Chow Vegan

Nakd Here

February 27, 2015 By chow 6 Comments

Why, hello there.

Today, I’m reviewing a sampler box of Nakd bars from Natural Balance Foods. If like me, you’re clueless about them, you’re in for a delightful surprise. If you haven’t heard of them before, it’s probably because they’re an UK company that’s been making its way across the pond to the US.

The best thing about Nakd bars is that each is made with just a few ingredients, basically fruit and nut. That and being gluten, wheat and dairy free and vegan. It’s easy to see the breakdown of each ingredient with the percentages printed on the back.

First up is the Nakd Ginger Bread: 48% dates, 32% almonds, 18% pecans and ginger, cloves and cinnamon. I really like the texture, it’s not too chewy and it’s not too soft either. Combined with the nice gingerbread flavor, it’s one of my favorites.

Next is the Nakd Banana Crunch. As soon as I torn open the package, the smell of bananas wafts out. For being just 6% banana, it had a nice banana flavor with a slight crunch from the soya crunchies (the crunchies add extra protein).

Nakd Cocoa Mint, another favorite as it tasted exactly like a chocolate mint candy and it’s just dates, cashews, raisins, cocoa and a hint of natural mint and chocolate flavouring.

Not pictured are the other cocoa flavors, all were good. From the Nakd Cocoa Orange (tasted like chocolate with orange) to Nakd Cocoa Delight to Nakd Cocoa Crunch, it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate anything.

With ingredients of just dates, pecans and almonds, Nakd Pecan Pie didn’t exactly taste like pecan pie. It tasted fine, just not like pie but maybe that’s expecting a little too much from a 3-ingredient bar.

I’m taking a little break from trying the rest of the sampler box. Even though there’s no added sugars or syrups, there’s still plenty of natural sugar and sweetness from all the dates and raisins. Overall, I really like the minimal ingredients in the Natural Balance Foods cereal bars. It’s a way better alternative to a candy bar when the munchies hit.

Disclosure: I received the products free of charge from the company to review. The opinions and experience with the product expressed herein are my own. There was no pay to say.

This post also contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase of anything.

Sticky Rice Ball (Ci Fun Tuan)

February 19, 2015 By chow 8 Comments

Happy Lunar New Year!

Traditionally, a vegetarian dish called jai, also known as Buddhist’s delight, is eaten on the first day of the new year. I’m not actually breaking with tradition as one doesn’t eat jai all the livelong day (I guess you could but I’m not going to). For breakfast, I made a sticky rice ball.

In Chinese, it’s called ci fun tuan, a sticky rice ball/roll made of steamed glutinous rice with a savory filling. While it’s a popular Chinese breakfast item for those on the go, I didn’t grow up eating it on a regular basis.

The one time I vividly remember my mom making something like it was when my sister was still studying at the library around dinnertime. So mom made a rice ball with meat inside of it and made me take it to my sister where it was surreptitiously eaten after a bit of giggling.*

As you can see, I need to work on my technique as I had a few thin spots. I was trying to make the rice a thinner layer so it’s not this giant carb bomb.

Originally, the shape was to be a roll. But I had to really squish to get it to stick together and a ball shape was just easier to make. Ci fun tuan from a store have a thick cellophane wrapper, I only had flimsy plastic wrap, so I used parchment paper to shape and wrap up for on the go eating.

The pretty pink color is from sautéed beet greens. I also subbed in Hodo Five-Spice Tofu Nuggets, and fried seitan (found at the Asian supermarket) for the more traditional ingredients of pork floss, pickled mustard greens, cruller, and sichuan vegetable. Other possible veggie fillings: seitan sausage, sautéed mushrooms, really anything that’s not too saucy otherwise it’ll just drip all over. And no one wants that.

* I’m neither advocating nor endorsing eating in a public library.

Sticky Rice Ball (Ci Fun Tuan)
Makes about 4-6 balls depending on size

1 3/4 cup glutinous rice (using the measuring cup that came with the rice cooker)
1/4 cup jasmine rice
A variety of strongly flavored fillings such as baked tofu, seitan sausage, sautéed greens and/or Chinese dried mushrooms

Cooking directions is for use with a rice cooker with a 5.5 cups capacity. Using the inner pot of the rice cooker, rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water is clear. Add enough water to cook the sweet rice as indicated on the inner pot. Let the rice soak in the water for 2 hours before cooking.

Cook the rice according to the rice cooker directions. Allow the rice to cool enough to handle. It’s easier to shape the rice when it’s warm. Lay a piece of parchment paper or heavy duty cellophane in your hand or on a flat surface if that’s easier. Place a scoop of rice on it and spread out, add whatever fillings. Add another layer of rice on top. Using the paper, shape into a ball or tube, pressing firmly until it’s tight and compact.

Make it as big or small as you like. I like mine with a minimal amount of rice, I don’t mind eating carbs but I don’t want to eat a lot of it at one go so I try to use the least amount of rice I can get away with.

Related Posts
Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf
Sticky Rice Bowl

Miyoko’s Creamery

February 8, 2015 By chow 7 Comments

I never thought I would be swooning over vegan cheese. I remember a time when non-dairy cheese was disgusting to put it mildly. But now thankfully, we live in the era of artisanal vegan cheese.

Ever since I heard about Miyoko’s Creamery, I’ve been anxious to try their cultured nut-based cheese. I had read through Miyoko Schinner’s vegan cheese making cookbook, Artisan Vegan Cheese. But deep down I knew I’m much too lazy and impatient to make my own nut cheese.

I finally spotted the white boxes in the refrigerated section at the Whole Foods near me (Redwood City and San Mateo). There’s only a few flavors available on the store shelves, compared to the many flavors seen on their website.

Actually, it’s probably for the best that the selection was limited otherwise I would still be standing there trying to decide on a flavor. I settled on the Classic Double Cream Chive and Aged English Smoked Farmhouse. The first one I tried is the chive cheese and it’s my favorite. It’s creamy and totally spreadable on a cracker with a great chive taste (pictured at the very top).

As for the smoked farmhouse, just unwrapping it, you can smell the smokiness. It’s a harder cheese and it crumbled much more easily and wasn’t quite as spreadable compared to the chive cheese. At first, I thought I didn’t care for it but I’ve since come around and appreciate the sharp, rich taste.

Depending on the flavor, prices range from $9.99 to $11.99 for 6.5 oz, it may seem a little pricey but really it’s no different than the cost of a nice, high end dairy cheese. As an occasional treat, my wallet and taste buds have no problem leaving the nut-cheese-making to the experts.

Fun Tidbit:
Anyone else remember Now & Zen? Way back when, they made vegan meaty seitan things like UnTurkey, UnSteak and BBQ UnRibs. I never got around to trying the UnTurkey but I loved the other two (I even saved the packaging labels, I’m such a nerd). I was so sad when the company went out of business. The talent and brains behind Now & Zen was none other than Miyoko Schinner herself. So happy she’s back in business with Miyoko’s Creamery.

This post contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase of anything.