I’ve been experimenting with refrigerator lemon pickles for a couple of years now. Tonight I wanted to work with lemon and other Japanese flavors, but didn’t have any preserved lemons in the fridge. Rather than put off using up some fresh shiso I had on hand, I decided to experiment with using other methods to infuse lemon flavors, plus make a garnish of the fresh lemon as well.

First I sliced up a large lemon in very thin slices. You might want a mandoline to get very thin slices, but it can be done with a very sharp knife (I used my nakiri). I layered the slices onto a plate then layered thick slices of extra-firm, water-packed tofu I’d pressed for 40 minutes, on top of the lemons. I sprinkled on a little Alaea salt and black sesame seeds. I let this sit for 15 minutes.

I heated up a cast iron skillet on medium-low heat and added a few tablespoons of avocado oil and let it heat up. I put the tofu sesame-side down into the hot oil and then layered the sliced lemons over the top of the tofu. It seared in a covered pan for 12 minutes before removing the lemon slices (reserve), spraying the tofu with oil, and flipping the slices over. Lemon slices where placed back onto the tofu slices and pan covered to let tofu sear for another 12 minutes.

I removed the lemon slices and set aside. Into the pan I poured half of a mix of rice wine vinegar, tamari, red miso, and mirin over the tofu and let the liquid reduce in the pan. Once all liquid had reduced I removed tofu from the pan and added back in the lemon slices. These were spread out in the bottom of the pan to sear lightly for a couple of minutes before turning to sear on the other side. Once both sides had seared I added the rest of the sauce I’d mixed and let it reduce with the lemons.

The whole thing was presented with the hot lemon relish topping the seared sesame tofu and a chiffonade of fresh shiso.

There was also some summer squash chips made with thin slices of patty-pan squash tossed with dried cilantro, avocado oil, and Alaea salt. These roasted on a pan in the oven on convection setting, 235 degrees.

All this was accompanied with brown rice tossed with lemon zest and shiso.

We ate all of it. It was amazing. There will be recipes.

What is not to love about Bánh mì? These sandwiches are a tasty import from Vietnam served on crusty baguette. How can you go wrong with that?

If you haven’t found them yet, either get on it and find, or better yet make your own at home.

The Stuff

• 8 Grilled tofu slices
• 1 mini baguette
• 16 grilled daikon slices (or just some fresh, shredded daikon)
• Your favorite vegan sandwich spread (check out: Vegenaise or MindfulMayo)
• Dill relish
• Grainy mustard
• fresh coriander leaves

The Making

Slice your baguette into 4 pieces, then slice in half lengthwise. You can try to be tricky and slice only part way through (like a hot dog bun), but you don’t need to.

Spread a little sandwich spread and grainy mustard on one side, some dill relish on the other. Layer on 4 slices of grilled daikon and 2 slices of grilled tofu. Top with a few fresh coriander leaves.

Done. Try not to offend anyone with moans of pleasure while you eat.

A note about the grilled daikon. I sliced a daikon into 1/2 – 3/4″ rounds. Grilled while I did the tofu, so about 5-7 minutes on each side. Glaze and flip again, each side. Since these were pretty darn thick slices I sliced them in half again before putting on the sandwich.

Yes, one more gratuitous shot of the sammie

Also filed under the category of “Too Simple for a Recipe” is a very basic miso and citrus glaze I use a lot. Well, in interest of not assuming that this stuff is obvious to everyone, here’s a very quick recipe.

The Stuff

• 1/3 c. freshly squeezed citrus juice (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit…)
• 2 T miso
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 t freshly ground ginger, optional
• drizzle of sesame oil, optional

The Making

Whisk together all ingredients in a small dish. Use as a glaze for grilling or a sauce for stir-fries. Also makes a nice dipping sauce.

Yep, that’s as hard as it gets. Get whisking!

A note about miso… red miso will give this a darker, savory note. White or chickpea miso will make this very light, salty and slightly sweet. Go crazy, experiment!

A very simple tasty stir-fry sauce can be made by whisking miso together with fresh citrus juice. The result is bright, savory and delicious! I always keep miso and fresh citrus on hand to have this quick option available.

Last night I put together a quick dinner using extra firm tofu, green beans and carrots sauteed with fresh ginger.

The Stuff

• 1 lb green beans trimmed and chopped into 1-3″ pieces
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 2″ fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced on a bias
• 8-10 oz extra firm tofu, cubed
• juice of one medium to large lemon
• 2 Tablespoons white miso
• 3 oz uncooked buckwheat soba noodles

The making

In a saucepan bring 4 cups of water to a boil. When boiling add soba noodles and cook for time listed on package. When done boiling, drain soba and rinse with cold water. Set aside while stir-frying veggies & tofu.

Heat wok on medium high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent; about 4-6 minutes. Add fresh ginger and saute for 3 more minutes before adding the cubed tofu. Use spray canola oil if the tofu begins to stick. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring often, to brown tofu. Add in the carrots and green beans and saute for 6 minutes. Add 1 Tablespoon of water, reduce heat to medium low, and cover. Steam/saute for 15 minutes to cook beans and carrots.

In a small dish whisk together lemon juice and miso, set aside while veggies are cooking.

Add soba noodles once beans are tender and toss well. Add in lemon/miso mixture and toss well to coat evenly. Saute together for 5 minutes on medium low heat. Serve immediately.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Dinner is served, quickly!

I love Thai food. The soups, the curries, the stir-fries, the salad rolls, the big fat rice noodles… You get the idea.

I’ve played around with a few favorite dishes at home, including making curry paste from scratch. In addition to some online resources, I’ve had good luck with the cookbook Real Vegetarian Thai for inspiration and guidance on how to achieve a more authentic flavor when cooking at home.

One dish that I make fairly regularly is tom yum soup. Tom kha is more common, particularly if you’re eating out at a Thai restaurant. The big difference between them is the use of coconut milk; tom kha uses quite a lot of it. Although I enjoy some rich coconut milk dishes once in a while, the tom yum is nice to have more often as it is far lighter and lower in calories. This also means you can easily make tom kha soup by using this recipe, reducing the stock by 2 cups, and adding one can of coconut milk.

The real key I’ve found is using the right, fresh ingredients: lemongrass, galangal, ginger, Kefir lime leaves, lime juice, fresh coriander (cilantro), and Siam Queen Basil. These flavors are indispensable in most Southeast Asian dishes, and particularly so in Thai dishes. Seek out an Asian market for these or check to see if your market might carry them. I must admit that we’re lucky enough to live near a Southeast Asian market and a very well stocked “regular” market that both carry these items.

The Stuff

• 5 stalks fresh lemongrass
• 1 oz. Kefir lime leaves (or the juice of 2 additional limes)
• 2 limes
• 6 oz fresh galangal
• 4″ piece of ginger
• 8 cups vegetable stock (or the equivalent made with bullion)
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 small kobucha squash (or other sweet winter squash)
• 2 crowns broccoli
• 1 fresh bamboo shoot (or 4 oz. canned; be sure to drain and rinse first)
• 8 oz tofu (I like to use fried tofu for this dish, sometimes a lemongrass & chili tofu made locally)
• fresh cilantro
• fresh Siam Queen basil
• Rice udon-style noodles (optional)
• salt and ground pepper (preferably white) – to taste

The Making

Pour stock into pot, bring to heat and then reduce to simmer. Chop up the galangal and ginger roughly, about .5″ pieces. Remove woody tops, the bottom, and one outer layer of the lemongrass before chopping into 3″ pieces. Then use flat side of knife to smash open the lemongrass – this is a very important step! Tear up an ounce or so of Kefir lime leaves to release oils. Put galangal, ginger, lemongrass, and lime leaves into the pot with the stock, the juice of one lime, and the halves of the juiced lime. Simmer on lowest heat for at least one hour. Note: This Thai-style stock can be made in large batches and frozen.

While stock is simmering peel and remove seeds from small kobucha squash. Chop into 1″ pieces and set aside. Remove stem from broccoli crowns and reserve for a later dish. Separate crowns into small pieces and set aside. Cut up tofu into 1″ pieces, bite-sized and set aside. Slice bamboo shoot into 1″ pieces, if using fresh and set aside.

After the stock has simmered with the aromatics for at least an hour remove from heat and strain out all the aromatics; discard these or compost them. Return stock to pot, add juice of second lime (and additional limes if you didn’t use the lime leaves), rice vinegar, and squash. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until squash begins to get tender. Add broccoli, bamboo shoot and tofu. Simmer for an addition 5-10 minutes, until broccoli is slightly tender. Add salt and ground white pepper – to taste.

Serve with fresh coriander and Siam Queen basil as garnishes to be added into soup right before eating. This soup is very mild and I often add a little Sriracha chili sauce to my serving.

Although it isn’t as traditional, I like to serve this over rice udon-style noodles for a more hearty dish for dinner.

Serves 4-6

I began making dashi because we missed having soups when out at Japanese restaurants. This is a real problem since fish, usually as bonito, shows up in so many stock bases. We’d even found out, after assuring other friends it was alright, that a once-favorite local restaurant had been serving us soup with bonito extract in it! I’d been using a recipe from the mighty VegWeb, but since I’ve made several variations, I thought I’d post what I’m really doing.

The Stuff:

• Kombu, at least 6 inches worth
• 4 large, dried, whole shitake mushrooms
• 4 cups cold water
• 1 t of wakame (just use a teaspoon to scoop out a big pinch worth, OK if it is a very rounded teaspoon!)
• 1/3 cup of sake (use something decent that you can enjoy with dinner later. We like Sayuri a lot)
• 1/4 shoyu or tamari
  Optional (look for these at a Japanese market, they add a lot to the flavor of the dashi)
• 1/4 cup dried lily
• 1/4 cup dried daikon
• 6″ piece of dried gourd

The Making:

Cut the kombu lengthwise, about 2/3 the way up. In a small stock pot add the cut kombu and dried shitakes. Let these steep at room temperature for at least 1 hour, more is OK.

Remove kombu and shitakes, making sure to squeeze mushrooms to get out liquid. Add the remaining ingredients and put pot onto medium high heat. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Skim off the wakame and either use dashi immediately or store in fridge for a few days, but it is best when used immediately or the next day.

This makes a very strong dashi. I add a cup of water to it when I’m simmering for a soup and plan to add miso.

Note: The steeped kombu and shitakes can be used again!

• We actually don’t care for mushrooms much at all, except in stocks, so we compost the shitakes after steeping. Feel free to slice them up to add to soups.
• The kombu can be used in a kind of Japanese, fresh pickle. It is often sliced into small, thin pieces and marinated in some shoyu, rice vinegar and sesame seeds. This can be a nice kind of condiment to noodles or soup.

Yes, this IS the dashi I use for the miso udon stew already posted to this site!

I really file this one under the category of “Too Easy to Need a Recipe”, however, I’ve been reminded repeatedly that to people who don’t cook as often and/or do not have the level of experience & confidence that I do in the kitchen, this dish does not appear easy. In light of that, here’s my favorite stir-fry with a few variations.

This does require some Asian ingredients. These can often be found at your “regular” market, however, if you have an Asian community it is worth the trek to an Asian market for these ingredients so that you have them on hand. They will be far less expensive and you’ll also have the chance to shop for lovely things like steamed rice buns stuffed with mustard greens (or pumpkin, tofu & celery, etc.), delicious Asian veggies & fresh herbs including bamboo shoots in water (as opposed to canned/pickled), dried tofu skin, and other great things you won’t find in an American market.

The Shopping List

• Hoisin Sauce (often mistakenly referred to as “plum sauce”, this is a must-have)
• Mushroom Sauce (a.k.a. “vegetarian oyster sauce”)
• Sweet Chili Sauce
• Mirin (a sweet cooking wine)
• White Miso
• Rice Vinegar
• Seasoned Rice Vinegar (a.k.a. “Sushi Vinegar”)
• Sriracha (a.k.a. “Rooster Sauce”)
• Peanut Oil
• Tomato Paste in a Tube

The Stuff

This is where you can truly be creative. Stir-fries and soup are the best way to use up the veggies you have on hand. Some work better than others, but if you just choose an assortment of what you have on hand and know you enjoy, the dish will be delicious.

Plan on having 3 or more cups of vegetables sliced or diced into relatively small, bite-size pieces. If you are using a kind of green that will cook down you will want to use at least 3 cups of the fresh greens cleaned that have been shredded/tore roughly. Consider using some of the following:

• carrots
• celery
• beets (roots & greens)
• chard (stems removed, diced and sauteed ahead of the greens)
• kale
• spinach
• broccoli (crowns & stems)
• rapini
• rabe (broccoli, Brussel sprouts, etc.)
• snow peas with pods
• green beans
• cauliflower
• bell peppers
• daikon
• winter squash
• summer squash
• bok choi
• …getting the idea here?

• Add some aromatics:
  
  • onion
  • leek
  • garlic
  • shallot
  • ginger
  • Thai basil (e.g., Siam Queen basil)
  • Shiso leaves
  • Kefir lime leaves (for a very Thai flavor)
  • fresh coriander (cilantro)
  • fresh chilies

• Then pick one of the following:
  
  • 8 oz firm or extra firm tofu, cubed
  • 8 oz tempeh, cubed
  • 8 oz aduki beans, chick peas or other legume

The Making

Several variations here for you to experiment with. All, variations start by heating a tablespoon each of canola and peanut oils in a wok on medium high (use all canola if you have a peanut allergy). When oil is hot and forms ribbons on the bottom of the wok add in the onions. As the onions start to soften, about 3 minutes, add in garlic and/or shallot. If you are using leeks instead of onions saute the garlic and/or shallots first and add leeks when the garlic starts to soften. If you want to use fresh ginger, add it a minute after the garlic/shallot. If you are using tofu or tempeh, add it in next and stir-fry until some of the sides turn slightly golden.

Add in vegetables to onions and stir-fry at medium high for a few minutes. Reduce heat to medium low, add 2 tablespoons of water, and cover with lid. If you are using greens, do not add these in yet. Let the vegetables cook for 5 minutes, remove lid and stir. If they have brightened and have started to soften any greens can be added in next. If you are using legumes like aduki or chick peas, add them in too. Toss well and then add one of the sauce variations below:

Basic Stir-fry

Add 2 tablespoons each of hoisin and mushroom sauces and a dash of vinegar. Toss well with vegetables, cover and let cook on low for 5 more minutes. Nice served with Thai basil or fresh coriander as a garnish.

This variation reminds me a little of the basic brown sauce seen in some Vietnamese dishes, particularly if I caramelize the onions & garlic a bit first.

Sweet & Sour

Whisk together a tablespoon each of hoisin, mirin, vinegar, sweet chili sauce, water and tomato paste, add to vegetables, toss well, and cook on medium-low heat for 5 additional minutes. Toss vegetables in sauce often to help reduce liquid in sauce.

This has a more distinctly SE Asian flavor than a standard American/Chinese dish.

Thai-Style

*Kefir lime leaves should be added to the stir-fry when the vegetables are first added to any onion or garlic. Once the vegetables are tender, add 2 tablespoons each hoisin and mushroom sauces, a tablespoon sweet chili sauce, and the juice from half a lime. Toss well with vegetables, cover and let cook on low for 5 more minutes. Remove lime leaves before serving with Thai basil as garnish.

If you want to go extra crazy, chop up a stalk of lemongrass, smash with side of knife and add that in at the beginning as well. Remove chunks when the lime leaves come out.

Japanese Style

Whisk together a tablespoon each of tamari, mirin and white miso. Toss well with vegetables, cover and let cook on low for 5 more minutes. Garnish lightly with shiso leaves cut into very fine ribbons and furikake.

Kind of a sweet stir-fry as well. Also nice with a very small dash of sesame oil.

Serve stir-fry with brown rice, quinoa, steamed buns, rice noodles or just by itself. For 3-4 people.

I’ve been really curious about bento lunches, I like the way the food is neatly arranged and portioned. I’ve not gone so far as to invest in bento boxes from Japan or making tiny flowers out of carrots, yet, but I have experimented with a couple of dishes that pack well into small containers for lunch. One of the easiest and tastiest are these little pockets of abura-age filled with rice and roasted beets. The beets turn the rice a gorgeous hue and look like little jewels. Christie supplied the lovely name for this dish.

The Stuff

• 2 large pieces of abura-age (check out an Asian, preferably Japanese market for these, we get them at Uwajimaya)
• 1 medium, red beet, peeled & diced into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 cups of cooked, short-grain brown rice
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar (“sushi” vinegar)
• 1/2 T canola oil
• salt/pepper
• Furikake (to garnish, optional)

The Making

Pre-heat over to 375. Toss diced beet in canola oil and a little salt & pepper. Roast diced beet in oven until tender.

Add rice to a bowl and drizzle vinegar over. Stir vigorously, tossing the rice well in the vinegar and set aside to let rice absorb it. Once all the vinegar has been absorbed, add in the roasted beets and toss together to mix well. Rice will begin to take on a rich, red hue.

Slice the pieces of abura-age in half and carefully open up. Stuff rice, vinegar & beet mixture carefully, but firmly into the abura-age pouches. Sprinkle tops with your favorite furikake mix if desired.

Either serve immediately or pack into your bento lunch! The abura-age pouches make for a very neat way to enjoy the rice & beets. These even pack well for a hand-held snack while hiking!

The ruby beet pockets are at the top of this picture of a great, stir-fry medley we had a few weeks ago featuring broccoli/tofu/leek, the rest of the roasted beets not used for the rice pockets, and garlic/green beans.

Really, this post is all about the food porn. I will be writing up the miso udon soup as a recipe, but for now I will talk about New Year’s Eve.

In Japan people eat a traditional meal to celebrate the new year, Osechi Ryori. It is generally involved, highly symbolic, and vegan unfriendly. Needless to say, I took this as a challenge and we headed off to Uwajimaya.

Udon is a big deal – there’s a special kind that gets made for New Year’s with extra, extra long noodles. It is a challenge to try and eat it without breaking the noodle (one long slurp). This represents things like longevity of life, luck, etc. The udon are served in a simple, dashi broth with a few veggies.

Since I’d recently made a quart of vegan dashi (hell, yeah) this was the easiest dish to make. We’d picked up some of Jorinji’s amazing red miso (small batch, miso made in Portland) and Christie wanted to include it in the soup.

The result as an amazing miso udon soup. There’s a scallion caramelized first, then the dashi added, a few small broccoli florets allowed to poach, the miso added (but never boiled). Udon cooked separately, rinsed, and added to bowls. Top with age (fried tofu, this with bits of sea vegetable & carrot in it) and then add several ladles of the broth & broccoli. Top this with furikake and a piece of baked mochi (thank goodness for the Internet with this stuff… we got it home and discovered that ALL the directions were in Japanese).

So delicious. I chomped a lot of noodles, more than I slurped, it was heavenly.

I did make a salad of carrot & daikon with a little seasoned rice vinegar added to it.

This was our first course of the evening. After enjoying this we moved onto the rest of the dishes for the night.

Next the burdock, a root vegetable that’s been recommended to us before. I have always been a little intimidated by it for some reason, but decided to try.

Here you see me already doing the wrong thing – peeling it fully! Apparently I should have lightly scraped off any rootlets, dirt and left the rest. I tried out a fairly simple recipe I found, but the final result was a little gray (maybe the pan, still not sure). It was fibrous and fairly tasty.

Oseschi Ryori seems to have all kinds of little fish cakes. I decided that instead we’d have sushi. I made a mango/sauteed aspargus inside-out roll, cucumber & fried tofu roll, and a shiso & avocado roll. There was some big pieces of fried tofu that I used as pockets to make a kind of inari from the last of the rice, mango & asparagus.

Here I am, looking tired after all that cooking! I’m happy we stayed home.

Some extra mango slices with lime juice for dessert, daikon/carrot salad, burdock root, sushi, and some lovely Sayuri sake

Hotpot stews, like gomamiso-yosenabe, are a type of winter dish popular in Japan. I’d had one of Napa cabbage, glass noodles and dumplings when I ate at Cha Ya in San Francisco in 2008 and loved it. With the bounty of this year’s winter squash harvest (thanks to Christie’s insistence on growing it) I wanted to go a different direction with the squash stews I’d been making and thought it would be fun & tasty to use red miso and sesame to make a rich, Japanese inspired hearty dish.

The Stuff

• 2 Tablespoons canola or olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 4 carrots, cut into thick rounds
• 2 large stalks celery, diced
• 4 cups winter squash cut into 1-2″ cubes
• 1 28oz can Muir Glen fire-roasted, diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup red miso
• 1 Tablespoon black sesame seeds (white is fine, black is more dramatic)
• 4 cups cooked Aduki beans
• 1 medium head Savoy-style cabbage chopped into large pieces
• 2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tablespoons brown rice vinegar
• 8 cups water or broth

The Making

Saute onions on medium-high heat in a large metal pot with canola oil until the onions begin to go translucent (about 5 minutes), then add garlic. Continue to saute the garlic and onions until they begin to brown (about 5 more minutes) then add in carrots, celery and winter squash. Saute all veggies together for 5 minutes, add sesame seeds, and 8 cups of water or broth. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer together until squash is tender (20 – 40 minutes depending upon type of squash used).

Once the winter squash is tender add into the pot, remove a cup or two of the broth and mix with miso, then pour in and stir. Add the cooked Aduki beans, chopped cabbage, the Muir Glen diced tomatoes, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Cover pot and simmer for 15 additional minutes to allow beans to absorb flavor and for cabbage to cook completely.

Serve stew with a steamed grain (brown rice or barley) or some crusty, whole-grain bread.

**I make this with great success in the pressure cooker. Instead of reducing heat to simmer, put lid on and bring up to pressure, then reduce heat & set timer. Using Delicata squash it takes 7 minutes. Hubbard squash take more like 9 minutes on full pressure. After that step I add the pressure cooked veggies into another pot containing the cabbage, beans and sesame oil. The intense heat of the pressure cooked veggies pretty much cooks the cabbage immediately.