CT Side-B – Page 2 – Unexpected greatness on the other side of the culinary world

Vegan Pizza with Homemade Vegan Cheese & New Blender

In Bangkok you can find vegan cheese at stores.

We’ve tried some, and there is a wide range in terms of quality.

There were some we liked, and a few we couldn’t even finish.

I used to make all different kinds of vegan cheese when we lived in the U.S., but when we moved to Bangkok, I decided not to make vegan cheese here, mostly because I didn’t want to buy a blender; I like our life here to be “light” and “simple” and do not want to own a lot of things.

Especially to make vegan cheese with nuts, you need a very powerful blender, and I wasn’t ready to invest in one at this time.

And then last week my husband surprised me, coming home with a blender.

He was at some kind of technology/home/furniture/clothing (basically everything) fair, and he saw this blender being sold for a reasonable price.

So we quickly went shopping to buy all the ingredients needed to make our favorite vegan cheese.

Because of the price ($18), I was a bit skeptical, but the blender was heavy and seemed to be well-built.

The result?

Well, it worked！

The cheese didn’t become as creamy as how we would get from our old Vitamix, but it was very good, better than I had expected.

We were so excited about the cheese, and we decided to make pizza for lunch.

The toppings were onion, yellow pepper, and crumbled Ikea vegan protein balls.

Then, I drizzled the cheese and sprinkled fresh basil leaves.

It turned out great!

So we are keeping the blender (well, in Thailand we can’t return things, so that’s not an option anyway).

I think we will enjoy dishes with homemade vegan cheese from now on.

By the way my herbs in the planters are growing so well!

This is my basil.

The lemon grass is getting bigger and taller every day.

I should harvest some leaves and make tea again.

The rosemary is doing great, too.

I didn’t realize how much I like tropical fruits until we moved here.

This morning, we had organic papaya, lychee, and passionfruit, and they were all so delicious.

Being able to enjoy these fruits is definitely one of the biggest reasons why I like living in Thailand.

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May 7, 2025

by : Reiko Fruit, Other, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Tofu Katsu Rice Bowl & BACC

I realized that I had a bag of Panko, Japanese bread crumb, I had bought a while ago but was not using much, so I decided to make Tofu Katsu.

They were perfectly fried.

I love how the Panko makes the crust so crunchy.

I was initially thinking about serving it with sweet miso glaze, but at the last minute, I wanted Tonkatsu sauce as well, so I went with half miso and half Tonkatsu sauce.

Katsu is almost always served with shredded cabbage in Japan, and I follow the rule.

This burdock & yuzu dressing is so good and it makes everything, even simple cabbage, taste better!

Apparently, the lychee is in season right now, and I get beautiful organic lychees from farmfruitforlks, included in my farm box.

They are absolutely delicious!

I’ve eaten lychees before, but these are definitely the best lychees I’ve ever tasted.

We’ve been in Bangkok for a little over 9 months now.

Since we are not here as a tourist, we feel like we have so much time to do things, which makes us somewhat lazy.

The other night we shared our lists of things we want to do in Bangkok, and we decided to start crossing off those items.

Last week we went to the science museum and the planetarium. ✅

This week we visited the Bangkok Art & Culture Center.

It’s a beautiful building, and its architecture, my husband said, reminded him of the Guggenheim museum in New York.

There were many interesting art pieces.

This one was titled as “Burden – Take me to Dream No. 1”.

Amazing how you can create the look/feel of water so beautifully without using water.

At this museum there are some cute shops where you can buy interesting items created by local artists and brands.

There aren’t many museums I truly enjoy, but this one, I’m glad I went.

You can easily spend a few hours at this museum, or longer if you decide to have lunch and/or a cup of tea as well.

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May 6, 2025

by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast

Homemade Marmalade & Cinnamon Cocoa Boule

We spent two weeks in Japan last month.

We traveled a bit, but mostly we stayed at my parents’ house, and they really spoiled us.

My mom had a fruit plate ready for us every morning, and we enjoyed her homemade bread and kumquat jam for breakfast.

When we came back to Bangkok, I really missed her kumquat jam.

So when I received these beautiful organic oranges from farmfruitfolks, I decided to make marmalade.

It turned out great!

Homemade jam/marmalade is so good, so much better than store-bought ones.

I will have to remember that because it’s not that hard to make jam or marmalade at home.

Once the marmalade was made, I thought it would be fun to serve it with cocoa-based bread.

So, I baked cinnamon cocoa boule.

I’m just happy because now we have homemade jam to enjoy in the morning.

Cinnamon cocoa boule, vegan butter, orange marmalade, and coffee syrup.

They were all homemade, and delicious together.

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May 2, 2025

by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Tofu

Vegan “Meat” Miso Butter Spaghetti & Tour at Earthling Mushroom Farm

I found this Japanese brand’s spaghetti recently at Don Don Donki, and it’s so good.

I thought all the spaghetti was the same, but apparently they are different.

Anyway, since then I’ve been really enjoying making and eating spaghetti dishes.

The “meat” was made of Atsuage tofu.

As usual, I crumble, marinade, and cook it in the oven until crispy.

This time after cooking it in the oven, I made it into smaller pieces in the food processor to make the texture and the look more like ground “meat”.

The dark miso sauce coated the “meat”very well this way.

It was served with basil from my planter herb garden and homemade vegan butter.

So good!

The spaghetti was served with simple salad because I had just received beautiful organic vegetables like this lettuce from farmfruitfolks.

We don’t do a lot of sightseeing in Bangkok, but there are certain things that may not be for everyone but that we like to do.

Last week we signed up for a tour at Earthling Mushroom Farm.

It’s an indoor farm.

Unfortunately, the English guide was not available that day, but the Thai guide, Mr. M, who showed us around was very knowledgeable and patient.

He was able to explain things in English mostly, and when we had difficulty communicating, we used a translation app and he was able to answer all the questions we had.

They grow several different types of mushrooms.

I had never seen this pink mushroom before.

They were so pretty!

At the end of the tour they grilled some mushrooms for us.

They were so tasty!

This may be the best way to really enjoy these beautiful mushrooms.

I liked all the kinds, but the pink mushroom was my husband’s favorite.

Here is a link to Earthling Mushroom Farm’s website.

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April 27, 2025

by : Reiko Breakfast

Sourdough French Toast with Strawberries

This was what I made last Sunday.

Weekends deserve proper brunch, right?

I had just baked sourdough bread, so I decided to make French toast with it.

It had been a while since last time I had French toast, and it was time.

No eggs and no dairy.

They look pretty good, don’t they?

Luckily, I had some beautiful organic strawberries, and I served the French toast with them generously.

I used to water my herb planters twice a day every day.

When we planned our 2-week trip to Japan, my husband bought and set up a watering system that could be operated with a timer.

It watered three times a day every day while we were gone.

I was hoping that at least kept them survive.

But when we came back, my herbs looked better than ever!

Now I let the system continue to do its job because apparently it does a better job than I do (lol).

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April 23, 2025

by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Blueberry Yuzu Almond Muffins & a few photos from my recent trip to Japan

Hi.

I was in Japan for two weeks.

It was a wonderful trip, as I got to explore some new places, and I was able to spend some quality time with my family and friends.

But I’m also happy to be back home, to my own kitchen, too.

The first thing I did once we arrived in Bangkok was to order vegetables and fruits from my go-to person, “farmfruitfolks”.

The next day I received beautiful organic produce, including these blueberries.

After enjoying some as they were, I decided to use them to make muffins.

In addition to the blueberries, I put some dried yuzu peels in the batter.

I wanted the muffin top to be bigger, but other than that, they turned out great.

Because of my oven size, I can bake only six muffins at a time.

Too bad, because I have a feeling that they will disappear very fast.

We timed our trip to Japan well, and we were able to see Sakura in full bloom!

This is Nagoya Castle.

This is called “Gohei-mochi”, sticky rice on a stick, grilled and served with sweet miso glaze.

Because of the Sakura season, at the castle ground there were extra food vendors, and I got this from one of them.

So good!!

This picture was taken at Kinosaki Onsen.

This onsen is easy to get to by public transportation (2 and half hour train ride from Kyoto).

It was a quiet onsen town (with less tourists) and a nice getaway from the busy Kyoto city.

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April 18, 2025

by : Reiko Sweets

Lemon Cardamom Cake レモンカルダモンケーキ

I love spices, and when I lived in the U.S. I collected a large drawerful of spices.

Since we moved to Bangkok, I like to keep our life simple, which includes how I cook/bake and what I keep in the kitchen.

So I allow myself to keep only a few spices now.

That means they have to be something I really like and I use often.

After careful consideration, cardamom made the cut!

As for lemon, I used a fresh organic one from farmfruitfolks (you can find them on Instagram).

I like to use organic fruit especially when I use the zest like this time.

I was glad that I kept a few mayongchid to garnish the cake.

I dressed the cake with lemon icing, and then served it with coconut whipped cream and fresh mayongchid.

Scrumptious!!

I used this recipe as the base for the cake.

I’ve used this recipe many times and highly recommend it.

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March 27, 2025

by : Reiko Bangkok Restaurants, Restaurants

Mercy Republic – Second Visit

The first time we went to Mercy Republic was when they had just opened.

If you are interested in our first visit, here is the post.

Now it has been open for several months, and we decided to go back.

I usually like to go to restaurants for lunch because I can take better pictures with natural light.

But when it comes to this restaurant, I like to go after dark because it just seems right to dine here at night because of its unique decor and atmosphere.

This fried tofu snack was interesting.

The crispy outside was slightly sweet (which reminded me of graham crackers and was unexpected), and it took me a while to form my opinion, but I concluded it was tasty.

For the appetizer we ordered Kraprao Minced Meat Stuffed Homemade Tofu because it had great reviews on Google.

This was a winner!

It was delicious.

I highly recommend it.

For the main dish I had Creamy Tom Yum with Moroheiya Noodles.

It was absolutely delicious!!

The noodles were perfectly cooked, and the broth was rich, flavorful, and so good!

I even liked the vegan “shrimp”.

My husband had Tonkatsu Panang Curry Rice.

It also had great reviews on Google, and my husband really liked it, too.

We really enjoyed our meal this time, much more so than the last time.

So we will definitely go back!

We had a chance to meet and chat with the owner this time.

He was very friendly guy and welcoming.

Go to Mercy Republic for tasty vegan food and stay for groovy tunes!

Here is a link to Mercy Republic website.

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March 23, 2025

by : Reiko Sweets

Mayongchid Cheesecake

A few weeks ago I started seeing a fruit called “Mayongchid” at stores and markets.

I had never seen or heard it before, but quickly I learned that it’s only available for a few months this time of the year and it’s a beloved fruit in Thailand.

It looks like this.

There is a pit inside.

It tastes like the cross between the mango and the plum.

The sweet and tart balance is amazing, and I understand why people are crazy about this.

Many pastry shops make special items with this fruit, but I was not able to find any vegan versions.

So I decided to make one myself.

I knew I wanted to make cheesecake, and this time I tried Swees vegan cream cheese for the first time.

Swees is a Thai (Chiang Mai) based vegan cheese brand, and I’ve seen their other products before, but it was my first time to try their cream cheese.

I contacted them to find out where I could buy it, and they quickly responded and told me that Villa Market branches carry it in Bangkok.

I also used this coconut whipping cream to make the filling along with the cream cheese.

This brand, Nature’s Charm, is also a Thai brand.

By the way, this type of can opener is new to me, and I don’t have the hang of it yet.

Currently I have to ask my husband every time I have a can to open…

It’s pretty cool how it opens though, leaving no sharp edges!

The cheesecake turned out great!

It was a no-bake cheesecake, and I liked the stress-free feel associated with that.

I made the bottom part with dates, oatmeal, and sunflower seeds, and the combination of the rustic bottom and the smooth filling was so good.

And of course, it was served with the beautiful mayongchid.

It was so delicious.

I will definitely make it again.

No-Bake Cheesecake (6 muffin size cups)

Bottom: 1/3 cup dates (soaked in water), 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup oatmeal, salt – process in food processor

Filling: 200g Swees vegan cream cheese, 200g coconut whipping cream, <1 teaspoon lemon juice, sugar (I started with 1/6 cup and added some more after tasting)

Our apartment was furnished and came with some dishes, but I replaced all the dishes except for these mugs.

I didn’t love them, but I thought they would be convenient to have until I find something I like.

It’s been several months, and I still cannot find mugs/cups I like…

There is a store called Decoramix, where I bought all my dishes, and I may have to go back there to see if they have some cups/mugs that may be appealing to me.

The only problem is that the store is hard to get to…

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March 21, 2025

by : Reiko Drinks, Fruit

Passion Fruit Mango Lassi

It’s been really hot in Bangkok the last several weeks.

Coming from Minnesota, I thought I would embrace this weather and I have, but this recent heat has been a bit hard to deal with and keeps me from being outside too long.

When it’s hot, my body craves fruits even more, and when I received these beautiful passion fruit and a mango (not in the picture) from fruitfarmfolks, I thought they would make a refreshing drink.