by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta

Homemade Strawberry Pasta
ホームメード苺パスタ

I like fruit, and I mostly eat them fresh.

But since we are a small household (of two), the smallest sized package is often still too big for us to finish quickly.

So I’m always trying to find a way to use them.

I know it’s easier to use it for sweets, but we can’t consume too many sweets (well, technically we can, but we try not to!), so when I come up with a non-sweet thing I can use fruit for, I go for it.

I followed my mother-in-law’s advice for choosing the right strawberries at a store (she says they have to smell like strawberries), and I got a good batch, but they were also very ripe.

I’ve been really enjoying making homemade pasta lately, and this one turned out to be a fun project, too.

Very easy to handle.

And the pink color!

Can you see the seeds?

The light pink color stayed in the pasta after cooking, which made me happy.

Believe it or not, it does have a wonderful strawberry taste!

And as always, I love the texture of homemade pasta.

It’s just so good.

I coated freshly cooked strawberry pasta with olive oil and homemade herbed feta cheese, added salt and pepper, and then served with garlic balsamic glaze and fresh basil.

This turned out to be a unique sophisticated pasta dish.

I loved it.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Vegan “Salmon” Temari Sushi Balls
Vサーモン手毬寿司

Temari means a hand ball in Japanese, and it’s another style of sushi.

Yes, there are a lot of different types of sushi, including “nigiri,” “maki (rolls),” “temaki (hand-roll),” “chirashi (scattered),” “oshi (pressed)”…

I like Temari because they are easy to make and they look adorable.

The vegan “salmon” is a game changer(previous post), and now I can enjoy making/eating things like this (below).

Sushi rice was wrapped with vegan smoked “salmon” and topped off with Yuzu mayo, cucumber, and vegan caviar.

It’s pretty and delicious!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Root Vegetables

Carrot Lox
Vスモークサーモン

I’ve been interested in making this for a while.

I used to love smoked salmon, and when I first saw vegan lox, I couldn’t believe my eyes because it looked just like the real thing.

So when I found out it’s typically made with carrot, I was intrigued.

Carrot Lox adapted from this recipe

3 thick carrots
olive oil
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
black pepper
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1~2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 1×2 inch dried Dashi-Kombu sheet

*I now double the marinade to ensure all the pieces absorb the flavor.

1. Preheat oven to 35oF.
2. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Place carrots (unpeeled). Sprinkle olive oil and coat carrots well. Roast for about 45 minutes or until fork-tender. Let cool.
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a container and mix well.
4. Peel skin of the carrots. Slice with peeler. Add to the 3 mixture. Coat carrot slices with the liquid mixture well. Refrigerate overnight.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Liege Waffles
リエージュワッフル

Several years ago when I had a yeast waffle for the first time at a fair, I fell in love with it.

I have since made yeast waffles a few times, but I’ve never tried Liege style waffles.

I bought this pearl sugar just for waffles a few years ago, but I’ve been afraid that my waffles might not turn out well or make a huge mess because I don’t have a Liege waffle iron.

But finally I decided to give it a try.

I didn’t know exactly how much the sugar was supposed to be caramelized.

I was both worried and amazed by the beautiful dark caramel color created on the surface.

My initial plan was to dip them into chocolate, but when my husband and I had the first bite, we both agreed that we did not need it, or should I say, we did not want it.

They were so perfectly delicious just as they were, and we didn’t want to take away the delicious caramelized sugar flavor from them by masking it with chocolate.

Liege Waffles – makes 8

130g lukewarm soy milk
1 tablespoon falx meal
5g dry yeast
1/2 ~ 1/3 teaspoon salt
30g sugar
100g bread flour
100g all purpose flour
50g vegan butter (I use homemade vegan butter), softened
25g plus more to coat surface pearl sugar; I used Lars Pearl Sugar

1. Combine soy milk, flax meal, yeast, and salt. Mix well.
2. Add sugar and flour.
3. Knead; I use bread mixer. Add butter.
4. Cover and let it rise, for about one hour, until it has doubled in size.
5. Add pearl sugar and mix.
6. Divide the dough into 8 balls. Coat them with pearl sugar.
7. Bake in waffle maker for about 4-5 minutes. I experimented with different temperatures and time to cook. I liked the batch which I baked for 5 minutes at medium-dark. I have a Calphalon waffle maker. Please note that as you can tell from the pictures, I like mine dark and with heavy sugar caramelization.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Sweets

Double Chocolate Cookies with Merlot Salt
メルローワインソルト・ダブルチョコレートクッキー

When you are in the mood for chocolate and decide to make something chocolaty, why not make it double?!

So deciding on double chocolate cookies was a no-brainer!

I was at Keg and Case’s outdoor farmer’s market a few weekends ago, and I found something interesting!

This one said “vintage Merlot Fusion Salt” and I had to take it home with me.

Well, look at the color!

So pretty.

It looked great on my cookies too.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Sandwiches

Soy BBQ Rhubarb Coleslaw Sandwich
ソイBBQとルバーブコールスローサンドイッチ

Love the BBQ and coleslaw combination.

I was interested in Soy Curls for a while as a meat substitute, and finally I decided to give it a try.

It’s very easy to use.

You just soak them in water for several minutes, and they are ready to be cooked.

I first cooked them until browned and then cooked more with BBQ sauce.

The texture is spot-on, and it’s very satisfying.

My creamy coleslaw was a simple mixture of cabbage and vegan mayo.

But this time a little extra was pickled rhubarb, which I’ve been using for really everything!

These were served on my homemade buns.

Super tasty!!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Gomoku Onigiri
玄米五目ごはんおにぎり

Well, I should probably explain the name.

Gomoku rice is a popular Japanese rise dish.

You combine uncooked rice, broth (usually soy sauce based), and basically anything you like, typically vegetables, meat, or/and fish, and cook everything together.

You can use a regular pot and cook on a stove, but I typically use my rice cooker, which makes the whole process very easy.

Gomoku means five items, but that does not mean that you can only add five things.

In this one you find carrot, Shiitake mushrooms, dried Daikon radish, fried bean curd, and peas.

I decided to make it into Onigiri this time.

Onigiri means a rice ball, and often times they are made into this triangle shape and you wrap it with roasted seaweed sheet.

I enjoyed it with miso soup, pickled beet, and “egg” bake for breakfast.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Pizza/Flatbread

Spring Field Flatbread
スプリング・フィールド・ピザ

There are so many things going on this flatbread, and I struggled to name it!!

But Spring Field seems like a good one because of the colors and the freshness you can taste.

One of the toppings is this balsamic glazed super firm tofu.

Also on this pizza you will find fresh arugula and pickled rhubarb.

And then the whole thing was completed with Grlk‘s garlic spread.

This spread is so versatile, and I use it for many different dishes, from sandwiches to sauces.

We absolutely loved it!

Tasty!!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta

Curried Yaki-Udon
カレー焼きうどん

Yaki-soba has become more widely known outside Japan lately, but Yaki-Udon is another Japanese favorite noodle dish.

Yaki means “fried”, so this is a fried noodle dish; you just use Udon noodles.

The thick chewy Udon provides a totally different culinary experience from Yaki-soba.

Yaki-Soba is typically cooked with Japanese Worcestershire sauce, but Yaki-Udon is usually paired with soy sauce based sauce.

This one was cooked with soy sauce based sauce, but at the end I added a little curry flavor.

Served with homemade rhubarb pickles (traditionally served with red ginger) and “Ao-nori” seaweed.

Super tasty!

Leave a comment