The first time I made Wanpaku sandwich a few years ago, it was a disaster.
Although I was still not sure how much I could actually pile up, but I wanted something really voluminous.
I’m happy to announce that this time I succeeded.
Inside this sandwich you’ll find spinach, carrots, tofu cutlet with Japanese worcestershire sauce, radish, and purple cabbage.
By the way, I baked pullman bread for this sandwich.
This was not only pretty but also delicious!!
I could eat this everyday.
