Spice Island Vegan

More Vegan Vietnamese Dishes

2009-06-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

I am cooking lots of vegan Vietnamese dishes lately. Above is a picture of Vietname BBQ Noodle/Vermicelli salad. Vegan Vietnamese restaurants serve this cold noodle salad. In my area there are 6 vegetarian Vietnamese restaurants(3 are vegans): Thuyen Vien, Au Lac, Zen Vegetarian, Bodhi Tree, Bo De, and Van Hanh. I visited them often and can get ideas on how to make Vietnamese dishes. My favorite is Thuyen Vien and that's why it is listed first. I seldom go to Bo De and Van Hanh because they are my least favorites. The restaurants usually call this dish BBQ Vermicelli. This dish is a perfect meal for a hot weather since it is served in a room temperature. My recipe was posted on my other inactive blog, click here.

The ingredients that I use this time are (clockwise from top left): jicama, cucumber, carrots, Vietnamese Coriander or rau ram, bean sprouts, fresh mints, and green lettuce. All of them were sliced in thick julienne form.

This time I used buckwheat soba noodle instead of the white rice noodle or vermicelli. It is not traditional but I think soba noodle is more filling and it is more nutritious.

I also modified my salad dressing with coconut juice without added sugar. This one is my favorite brand. To see recipe of the salad dressing please my previous Vietnamese Green Mango Salad blog and scroll down to the recipe.

I have been also drinking a lot of natural coconut juice lately and bought the Amy & Brian brand. It is quite delicious when it is chilled. I have been using coconut juice for cooking lately, a new discovery. This one below is Tofu Stew with Coconut Juice from Vietnamese Fusion Vegetarian Cuisine cookbook by Chat MingKwan.

The ingredients in this stew are probably not familiar to some of you. They are lotus root, jicama, lemon grass, and coconut juice. I substituted the water chestnuts with jicama since I didn't have any water chestnuts. I also added green beans to it since I had some. It is quite delicious served with a bowl of steamed sweet rice.

Vietnamese Green Mango Salad

2009-06-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been craving Vietnamese Vegan dishes. I was inspired by my visit to a local Vietnamese Vegan/Vegetarian restaurant, Thuyen Vien, to prepare this dish. If you are in SoCal area, I really recommend this restaurant. Their dishes are authentic and the owner is very friendly and accommodating. It is a mom and pop, not a fancy vegan restaurant, but the food is out of the world!

After having a super delicious green mango salad in Thuyen Vien, I vowed to replicate it at home. It is not hard to find green mango in my area. I usually pick mangoes that are still firm and green in Asian or Indian markets nearby. If you cannot find green mangoes, you can use green apple such as Granny Smith. I even use 1 green apple in this recipe to add a crunchy texture.

It is also not that hard for me to find the fresh herbs used in Vietnamese cooking. I live near the so called Little Saigon of Orange County, California. The essential ingredient for this salad is a fresh herb called Vietnamese Coriander, the Vietnamese name is rau răm. I went on a special trip to a Vietnamese market just to get it. It is not available in the usual natural food markets I frequently shop at. If this is not available in your area, you can use fresh lemon verbena. Whatever you use for a substitution, choose a fresh herb that has lemony flavor and smell. I took a good picture of it so you can see how it looks like if you are able to find a Vietnamese market near you (you know that language barrier can be a problem shopping in such a market). Probably, you can also ask your local Vietnamese restaurant if they know where to buy it.

The ingredients of the salad are as follows (from left hand corner, clockwise): green mango, firm cucumber (English cucumber), carrots, jicama, green apple, chopped herbs (Vietnamese coriander and fresh mint leaves).

As you can see that the green mango is light yellowish and not white. During my growing up years, I was able to pick green mango from my own tree in the yard before it turned light yellow (a bit too ripe). However, for the purpose for this salad, since the mango was still firm, it was good enough.

The ingredients were all cut in julienne manner or match sticks. This is a chore. I used a food processor but then found out that it was not a good idea since this tool tends to make the ingredients juicy. I will investigate of a good mandolin that can perform julienne cut fruit and vegetable the way I want it. A julienne peeler did not do a good job since it cut too small. Don't worry since all the effort to cut all the vegetable and fruit is well worth it. This salad is so refreshing, spicy, light, healthy, and very low fat.

Another unique ingredient is young coconut juice. It is the water/juice and not milk, ok? If you can find a young coconut and get the juice out of it, that's great (recently we have lots of young coconuts in nearby Asian and natural food markets). Otherwise, I recommend the one in a can without added sugar and no pulp. I am using it in the veganized salad dressing (originally, this salad has fish sauce in its dressing).

Vietnamese Green Mango Salad
Serve 4-6

Ingredients:
2 cups green mango, julienne cut (about 2 small green mango)
1 cup English cucumber, julienne cut
2 cups carrots, julienne cut
2 cups jicama, julienne cut (1 small jicama)
1 to 2 Granny Smith apple, julienne cut (about 1 to 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup Vietnamese Coriander, measure then chop
1/2 cup fresh mint, measure then chop

Garnish:
Cilantro
2 tablespoons fried shallot, omit for lower fat
3 tablespoons chopped unsalted peanuts, omit for lower fat
Sriracha hot sauce
Rice chips or crackers

Salad Dressing:
1/4 cup light soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Amino
Note: refer to my blog about soy sauce I use
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 to 1/3 cup young coconut juice or vegetarian broth (room temperature)
1-2 tablespoons agave syrup
1-3 Thai chili or 1/2 jalapeno, chop finely (reduce amount for less spicy)
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

Preparation:

Combine all salad ingredients in a salad bowl or a large salad plate.
Combine all the salad dressing ingredients. Adjust the lime juice and agave syrup so this dressing is a sweet, sour, and spicy. Add enough young coconut juice to make it about 1 cup. Make sure the dressing is mixed thoroughly.
Just before ready to serve, pour the dressing over the salad and combine well.
Add garnish on top of salad, serve immediately in a room temperature with rice crackers, papadum, and drizzle with Sriracha hot chili sauce, if desired.

While shopping in Vietnamese markets, I discovered Vietnamese rice crackers that is usually served with this kind of salad. The Vietnamese name is Bánh da .

It is made of rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, water, black sesame seetd, and peanut. In this case, it was covered with black sesame seeds. It is crispy like a large cracker about 12-inches diameter and is broken into pieces when it is served with the salad. A closer look:

I thought that this rice cracker is quite delicious with the salad or even just for snacking by itself. It reminds me of Indian papadums. I guess every culture has chips as snacks and this one is a great Vietnamese snacks. Here is how this salad is served: rice cracker on the bottom, top with salad, and drizzle with Sriracha hot sauce. I made sure that every bite has all 3.

This is our favorite salad. It can be a light meal by itself for a hot summer. I cannot describe how good is the combination of sour green mango and green apple, sweet carrots, crispy jicama and cucumber, spicy sweet and sour dressing, refreshing herbs, and crackling rice chips all together. It was a party in our mouth!

Vegan Coconut and Lilikoi Scones

2009-06-13T10:17:00.001-07:00

I haven't blogged for 2 months! I've been very busy with a project at work and at home. To relieve stress we decided to go for a Hawaiian vacation for 2 weeks. That trip inspired my blog and recipe for this blog: Coconut and Lilikoi(Passion Fruit) Scones, an inspiration from our trip to the Big Island and Kauai.

This recipe below is an adaptation of 'Classic Currant Scones' from the by Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I wanted rich and tasty scones resembling what I ate in the Big Island. There is no fresh passion fruit or Lilikoi where I live so I used Passion Fruit Jam that I brought home from Hawaii.

Coconut and Lilikoi(passion fruit) Scones

Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg replacer
2 tablespoons water
1 1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup vegan sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup non-hydrogenated, nondairy butter, cold (like Earth Balance)
1/2 cup shredded dry coconut (not sweetened)
1/2 cup soymilk creamer (or any other non-dairy milk)
Extra soy milk and flour for kneading
2 tablespoons Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) jam
2 tablespoons soy milk for brushing on top
Sucanat or vegan sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly oil a cookie baking pan or use a parchment paper to line it.
In a food processor, whip the egg replacer and water together until creamy and white.
Meanwhile, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Cut the cold vegan butter into small pieces or chunks.
Add the cut butter into the flour mixture and combine lightly.
Add the butter and flour mixture into the egg replacer mixture in the food processor.
Pulse the food processor while adding the soymilk creamer for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until a dough formed and mixed together.
Add the 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened dry coconut and continue to mix for another 30 seconds. The dough will not be smooth like a bread dough but it should not stick to your fingers too much.
Move the dough onto a floured cutting board and form a ball. Then flatten the ball with your hand. Add 1 tablespoon of lilikoi jam and fold over and mix. Then, add another 1 tablespoon jam and repeat. The dough may be soften. If it becomes sticky add extra flour until it is not sticky anymore(you may want to lightly flour your hands, as well). Then, flatten with your hand to form a 8 or 9-inch circle, 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 8 pieces (like cutting pizza) so that you'll have 8 triangle pieces.
Place them 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet, brush the tops with soymilk creamer or non-dairy milk, and sprinkle with sucanat or vegan sugar.
Bake until the tops are brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool on a rack and serve warm with more lilikoi jam.

This scone is different than the lilikoi scone we ate at the Island Naturals market in Pahoa. We visited this market almost everyday while we were at the Big Island, staying in the Puna District. In Hawaii, they used fresh lilikoi. You can also use crushed pineapple and folded them in the scones, instead. This is a tropical vegan scone that is so delicious.

I am going to talk about our vegan experience in both islands: Kauai and Big Island with some pictures.

We were disappointed that Blossoming Lotus Cafe in Kauai closed down. We stayed in Kapa'a, Kauai and was hoping to visit this vegan restaurant. Alas, there were a few vegan establishments in Kauai. One market that we visited was the Papaya's Natural Foods in Kapa'a. They provide all kinds of vegan sandwiches and warm deli dishes. We loaded our cooler with vegan sandwiches and goodies before we headed for the beaches.

This is the view from the condo we stayed at. Every morning we had a vegan breakfast on our lanai(balcony) consisted of a bowl of tropical Hawaiian granola, soy milk, kona coffee, and tropical fruits, facing the beach. The sound of waves, birds, monk seals, and rooster were the background noise of our breakfast. Life is good!

We also went to farmers market in Lihue, Kauai and bought lots of fruits. The scene of their farmers market is different than home. They have lots of tropical flowers and fruits. We bought Hawaiian papaya, Mountain Apples, Apple and Baby Banana, and Longans.

I was so happy there since the weather and tropical fruits remind me of Indonesia. The landscape is so beautiful and green. The air is so clean and fresh and the sound of waves could be heard all night long from our bedroom. Unfortunately, we didn't find any Indian or Vietnamese restaurants. Their popular ethnic restaurants are Thai. There were several Thai restaurants that we visited. They provide vegan and vegetarian dishes with tofu. After 2 or 3 visits to the Thai restaurants; however, we were ready to try other ethnic restaurant that provides vegetarian food but there was none.

During our visit in Kauai, we did try Jojo's Shave Ice which according to our guide book: "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" by Andrew Doughty (the best guide book for Hawaiian islands, btw. We bought one for the Big Island, too.) it is the BEST shave ice in the island. We didn't try other shave ice joint and trusted this book. I can say that it was the BEST because the ice was shaved very finely. You can get 60 different flavors from this place. I notice that coconut and lilikoi combination flavor is very popular in Hawaii. Their coconut pudding or jello called Haupia is a popular dessert. Haupia is made of coconut cream and sometimes it is mixed with coconut meat and/or other tropical fruit like mango or passion fruit. You can get a recipe of a Tropical Haupia in Everyday Dish TV from a Hawaiian Chef: Brian Igarta, the Maui Vegetarian. I had a vegan haupia and lilikoi dessert from Island Naturals while I was there and it was yummy. This combination inspired my recipe for the scone above.

I chose Haupia Cream flavor shaved ice: coconut cream with coconut meat and DH chose the Coconut and Lilikoi combination shaved ice (the lilikoi syrup was the yellow one).

A trip to the beach was our schedule almost everyday. We managed to find a beach for snorkeling and swimming with calm waves and clean/clear water such as this one: the Ke'e Beach (the best beach in Kauai), thanks to the wonderful guidebook.

The highlight of Kauai was our visit to this beach and watching the Sunset:

Then, it was followed by a nice vegan dinner at a gourmet restaurant with vegan options: Postcards Cafe, at the town of Hanalei. It is a fancy restaurant where we celebrated our 20th anniversary with a nice vegan dinner. The Postcards Cafe has a postcard to take home:

What I enjoyed the most at that restaurant was their Hisbiscus cooler and their vegan Hanalei Taro Fritters with pineapple chutney(pictured).

It is not over yet, folks! We moved to the Big Island and stayed at the Puna District area. Our highlight of this trip was to see the active lava going into the ocean with an ocean adventure tour: Lavakai. We woke up at 3 am to catch a boat tour at 4 am. Are we crazy? No, we are not! Lava is best to be seen during the dark since it competes with the sun. I really recommend this tour. It is a safe adventure and it is once in a lifetime experience (the lava may stop at anytime). We visited this area 10 years ago and wanted to see the lava going into the ocean, booked the trip, but the lava stopped just before our tour day. So imagine our disappointment at that time. After waiting for another chance (another 10 years), we got our wish. It was well worth it to wake up at 3 am for this:

This is a lava explosion we saw from the boat at 4:30 am. Steam covered my lense so many times that I had to wipe it often. The boat was also rocking and rolling. It was very hard to get good pictures in such situation. Bonine or other motion sickness pill is a must for this trip.

Active lava represents Madame Pele (goddess of fire in Hawaii). She was nice to us this time and revealed herself with no disappointment anymore. We were awarded by this view and the sunrise view over a steamy ocean water at 5:45 am:

The selection of vegan meals in the Big Island was similar to Kauai (many Thai restaurants). We were lucky to find this natural market: Island Naturals (has a sister market in Hilo) which serves lots of vegan pastries, breakfast burrito, warm deli (chana masala, thai tofu, tofu and spinach curry, brown rice, etc.), cold sandwiches, vegan vegetable/tofu sushi, and tofu pad thai. They also have lots of vegan desserts such as haupia and lilikoi, carrot cakes, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, etc. They have great organic coffee with organic soy creamer, too. The one in Pahoa opens at 7 am with warm, yummy vegan morsels and organic coffee. We visited this store several times during our visit and I really recommend this store to vegan tourists. Aloha!

Berbere, The Spice Mix I Love

2009-03-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a while. This one was started back in March and I haven't released till now. I have been busy with work(TJIJ - Thank God I still have a Job) and family that this blog is delayed.

I love spices and love meals with a lot of spices such as Indian, Indonesian, and Thai. I think that's because I grew up with spices in a spice island: Java. Recently, I found that Ethiopians also use a spice mix that I really like. After visiting Ethiopian restaurants several times, I grew to love Ethiopian food. I did try to make injera (Ethiopian bread) but I didn't like the result. However, I succeeded in making their spice called Berbere. The one I made look exactly like the picture in this wiki info. I found the recipe in the Internet and modified it to be less spicy. Whenever I use this spice in cooking, our house smells so wonderful. Our neighbors made comments that they can smell my cooking and that it smells so good they say, thanks to Berbere. DH often comes back home from work and can smell the aromatic smell before he enters the house.

I love this Ethiopian Berbere spice mix combined with garlic and onions. Ethiopians use clarified butter or ghee mixed with spices too and it is called Niter Kibbeh. I tried make it with Earth Balance once by melting it and add some spices to it. It was good but I still like using Virgin Olive Oil and/of Grapeseed oil in my cooking so I don't use Nitteh Kebeh in my Ethiopian cooking.

Berbere

Adopted from www.recipezaar.com

Ingredients
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
3/4 teaspoon cardamom seed
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
1/4 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
4 small dried red chilies
1 teaspoon dried gingerroot
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika or smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

In a small frying pan, on medium-low heat, toast the cumin, whole cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, allspice, fenugreek, and coriander for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Discard the stems from the chiles.
In a spice grinder (a coffee grinder for spices only) or with a mortar and pestle, finely grind together the toasted spices and the chiles.
Mix in the remaining ingredients.
Store Berebere refrigerated in a well-sealed jar or a tightly closed plastic bag.

The original recipe uses 8 dried red chilies which make it fiery hot. Therefore, I reduced it to half. If you don't like spicy hot food, you can reduce it even more. This is a dry spice mix and not a paste. There are berbere spice paste for sale in the Internet. I haven't really bought any so I can't recommend one.

The reason that I like the dry spice mix instead of the paste is that I can use the dry spice on popcorn. It's quite delicious to drizzle this dry spice mix on freshly made popped corn.

Below is a simple recipe of a vegetable stew spiced with Berbere. In the picture above, it's the one on the right hand side. I served this stew with Indian style lemon rice and chana masala. The stew is good with brown rice, too. Or, if you can buy or made fresh injera, that will be the way to enjoy this stew.

Spicy Vegetable Stew with Berbere
Serves 4

1.5 cups peeled and chopped carrots
1.5 cups peeled and chopped sweet potato
1.5 cups yellow squash
1.5 cups chopped fingerling potato
1.5 cups chopped zuchinni
1 peeled large onions, chopped finely
6 cloves peeled fresh garlic, minced.
1 cup tomato sauce
vegetable broth (1.5 to 2 cups)
1 Tbsp. Berbere
1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp Olive or Grapeseed oil

Direction:

Cut all the vegetables about 1-inch cube (as pictured).
Sautee onions and garlic in oil on a medium heat in a 2-quarts sauce pan.
After onions is translucent, add berbere spice mix and stir for a minute until aromatic.
Add all the vegetables in to the pan and mix. Stir for 2 minutes.
Add the tomato sauce and vegetable broth enough to cover the vegetables and no more.
Add salt and simmer for 20 minutes or untill all the vegetables are soft.

Pictured above are roasted vegetables with Berbere, boiled fingerling potatoes, and new Trader Joe's Vegan Stuffed Chick'n with blackbean and corn. Roasted vegetables with Berbere is so good and easy. I usually use about 1 Tbsp dry Berbere mixed with 2 - 3 Tbsp olive oil and salt. I coat onions, zucchini, yellow squash, and garlic with this mix and roast them in 425-450 F oven. Any other vegetable that is good for roasting will be good with Berbere.

El Misti Peruvian Restaurant with Vegan Options

2009-03-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

I was browsing the Internet one day and found this Peruvian restaurant in Anaheim (Southern California) that serves vegetarian/vegan dishes: El Misti. Although they serve meat and seafood, they have an on-line menu which contains a vegetarian section with vegan options. I was surprised that they understand what vegan means. Wow! Since I haven't had a good vegan Peruvian dishes lately (I usually make my own, see my blog about veganized Yuca ala Huancaina, here), I decided to have a try.

The outside of the restaurant looks like a plain small restaurant in a plain shopping mall.

Apparently, it is a mom and pop restaurant owned by a couple Peruvian. In my opinion, usually this kind of restaurant serve better home cooked meals than fancy ones. The husband, Juan, helps by talking to customers and waiting tables. He is very friendly and welcoming. His wife, Hilda, is the Chef and she is a very talented one, really. Juan told us that he is a vegetarian and his son was a vegan. His son was the one who told his wife how to cook vegetarian and vegan. Therefore, they have a large vegetarian section in their menu.

The food here is absolutely delicious. I came with my husband and a friend who is moving back to Germany and it was our goodbye dinner for her. It was our friend's first experience of Peruvian food so it was a real adventure for her. Especially, when we ordered a picther of Chicha Morada (traditional Peruvian beverage made of purple corn, pineapple, and hint of citrus) and she tried it for the first time. She never had anything like it and she liked it. The articles in the Internet mentioned that Chicha Morada has a lot of antioxidant and can lower blood pressure. Who would have known when we drank this juice that was so yummy. You can read a blog about Chicha Morada, here.

The starter is always a basket of soft warm bread with Aji (green hot sauce made with garlic, oil, spices, and huacatay , pronounced wah-kah-tye (peruvian mint) instead of cilantro).

The secret of this restaurant really is in the sauce. This green spicy sauce is so good that it's good on everything, I bet. Our friend really loves this green aji sauce. Juan told us that it's huacatay that we like and he brought us to the back of his restaurant where he has huacatay bushes growing. Huacatay is a black mint that is used a lot in Peruvian cooking. Hhhhmmm, I wonder if I can find that in an ethnic market somewhere. If I can, I will be able to make it at home.

Our next course was veggie tamale wrapped in a banana leave.

I thought the tamal was a bit dry and not much filling in it. The pickled onions and radishes on the side was great with it though. We shared this dish since we ordered 3 main courses. Forewarn, this restaurant serves HUGE portions. Since the price is not low, we really could have shared a main course for 2. However, since we wanted to try everything, each of us ordered a main course dinner.

My husband's dinner was Veggie Cau Cau (pronounced cow cow). The fuzziness of this picture came from the steam because it was still really hot when it came. It smelled and tasted absolutely like the picture, real yum. I wish there is a technology to taste and smell blogged pictures.

It's a stew made with soy protein, potato, peas, and carrots in a mild yellow pepper sauce with a hint of huacatay (again, that Peruvian black mint). It came with that refreshing pickled onions and radishes.

I opted out the soy and quinoa stir fry.
This dish had lots of veggies in it. There was really a pile of quinoa underneath it. This was very very good. Here, in this picture, you can see the healthy quinoa underneath the pile of goodness:

Our friend chose Soy Chicken and Rice (Arroz con Pollo): soy chicken drumsticks cooked in vegetables and rice with cilantro spinach and premium dark larger. I thought that there were more rice than the soy chicken. Our friend said that the soy chicken tasted very good.I tasted a bit of the dark green rice and it was really good. The vegan option will probably come with lentils instead of salad and without the cheese sauce.

If you live in SoCal, I highly recommend this restaurant. The other dish that we ordered in the past and didn't mention here was the Lomo Saltado with soy beef or Soy Beef Stir Fry. I thought that it was absolutely delicious. Hilda really did a great job in serving vegetarians and/or vegans with her specialties. I thank her and Juan for providing an ethnic Peruvian vegetarian/vegan in her non-vegetarian restaurants. Sometimes, I am really tired of eating boring American vegan dishes like vegan chili or vegan shepherd pie, you know.

El Misti Picanteria Arequipeña
3070 W Lincoln Ave, Suite D
Anaheim, CA 92801

Telephone: (714) 995-5944
FAX: (714) 995-3254

Email:	elmisti@elmisticuisine.com
	info@elmisticuisine.com

Revisiting Vegan Tiramisu

2009-02-13T08:59:00.000-08:00

After our visit to That's Amore vegan Italian restaurant(previous blog), I kept thinking about making Tiramisu. I took out my favorite cookbook: Nonna's Italian Kitchen by Bryanna Clark Grogan and whipped up my favorite dessert.

This time I took clear plastic cocktail cups that people use in parties and layered my Tiramisu in them . I was thinking that I can give away this dessert without asking for any container or glass back. I gave some to my mom and friends. They absolutely loved it. This works great. What do you think? Afterward, the consumer can just pitch the empty cup into a recycling bin.

I baked the Vegan Genoise cake(page 222) in 2 9-inches round cake pans so the cake will be a bit thinner. Then, I cut small and medium circles of cake using the cup as a guide.

I ended up with a few circles of cake and some crumbs. None was wasted. I used the crumbs on top, too.

For more details about vegan tiramisu, you can visit my blog about it here. I used real wine glasses at that time. The only thing I did different this time was that I used a different custard recipe. It's still Bryanna's recipe from Nonna's Italian Kitchen and called Zabaglione (page 218). Last time I made it with Cashew Pastry Creme (page 219). Zabaglione usually is made with egg yolks, cream and sugar. For Bryanna's vegan version, I used Bird's Custard Powder to make it custard-like.

I also like this brand of instant espresso for tiramisu. It's easy to make and thought it tastes good:

I absolutely love Vegan Tiramisu. If I have to choose between a chocolate cake, vegan cheesecake, vegan ice cream, gelato, and vegan tiramisu as my Valentine's Dinner Dessert, my number one choice will be Vegan Tiramisu.

Vegan Hainan 'Chicken' Rice

2009-02-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

I veganized Hainan Chicken Rice dish( a Malaysian chicken and rice dish). Unlike other vegetarians who don't like mock meats, I like them and don't mind them at all. I cook dishes with mock meats sometimes. I still order mock meats in vegetarian restaurants, too. Maybe because I ate meat for the 35 years of my life? Who knows? If I became a vegetarian when I was a teenager, it maybe a different story now. That's my theory.

I used to eat Hainan Chicken Rice dish when I was eating meat and growing up in an Asian country. With the help of VegeFarm Vegan Chicken Breast (the 5th product on the list) that I found in a nearby HFS, I was able to veganize it. It needs some additional tricks to make it delicious: kombu broth, dried shiitake mushrooms, and tamari or soy sauce. These items add umam i or an essence of deliciousness to this dish.

To begin with, the 'chicken breast' is simmered in a gingery and garlicky kombu broth with the shiitake mushrooms for 45 minutes. Then, I took out the 'breast' and mushrooms and let them rest. Next, I made the rice by using the broth the 'chicken' is simmered in (that's why it's called 'chicken' rice). Traditionally, white long grain rice is use but I used brown jasmine rice instead. Although, brown basmati rice will do. Malaysian uses pandan leaves in their rice and also some coconut milk with the chicken broth. This kind of rice is called nasi lemak. However, I didn't have pandan leaves and opted out to make a lesser fat rice dish. Therefore, I used lemon grass that I have in my garden and no coconut milk. While making the rice, I prepared the chili dipping sauce by combining lime juice, Asian style chili sauce, minced garlic, sugar/agave nectar, and some more of the cooking broth.

In both pictures above, in plating the dish for each person/consumer, the rice and 'chicken' are accompanied by sliced cucumber, sliced tomatoes, sauteed shiitake mushrooms, left over broth, chili dipping sauce, and hoisin sauce. Traditionally, the warm rice is molded into a rice bowl and inverted over on the serving plate. Since it is a dry dish, sliced 'chicken' can be dipped into the condiments or the broth. The other way to eat it is that the broth and condiments can be poured over both the 'chicken' and rice. Either way is good.

I made kombu/shiitake broth ahead of time and usually freeze this kind of broth as I use it a lot in my cooking. I use kombu/shiitake broth in making miso soup and other kind of soups, too. Kombu/shiitake broth is healthy and has a lot of umami in it. It is easy to make:

6 cups water
1 dried kombu (5 by 6 inches)
6-8 dried shiitake mushrooms

Simmer the mixture above for 30 minutes. Strain broth. Discard kombu and reserve shiitake mushrooms for other cooking use.

The recipe below only serves 2 people but it can be doubled.

Vegan Hainan 'Chicken' Rice
Serve 2

Ingredients for 'Chicken':

1 VegeFarm Vegan Poultry-Free Chicken Breast or any vegan chicken breast(see sources below)
5 stalks green onion (white parts only, reserve the green parts), chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, chopped finely
3 Tbsp. garlic, chopped finely
1 Tbsp. Tamari or soy sauce
5 cups Kombu/shiitake broth (recipe above)
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 1/2 tsp. roasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1 tsp. vegetarian chicken broth powder such as Chiknish
1 tsp. salt

Condiments/Garnishes:
1 Cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 Tomato, sliced
Cilantro sprigs
Fried Shallots(brambang goreng)
Vegetarian Hoisin sauce

To prepare 'Chicken':

Put all ingredients above (except garnishes and the green part of green onions) in a medium size pot.
Heat it with a medium high heat until broth started to boil. Then, lower it to simmer.
Let it simmer for 45-50 minutes, covered.
Take out the 'chicken' breast and the shiitake mushroom, and let them rest on a plate. Strain and reserve broth(about 4 cups left) to cook 'chicken' rice below.

Ingredients for 'Chicken' Rice:
1 1/2 cups brown jasmine rice, washed, rinsed, and drained
3 cups of cooking broth for 'chicken' (if coconut milk is used, replace part of broth with coconut milk, about 1/2 cup)
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. roasted sesame oil
1 stalk fresh lemon grass, cut in pieces or 2 or 3 pandan leaves
more salt, if need

To prepare 'Chicken' Rice:

Heat sesame oil in a medium pot over a medium high heat.
Saute minced garlic for a few seconds until fragrant.
Add rice into the pot and stir for about 3-4 minutes in oil and garlic.
Add cooking broth and pandan/lemon grass.
Taste for more salt as needed.
Cover and cook for 45 minutes until broth is absorbed and rice is cooked. The optional way is to use a rice cooker (put sauteed rice, broth, and pandan/lemon grass in a rice cooker).

Ingredients for chili dipping sauce:
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. 'Chicken' broth (from reserved cooking broth above)
2 Tsp. sugar/agave nectar
4 Tsp. Chili garlic sauce (Asian style like Sriracha)
1/2 Tsp. minced fresh garlic
1/4 Tsp. salt

To Prepare for Chili dipping sauce:
Combine ingredients above . Pour sauce into small condiment dishes for each individual serving.

To Serve:

Saute the 'Chicken' breast and cooked shiitake mushroom on a small frying pan until a bit brown (a few minutes). Slice 'chicken' horizonally with a sharp knife.
Mold brown rice in a rice bowl and invert it over to a serving plate. Sprinkle fried onions on top.
Heat reserve broth. Add chopped green onions (the green parts).
Arrange garnish and sliced 'chicken' on the serving plate with the rice for each person. Serve with condiments individually: broth, chili dipping sauce, and hoisin sauce.
This dish can be served warm or in a room temperature.

I served sauteed kale, mushrooms, and onions with this dish.

Other on-line sources for vegan chicken breast: Vegieworld, Follow Your Heart and Gardein.

Vegan Pizzas for Super Bowl? That's Amore!

2009-02-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

The above pizza is topped with vegan pepperoni, artichoke heart, black olives, and mushrooms.

After being absent from my blog for a long time, I can't resist to blog this one. Last week, we heard that there is a new restaurant in town, a vegan Italian restaurant. Oh Boy! Local vegans can rejoice! I thought of pizzas right away. How nice would it be to have a place where we can order pizzas with vegan mozzarella cheese that melts? Well, people, that kind of restaurant is here at Cerritos, CA (ironically, it was formerly known as Dairy Valley), about 20 miles from where we live: That's Amore! That's the name of this new vegan Italian restaurant.

I can make my own vegan pizzas at home but hhmmm..... I think pizzas that are made in a restaurant on a stone-based oven that can be heated up to 550 - 600 F are better, in my opinion, than homemade ones. Besides, sometimes, I just want to go out and/or call for pizzas to go just like everybody else.

Unfortunately, this restaurant has no website yet. You can visit reviews of this restaurant at VegParadise , Yelp, quarrygirl, and happycow. After reading these reviews, we drove, salivated, enjoyed, and walked out with full bellies. We opted out to try their vegan Italian dishes first: DH had Eggplant Parmigiana dish and I opted out the 'Chicken' (soy chicken) Parmigiana one. Both of us basically ate every bite on our plates. Then, we ate some vegan cannolis for desserts. Our other choices are vegan gelatos and sorbets. It was really hard to decide but we know we'll be back. We also brought home 2 pizzas (pictured here) to enjoy while we were watching the Super Bowl. This is really the first time I can order pizzas to go with vegan cheese on it and that I can reheat at home or work for lunch.

Above is the Veggie Pesto Pizza which is very light, creamy, and topped with lots of veggies.

The crust is light, tasty, and thin (thicker crust can be ordered). I saw the chef really flung the pizza dough with his hands, round and round, in their kitchen just like in a classic and traditional pizza kitchen. The white mozzarella cheese was hot, melted, and bubbly when it came out of the oven. There are more to try at this restaurant including pastas with vegan sausages, vegan meat balls, vegan bechamel sauce (for alfredo style), and vegan pink sauce (bechamel and red sauce combined).

The owner of the restaurant, Marina, and I were discussing about adding Vegan Tiramisu on their dessert menu. I shared my experience in making this dish that I really love. I even blogged it here back in May 2008. I was hoping that she is inspired with my tips and she can develop her own Tiramisu to serve her happy vegan customers.

Here is the restaurant info:

That's Amore!
13349 Artesia Blvd., Cerritos, CA 90703
Phone: 562-926-2112 and 562-926-8920
Hours: Monday to Saturday: 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The atmoshpere of this restaurant is light, airy, and happy. I love the yellow and blue combination of their wall colors. We were so amused when we heard the 'Theme of The Godfather' music was played on the background. We both were chuckling and visualizing Italian mafias coming out of their back door with guns. But no mafias here, just fiercely melted vegan cheeses. Marina was informing us that she planned to have Karaoke nights in this restaurant. Oh boy, what a farce addition to that place! I told her that we have Italian Crooners Karaoke CD that we can bring to her party. Can't wait!

Vegan Sushi Party!

2008-09-28T09:49:00.001-07:00

Yet, another vegan sushi party! This is my 3rd post about vegan sushi. You can tell that I love vegan sushi and like to have a sushi party. It's a lot of fun to let your guests roll their own sushi and choose the filling they want to put in it. I don't have to prepare too much before hand and can enjoy the company. This time, I include an option for those who don't like seaweed or nori. I served 3 types of vegan sushi(with or without nori): mak i sushi, temaki sushi, and inari sushi .

I piled up the filling ingredients on a tray: cucumber, carrots, crispy sauteed soy ham, seasoned tofu, red or yellow bell pepper. I didn't have an avocado which would be great in a sushi. You can actually be creative in what kind of filling you want to use. I prepared the sushi rice in a separate large bowl. Guests can create their own sushi, any style they like.

Rolled Sushi or Maki sushi wrapped with nori. Guests can roll their own sushi like these above.

Soy sheet wrapped sushi (temaki). Guest can hand roll their own temaki or rolled sushi with the soy wrapper. This is for those who detest nori or seaweed. I learned about soy wrappers for sushi from Julie a while back. Check this out: Sushi Party soy wrappers

Nori wrapped sushi (temaki). Guest can roll their own temaki with nori, too.

I prepared these before hand. This is actually my favorite sushi style (no nori). I added some green peas and corn in the filling. For a vegan inari sushi recipe, you can check Bryanna's blog, here.

I made my sushi rice combined with quinoa. For recipes and previous blogs, you can click here and here.

If you have never had sushi party, you should try it. You can invite your friends who love Japanese food, friends who detest nori, and friends who love to gather for a fun and feast event!

Vegan Potato Salad with Mustard and Fresh Baby Dill Weed

2008-09-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Store-bought potato salad or any potato salad served in a picnic or a party is a 'no-no' dish for us. Generally, potato salad recipes contain mayonnaise (eggs and dairy). Therefore, I have not made potato salad in the last 12 years. I could have made one with vegan mayonnaise but DH doesn't like mayonnaise or vegan mayonnaise (home made or store-bought). I had been racking my brain for a potato salad recipe that will satisfy both our palates. Alas, I came up with this recipe. It is very mustardy and a bit spicy but that's what we both like. It also has fresh baby dill weed and salty vegan bacon in it. This salad is a bit sweet, too(agave nectar). It's a definitely a bold and flavorful potato salad and not the general lame potato salad made with mayonnaise.

Vegan Potato Salad with Mustard and Fresh Baby Dill Weed
Serve 6-8

3 lbs. Fingerling potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes
2 ribs celery, diced small
3 green onions, diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced small
1/2 pkg. Smart Bacon (Lightlife), cooked and crumbled
3 Tbsp. Fresh Baby Dill Weed(I really prefer fresh dill weed in this recipe), chopped

Dressings:
1/3 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp. Organic Apple Cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Organic Grained Dijon Mustard or Spicy Grained Dijon Mustard (or smooth Dijon mustard) My favorite brand is Roland Organic Grained Dijon Mustard
1 tsp. salt
Fresh ground black pepper (1/4 - 1/2 tsp)

Prepare veggie bacon as instructed on the box. Let them cool and hardened. Then, crumble or cut them into small pieces.
Boil potatoes (unpeeled) for 30 minutes. Drain and let them cool for 10 minutes, then, peel them. Cut them up in bite pieces. Let them cool some more while preparing dressing.
Measure apple cider vinegar into a bowl. Using a whisk or hand held blender, pour olive oil into the vinegar while whisking or blending this mixture. Oil and vinegar will combine into a nice and creamy looking dressing.
Add agave nectar, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Mix them really well with the whisk. You can adjust the sweet, spicy, sour, and salty taste.
Put all salad ingredients in a big bowl. Add dressing and combine well.
Let salad sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve it cold or at a room temperature.

VEGAN COMFORT MEALS

2008-09-14T09:55:00.001-07:00

There have been some stress in our household lately. We got some not-so good news from direct family members who are dealing with health issues and major surgeries. A friend of mine suggested that I made some comfort meals. So I did. These are not my recipes but I will direct you to the sources I used (cookbooks or websites).

Above are Crispy Beer-Battered Seitans (upper middle) from Yellow Rose Recipes cookbook by Joanna Vaught, my new vegan cookbook. On top of it is Bryanna's Southern Biscuit Gravy (from her newsletters). On the right of it are Jalapeno Poppers made with Bryanna's Vegan Sharp Chedda (from her newsletter). I grilled some zucchini and yellow squash and fingerling potatoes to eat them with.

Above is our vegan barbecue meal. I made vegan Barbecued Seitan Ribs (top right under the corn bread) from FatfreeVegan (SusanV.). I also made barbecued super firm tofu (underneath ribs). I made vegan Baked Mac and Cheese from Yellow Rose Recipe cookbook using Bryanna's Vegan Sharp Chedda Cheeze (from her newsletter). I also barbecued corn-on-the-cobs topped with Earth Balance and made a new recipe of corn bread I tried from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

My favorite was the vegan macaroni and cheeze. I think this was the best vegan mac and cheeze I ever made. The combination of a great recipe from Yellow Rose Recipe and Bryanna's cheeze did it. I don't really like store-bought vegan cheese. However, I love Bryanna's cheeze that I can make at home. I was also surprised by the corn bread recipe from the Joy of Vegan Baking. It was delicious.

There are all kind of recipes of Jalapeño poppers which are also known as Dragon Eggs (because it is fiery hot) or Armadillo Eggs. It usually is stuffed with cream cheese and other kind of cheese and spices. This one is vegan. I used Bryanna's Soft Vegan Sharp Chedda Cheeze mixed with chopped parsley and chives. Then, I used the same beer batter for the crispy seitan above (from Yellow Rose Recipes cookbook) to coat them with. It was crispy and somewhat spicy and hot. I used rubber gloves to remove the seeds and white membranes from inside the jalapeño before I stuffed it with the soft chedda mixture.

Dessert was not left out in vegan comfort meals. This time I made Fall Fruit Crisp from The Joy of Vegan Baking cookbook. I used organic honeycrisp apple and blueberries I bought from a nearby farmers market for the filling. Then, I mixed them with raisins, spices, and brown sugar. For the crisp layer, I mixed a combination of rolled oats, whole wheat pastry flour, spices, Earth Balance, and maple syrup. It was served warm and topped with vegan vanilla ice cream.

How to Make Vegan Fish or Mock Fish - Vegan Unagi Donburi

2008-08-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

If you've ever been to Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurants and ordered dishes with 'fish' in it, you probably thought about how the mock fish was made. Below is a recipe that reveals the secret of Chinese Buddhist vegetarian fish. They use fresh or frozen yuba (which you may found it in the frozen or refridgerated sections of an Asian market) that is chopped into small flakes and then seasoned and wrapped in a nori sheet (sometimes a yuba sheet is added on the outside of the nori for a crispy skin). Then, it is steamed, cooled, and sliced into a fillet. Most Chinese Buddhist restaurants deep fry the yuba and nori wrapped 'fish' and then top it with flavored constarch thickened sauce.

Fresh or frozen yuba pockets (pictured) are hard to find in certain parts of this country (or your country). I found it in a nearby Asian market. But it is easier to find dry yuba sheets or sticks in Asian markets near you, probably? You'll have to do a few extra steps with yuba sticks because it is harder to soften them.

2 lbs fresh or thawed yuba pockets OR 2 pkgs dried yuba (6 oz. dried each) - see how to prepare below
3 tsp sugar

6 tsp vegetarian bouillon mix powder

Note: I used Harvest 2000 Vegetarian Bouillon Mix chicken flavor or Bill's Best Chiknish
1/2 tsp salt (use 1 tsp if using chiknish since it is not salty)
1-2 tsp kelp granules or more, depending on how 'seafoody' you want it to be
6 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
4-6 nori sheets

Glue mixture:
2 Tbsp Cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp water

Preparing with dry yuba sheets or sticks:
Soak dry yuba in a lot of warm water in 2 large bowl. Make sure the water covers the yuba. Let it sit over night or at least 6 hours.
If they are not soft enough, boil a large amount of water in a large pot, simmer soaked yuba about 5 - 8 minutes. The idea is to make the yuba soft. After soaking, a few sections of the yuba are still hard. Simmering them for a few minutes will help.

Let them cool and then squeeze the water out as much as you can, then proceed to the next step below.

Preparing 'fish' mixture (with fresh or dryyuba):
Chop the yuba with a knife or put the yuba (soaked yuba) in a food processor and process about 5 seconds only. Do not process too long. The idea is to chop them to small flakes.
Squeeze the water out of the yuba (especially if using dried yuba sticks). You may use a piece of cloth or drain the yuba in a colander and squeeze the water out using your hands. Transfer the yuba to a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, excepts the nori and glue. Mix really well.

'Fish Fillet' :
Layer a piece of nori on a cutting board. Brush lightly with the cornstarch and water mixture (glue mixture). Scoop about 1 1/2 cup of the 'fish' mixture on the bottom half of the nori sheet. Press it down with your fingers or a spoon. You need to press and squeeze the filling tightly so it won't fall apart after it is steamed and cooked. I found out that if you wet your hands, the mixture will less likely to stick on your fingers or you can use a saran wrap.

Then, fold the other half of the nori over and make sure there is a 1/2 inch overlap to cover the fish (see picture). Seal the fish using cornstarch and water mixture that is spread over the 1/2 inch overlap and press and squeeze the 'fish' mixture tight together as much as you can. Repeat with the rest of the mixture for each nori sheet.

Steaming 'Fish Fillet' :
To prevent sticking to your steamer, put a few of cabbage leaves or lettuce leaves on your steamer, arrange fillet on top of the leaves (see picture). I have used Chinese bamboo steamers without leaves and it works nicely (didn't stick). Steam for 20 minutes. Let the fillet throughly cool before transferring it out of the steamer. Put them in the refridgerator to cool off some more for a few hours before cooking it. They freeze well.

Cooking Tips:
It is best to use the 'fish' for cooking after it is refridgerated for a few hours or frozen and then thawed.

JAPANESE VEGAN UNAGI DONBURI ('Eel' On Rice Bowl, pictured above)

I used to order Unagi Donburi when I visited Japanese restaurants before I became a vegetarian. I sometimes missed the 'sea' flavor of Unagi. I was able to re-create this dish after I discovered how to make my own vegan fish. It is best to eat this dish accompanied by vegetable miso soup and vegan kimchi. Since the unagi sauce is so sweet, the saltiness of the miso soup balance it out. I also serve it with hot Genmai Cha (Japanese green tea with roasted brown rice). I am now back to eating Japanese food again.

1 recipe 'fish fillet' above
Note: For Unagi, I added 1/4 cup of reconstituted chopped wakame seaweed when making the 'fish fillet'. This will add more 'sea' flavor to the fillets. This is optional, of course.
vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. Toasted Sesame seeds
Dash of roasted sesame oil

4 cups steamed Japanese rice (short grain rice, white or brown)

Sauce:

1/3 cup Japanese soy sauce
1/3 cup Mirin (Sweet Style Japanese Mirin)
1/3 cup vegetarian Kombu Dashi or vegetable broth
2-3 Tbsp sugar, depending how sweet you like it or use agave syrup

Prepare the sauce:

Put the sauce ingredients together in a small pan. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Set it aside. I only use a small amount of sauce for each fillet. It is a matter of preference. Some people likes lots of sauce on their donburi. If you do, you can double the recipe.

Preparing the unagi:
Heat a non-stick frying pan, then add 1/2 to 1 tsp vegetable oil. Pan fry 'fish fillet' in batches,2 fillets each time. Make sure both sides are crispy. Turn down the heat to low, pour 1/3 of sauce over fillets. Let the sauce cover the fillet and immediately take it off the heat. You don't want the sauce to crystalized in the pan. The longer you cook the sauce in the pan the thicker it will be. Repeat for the rest of the fillets.

Divide rice into 4 or 6 bowls. Transfer and divide the fillets and sauce on top of the rice. Sprinkle with dash of roasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds on top.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Secrets of Vegan Travellers

2008-08-08T10:10:00.001-07:00

Hearst Castle Roman Pool

I went on a short vacation this week to Cambria/San Simeon, along the California Coast Hwy, to Hearst Castle. After becoming vegetarians/vegans, DH and I have a challenge regarding what to eat while we travel because we live in a non-vegan world. This issue didn't stop us from going on vacations and trips. My secrets are the Internet, Happycow.net, and a GPS system.

Before a trip, I usually visit Happycow.net to see what restaurants are available in the area. If there is no vegan restaurant in this site, I search the Internet to find restaurants with vegan or vegetarian options. Then, I either print a page or two and/or enter the addresses into my Garmin nuvi 260. This GPS tool was a xmas gift from DH last year. I thought it was the best gift I ever received from him (on top of the kitchen tools he gave me). If there is such a thing as a Vegan Garmin, it will be perfect. But there is none, so I entered all the vegan restaurants I found into my Garmin.

Talking about secrets, I want to let you know about Mary's Secret Garden, a 100% Organic Vegan Bistro, in a California beach town called Ventura. This is the last place we visited during our trip but it was the highlight of it all so I will start from here and then go backward.

We visited this bistro TWICE in 2 days and splurged on vegan dishes. It was indeed a VEGAN HEAVEN. For someone like me who cook ALL THE TIME, it was nice to have someone else cooked for me, for a change. It was a real treat for me!

This bistro is small but homey. It looks like an old 50s house that was converted to a bistro. I found this restaurant at Happycow.net a year ago and we went to visit it then but I didn't let the secret out till now. It's too bad that I live 1.5 hours away -without traffic and 3 hours away-with 101 Hwy traffic from it. That's the only issue I have with this bistro.

Other than that, the vegan dishes are so delicious, healthy, gourmet, colorful, and organic. If you read its reviews at Happycow.net, you'll find that lots of visitors complained about it being pricey. It's true that it is pricey but have you looked at the price of fresh organic ingredients in your nearby organic market or a farmers market? Eating organic is not cheap. That's the fact.
I know so because I shop organic, too.

We definitely were very satisfied with what were served to us. Every dish was a gourmet meal and made personally by Chef Mary (except the cakes, her friends made them). Half of the menu is vegan raw and the other half is vegan cooked dishes. She also provides 'specials' all the time so you don't have to eat the same thing all the time (or if you want to eat the same thing you'll find that in their menu). I met Chef Mary and talked to her. She was very nice, helpful, and humble. Our waitress, Rose, had a lot of recommendations for us which some we followed and some we didn't but she was very accommodating.

During our first visit DH ordered Mushroom Bakin Burger with a side of raw slaw. DH doesn't like veganaise or any other vegan mayonnaise so he asked for mustard on the side:

This dish has a lot of umami in it. All of them were yummy, including the raw slaw.

I ordered Blueberries/Pineapple/Coconut smoothie (one of the specials) and Vegan Shrymp Pad Thai. I thought the smoothie was very colorful and delicious.

My Vegan Shrymp Pad Thai was right on! It was spicy, peanutty, and flavorful. Mary suggested that I squeezed all the limes all over it to enjoy it more. She was right.

At our next visit, the next day, we ordered a raw appetizer, Vegan Mock Salmon Raw Sushi. The picture speaks for itself. It was very refreshing and tasty.DH ordered Middle Eastern Platter served with warmed whole wheat pita bread (on the menu) and opted for both Stuffed Grape Leaves and Falafels. Mary made everything on this plate. The Stuffed Grape Leaves were stuffed with rice and garbanzo beans. The hummus had herbs in it and was quite delicious. The taboulleh was a raw one. I was intriqued with the grains in the taboulleh but was told that they were HEMP SEEDS. Rose showed me the Organic Nutiva Hemp Seeds that they sell and use. I bought a package and am going to use it in my taboulleh, the next time I make it. Hemp seeds have a lot of omega oils in it and are definitely nutritious.
I ordered Vegan Chicken Cilantro Salad. I am curious about the cilantro dressing and wanted to save room for a dessert:

This salad and the dressing was delicious. It was all homemade and gourmet but the vegan chicken was not, I think.

We split this Vegan Heaven Coconut Cream Chocolate Cake. This finished off our trip on a good note: I definitely know that all my vegan friends will be drooling over this cake.

The last few days before we visited Mary's bistro we had just adequate vegetarian dishes. Most of them are dishes we ate at non-vegan restaurants with vegan options. We visited Sojourner Cafe in Santa Barbara.

I had Tempeh Reuben and DH had Tempeh Taco Salad. You can ask for veganized items in this restaurant. Their dishes were good but they were nothing real special(compared to Mary's). They were just good and adequate food.

We also found a Southeast Asian cafe in Cambria that offered vegetarian dishes, called Wild Ginger . This cafe is owned by a Singaporean Chef. This one is not in Happycow.net yet. There are a few vegetarian dishes in their menu. I had the Curried Butternut Squash-Sweet Corn Bisque that was spicy and coconutty (it has coconut milk in it). DH had Indian Vegetable Samosa. We both opted for the Sezhuan Tofu with rice. Surprisingly, it was spicy and flavorful. For desserts, we opted for their home made sorbets (available flavors are pomelo, kiwi strawberry, lime, lychee, mango, pomegranate).

I picked lychee and DH got the lime one. I was very surprised of how good it was. I could taste the lychee very strongly. Yum! I may make this at home. We definitely were satisfied with what we found in Cambria. We had another dinner at Morro Bay at a California Fusion Mexican restaurant called Taco Temple. If you ask to hold the sour cream and cheese, this restaurant provides vegetarian burritos and tostadas that can be veganized. Their black beans and rice are vegetarian. What I like was that everything tasted so fresh with lots of veggies.

Well, looks like my vacation is over. This means that I am going back to my kitchen and will start cooking again!

Vegan Vietnamese Shaking 'Beef' with help of California Earthquake

2008-07-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

When I posted this blog this morning, we didn't have the Earthquake. It just happened a few minutes ago while I was eating my lunch in my office at Santa Ana, California. It happened at 11:42 am, a 5.8 earthquake at Diamond Bar and Chino Hills, California. It was PRETTY SHAKY! I am ok, a bit shaken up. We are about 17.5 miles from the epicenter.

The original name of this dish is Thit Bo Luc Lac, a famous Vietnamese dish that literally is translated to English as 'Shaking Beef.' This dish is named this way because the marinated beef is shaken in a very hot wok or cast iron pan, searing and shaking them, until they are evenly cooked. Then, they are served warm on a bed of fresh watercress, tomatoes, cucumbers, and seared onions, with a clear sweet and sour sauce (like salad dressing).

DH and I have been dining in Au Lac Vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant in Fountain Valley, CA for about 10 years now. One of our favorite dishes from their menu is Soy Beef and Watercress. We've been eating this dish for a long long time without knowing that this is the vegan version of Thit Bo Luc Lac. We have never eaten the original non-vegetarian dish at a non-vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant since we were not introduced to Vietnamese dishes until we became vegetarians 12 years ago. Not until recently, when I started to read blogs in the Internet that I found the original recipe and the story behind it. When I perused the ingredients, I realized that what I read was similar to our favorite dish that we frequently eat at Au Lac.

I recreated the veganized dish at home but used more ingredients than the original recipe such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and grilled pineapple. Au Lac uses watercress, tomatoes, and cucumbers but not pineapple. I had some left-over grilled pineapple in the fridge and thought that it would be a nice addition. This dish is flavorful because it tickles your tounge with 5 flavors: sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and umami (savory/deliciousness). The sour taste comes from the rice vinegar, lime juice, tomatoes, and pineapple. The sweet taste comes from the tomatoes, pineapple, seared onions, and agave syrup. The salty taste comes from the soy sauces and salt. The bitter taste comes from the watercress, soy sauce, and cucumber. The umami (5th flavor) comes from the seared 'soy beef', seared onions, freshly ground black pepper, and the soy sauces. The key to the deliciousness of this dish is to have a balance of all 5 flavors. I hope I can do the justice with the recipe below but you are welcome to adjust the flavors according to your taste of balance.

Vietnamese Soy 'Beef' and Watercress

Serve 4-6

Ingredients:

1 pkg. dried soy meat, beef style (Thit Chay)(7-8 oz.) or 2 cups dried Soy Curls™ prepared (see instructions below) and marinade with:

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons light soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Amino™
2 Tablespoons agave nectar
1 Tablespoon dark mushroom soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
Note: See my blog regarding the dark mushroom soy sauce or light soy sauce or 'fish' sauce that I use in Vietnamese or Thai cooking. Do not use Japanese soy sauce because it won't taste the same.

1 medium onion, slice thinly (1/4-inch thick)

Sweet and Sour Light Sauce(salad dressing):
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons light soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Amino™
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 -2 Tablespoons agave nectar
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Vegetables:
1 bunch organic watercress, cleaned and dried
2 Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber, sliced diagonally
1 medium fresh and ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 cup grilled or fresh pineapple

Preparing dried soy 'beef' (Thit Chay):

Simmer dried soy beef in hot water for 20 minutes.
Drain water and squeeze most of the water out.
The soy 'beef' should be soft now. I use this brand since it is very thinly sliced and is soft after they are simmered in boiling water.
Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl.
Apply marinade to soy 'beef', mix well, and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.

If using Soy Curls™ :

Soak Soy Curls™ in warm water for 10 minutes.
Drain water and squeeze most of the water out.
Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl.
Apply marinade sauce to Soy Curls™ , mix well, and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.

Preparing vegetables:

Mix sweet and sour light sauce ingredients together and marinade the sliced red onions in this sauce. The fresh onion flavor really makes this dressing flavorful. Let it sit marinating while you are preparing the rest of the vegetables.
Layer watercress on a serving dish, top with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and pineapple.

Searing onions:

Heat a cast iron frying pan until it is very hot.
Drain onions from salad dressing/sauce but reserve the sauce in a bowl.
Pour or sprinkle the reserved dressing/sauce onto the prepared vegetables on the serving platter, evenly.
Put 1 teaspoon vegetable oil onto the hot cast iron frying pan. Then, add the drained onions.

Shake and turn onions until cooked (translucent) and a bit charred. Pour onions on top of the prepared vegetables.

Shaking Soy 'Beef' or Soy Curls™ :

Heat a cast iron frying pan until very hot.
Add 1-2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Then, add the marinated soy meat.
Shake and turn soy meat until a bit charred. Place warm soy meat on top of seared onions and prepared vegetables.

Before serving, mix the soy meat, onions and vegetables together and serve this dish with brown rice or white steamed sticky rice.

VEGGIE ROLL-UP FOR VEGGIE MEETUP

2008-07-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

DH and I attended Veggie Meetup of OC at Corona Del Mar State Beach Park. It's a very nice beach neighboring millions of dollars homes. We met nice people who are vegetarians and vegans (or vegan raw). This was a potluck event so each one of us brought a dish or two.

Picture taken by Ami

It's summer in Southern California. We are enjoying hot summer days at the beach, right? Wrong! True as far as enjoying the beach but it was not hot and sunny. We had an overcast and cold day, last Saturday. No need for sunscreen! Do I look cold or what? Bring a jacket or a wrap!

Talking about a wrap, I made Veggie Roll-Up or Wrap and Quinoa Taboulleh for the potluck.

We all really were enjoying to eat all the food on the table without worrying about non-vegan items. Someone brought chocolate mousse with peaches in it. Someone else brought 4 kinds of desserts from 4 different vegan cookbooks (recipes were shared, too). Yummy! Then, someone else brought fresh young coconuts, fruit salad, watermelon, etc. etc. We came late so we didn't see what else was available before we came.

Everyone enjoyed my dishes. I am going to display how this roll up was made. I made it just an hour before we took off for the beach potluck. It's an easy potluck dish for a summer event or a nice lunch dish to bring to work.

Veggie Roll-Up

Serve 6 for a meal or a bunch for potluck

Ingredients:

2 cans (8 oz. each) organic black beans (cuban style is ok, too)
6 vegan garden burgers (your favorite brand), prepared according to package
3 avocadoes, cut up
2 raw carrots, shredded coarsely
2 cups baby spinach leaves (raw)
1 cup organic corn (frozen, thawed)
cilantro sprigs
your favorite salad dressing (can be vegan thousand island or vegan chipotle ranch or veganaise)

6 whole wheat lavash bread (10 by 14-inches)

First, rinse and drain black beans completely. If there are some moisture, it's ok. Smash only some of the beans with a fork or hand-held blender to make it sticky.

Take a piece of lavash, lay it flat on a cutting board. Spread 1/6 of the black beans on lavash, then, top it with corn.

Break up 1 prepared and cooled vegan burger and put it in the middle, lengthwise, and then top with 1/2 of an avocado, cut up.

Top with a few baby spinach leaves all the way (lengthwise). Then, top with your vegan dressing (I used vegan chipotle ranch). Sprinkle some coarsly chopped carrots.

Add a few of the cilantro sprigs on the side and brush the rest of the lavash with water, lightly. This is to prevent it to break while it is rolled up (an important step).

Then, roll up everything like making a burrito. Squeeze all ingredients tightly while preventing the filling to spill over on both sides. This takes a practice but it 's not that hard. :-) You'll end up with a log or a roll-up sandwich or a wrap. Whoopie, I didn't break it!

You can eat the wrap just like it is or cut it up (a good idea for a potluck, don't you think?). To cut it up, with a very sharp knife, cut the wrap into halves, in the middle of the roll, then cut each half into 3 or 4 pieces. Clean the knife by wiping it with a moist paper towel for each cut (unlike what I did below, shame on me!)

Repeat Step 2-7 for the rest of the lavash. Enjoy this veggie roll-up with your favorite salad.

Vegan BBQ on July 4th and Vegan Peach Melba

2008-07-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

It's the time for a BBQ at So Cal (Southern California). It's July 4th, the weather was hot, and the BBQ grill was out. The menu for our July 4th's BBQ consisted of: BBQed Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage topped with grilled onions, peppers, and sauerkraut; grilled vegetables; and a Peach Melba for dessert.

The recipe for grilled Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage on a bun is really easy. If you have not tried this product, I highly recommend it. I love the smoky and sweetness of this vegan sausage. To balance the flavor, I topped it with grilled red onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and organic sauerkraut, sauteed with a little EVOO.

Grilled Field Roast Apple Sage Sausage with Onions, Peppers, and Sauerkraut
Serve 4

1 pkg. Field Roast Apple Sage Sausage
4 vegan hot dog buns, your favorite brand

Toppings:
1 small red onions, sliced
1/2 large red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 large yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 cup organic sauerkraut (I used Eden brand)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

mustard (your choice)

Heat a cast iron pan on medium high flame(I used a portable stove to cook outside when the weather is hot).
Add olive oil. Then, add onions. Pan fried for 1 minute. Add bell peppers. Sauteed for another minute.
Add organic sauerkraut and ground black pepper. Sautee until all vegetables are browned and heated through.
While toppings were being pan fried, put Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausages on the grill along with the buns. Carefully, watch the hot dog buns. Flip sausages after 2 minutes.
Assemble the hot dog buns and sausages together, Then,add toppings and mustard.
Serve immediately.

Grilled Vegetables
Serve 4

Marinade:
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. tamari
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 medium organic sweet potato or yam ( microwaved for 2 minutes)
2 large organic zucchini
2 large organic crooked neck yellow squash
1 lb. organic asparagus

Cut(lengthwise) yam, zucchini, and yellow squash into 1/4-inch thin slices.
Mix marinade in a small bowl with a wire whisk
Marinade all vegetable for about 1 hour
Grill on hot coals for about 4 minutes each side

Now, the fun part is the dessert: Vegan Peach Melba, vanilla ice cream served with a poached peach and raspberry sauce. This dessert was inspired by Curtis Stone, the Aussie celebrity chef from Take Home Chef. I love to watch cooking shows whether it is vegan or non-vegan(I always think that recipes can be veganized). Curtis reminded me of Peach Melba, a dessert that I savored in my childhood. This dessert is well-known in Australia where he came from. Americans probably never heard of this dessert. However, growing up in Indonesia which is near Australia, my late dad always took us to have Peach Melba as a treat in our hometown's ice cream shop. I totally forgot about this dessert until Curtis made this dessert in one of his shows. Yeah, I remember this delicious ice cream dessert so I determined to make it and to re-live my childhood.

I invited my mom and siblings to try it and we went back to our memory lane, our childhood era, talking about fun events we had together as a family in our hometown's ice cream shop, having Peach Melba. Mom and siblings had the non-vegan store-bought vanilla ice cream in it. I had it with Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent with Coconut Milk,Vanilla Bean, soy ice cream. This product has been blogged in many different vegan blogs. It finally reached the shelf of the ice cream section of Whole Foods market in my area. This vanilla soy ice cream was really decadent and creamy.

Vegan Peach Melba
Adapted from Curtis Stone's recipe
Serve 4

Ingredients:

For the Poached Peaches:
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
Note: I used vanilla beans and scraped the dark bean specks. You are welcome to substitute with vanilla extract (1 -2 teaspoons) but using vanilla beans is much better.
4 peaches, peeled but leave whole

For the Raspberry Sauce:
12 oz. fresh organic raspberries
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Soy Vanilla Ice Cream (try Turtle Mountain new product: Purely Decadent with Coconut Milk)

Combine water, sugar, and lemon slices in a heavy large saucepan. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean then add them to the liquid mixture. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Add the peaches and simmer gently over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until the peaches are almost tender. The cooking time will vary depending on the ripeness of the peaches.
Allow the peaches to cool in the poaching liquid. Add vanilla extract this time (if you don't use vanilla beans). The peaches will continue to cook in the liquid as it cools, so be sure not to over-cook them initially.
While the peaches are cooling off, puree the raspberries and powdered sugar in a blender until smooth.
Strain the raspberry sauce through a fine sieve and into a bowl. Discard the seeds.
Place peaches and raspberry sauce in the fridge until time to serve.
To serve: Place 3 tablespoons of raspberry sauce in the center of each 4 plates and stir to create 4 large circles of raspberry sauce. In the center of each plate, place 1 peach and serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Alternate serving method is just to put ice cream in the middle, put sliced peaches around it, and drizzle with raspberry sauce (see picture below).

Boy, this ice cream dessert topped it all, a fun filled weekend with a family. I know it is not red, white, and blue (more like red, white, and yellow) as the 4th of July dessert should be but it is absolutely divine and brought a family together in a hot summer day.

SPICY THAI 'FISH' AND STIR- FRIED CUCUMBER WITH WOODEAR MUSHROOMS AND CHILI

2008-06-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

This week I am making vegan spicy Thai 'fish' and stir-fried cucumber with wood ear mushrooms and red chili. They are served with jasmine brown rice. This is a rather long blog but I presented 2 recipes. So I hope it is worthwhile to read them.

About the Spicy Thai 'Fish' dish:

I bought the vegan fish frozen from an Asian market. It is made with soy bean curd and seaweed. I actually can make it at home from scratch with yuba and seaweed. But that's another blog, I think. It is also easier to buy since it is readily available here, in my area.

The 'fish' is browned on cast iron frying pan with a little bit of oil, on both sides. The seaweed will become crispy. Toasted and crispy seaweed is delicious, in my opinion. But I love 'sea' flavored dish so this is a treat for me.

The other ingredients are: Thai basil (known also as Cinnamon Basil), chopped garlic, chopped chili such as jalapeno or serrano, diced red and yellow/orange bell pepper.

I made this recipe many times. I received this recipe from my friend Yongkie years ago and have modified it many times by reducing the sugar content. I finally use agave nectar in my cooking.

I also use special Asian soy sauces for a replacement of fish sauce or oyster sauce. When I mention light soy sauce or a replacement of fish sauce, I use this soy sauce brand: Healthy Boy Soy Sauce with Musthrooms. It is not easy to find but I believe that this is important in Thai or Vietnamese cooking which uses fish sauce heavily. As a vegan, I need to find a replacement of fish sauce as closely as possible. Bragg's Liquid Amino can also be used as a replacement of fish sauce. It has that natural brew flavoring. However, I still prefer the Thai mushroom soy sauce. I go as far as L.A. to visit Thai markets to get this brand. I really take my Thai/Vietnamese cooking seriously, I think. Please don't use Tamari or Japanese soy sauce because it will not taste the same. If you can't find the mushroom flavored soy sauce you can surely find Bragg's Liquid Amino in your area. Or, perhaps, you can buy them on-line (click the links).

I also use dark mushroom soy sauce in my Asian cooking. I love this brand: Pearl River Bridge Mushroom Flavoured Superior Dark Soy Sauce. I use this dark soy sauce in my Asian dishes. This is not Ketjap Manis (an Indonesian sweet soy sauce) which is used for another type of cooking in my kitchen.

This Thai 'fish' recipe is very simple when you have all of these ingredients on hand. I am trying to grow my own Thai basil or cinnamon basil in pots. Now, my plants haven't matured yet ( see picture). The leaves are still so small. I still rely on Asian market to get my cinnamon basils. Hopefully, in another month, I can enjoy this herb and cook more vegan Thai or Vietnamese dishes.

Spicy Vegan Thai 'Fish' serve 4-6

1 Vegan Thai 'fish' (buy frozen), pan fry until crispy and toasty, set aside in a warm oven

canola oil for pan frying and stir frying
1.5 cups Thai/Cinnamon Basil (leaves only)
1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
1/2 large yellow/orange bell pepper, diced
2 Tablespoon garlic, chopped finely
2 Tablespoon red or green jalapeno, seeds removed (reduced amount accordingly for less spicy)

Sauce Mixture: (combine in a small bowl)
3 Tablespoons light soy sauce or fish sauce replacement (see above)
1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce (see above)
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1.5 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoons agave nectar (3 Tablespoon if you like it sweeter)
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Put 1 teaspoon of oil in a cast iron frying pan and pan fry 'fish' both sides until crispy and toasty. Set aside in a serving platter in a warm oven.
Heat wok until very hot. Add 1 - 2 teaspoons oil, add garlic, stir fry for 3o seconds, then, add red and yellow bell pepper, stir fry for a minute.
Add Thai basil, stir fry until basil leaves are wilted and soft.
Add sauce mixture, stir, and let it become hot and boiling.
Immediately, pour over warmed and ready 'fish'
Serve immediately

About the Cucumber Stir Fry with Wood ear mushrooms and Chili:

Stir-fried CUCUMBER, you asked? Yes! I watched Kylie Kwong's cooking show on TV one day and she was preparing stir fried cucumber. I thought it was pretty interesting and thought that Iwould like to give it a try. I had to reduce the amount of ginger since DH doesn't like ginger that much. I also veganized the dish with Vegetarian Mushroom Flavored Stir-Fry sauce instead of oyster sauce.

The trick to stir fry cucumber is to act quickly after cucumbers are added. If sauces are added and combined quickly, then, immediately remove wok from the heat, I think, you'll find that the cucumber is still crispy. You'll also need to serve the dish immediately.

This dish is unusual because it needs fresh wood ear mushrooms. This kind of mushrooms grow on trees and looks like an ear. That's why it is called wood ear. The use of this kind of mushroom is very common in Asian dishes. They sell dried ones in Asian markets that you can soak in warm water to re-hydrate them but I prefer the fresh ones. The fresh ones cook very quickly. If you can't find this kind of mushrooms you can substitute with other kind of mushrooms but you'll need to stir fry them before hand and set aside. Then, when you add the cucumbers into the wok, you can add the cooked mushrooms at the same time. Other wise, the cucumber will be too soft to wait for the mushrooms to be soft and cooked.

Below are the ingredients: cucumbers, finely sliced garlic, julienned green onions, sliced red jalapeno (fresh red chili), diced wood ear mushrooms, and julienned ginger.

Stir-fried Cucumber, Wood Ear Mushrooms, and Chili serve 6-8
Adapted from Kylie Kwong's recipe

2 large cucumber, peeled
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/3 cup ginger, julienne finely
6 cloves garlic, finely diced
5 green onions, trimmed , and cut julienne into 3-inches long
8 oz. fresh wood ear mushrooms, cut in bite pieces
1 -2 large fresh red chili (red jalapeno), sliced diagonally

1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
2 Tablespoons Vegetarian Mushroom Flavored Stir-Fry Sauce
2 Tablespoons light soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon agave nectar

1 teaspoon sesame oil for drizzling before serving

Cut cucumbers in half length ways and scoop out the seeds using a spoon. Cut in half width ways, place halves cut-side down on a chopping board and slice on the diagonal (julienne) into 3-inch pieces.
Heat work until very hot. Add peanut oil and let it heat up before adding garlic and ginger. Stir fry for 10 seconds. Add cucumber, wood ear mushrooms, red chili, and green onions and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
Quickly add wine or sherry, mushroom flavored sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, and agave nectar.
Combine quickly for about a minute until all ingredients are hot. Take it off from heat.
Lastly drizzle with sesame oil before serving. Serve immediately.

GINGERED TEMPEH WITH RED SPINACH AND SHIITAKE

2008-06-20T11:27:00.001-07:00

I have been so guilty of not using more tempeh in my cooking. After all I am an Indonesian girl , born in Java, and Indonesia is the birthplace of tempeh. So here it is, my stir fried gingered tempeh with organic red spinach, shiitake, and yellow bell pepper. This dish is Asian, I think, because of the ginger, tempeh, tamari and rice vinegar. I created this dish 'out of the blue' when I was so busy with my overly active Toastmasters clubs and needed to cook something easy and fast.

I found this beautiful organic red spinach at Mother's market. It is so delicious that I went back the next week for more. It tastes just like regular spinach except that it has red stems. If you can't find red spinach, swiss chard, or kale will do.

I also found a great tempeh product, Tofurky brand, that is not bitter. Therefore, I don't need to steam the tempeh first (Indonesians never steam tempeh before use. Maybe, because we always get them fresh?). Below is a picture of marinated tempeh, chopped ginger, chopped garlic, and diced yellow pepper, the main ingredients of this dish.

Then, I added shiitake mushrooms at the last minute. Remember, this is not a 'planned' recipe. The tempeh marinade was also an 'idea' that came out of my brain after I made this Herb Crusted Tofu from Everydaydish. After I made the delicious tofu dish, I had a left over marinade that I didn't want to throw away. I dumped in tempeh into the marinade (tamari, marsala, and water). Isn't that super easy?

I think this dish was very satisfying and yummy. I served it on top of a bed of brown jasmine rice.

Gingered Tempeh with Red Spinach, Yellow Pepper, and Shiitake Mushrooms
Serve 6-8

Ingredients:
8- 10 oz. tempeh
2 bunches of red spinach (about 1.5 - 2 lbs.)
1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, diced
10 shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried), sliced
Note: if using dried, soak in warm water for 30 minutes
4 cloves garlic, chop finely
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, chopped finely
3 Tbsp. Tamari
2-3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Marinade:
1/2 cup Tamari
1/2 cup Marsala wine or white wine
enough water to cover the tempeh to marinade

Finishing:
drizzles of roasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. roasted sesame seeds
1/2 Tbsp. Korean red pepper (optional)

Marinade tempeh for 1 - 4 hours (or leave overnight in the fridge).
Drain tempeh and cut in 1/2-inch cubes.
Cut and clean red spinach by washing them in a big bowl of water. Drain but don't pad dry. Set aside in a bowl.
Heat olive oil in wok or large frying pan. Add garlic and ginger. Saute for 1 minute.
Add bell pepper and saute for 3 minutes.
Add shiitake mushrooms and tempeh. Saute until tempeh is brown. Add water to prevent sticking. Don't add too much water since there are water in the spinach.
Add red spinach in batches (3 or 4 batches). After each batch, stir over and under until spinach is wilted. Water/juice will come out of the spinach which will create sauce for this dish.
After all batches are added, add tamari and rice vinegar( add 2 tbsp. first and taste. Then, add another tablespoon if necessary).
Add freshly ground black pepper at the end and stir. I don't think it is necessary to add salt but you can add salt to taste.
Pile jasmine brown rice on a plate and top with the spinach mixture. Drizzle with sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds, and optional Korean red pepper.

Enjoy!

VEGAN 'SEA' FLAVORED MEALS

2008-06-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

I loved seafood before I became a vegetarian because I grew up on an island surrounded by the sea. Seafood was a major part of our meals in my growing up days. I figured out that, now, after I became a vegetarian, what I missed is the 'sea' flavor instead of the seafood. I also found out that I can satisfy it with eating seaweed. Some vegans do not like seaweed at all but I do. It's good for me because seaweed has a lot of minerals and vitamin B-12, I was told.

Below is my recipe of my favorite Italian soup(pictured above): Cioppino (seafood Italian stew). At first, I got a recipe from Bryanna but I have modified it to satisfy my own 'sea' cravings that the recipe has become my own because it is more 'seafoody' than the original recipe. There are many different styles of this stew, depending on the regions of Italy, but I like the one made with fresh tomatoes (not very tomatoey).

The main ingredients of my vegan cioppino are vegan fish, vegan scallops, and vegan oysters. I bought the 'fish' from Chinese market (frozen). I made my own vegan seitan scallops and oysters. The latest newsletter from Bryanna featured a recipe of homemade vegan seitan scallops. Hooray! Finally, a recipe of seitan 'seafood'! I converted her recipe by adding fresh wakame to make seitan 'oysters.' These have lots of 'sea' flavors due to the fresh wakame in them. Pictured below are: store-bought vegan fish, homemade vegan oysters, and homemade vegan scallops. The dark green specks in them are chopped wakame and kelp granules.

VEGAN CIOPPINO (VEGAN “SEAFOOD” STEW)

Vegetables:
1 onions, chopped small
1 cup celery rib, chopped small
1 cup carrot, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dry red chili pepper flakes
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

2/3 c. chopped flat-leafed parsley

2 tbsp.. extra-virgin olive oil

8 dry shiitake mushrooms soaked in 3 cups warm/boiling water (you may add the soaked shiitake mushrooms into the soup, chopped, if you want)

2 c. mushroom soaking water above or dilute 2 cup water with 1.5 Tbsp. Pistol River Porcini mushroom powder

1 1/2 cup dry white wine, optional or more broth above

a bay leaf
1/3 c. chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dry basil flakes
1 tsp. kelp granules
1 - 4X6 inches kombu (Japanese seaweed)
1 tsp. salt or to taste
1/8 -1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

a heaping 1 T. light miso

'Seafood':

2 1/2 cups combination of vegan fish, seitan scallops, and seitan oyster, chopped in small pieces (I have made this soup with store-bought vegan fish and vegan shrimps, another option)

1	Saute 'seafood' and chopped shiitake (if using) in 1 tbsp. olive oil until brown. Set aside. Then, sautee with 1 tbsp. olive oil: onions, dry chili pepper flakes, garlic, celery, and carrots until the onions are soft and translucent.
2	Add chopped tomatoes. Cook 10 minutes until tomatoes are soft and disintegrated.
3	Add wine or broth, basil, and bay leave. Cook on high heat 5 minutes.
4	Now add more broth(2 cups), with the large piece of kombu seaweed and kelp granules. Cook about 25 minutes. Remove kombu.
5	Add the sauteed 'seafood' and shiitake back in. Add more broth, if necessary. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
6	Add salt and pepper to taste.
7	Add light miso, stir until dissolve. Finally, add chopped flat leaf parsley and take it off from heat.

Ladle into bowls and serve with garlic bread or whole wheat baguette or sourdough baquette.

Below is a picture of another 'seafood' meal that is featured in Bryanna's latest newsletter: Fried Seitan 'Scallops' (and 'Oysters') with Lemon-Garlic 'Butter' Sauce. Unfortunately, Bryanna stopped her newsletters production although you may be able to order her previous versions of these wonderful newsletters soon. I served the delicious 'seafood' morsels with Roasted Baby Yukon Potatoes with olive oil, garlic and rosemary and steamed fresh asparagus. You see, we eat yummy vegan meals in our household and aren't missing out delicious 'sea' flavored meals at all.

Sin-Dawgs - Yummy, Gooey, and Cinnamony!

2008-06-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

What prompted me to blog Sin-Dawgs is my recent purchase of a new mixer: Bosch Universal Kitchen Machine, 800 watts. YES, I finally got the top-of-the-line mixer: the BMW of mixers. My older Kitchen Aid Heavy Duty mixer did not satisfy my needs anymore. I sold it at craigslist. With the proceed of that sale, I happily ordered my dream machine, a Bosch mixer with a 6-quarts bowl, from Julie at Everydaydish.tv/ Market.

While I was shopping for the mixer, I reviewed a few new Cooking Shows at Everydaydish.tv and encountered Sin-Dawgs. Gosh, what's that? You really need to view this video, I recommend it, because it's a blast. A guy with big muscles and a pony tail demonstrated how to make his creation he called it: Sin-Dawgs. The scene of a guy who looks like a biker, cooking in Julie's kitchen, is very rare but amusing. :-)

This guy is Dave Dahl from Dave's Killer Bread. Apparently, he sells bread at Portland (Oregon)Farmers Market and other places in Oregon. Golly, that's far away from where I live but yet his recipe is so intriguing that I can't help to try to make Sin-Dawgs at home with my new mixer. I want to know what I missed for not being able to visit Dave's booth in Portland's Farmers Market. I thank Dave for sharing his recipe to all of us who live far away from Portland, OR. You can visit his website and blog to get to know Dave because he has an amazing story. You can get his recipe at everydaydish.tv, here. Don't miss the video before you try making it! BTW, he is also a wonderful musician and you can listen to his music in this video and his site. The instructions to make this bread are pretty clear. In this video, he used the same mixer I bought.

Sin-Dawg is apparently a VERY cinnamony loaf and that's how it got its name. My house was full of cinnamony goood fragrants while these loaves were baking. The bread is surprisingly soft considering it was made with all whole wheat flour. The filling is yummy, gooey, and cinnamony.

I cut about an inch of it, just to try it, and then, cut some more to eat more. It was SINfully gooood! It was especially delicious when it was still warm. You really have to like cinnamon to appreciate Dave's creation. The smells of cinnamon trigerred my childhood memory growing up with spices in Indonesia: the home of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, etc.; therefore, I LOVE cinnamon. I used the Indonesian Korintje Cassia Cinnamon (Grade A) that I bought from Penzey's.

DH tried it too and said 'Hhmmmm...I have never eaten anything like this before!' 'Well, do you like it?', I asked. 'Yeah, it's real good, the fact that it's great with beer, that's pretty good' he said with a smile(at that time, he was drinking a bottle of non-alcoholic beer). Then, he added comments that the DAWGS are pretty big to eat for one person (a recipe makes 3 big loaves). He suggested that I made 'Sin-Puppies' next time. Not a bad idea! I can make small dawgs and eat one for breakfast per day. Sin-Puppies, Dave, how about Sin-Puppies?

Now, about my new mixer, I absolutely LOVE it. It's like driving a new BMW. I have been dreaming of owning it since 2004 when I went to Denman Island attending vegan cooking vacation with Bryanna. That's the first time I saw a Bosch mixer. At that time, I still owned a Kitchen Aids mixer which I found out later on that it was not strong enough to make seitans and breads. Bosch IS a better tool for this job.

VEGAN TIRAMISU - PICK ME UP!

2008-05-24T08:37:00.001-07:00

I was craving for a cake! Do you think because we were feeling romantic, celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary, this week? I remember our wedding cake was not vegan, 19 years ago. It was a delicious rich and chocolaty cake, a non-traditional one. If I have the chance to plan my wedding again (marrying the same guy) I would pick Tiramisu as a wedding dessert- an Italian trifle - cake or ladyfingers layered with custard and liquor and topped with whipped cream. Tiramisu means 'pick-me-up.' Maybe, it should be a 'date' dessert? By all means regular and traditional Tiramisu is not vegan. Custard is loaded with eggs, ladyfingers are made of egg white, and what about the whipped cream on top? I was wondering if I will ever eat Tiramisu again.

The answer is YES! Due to Bryanna Clark Grogan, that is! She wrote an Italian vegan cookbook titled Nonna's Italian Kitchen. When I opened the book years ago and discovered a recipe for Tiramisu, I thought, 'No way!' But yes, way, it is possible. In her recipe, the ladyfingers is replaced by her Vegan Genoise Cake. She created Cashew Creme Custard for the filling and Sweet Soy Creme for the topping. It's all in her book, page 223.

I made Bryanna's Tiramisu recipe a few times. loving it, however; I still think that it needs a whipped topping that should taste creamy and have an airy texture like a real whipped cream. Tiramisu is not perfect without a whipped cream, I think. Until recently, I discovered Soyatoo whipped soy cream. The one in the can has a lot of problem with the can. After a few squirts, nothing comes out of it anymore. I stopped buying it because it was becoming too expensive and wasteful. Then, I discovered Soyatoo sells a liquid, whippable soy cream in the box that I can whip myself with a mixer. I don't even have to order this product on-line because it's available in a nearby major supermarket. How cool is that?

Just for a 'pick-me-up experience again, I re-made Vegan Tiramisu with Soyatoo whipped soy topping, at last. I chose to serve and assemble the components in wine glasses and dessert cups. If I have to serve this dessert in a wedding, it better be a really small and special wedding because serving it this way is pretty time consuming. However, the presentation is really lovely and romantic!

The components of Vegan Tiramisu are: cut up Vegan Genoise Cake, page 222

Cashew Creme Custard, page 219, and espresso mixed with Amaretto (I used Monin Amaretto Syrup)

and Soyatoo whipped soy topping. On top, sprinkle with some powdered pure cocoa and sugar mixture. This is definitely my favorite dessert!

FRESH MOREL MUSHROOM - I FINALLY TASTED IT!

2008-05-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am a foodie. I like to taste different kinds of unusual culinary items(vegan items, of course). Well, I kept hearing how tasty morel mushroom is from DH. Every time we talk about mushrooms he mentions FRESH MOREL. It's delicious, he says, you got to try it! I had a chance to try it last week while we were vacationing to El Dorado Springs, Missouri, visiting my in-laws. It was apparently a morel season while we were there because the local newspaper featured how people in this area gather morel in the woods and found big ones.

Being lazy Californians(us) who always get produce from the supermarkets, instead of gathering morels in the woods, my MIL sacrificed going out early in the morning to a garage sale (yes, the folks in this area sell fresh morels in garage sales) to buy fresh morels for us, $7.50 per quart size bag. She even went back out again because she thought she should have bought more for my SIL. What a mother she is! BTW, Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Don't worry, we are not ingrates we gave her a gift certificate for a massage treatment she needed and lots of hugs!

I heard that people make money by selling fresh morel mushrooms and the price can go up to $80 a lb. in the city. I don't know if this was true or not but knowing that fresh chantrelle mushrooms are sold for $19.95 per lb. at a major supermarket in our area, I think it could happen with morels, too. Therefore, having fresh morels was a treat for us.

My MIL split the mushrooms into 2 and soaked it in water. She said for removing dirt or dead bugs nestled in the honey-comb like surface. Then, she spread them out to dry on clean towel.

We opted out to deep fry the mushrooms with soda cracker meal breading. I use soy milk and lemon juice mixture (replacing eggs or buttermilk) to soak the mushrooms then coated them with a mixture of soda crackers meal, salt, and pepper. My MIL used eggs to soak them in and coated them in the same dry mixturel.

It was quite delicious! I think it tastes like a combination of oyster and portabella mushrooms. If I can find fresh ones easily, I could have use them in many different recipes. Now, I tasted it, fresh morel mushrooms, after hearing about it for almost 20 years! I can buy dried morel anywhere but having fresh morel is truly an experience that a foodie is looking for!

In response to Emily's request (see comments), I entered the recipe. I also entered the non-vegan version of my generous MIL. I am still dreaming about fresh morel mushrooms!

Deep Fried Fresh Morel(Vegan and Non-Vegan versions)
Serve 4-6
Appetizers/light meals
Time: 30 minutes

1 quart fresh morels (about 1/2 lb)
2 cups soda cracker meals
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (cracker meal is already salty so be careful of adding too much salt)
1/8 - 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1-inch vegetable/peanut oil in a cast iron pan for deep frying.

Vegan version:
1 cup soy milk/other non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Non-vegan version:
2 eggs, beaten

Split fresh morels into half. Soak them in a bowl of cold water to remove dirt and dead bugs. Drain and place them on clean kitchen towels to dry.

Mix soda cracker meal with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in the frying pan till 350F degrees. Use a deep fryer thermometer.

For vegan version:
Combine non-dairy milk and lemon juice. Wait for 1 minute. The milk will curdle like buttermilk. Soak each mushroom slice in this mixture. Then, drench each mushroom slice in soda cracker meal mixture. Deep fry each mushrooms until golden brown. Do not overcrowd the frying pan.

For non-vegan version:
Beat eggs in a small bowl. Soak each mushroom slice in the egg mixture. Then, drench each mushroom slice in soda cracker meal mixture. Deep fry each mushrooms until golden brown. Do not overcrowd the frying pan.

Enjoy!

CASSAVA OR YUCA --- WHAT IS IT?

2008-04-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

CASSAVA OR YUCA! What is it? What's the code? This is the question I always get when I buy yuca/cassava at Whole Foods market. The cashier scrambles to ask other cashiers to know what is this 'thing' called and to search page after page in her or his book for the code to enter. If I buy it at an Asian or a Hispanic market, of course, the cashier usually knows what it is. No question was asked. It is not very American at all, isn't it?

I grew up eating yuca in Indonesia. It's a root that tastes very similar to potatoes. There is a waxy film covering the root (I think it is to preserve it's freshness). After it is cut horizontally into chunks, the brown and waxy outer layer can be removed easily with a knife.

I like eating yuca, deep fried, just like thick French Fries. Indonesians have many ways/recipes to prepare yuca. We eat them as snacks. It can be prepared salty or sweet (as desserts).

I usually boil yuca in salty water for about 20 to 25 minutes. I tried the pressure cooker, too, which only take 3 minutes (under pressure). Below is my garlicky yuca recipe. This dish can be eaten just like it is (boiled). Or, the gravy (sauce) can be drained and then the yuca is deep fried until they are crispy. DH who loves fried food loves deep fried yuca. Boiled yuca looks soft but it becomes hard and crispy when it is deep fried.

Garlicky Yuca/Cassava

1.5 lb yuca/cassava (prepared as pictured)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tsp. table salt
3 cups water or enough to cover it entirely
1 tsp. oil

In oil, sauté garlic until fragrant. Add the yuca chunks, water and salt. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until tender. The water will become a bit thick like gravy.

I have other recipe I adapted from Bryanna's recipe. I receive this recipe after I emailed Bryanna about the Peruvian restaurant we visited one day, called Inka Mamas. One of their menu items is called YUCA ALA HUANCAINA. Of course, Bryanna has a recipe for this dish with potato, instead. She said I can replace it with yuca. It's an appetizer consists of lettuce, corn, carrots, olives, and deep fried yuca smothered with 'cheezy' warm sauce.

YUCA ALA HUANCAINA (A PERUVIAN YUCA DISH)
(adapted from Bryanna's recipe)
Serves 6

1 Garlicky Yuca/Cassava recipe (above), deep fried

White Sauce ingredients:
1/2 pkg. Mori-nu Silken Tofu, Firm
1 cup soy milk
1/2 to 1 cup water
2 Tbsp. non-dairy margarine/Earth Balance
2 Tbsp. unbleached flour

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 an onion, minced
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 Tsp. minced jalapeño
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of white pepper
2 Tbsp. Bill's Best Chiknish
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp. salt

6 to 8 large lettuce leaves
18 black olives
12 2"-long chunks of cold cooked corn on the cob
12 2"-chunks cold cooked carrots

White Sauce:
Combine silken tofu, soy milk, and 1/2 cup water in a blender. Blend until smooth/not grainy (take a few minutes). Melt margarine/Earth Balance in a small sauce pan on a low heat. Add flour and combine until thickened. Scrape flour mixture into the blender. Blend until smooth.

Sauté the chopped onion, hot peppers and turmeric in the olive oil until the onion is soft. Stir in the white sauce, chicknish, spices, salt, and nutritional yeast. Keep warm. If the sauce is too thick, add the remaining water (or add more) a little each time until desired consistency.

On each serving plate, place a lettuce leaf. Place a few chunks of deep fried yuca (still hot) on each lettuce leaf. Place a few olives, 2 chunks of carrots, and 2 chunks of corn around the yuca. Drizzle the yuca with the sauce, distributing evenly. Serve immediately with more sauce, if desired.

I used the left over sauce on top of Tofu Benedict(toast, tofu, vegan sausage, caramelized mushrooms, and grilled tomatoes) for breakfast and it's delish!

Yuca tastes just like potatoes. If you can find it, don't be afraid to cook it and try it!

Vegan Pecan Sticky Buns - Move Over Cinnabon

2008-04-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a year that I haven't posted a new blog. This doesn't mean that I haven't tried new recipes or cooked. I have. It's just that there are so many blogs out there that I enjoyed reading so why repeat what they did, I thought.

Although someone may have blogged vegan pecan sticky bun already, this blog is all about learning to make bread the easiest way. I grew up with rice and noodles so making bread is something I am not good at. I threw away dough that will not rise time to time then I got frustrated.

Recently, I learned that it's easy to make bread and it's nothing to be scared about. I learned about no-knead yeast bread from my friend Bryanna who recently blogged about it. I bought this recipe book that she recommended. She found out about this book from Julie Hasson from Everyday Dish who also blogged about it. Word of mouth (or blog to blog) is a powerful thang! This book is titled Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.

You can throw away your Kitchen Aid mixer or your expensive bread maker. You can just go back to the basic: a very large bowl and a wooden spoon. I successfully made artisan breads from the recipes. It was so easy, no kneading. I mixed the ingredients in 5 minutes and let the dough rise in the fridge for 24 hours or more. I went to bed after mixing the dough and the next morning it will be ready for bread baking. Or, if I don't want to make bread that day I'll let it rise in the fridge until I am ready.

Being successful with bread, I wanted to make more exciting bread such as vegan sticky buns; especially, after tasting the most delicious vegan pecan sticky buns when we were at Flagstaff, Arizona. We had them at Macy's International Bakery. We went to this bakery twice just for their sticky buns. That was last December. After that experience, I craved for this sticky buns so did DH although he may not admit it.

The dream for having sticky buns didn't just started last December. It started after I stopped eating eggs. Whenever I passed Cinnabon at malls, my mouth watered smelling and seeing the cinnamon rolls they displayed. Of course, those are not vegan. It's loaded with eggs and butter. I thought that there must be a way to make them without eggs and butter, the vegan way.

At last......I found this good recipe in this cookbook with the help of Bryanna who veganized it.

There are two recipes listed below. One is the dough and the other one is how to convert this dough to delicious Pecan Sticky buns.

I ended up making it in a 13 X 9 pan and used 3/4 of the dough.

Veganized Master Enriched Dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day*

* Veganized by Bryanna Clark Grogan

The book contains several master dough recipes, and this is an enriched, sweet dough, perfect for a loaf of Challah (the braided dough) and the Sticky Rolls. You start by mixing the master dough first, Let that rest overnight in the refrigerator, then the next day, pinch off a cantaloupe sized hunk-o-dough to make your Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Rolls! Return the rest to the refrigerator to use for another day.

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbs instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 cup soymilk, warm, whisked with 2 Tbs. Ener-G Egg Replacer (I used Bob's Red Mill egg replacer)
1/2 cup agave syrup or maple syrup
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter, melted
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, mix together the soymilk/Ener-G mixture, water, syrup, melted EB, yeast and salt. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Add in the flour. STIR, BABY STIR!!! Stir until you don't see any more dry bits of flour (about a minute). Cover (not airtight) and stick it in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 4 days. The longer you let it fart around in the refrigerator (literally!), the better tasting the dough will be.

Cooking Tips
NOTE: When you let the dough hang out in the refrigerator, it's not going to "rise" like a normal dough Think of Cinnabon, that chain store found in every American mall, except EVEN BETTER.

VEGAN PECAN STICKY BUNS*

The Dough above: A cantaloupe sized chunk of the Master Dough (about 1.5 lbs)

The Gooey Sticky Caramel Topping:
6 Tbs Earth Balance, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
30 pecan halves ( I chopped them)

The Heavenly Sweet Cinnamon Butter Filling:
4 Tbs Earth Balance, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans
pinch of freshly ground black pepper

9" square or round cake pan

The first thing you need to do is take that master dough out of the refrigerator, grab a small cantalope sized chunk of dough. Return the rest of it to the refrigerator to use another time (psst...get the book for all the other recipes using this dough!).
Generously flour your hands and the dough. Shape the dough into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough and tucking it to the bottom all around, rotating hte ball a quarter-turn as you go. This creates a taut, smooth surface. Let the dough rest, covered with a towel to take the chill off while you prepare rest of ingredients.

While the dough is unchilling, mix the topping and the filling.
FOR THE TOPPING: Cream together the EB, and sugar. Spread this topping evenly on the bottom of the cake pan. Scatter with pecan halves (I used chopped pecans).
FOR THE FILLING: Cream together all ingredients except the pecans. Set aside.
Dust your counter with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin to 1/8" thick rectangle. Try to get it 13" x 17" I had trouble with the rectangle shape, so I we just rolled it into a large oval. Spread the sweet filling evenly on the surface. Scatter chopped pecans all over.

Roll it up, starting with the long side.
Flour your serrated knife and cut roll into 9 even pieces (square pan) or 8 pieces (round pan).

Set it in the pan on top of the caramel, cover with towel and rest for 1 hour
Preheat your oven to 350F. The book says to bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown and well set in the center. But take a peek at the rolls around the 35 minute mark.

While still hot, run a knife round the edge of pan and invert immediately onto a plate. If you wait until it cools, the caramel will harden and it will be difficult to turn out.

YUM. Soft, pillowy dough. Sweet cinnamon and nutmeg butter dribbling down your chin. Sticky, gooey caramel. Crunchy pecans.

Indonesian Coffee Flan at Everydaydish.tv!

2007-05-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

Photo by Yongkie Hurd

During my vacation at Portland, Oregon(see last blog), one exciting event I did was fulfilling Julie's request to present my Indonesian Coffee Flan recipe in her Everyday Dish.TV, a newly born website to present healthy and creative cooking. This is, indeed, a wonderful site with videotaped cooking shows (click on Cooking Show) where you can view what the dishes look like and how recipes are made, in short webtv segments. No measurements of ingredients are mentioned during the videotaping since you can find the recipes on the right hand side of the cooking show page. It is a smart idea for individuals who want to learn an easy-does-it cooking by using simple recipes and simple techniques.

I was, of course, NERVOUS, because the experience was really nerve-wrecking! It was my first experience being videotaped. Just try it, cooking something with someone breathing on your neck and watching you closely or from behind your back. In my case, it was the camera and the cameraman/director/producer, Jay. I was cooking under the shining bright lights everywhere. Hence, I have never cooked like this before. But Jay was very patience with me and methodical. At one time, he offered me a shot of tequila...hhmm....what a good idea! But I didn't take a shot and was able to go through it with his help. Let me know what you think of my video: Everyday Dish.tv presents Indonesian Coffee Flan. You may need to download the latest Quicktime 7 for Windows to view all the cooking shows in this site. If you are an iPod user, you can subscribe and download all cooking shows from this site. DH happens to get an iPod for his birthday and will be able to show his wife cooking to everyone he knows. :-)

Indonesian Coffee Flan is a recipe I invented because an acquaintance visited an Indonesian restaurant, had this dessert, and wanted to know how to make it. The secret ingredients are Indonesian Palm Sugar called Gula Jawa, Pandan (Southeast Asian flavoring leaf smells like vanila, also called screwpine leaf), vanilla, and a good coffee. I grew up with these ingredients and have always used agar powder in making jello-like desserts. I didn't know that gelatin powder that is used commonly in the US is made of an animal ingredient until I became a vegetarian and was told so. Indonesians have always used agar powder which is derived from seaweed for gelling desserts.

You may say, 'Wow these are EXOTIC ingredients! How can I find these ingredients?' If you live in a metropolitan area, you can find these ingredients in asian markets who usually carry Indonesian ingredients. You may find Gula Jawa (palm sugar) and agar powder in the aisle of Thai or Indonesian ingredients and the pandan leaves in the frozen section. It is very unfortunate that I can't find fresh pandan leaves in the States. The aroma of fresh pandan leaves is so wonderful!

Agar powder found in Asian markets in small packages

If you live in a non-metropolitan area, you can find on-line sources for gula jawa: IndoMerchant or Indonesian Food Mart; agar powder: barryfarm.com or Amazon , and pandan essence (use 1 to 2 teaspoons): Importfoods.com.