by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Happy Halloween 2024! – Kabocha Scones

This year Halloween feels very different.

I’m usually wearing a heavy coat by now, but this year I’m still wearing a summer dress.

In October!

Luckily, I was able to find a beautiful organic Kabocha.

It was small, but…

It was good quality!

Look at this beautiful orange color.

They look good already.

But…

I wanted to dress them up a little….

Cinnamon icing, roasted sunflower seeds, and cinnamon powder were added.

Delicious!!

My husband is not a big fan of scones in general because they are often too dry, but he loved these.

Perfect with black coffee.

I used Ms. Nora’s recipe, and I highly recommend it.

https://www.noracooks.com/pumpkin-scones/

*As noted above I used Kabocha squash in place of pumpkin. Also, I used regular white sugar for brown sugar, flax meal/water for apple sauce, and coconut oil for vegan butter. They still turned out fantastic! I didn’t add any spices to the scones, and I only added cinnamon to my icing.

I started reading this book I had found at a Japanese used bookstore.

It’s an old novel, published in 1973.

It became a bestseller, and a TV show has been made based on this book twice.

I’m really loving having time to read.

Another Kabocha dish.

I made this ginger Kabocha soup the other day for lunch.

It was creamy and so good!

Halloween decorations are everywhere in Bangkok too.

It is nice to see these familiar items this time of the year.


Leave a comment
by : Reiko Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta

Lion’s Mane Crab Cakes; with “too” little filler!

Who likes crab cakes?

Well, I do… I did.

The Lion’s Mane mushroom interestingly mimics the look and texture of crab meat.

So, I decided to attempt to make my first Lion’s Mane crab cakes.

I like my crab cakes with little filler.

Have you ever ordered crab cakes at a restaurant, and when they arrived, you had to ask, “where is the crabmeat?” because there was too much filler?

Well, I didn’t want that in my crab cakes, so I added very little filler.

Okay.

Maybe it was too little of filler…

They barely held their shape.

I made garlic, olive, lemon, herb pasta with crunchy Panko to serve the crab cakes with.

I love this kind of pasta.

Simple and delicious.

I could eat a large bowl of it.

Just that.

This turned out to be such a delicious meal!

The crab cake was tasty undressed, but I also liked it with my vegan lemon garlic mayo.

Because the filler was so little that most of the cakes became “deconstructed”.

They still tasted good though.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bangkok Restaurants

Bangkok Plant-Based Fair; 40+ Vendors!

I can’t believe we almost missed this!

I found out about this event by chance, and I’m glad that I did.

The Plant-Based Fair took place at EmQuartier October 25 to 27.

40+ vendors participated.

100% vegan.

Free admission.

We went there on the last day, the 27th, around the lunch time.

It was lively, but the size of the crowd was manageable.

No lines.

We saw a lot of tasty-looking food.

The following pictures show just some of them, but I hope you can get some idea of what was offered.

There were several vegan restaurants that we visit regularly, and there were other restaurants we did not know.

So we were busy taking pictures so that we could remember to check them out later.

There were also a lot of small businesses showcasing interesting products.

Oh, this was an interesting one.

The bar was called “Sad Bar”, and they had “Unhappy Hour” going (lol).

You tell the bartender how you feel, and he will concoct a drink for you.

Cool, huh.

There were so many things we wanted to try.

I was indecisive, but my husband quickly chose this curry x rice from Munch Mox by Nidhi.

We got two types of curry: “lamb” and “chicken”.

They were both so rich and flavorful!

The staff were so friendly, and they told us that they no longer have a storefront, but you can still get their food for delivery.

Good to know!

It took me a while, but I finally decided to try this beautiful sushi from Buffalo trap Bar.

This was not only pretty but also so fresh and tasty!

There was avocado, mushroom, and some other things (I can’t really tell exactly what) inside and it was topped off with beet and vegan caviar.

We were planning to get a few more things for lunch, but we were pretty full after the curry and sushi.

So we moved on to a dessert.

This Thai tea ice cream was so creamy and delicious!

The strong tea taste was amazing, too.

I strongly believe that it tastes the best when the edge starts melting.

My husband likes to stir his ice cream to make the whole thing creamy and melting, while I like mine half melting with the other half still firmer, if that makes sense.

When we share ice cream, he is so nice, letting me handle the stirring :).

We thought we were done eating, but we couldn’t resist some free samples (lol).

This pani puri offered by Munch Box was delicious!!

Pani puri is an Indian street food.

It’s a delicate shell stuffed with potatoes and some other veggies, and they pour refreshing tangy sauce into the shell right before you eat it.

I could have eaten five more of these!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bread

Pillowy Pita Bread; there is something so satisfying about watching them puff up.

Pita bread is something I like to make periodically.

One of the reasons for that is that I can bake them in a pan on the stovetop, and it’s a lot of fun to watch them puff up!

There is something so satisfying about that (lol).

I quickly prepared chickpea spread and Indian style cauliflower curry.

The warm soft pita bread tasted so good!

I’ve tried various recipes, but I think I finally found the one I will keep! ↓

https://note.com/bs4kitchen/n/nc162f20f59e7 (Japanese)

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bread, Mushrooms, Sandwiches

Pulled Lion’s Mane Sandwich; Now I’m a fan!

I get excited when I get to try unique vegetables or fruits, more so than fancy shoes or purses (lol).

I ordered some groceries from Happy Grocers again this week, and in addition to their surplus set, I purchased something fun.

It’s “lion’s mane” mushroom.

I’ve seen it before, sold at the farmers market in St. Paul when we lived in Minnesota, but I don’t think I’ve tried it before.

(It’s much more reasonable here, which definitely encouraged me to try it.)

When it arrived, it didn’t look like much, especially when compared to this one, https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2024/10/18/ .

But I quickly realized how dense this mushroom was.

It’s got so much “meat”.

I had a lot of ideas on how to use it, but for my first attempt I decided to make sandwiches by using this as pulled “meat”.

I tried a new recipe to bake buns this time, and these turned out to be the BEST buns I’ve ever made!

Perfectly sweet, light, and so soft!

If anybody is interested, here is the link to the recipe (Japanese).

https://www.kurashiru.com/recipes/eda36df4-f1e2-445f-9181-58b1c45dc0e3

I added some cucumber and a lot of cilantro to my coleslaw this time.

I love cilantro.

Sometimes I eat a few stalks for a snack.

First, mayo, and then the pulled “lion’s mane”.

A heap of coleslaw on top.

I served the sandwich with roasted potatoes and honey-sesame glazed corn; the potatoes and corn were both from the surplus set.

Now I’ve become a big fan of the lion’s mane!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Sweets

Mint Donuts with Mango Glaze

When everyone else is posting pictures of pumpkin food, this may look out of place this time of the year.

But it’s still hot in Bangkok, and I continue to crave for the flavors of tropical fruits.

I don’t have a green thumb, but my mint is doing very well.

It’s so nice to be able to use herbs that I grow myself.

Chopped fresh mint was added to the donut batter.

This is my donut pan from the U.S.

Yes, it traveled with me from Minnesota.

(They do sell donut pans here in Bangkok in case you are wondering.)

But there was a little issue with the pan.

It was a bit too big for my oven.

After trying different angles, I figured with this angle I was able to completely close the oven door.

I just needed another pan to support it at the bottom.

For the mango glaze I combined 100% mango powder, powdered sugar, and lemon juice.

This was sweet (but not too sweet), tart, and full of mango flavor.

So good!

The donuts did not get the brown color or the firm texture I wanted, unfortunately.

I suspect it might have resulted from… there was another pan below when baked, the oven was not fully pre-heated, or/and I didn’t mix the batter well enough.

They still tasted good though.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bangkok Restaurants, Restaurants

Carrots The Vegan Bistro – “Changing the world one bite at a time”

We were here last December the first time I visited Bangkok for vacation.

We liked it so much that I was looking forward to coming back.

It took us a bit longer, but I was happy that we were back.


The bistro is bright and airy, and there is a cool painting you see right when you enter the restaurant.

The staff are always very nice and friendly.

I really like their philosophy, including their decision to cook from scratch in-house, their effort to use local ingredients and their attention to sustainability.

This time we stopped by for an afternoon snack.

The tiramisu was excellent!!!

So creamy and scrumptious!

We also tried “Lamington” with pistachio.

I never heard of “Lamington”, but it was a vanilla cake with pistachio paste inside, covered with chocolate glaze and coconut flakes.

I googled and found out that Lamington is an Australian cake.

This was very good, too.

I like trying new things.

This is a must-visit restaurant for all the vegans and vegetarians when in Bangkok.

Such as lovely place.


I also want to post a few more pictures of the food we had last time we were here.

This was “eggs benedict”, and it was not only beautiful but also very tasty.

We also had this Indian-flavored pizza, and it was very good, too.

On our way out we picked up a couple of bags for our herb planters. 🙂

Carrots the Vegan Bistro – https://www.carrotsveganbistro.com/

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bread, Sandwiches

Vegan Banh Mi & Banh Mi Sushi with Mayo Crumbles

Since we are closer to Vietnam now, I thought I would find many more Vietnamese food.

Surprisingly, that doesn’t seem like the case.

There are a few Vietnamese restaurants in Bangkok, but not as many as I expected.

I was craving for banh mi sandwich, and luckily, I happened to have all the ingredients needed.

The only thing missing was the bread.

I couldn’t find any Vietnamese bakery where they sell banh mi bread.

I thought about getting a regular French baguette from a French bakery, but at the last minute I decided to make bread myself.

I found some authentic banh mi bread recipes (posted by Vietnamese), but quickly I learned that they require some unique ingredients, tools, and techniques, which discouraged me.

So, I followed a banh mi bread recipe that I found on one of the largest Japanese recipe sites, Cookpad.

I did not follow even her instructions strictly because of a lack of a tool or simply me being lazy(!), but my bread still turned out well.

It was crunchy outside and light, soft inside.

I used soy meat for the “meat” part.

Pickles were ready.

Plus, homemade vegan mayo, cucumber, and cilantro.

Yum!

The next day with the leftover “meat” and veggies I prepared lunch.

Banh Mi Sushi Rolls!

I was planning to drizzle my homemade mayo.

But I used coconut oil (because I was out of olive oil) for this batch, and it became firm in the fridge.

So I scraped and sprinkled small pieces on top.

It does become creamy quite quickly at the room temperature.

Initially I panicked, but we actually enjoyed this mayo “crumbles”.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta

Homemade Pasta with Golden Oyster Mushrooms -　立派なタモギタケを手に入れたよ。

Eating seasonal food is important to me.

So when I saw a large list of mushrooms on Happy Grocers’ page, I didn’t hesitate to order some.

Everything looked good, but I chose golden oyster.

It said I would receive 200-250g, but I didn’t know how big (or small) that would be.

When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised by the large size.

And the quality.

It was so fresh and absolutely beautiful!!

I wanted to enjoy the mushrooms with my homemade pasta.

I don’t have a rolling pin, so I use my husband’s soda again.

It works perfectly :).

It makes a mess in the kitchen, but homemade pasta is so worth it.

I wanted to enjoy the flavor of the mushrooms without added extra flavors, so I simply sauteed it.

They kept their shape and firm texture even after cooked, and I loved that they were meaty and delicious.

The flavor was wonderful, too.

The pasta was served with cream sauce, soy meat, and then topped off with the sauteed golden oyster mushrooms.

It was so delicious.

My husband and I both really enjoyed these mushrooms, and I think I want to try other mushrooms too.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Marble Banana Muffins – マーブルバナナマフィン

I was in a mood for baking with bananas for a while.

So the timing was perfect!

I received these ripe bananas as part of the surplus set from Happy Grocers.

Now I didn’t have to wait for bananas to ripe.

They were already ripe and ready to be used.

And happy to add that I was able to rescue these guys from being thrown away.

If you are interested in Happy Grocers or their surplus set, check out my post here.

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2024/10/03/trying-to-eat-more-sustainably/

I added some cocoa powder to a half of the batter and created the marble design.

These turned out amazing!!

They made the whole kitchen smell so good!

I sprinkled some oats and roasted sunflower seeds on top.

I think they made these muffins even more appropriate for breakfast.

The texture was wonderful, too.

It was pleasantly crispy outside and moist inside.

It’s great as is, but irresistible with my vegan butter!

For the muffins I used this recipe as the base, and it’s a keeper!

https://www.rainbownourishments.com/vegan-banana-muffins/

Leave a comment