Chow Vegan

Now we’re talking, this is the kind of vegan sushi I’ve been looking for, something new and different. I was down in Carlsbad last week and stopped by Nozomi Japanese Fusion restaurant for lunch.

I started off with organic Genmaicha, a green tea combined with roasted brown rice for a little bit of a “popcorn” taste. It’s delicious, but don’t let it steep too long or it becomes bitter-tasting.

For my entree, I had the vegetarian sushi combination which including the chef’s choice of 6 pieces of vegetable nigiri and a 4-piece vegetable roll, all made vegan. From left to right the different types of nigiri were: a leafy green wrapped around sushi rice, some pink vegetable that I don’t know its name, a strip of some preserved vegetable topped with avocado, eggplant, greens on top of rice in a wrapper, and shiitake mushroom. The veggie roll was similar to other veggie rolls that I’ve had before. But it was all tasty.

I also tried a tapas styled appetizer, steamed mushroom and leek dumplings in a truffle and miso broth.

I ended up eating there twice during my trip, both times for lunch. I got the sushi combination again and got slight variations on the offerings. The second time I got a few pickled leeks on the plate, I normally eat them in my Chinese Veggie Chicken Salad but I’ve never seen them before in a restaurant.

Now I’m more inspired than ever to try to make my own sushi at home.

I’ve been fascinated by spices since I was a small child – all the different smells, colors and shapes. My mom has this one spice rack that’s been around for as long as I can remember, I’m not sure where it came from – she hardly ever used it (it was filled with spices atypical of Chinese home-cooking).

Nowadays, I have a carousel type of rack, I love to spin that thing around looking for various spices. One day while spinning it around and around, it occurred to me that it would be fun to use a bunch of these different spices in one recipe. That was the inspiration for the 11 Herbs and Spices Baked Tofu, along with a certain famous “secret” fried chicken spice recipe.

While it was tasty, I think I prefer my Crispy Baked Tofu the best, simpler is sometimes better. Another thing is you can change up the spices to whatever you like, tofu is more than happy to soak in whatever you throw at it.

11 Herbs and Spices Baked Tofu
Makes 14 pieces

1 pound firm tofu
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk

1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion granules
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tofu into 1/4″ slices and wrap in paper towels. Place a weight on top for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a shallow bowl, combine the nutritional yeast, breadcrumbs and the 11 herbs and spices and mix well. Dip the tofu slices in the soy milk and then in the breadcrumbs mixture, coat well on both sides, place the coated pieces on a oiled baking pan.

Bake for 12-15 minutes on each side.

Related Posts
Chicken Fried Tofu
Chinese 5-Spice Baked Tofu
Crispy Baked Tofu

Since there’s still beautiful looking long beans at the farmer’s market, I can’t stop buying them. This time I went with a simpler recipe than the Long Beans With Tempeh.

Simpler, but it uses an ingredient you may not be familiar with, fermented bean curd or preserved bean curd. Or in Chinese, fu yu. Some people call it “chinese cheese”, because of its pungent aroma, saltiness, and smooth creamy texture.

Basically, it’s cubes of tofu that have been fermented in rice wine. It’s used as an flavoring agent or condiment. There’s different varieties of fermented bean curd, I like the white, chili one for its subtle spiciness. There’s also a red version that’s usually used with meat, although I’ve never tried it. A little bit goes a long ways, so a jar usually lasts for a good while stored in the refrigerator.

This is the brand I get from the Asian grocery store, it’s the one I grew up with. I’ve tried other brands but I like this one the best. Recently, they’ve updated their packaging (the old one is on the left). They’re also now ISO 9001 certified.

At first whiff, you may be put off by the aroma. But I assure you when cooked or added to other foods, it doesn’t taste like how it smells. It mellows out, leaving a delicious, savory, kinda salty flavor.

Besides long beans, any number of vegetables can be cooked with fermented bean curd, I’ve tried spinach and zucchini with great success. Sometimes I like to smash and mix a cube into just plain ol’ white rice.

Long Beans With Fermented Bean Curd
Serves 2 as part of a meal

1/2 bunch long beans, about 6 ounces
3 tablespoons water
1 – 2 fermented bean curd cubes
1 teaspoon oil

Snap off the ends of the long beans, break into 3″ pieces and wash in several changes of water.

Put the bean curd cube and water in a small mixing bowl, mash the bean curd in the water and set aside.

Heat a wok until hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the long beans, stir-fry and cover for about 30 seconds. Add the bean curd water mixture and cover. Cook until the long beans are tender and the water absorbed and sauce-like about 2 1/2 minutes. Plate and serve.

I’ve been enjoying various snack foods while watching the Beijing Olympics, one of which is Dandy’s Onion-Garlic Flavored Chips. They’re similar to the shrimp chips that are served with some Chinese dishes but without the shrimp flavor.

When I was a kid, my mom used to get shrimp chips as a box of colorful, dehydrated, semi-transparent hard pieces. When fried, the pieces get bigger and all puffed up. Dandy’s chips come right out of the bag already puffed.

The onion-garlic flavored chips are available at the Asian grocery store, but in the Asian section of some regular supermarkets I’ve only seen the shrimp flavored ones. The company is based right here in the San Francisco Bay Area, which I did not know. Fancy that, a local company.

With cantaloupes in peak season, I thought now would be a perfect time to try this melon carpaccio recipe from Gourmet. But as usual, I made a couple of changes.

I didn’t use the tarragon called for in the recipe. I had mistakenly bought sage instead of tarragon (this is what happens when I don’t make a shopping list). So the tarragon got left out and I knew better than to throw the sage leaves on there. I did add thinly julienne veggie bbq pork, for more of a savory contrast to the sweetness of the cantaloupe. It’s so good and so easy to make.

The secret is in the selection of a nice ripe cantaloupe. I employ the smell test. Give the cantaloupe a good sniff, if it’s ripe it should smell very sweet and very aromatic and you’ll know it’ll be very tasty.

A huge thank you to everyone who entered the Lucky 8/8/08 Giveaway! It was fun reading your comments about which items you were most interested in.

Not surprising, the most popular items were the soy knots and jackfruit, followed by the pickled leeks and wood ear mushrooms. A couple of people were interested in the Kung-Fu ramen bowls and bringing up the rear was the lychees and rice noodles.

Now, the moment you all have been waiting for…

The winner is #4 Jennifer! Congratulations, it’s your super-duper lucky day!

Thanks again to everyone for playing, I hope to have more giveaways in the future.

It’s been unusually cool here lately, I’m not complaining as I prefer the cool to the broiling hot. And it’s much more pleasant to be cooking in the kitchen when I’m not sweating all over the place.

So I feel like having something a little heartier but still somewhat light. On the menu is fettuccine alfredo – fettuccine noodles in a rich, creamy white sauce tossed with fresh vegetables.

Next time though, I think I’ll use regular organic fettuccine instead of the whole wheat. It just tasted a little too “wheaty” for me. Whole wheat spaghetti is fine, you don’t notice any difference but for fettuccine it’s a bit much, at least it was for me.

Vegetable Fettuccine Alfredo
Serves 2

8 ounces whole wheat fettuccine
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup broccoli
1/2 cup asparagus
3 ounces crimini mushrooms
Handful of cherry tomatoes

Bring a large pot of water to boil, cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Heat a saute pan or wok, when hot add the olive oil, the garlic and then the broccoli, asparagus and mushrooms, cook until desired tenderness. Set aside. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and set aside.

Creamy White Sauce
1 12-ounce package silken tofu
1 tablespoon vegan butter
1/4 cup vegan sour cream
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup strong vegetable broth

Mash the tofu in a bowl, combine the rest of the sauce ingredients except the broth. Blend, adding just enough broth to make it smooth and creamy. Transfer to a sauce pan and heat over low heat, do not boil.

To plate, add desired amount of sauce to the pasta and vegetables, mix well and divide between plates. Alternatively, place pasta/vegetables on plates and spoon sauce over the top. I like mine premixed.

I finally managed to tear myself away from the wonderful strawberries and peaches that I’ve been eating lately to focus on some of the other summer fruits that abound. Next up, is watermelon. Instead of the usual wedges, I made a refreshing, two-toned chilled watermelon soup.

I got the red watermelon at the local farmer’s market. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the yellow ones and had to get that at the grocery store. It wasn’t quite as sweet as I expected, but I’m hoping to find it at the farmer’s market to try as it’s supposed to be sweeter than the red.

Red and Yellow Watermelon Soup
Serves 2

4 cups ripe red watermelon, seeded and cut into pieces
4 cups ripe yellow watermelon, seeded and cut into pieces
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Agave nectar to taste
Salt to taste
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

In a bowl, combine the red watermelon, half of the lime juice and the agave nectar and salt to taste. Blend until smooth, place in a covered container to chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Keeping it totally separate, do the same for the yellow watermelon.

To serve, hold one container in each hand and pour at the same time so that there’s one color on each side. To make a fancy decoration, use a toothpick to swirl a bit of one color into the other. Garnish with a mint sprig and serve.

Lucky 8/8/08 Giveaway!
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway here, only a few more days until it closes on August 6, 2008.