Yoshi's Veggie Kitchen

The massive 9.0 earthquake on March 11th

2011-03-15T19:59:00.001+09:00

The powerful quake shook everything in my apartment pretty hard for a few minutes, made a great range of noises from furniture and dishes. It was just like a bumpy ride in an airplane. Fortunately, there was no damage in my town.

All those things without rubber foot such as a rice cooker, photo frames, tall and thin furniture, table and cat water bowl were tumbled to the floor or slept and fell. On the other hand, things with rubber foot or quake-proof gel withstood the shaking very effectively and it was quite an impressive for me.

I hope all the victims in this tragic tsunami and earthquake experience a speedy recovery. For those people and animals who did not survive, may they all rest in peace.

今回の地震は今まで経験した事がないような、大きくかき混ぜられるような揺れでした。かなりの長い時間、家中の家具や食器が激しくガシャガシャと激しく音を立てて揺れ続けていました。

炊飯器、写真立て、安定の悪い収納家具、テーブル、床置きしてあった猫の飲み水など、ゴム足がついていない底面が滑る材質のものは、ほとんど全てが床に落下するか、元の置き場所から大きく滑っていました。一方、底面にゴムが付いている家具や置物はほとんど揺れの影響を受けていませんでした。耐震ジェルやゴム足が地震に対してたいへん効果的である事がわかりました。

今回の地震で被災された方に心よりお見舞いを申し上げるとともに、お亡くなりになられた方のご冥福を心よりお祈り申し上げます。

Vegan Kidney Beans Chiliover Mixed Grains Rice

2011-02-18T00:30:00.007+09:00

Ingredients
Kidney beans (boiled)
Onion
Carrot
Diced tomato (can)
Shimeji mushroom
Salt

Organic Taco Seasoning
(Salt, Red chili pepper, Cumin, Oregano, Paprika, Garlic, Onion)

Mixed Grains Rice
White rice
Black rice
Wheat grain
Millet
Oats

As this recipe uses mostly pre-cooked ingredients, it is very easy to prepare but the taste is simply delicious. I would recommend to use the bean cooking water as the base for the soup, so don't drain away your water from boiled beans when you rehydrate and cooked dried beans.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, cook onion and carrot in it until onion gets soft. Add shimeji mushroom, boiled kidney beans and diced tomato then mix taco seasoning and salt. Pour bean cooking water into it then simmer them over low heat until slightly reduced about 30 minute. Serve over mixed grains rice.

キドニービーンズをトマト缶と豆の茹で汁で煮込んでチリを作りました。味付けはコストコで売っているオーガニック・タコミックスを使いました。豆は予め茹でておき、茹で汁をスープストックとして使っています。粗く刻んだタマネギと、やや大きめのサイズに切ったニンジンを炒めてタマネギがしんなりしてきたら、豆、しめじ、トマト缶を加えてタコ・シーズニングと塩で味付けをします。さらに豆の茹で汁を加えて弱火でコトコトと30分ほど煮詰めてできあがりです。7分づきの白米に、黒米、きび、丸麦、はと麦を混ぜて炊いたご飯の上にかけていただきました。

Fried Sweet Potato Salad w/ Sesame Soy Mayonnaise

2011-02-17T13:35:00.003+09:00

Ingredients
Sweet Potato
Onion
Almond

Parsley
White sesame seed
Soy Mayonnaise
Vinegar
Soymilk
salt

I love sweet potato and like to cook it in the oven. It's very simple but taste really great. Not so many vegetables are taste as good as sweet potato if it's simply cooked in the oven. I think that is the reason I don't really use sweet potato often for cooking however, this sweet potato salad is really worth a try.

Cut sweet potato rather fat string-like shape and fry them in oil until slightly golden, crispy and tender. Thinly slice onion and soak them in water and drain well. Roughly slice the almonds.

Mix minced parsley, ground white sesame seeds, soy mayonnaise, vinegar, soymilk and salt well. Dress all ingredients with the sauce then serve.

揚げサツマイモの豆乳ドレッシングサラダを作りました。サツマイモは焼き芋が王道だと思っているので、なかなか普段の料理に使わないのですが、このサラダはとてもおいしくできました。サツマイモをフレンチフライポテトよりもやや太めにカットして表面が少し色づいてカリカリになるまで素揚げします。たまねぎをスライスして水にさらして辛み抜きをしておき、アーモンドは粗くスライスしました。細かくみじん切りにしたパセリ、すりゴマ（白）、豆乳マヨネーズ、豆乳、酢と塩をよく混ぜてドレッシングを作り、全ての具材を和えればできあがりです。

Pan Roasted Potatoes Bagel Sandwich

2011-02-13T00:29:00.005+09:00

Ingredients
Potato
Welsh onion
Dill pickle
Soy mayonnaise
Parsley
White sesame
Bagel

Most of the time, I cook potato with its skin because of its nutritional benefits and better taste especially for sandwich making.

Heat oil in frying pan. Place potatoes in the pan and cook until potatoes get tender in slow heat. Add welsh onion and salt & pepper to taste then cook until the onions are golden brown.

Mix soy mayonnaise, minced parsley and white sesame seed for sandwich spread then stuff all with sliced pickle into a lightly-toasted bagel.

皮付きのジャガイモと長ネギをフライパンでこんがり焼いて、軽くトーストしたベーグルに挟んでサンドイッチを作りました。豆乳マヨネーズ、みじん切りのパセリ、白ごまを混ぜ合わせたサンドイッチ・スプレッドとスライスしたピクルスを一緒に挟んでできあがりの簡単サンドイッチです。ポテトをサンドイッチにする場合は特に皮付きの方が繊維っぽい食感が残るので気に入っています。皮付きのじゃがいもと長ネギの相性もとても良いと思います。

Beans & Seaweed Thick Sauce w/Brown Rice

2011-02-11T00:11:00.006+09:00

Ingredients
Green soybean (or any beans / rehydrated and boiled)
Mozuku (Okinawan seaweeds)
Carrot
Onion
Firm tofu
Shiitake mushrooms
Bean stock soup
(cooking water from boiled beans)
Starch
Salt
Soy sauce
Brown rice
(w/Oats, Milletmm, Forbidden rice [Black rice])

"Mozuku" is a native Okinawan seaweeds and winter is the best season for it. It has similar look with Hawaiian Ogo seaweed however texture and taste are pretty much different. The most popular way to eat Mozuku might be with vinegared salad or soup but it can be cooked in a variety of ways.

Stir-fry onion, ginger, carrot in the saucepan until carrots get soft. Mix shiitake mushrooms, green soybean, firm tofu and mozuku then add bean stock soup (pour in enough stock to cover vegetables). Season with salt and soy sauce then mix water dissolved starch, cook until thick. Pour vegetable mixture over top of the brown rice and serve.

Tips: Bean stock soup (cooking water from boiled beans) would be the key ingredients of the vegetable sauce so don't drain away your cooking water from boiled beans.

冬に採れるもずくが一年のうちで一番おいしいという事を沖縄物産のお店の方から聞きました。「お好み焼きや、炒め物でも美味しいよ！」と教えてもらったので、中華丼風のあんかけを作ってみました。たまねぎ、しょうが、ニンジンを炒めて、ニンジンがやわらかくなったらシイタケ、茹でたひたし豆、木綿豆腐を加えてさらに炒めます。具材がひたひたになるぐらいの豆の茹で汁を加えて塩、しょう油で味付けをして、水溶き片栗粉でとろみをつけて、ご飯の上にたっぷりかけてできあがりです。

Vegan Oden (Japanese Hot Pot)

2011-02-10T00:54:00.006+09:00

Ingredients
Daikon
Carrot
Potato
Deep fried tofu
Konjac
Cooking water from beans
Kombu
Salt
Soy sauce
Mirin
Brown sugar

Oden is popular Japanese winter time meal and is very easy to cook. Usually, it contains a deep-fried patty (or ball) of fish paste, boiled egg and sausage and other animal ingredients in soup in general.

Sometimes oden is defined as stew-like soup however, my version of oden has less soup because I aimed to condense and boost natural flavor from vegetables.

Put daikon, carrot, potato, tofu, konjac, konbu in a pot then pour cooking water from beans to cover all vegetables then heat. Once the soup has boiled, add salt, soy sauce, mirin and brown sugar for taste then cook at very low heat until carrot and daikon is tender enough (approx 30-40 min).

Tips: I would recommend to season rather full flavor (but it's up to you).

豆の茹で汁と昆布だしの野菜おでんを作りました。シイタケだしを使うよりも、豆の茹で汁をスープのベースに使う方が濃厚な味に仕上がるのでおすすめです。ダイコン、ニンジン、じゃがいも、糸コンニャク、厚揚げ豆腐、昆布を鍋に入れて、具材が完全に浸る程度に豆の茹で汁を加えて火にかけます。沸騰したら火を弱めて塩、しょう油、みりん、黒砂糖を加えて弱火で煮込みます。ダイコンとニンジンが軟らか煮えればできあがりです。

Ginger Pumpkin Sauce Pasta with Peas

2011-02-08T22:43:00.012+09:00

Ingredients
Shell pasta
Kabocha (sweet pumpkin)
Yellow split peas (boiled)
Cooking water from beans
Soymilk
Onion
Ginger
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Parsley

The combination of kabocha pumpkin and ginger are nigh on perfect to me and I made simple pasta sauce using them. I'm not sure if kabocha pumpkin is available in your place but we have a lot of kabocha pumpkin from Mexico beside locally grown in grocery store. Those orange pumpkin grown in the US and Japanese kabocha pumpkin have really different taste and appearance. kabocha is very sweet and more firm than American pumpkin.

Boil or steam kabocha pumpkin until tender enough to mash. Start cooking your pasta when you have finished preparing pumpkin.

Put chopped onion and grated ginger in olive oil in a saucepan and saute slowly on medium low heat until tender. Mix mashed kabocha, boiled yellow split pea, cooking water from beans, soymilk then season with salt and pepper.

Dress pasta with pumpkin sauce, chopped parsley then serve. If the sauce is too thick, dress along with a little cooking water from pasta.

甘いカボチャとショウガのソースでシェルパスタを和えました。カボチャの皮が軟らかくなるまで茹でる、または蒸します。カボチャが軟らかくなったらマッシュしておきます。タマネギのみじん切りと、すりおろしたショウガを弱火で焦がさないように炒めます。そこにマッシュしたカボチャ、豆乳、茹でた豆（イエロー・スプリット・ピー）と豆の茹で汁を加えて、塩、コショウで味付けをして、かき混ぜながら火を通します。シェルパスタが茹で上がったらパセリのみじん切りを加えて、ソースとよく和えればでき上がりです。

Potato & Green Tea Leaf Fried Rice

2011-02-04T21:16:00.009+09:00

Ingredients
White rice (cooked w/wheat grain)
Potato
Garlic
Green tea (Steeped leaf)
Salt
Soy sauce

I know it sounds unusual to eat green tea leaf but they actually taste very good. Steeped tea leaf is not very often used for cooking however, Matcha, milled green tea leaf powder is often used for Soba noodle, ice cream and other Japanese meals and drinks. Even Starbucks in Japan offers "Matcha Frappuccino" (Green Tea powder blended with milk, ice and whipped cream), so why not using steeped green tea leaf for cooking?

Stir fry striped potatoes and chopped garlic over low heat until potato get crisp and tender. Mix steeped green tea leaf and rice then season with salt and soy sauce. Cook until heated through, then serve.

緑茶葉とジャガイモのチャーハンを作りました。茶葉はでがらしを使います。スライスしたガーリックと細切りのじゃがいもを焦がさないように弱火で炒め、じゃがいもに火が通ったら緑茶葉とご飯（丸麦入り白米）を混ぜて、塩としょうゆで味付けをして全体に火が通ればできあがりです。わずかに残る茶葉の苦みとニンニクの薫りが、ほんのりと焦げたしょうゆの風味と絡まってとてもおいしくできました。簡単にできてとても美味しいのでおすすめです！

Shitake Soba Noodle

2011-02-03T11:55:00.009+09:00

Ingredients
Soba (Dried noodle)
Shiitake mushroom
Shitake Stock (The water used for rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms)
Wakame
Mitsuba
Soy sauce
Mirin (Or brown sugar)

Soba is very popular Japanese food and can be served both hot or cold. The noodle itself is dairy and animal free however, usually the hot soup and cold dipping sauce contain fish stock and it is the main element of soba dish, so going without fish stock would be very much challenging.

Although soba is recognized fast-food type of food in Japan however at the same time, soba cuisine could be enhanced to the level of art at high-end Japanese style restaurant so there are a variety of ways of approaching to cook this simple meal.

Put shitake in a sauce pan and boil with shitake stock then add salt, soy sauce and mirin then adjust each seasoning to taste. Remove shitake from the saucepan and put aside.

Start preparing your soba according to the package directions. When it done to cook, drain water well then put them into cold water, rinse them briefly and drain well again.

Put the noodles in the soup and heat until just before boiling. Serve with shitake, wakame (boiled briefly) and mitsuba on top.

Tips: To make good shitake stock, put dried shitake in a hot water (120-160F) and leave them about 20 minutes.

椎茸だしの蕎麦を作りました。先日、テレビで乾燥椎茸を美味しく戻すコツが紹介されていたので、試してみたら確かに美味しいスープができました。乾燥椎茸は水で時間をかけて戻すよりも、50℃〜70℃のお湯で20分ほどの時間で戻す方が味も、風味も美味しくできる様です。鍋に椎茸と椎茸だしを入れて火を通し、塩、醤油、みりんで味を整えます。蕎麦を茹で、茹で上がったら蕎麦を水で良く洗い、再び椎茸のスープを調理した鍋に入れ、温まるまで火を通します。蕎麦を椀に盛り、椎茸、わかめ、三つ葉をトッピングしてできあがりです。

Avocado Wasabi Bagel Sandwich

2011-01-31T10:07:00.005+09:00

Ingredients
Avocado
Wasabi
Soy mayonnaise
Lemmon jucie
Soy sauce
Watercress
Bagel

The combination of avocado and wasabi is kind of irresistible taste to me. I mixed them with soy mayonnaise, a little lemon juice and soy sauce then stuffed all with watercress into a lightly-toasted bagel. It's just tasty!

アボガドをわさび、大豆マヨネーズ、レモンジュース（少々）、醤油（少々）で合えて、軽くトーストしたベーグルに挟んでサンドイッチを作りました。アボガド＆わさびは、パンでもご飯でも美味しくいただけますね。

Spicy Vegetable Chow Mein

2011-01-30T17:21:00.028+09:00

Ingredients
Chow Mein
Chinese cabbage
Carrot
Onion
Ginger
Shiitake mushrooms
Dried edamame beans (or any beans / rehydrated and boiled)
Bean stock soup
(cooking water from boiled beans)
Rāyu
Starch
Salt
Soy sauce

Topped a thick spicy vegetable sauce on the crispy and golden noodles.
Bean stock soup (cooking water from boiled beans) would be the key ingredients of the vegetable sauce so don't drain away your water from boiled beans when you rehydrate and cooked dried beans.

Cook rehydrated chow main noodles on the pan for a few min. Spread out soy sauce over the noodles and cook until they are crisp and golden. Set the noodles aside on the dish.

Stir fry roughly crushed beans, carrot, onion, ginger in the saucepan. Mix shiitake mushrooms and chinese cabbage then add bean stock soup (pour in enough stock to cover vegetables), salt, soy sauce and Rāyu then cook until carrot get soft enough. Mix water dissolved starch, cook until thick. Pour vegetable mixture over top of the noodles and serve.

ピリ辛風味のあんかけ焼きそばを作りました。あんかけソースは豆の茹で汁をベースに、野菜の旨味とラー油の風味が加わっておいしい旨味が出ました。それをカリッと焼いた麺の上にたっぷりかけていただきます。乾麺はお湯で戻してからフライパンで弱火にかけてカリッと焼いてお醤油で軽く風味付け程度に味を付けます。ソースパンでショウガ、タマネギ、ニンジン、荒くつぶしたひたし豆（青豆）を炒めます。ある程度火が通ったらシイタケと白菜を混ぜて、さらに軽く炒めてから塩、醤油、ラー油で味付けをして、豆の茹で汁を野菜がひたひたになるぐらいたっぷりと多めに入れます（茹で汁が足りなければシイタケの戻し汁やお水を加えてください）。再び味をみて（麺と合わせる事を考えて、味付けはやや濃いめが良いと思います）、ニンジンに火が通ったら水溶き片栗粉を入れて、全体にとろみがつけばできあがりです。

Suribachi & Surikogi

2011-01-29T16:55:00.032+09:00

I love my Suribachi bowl & Surikogi. Slow but nice and easy that's what I call these traditional cooking instruments. I probably would not make a bunch of Genovese sauce or Hummus from scratch using them however, if you only need to make a little amount of green leaf paste, grind sesame seeds or dried fruit paste for a drop of natural sweeten for your dish, Suribachi & Surikogi must be the perfect tools for you. Yet, you can utilize Suribachi as a mixing bowl directly after you've made paste (what a smart tool). If you plan to get one of these, I would recommend to buy larger size bowl because when you grind nuts and seeds, they will easily pop out of the bowl if it's small size. You might be able to find them on Amazon.

upper left : Suribachi bowl & Surikogi, bottom left : grated parsley
upper right : grated parsley + soy mayonnaise + soymilk + salt
bottom right : Avocado & Onion Salad with Green Dressing

フードプロセッサーは使うけど、すり鉢は滅多に使わない、あるいは持ってないという人は意外と多いのではないでしょうか。ある程度の量のジェノバペーストやフムスをすり鉢でゴリゴリと作るのは確かに大変だと思います。でも、ごく少量の和え物用ソースや、フィリングを作る場合、フードプロセッサーよりもすり鉢の方が素早くペーストができて、そのまま混ぜ合わせもできるので、使い始めると手放せなくなります。それに、具材にとってはこちらの方がスローで優しいかも知れませんね。小さいサイズのすり鉢だと、材料がけっこう外側に飛び出すので、もし、これからすり鉢を買う場合、大きなサイズのものがおすすめです。

写真はアボガドとタマネギの大豆マヨネーズドレッシング（パセリピューレー）和え

Shira-ae Miso Pasta (Pureed Tofu Miso Pasta Sauce w/Vegetables)

2011-01-28T19:00:00.011+09:00

I transformed leftover shira-ae (the latest post), additional miso and soymilk into pasta sauce for dinner. Taste very much like Japanese style and it was very good! I thought next time I'd try replace the pasta to Soba (Japanese noodle). It must be good too and worth a try.

白和えの残りでパスタソースを作りました。白和えにミソと豆乳を加えてサッと火を通してから、茹でたバスタに絡めればできあがりの超簡単の和風パスタです。白和えにさらにミソを加えて加熱したので、ミソの風味が際立ちました。想像以上に和風な風味でしたが、期待以上に美味しくできました。ひょとするとパスタは蕎麦の方が良いのでは（ソースがノンオイルだからでしょうか）とも思ったので、今度また、チャレンジしてみようと思います。

Shira-ae (Pureed Tofu with Vegetables)

2011-01-28T10:55:00.008+09:00

Ingredients
Firm Tofu
Konjac
Carrot
Komatsuna (or any green vegetable)
Ginger
Shimeji (or any kind of mushroom)
Dried Dates (grated)
White sesame paste
Miso
Soy sauce

Shira-ae (it means white mixture) is a traditional Japanese dish that is a pureed or mashed tofu vegetable salad. Normally uses a grinding bowl called "Suribachi" to puree tofu then mix vegetables together in it. Food processors would give pretty much the same result but pulse gently when pureeing a tofu. A Ziploc bag with your hands might be work ok to mash a tofu as alternative way.

Traditionally sweet cooking rice wine called "Mirin" is used to sweeten and gives a depth in flavor but I tried to replace Mirin to pureed dried dates (or could be ok any dry fruit or maple syrup) instead this time.

Add well drained tofu, grated ginger, grated dates, white sesame paste, miso and soy sauce in food processor then pulse gently mix until they become paste-like sauce.

Put sliced carrot, konjac in lightly salted boiled water. When carrots are tender, add shimeji mushroom, komatsuna and boil for one more minute then drain hot water well and cool (keep the drained water from vegetables as soup stock for another dish).

When the vegetables are cool enough to touch, mix them with tofu sauce and serve.

豆腐の白和えを乾燥デーツ（ナツメヤシ）のペーストで甘み付けをしてみました。デーツの濃厚な甘みは、刻んだり、ペーストにしたり、スープに煮出したり、いろいろな料理で自然な甘みが欲しい時に使えます。木綿豆腐はよく水切りをしておきます。すり鉢かフードプロセッサーに豆腐、デーツのペースト、ミソ、しょうゆ、すりおろしたショウガを入れて滑らかなソースを作ります。スライスしたにんじんが軟らかくなるまで、糸コンニャクと一緒にボイルします。そこに、しめじと小松菜を加えてさらに１分ほど茹でて、水切りをして冷まします（野菜の茹で汁はスープストックとして使えます）。野菜が冷めたら豆腐ソースとよく混ぜ合わせます。

Samosa Style Deep Fried Spring Roll

2011-01-27T11:01:00.009+09:00

Ingredients
Yellow dal beans (boiled)
Onion
Parsley
Kumin seed powder
Oatmeal
Salt
Wongton wrapper (Spring roll paper)

This is yet another leftover fusion from my last couple of day's recipes. I combined yellow split beans and wonton wrapper then made samosa style deep fried spring roll. Very crunchy and tasty. It was way more than I have expected!

Put chopped onion, roughly crushed beans, parsley, oatmeal in a bowl and mix well, then season with salt. Add a pinch of cumin seed powder for flavor.

Wrap up ingredients and fry them in low heated oil until golden brown. Serve with vinegar soy sauce dip (or mint sauce dip).

一昨日のダル豆の残りと、昨日の春巻きの皮の余りを利用して、サモサ風の揚げ春巻きを作りました。荒いペーストにした豆と、タマネギとパセリのみじん切り、オートミール、クミンシードパウダーと塩をよく混ぜて春巻きの皮で包み、低温でじっくり表面がキツネ色になるまで揚げて、酢醤油のディップソースをつけていただきました。できあがりは春巻っぽく見えますが、味はサモサの様な、コロッケの様な、、。表面パリパリ中身はホクホクで、とても美味しくできました。

Wonton Wrapper Potato Lasagna

2011-01-26T14:39:00.024+09:00

Ingredients
Diced tomato (Can)
Garlic
Onion
Mushroom
Broccoli stem
Potato (Sliced)
Oatmeal
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Wonton wrapper

Non egg and cheese lasagna won't be easy but it would be challenging.

Put minced onion and garlic in a saucepan and saute in oil until onion gets lightly browned. Add and stir-fry oatmeal, chopped mushroom and sliced broccoli stem for a minute. Add diced tomato, salt & pepper then cook until heated through.

Place the wrapper in your baking dish then spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture with thin sliced potato. Repeat and layer over three times then put the dish in a pre-heated oven until potatoes get soft.

It was ok but I thought was rather so-so recipe. Probably I should replace wonton wrapper to tortilla next time because the wrapper absorb too much tomato juice and made the texture too soft. Good thing is, it doesn't need the wrapper to be pre-boiled so can be cooked easy.

ラザニア・パスタは卵入りなので、かわりに春巻きの皮でポテト・ラザニアを作ってみました。ニンニクとタマネギのみじん切りを弱火で炒めて、さらにスライスしたブロッコリーの茎（残り野菜）、きのこ、オートミールを加えてソテーします。そこにトマト缶を加えて塩、コショウで味を整えて、鍋底が焦げないように火を通します。耐熱皿に春巻きの皮と薄くスライスしたジャガイモを敷いて、1/3量のトマトソースを広げます。この重なりを３回繰り返してレイヤーを作り、オーブンに入れてジャガイモが柔らかくなるまで調理しました。さて、でき上がりを食べてみたら…。トマト＆ガーリックソースの個性がとても強いので、残念ながら薄くデリケートな春巻きの皮ではちょっと役不足な感じがしました。次回はトルティーアで再挑戦してみたいと思います！

Yellow Dal & Pumpkin Curry

2011-01-25T11:11:00.022+09:00

Ingredients
Yellow dal beans (boiled)
Vegetarian curry paste
Pumpkin
Onion (minced)
Gengar (minced)
Broccoli
White rice

I love Indian curry, especially with yellow dal and vegetables one. It's always been a big mystery to me how to mix various spices to create good flavors of indian dish like restaurant style but this vegetarian curry paste made things really easy for me (Made by Mascot and sold some supermarket and Costco in Japan). The result is just awesome!

Put minced onion in a saucepan and saute in oil until onion get well browned. Mix ginger and pumpkin, then add cooking water from beans. Season with salt, add a little curry paste (purpose to season roughly early on) then cook until pumpkin get soft. Mix boiled yellow dal beans, broccoli and rest of the curry paste then cook a few more min. Serve with rice or naan.

イエロー・ダル（イエロー・スピリット・ビーンズ）とカボチャのカレーです。市販のベジタリアン・カレー・ペーストを使いました。とても簡単に本格的な印度料理ができます。豆はやや多めの水で茹でておきます。タマネギのみじん切りを焦がさない様にキツネ色になるまでよく炒めて、カボチャを加えてさらにソテーします。豆の茹で汁（足りなければお水）、塩、カレーペーストを少し（味をなじませるため）入れてカボチャが柔らかくなるまで火を通します。最後に煮豆とブロッコリーを加えて、味をみながらカレーペーストを足してさらに数分弱火で煮ればできあがりです。

Hummus Sushi Roll

2011-01-24T20:11:00.013+09:00

Ingredients
Hummus
Shiitake mushroom
Watercress
Nori (Seaweed paper)
White sesame seeds
Rāyu
Soy mayonnaise

Brown rice
(w/Oats, Milletmm, Forbidden rice [Black rice])
Vinegar
Brown sugar
Salt (a pinch)

I made inside out roll sushi using leftover hummus from my latest cooking post on January 23rd. I used brown rice and other millets instead of white rice. It is pretty much the same way as how you prepare ordinary white sushi rice so please check here for how.

Another very good informative site, explains how to make inside out roll sushi.

I prepare my shiitake mushroom boiled then dressed with Rāyu and soy sauce to taste it hot and spicy (in case Rāyu is not available, maybe tabasco sauce will do ok).

Roll hummus, spicy shiitake, watercress and soy mayonnaise then cut and serve with soy sauce dip.

前回ポストしたフムスの残りを雑穀玄米のロール寿司にしました。さっと茹でたシイタケをラー油と醤油の濃いめの味付けで和えて冷ましてから、フムス、クレソン、大豆マヨネーズ、のりと一緒に裏巻きロールにしました。ひよこ豆の甘み、ラー油シイタケのピリ辛風味、クレソンのシャキシャキ感と大豆マヨネーズのクリーミーな酸味がいい感じにブレンドされて、とても美味しいお寿司ができました。

Hummus

2011-01-23T12:40:00.011+09:00

Ingredients
Chickpeas (boiled)
Lemon juice
Garlic
White sesame paste
Salt
Olive oil

I did nothing unusual and followed traditional Greek hummus recipes fairly devotedly.
Put all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. If mixture is too stiff, add more bean's cooking water to get the desired consistency.

Absolutely one of my favorite bean dish. Sometimes I transform hummus into sushi roll or make rice bowl dish with avocado and they are very nice too.

フムスはひよこ豆の濃厚なペーストで中東の伝統的な料理ですが、ベジタリアン／ビーガンにも人気の豆料理です。茹でたひよこ豆にレモン汁、ニンニク、白ごまペースト、塩、オリーブオイルを混ぜてフードプロセッサーでペーストを作ります。すり鉢を使ったり、鍋の中で豆をビン底で押しつぶしてもできると思います。ペーストが固い場合は豆の茹で汁で柔らかさを調整してください。ピタパン（平たくて丸いパン）にフムスと野菜をはさんでサンドイッチにしたり、クラッカーに載せて食べてもおいしいですが、フムスをのり巻きの具にしたり、フムス＋アボガド＋刻みネギを、あつあつのご飯に載せてわさび醤油と刻みのりをかけていただく、フムス丼もおいしいです。フムスは案外ご飯によく合うんです。

Vegan Creamy Kimchi Pasta

2011-01-22T00:05:00.015+09:00

Ingredients
Kimuchi (fish extract free)
Pasta
Soy milk
Salt
Olive oil

I know "Creamy Kimchi Pasta" sounds a bit weird and challenging but it's actually very good and yummy!

Saute kimchi lightly in olive oil in saucepan. Pour soymilk over it and season with salt. Stir occasionally until just before boiling point (do not let the sauce boil hard) then remove from heat (Now start cooking your pasta).

Reheat the sauce over very low heat then toss pasta into the sauce then serve.

Tips & info: I'd recommend to add rather extra soymilk to make the sauce creamy and mild.
Ordinary kimchi include fish and/or fish sauce and is not vegan/vegetarian so try your local health food store to see if they have vegan one.

魚介エキス無添加のキムチをオリーブオイルで軽くソテーして、豆乳を加えて辛さマイルドなクリームパスタソースができました。味付けは塩だけです（香り付けに乾燥柚子を入れてもOKです）。豆乳の量によって、でき上がりの味がかなり違ってきます。キムチの酸味が得意な場合は豆乳は控えめに、マイルドな味が好みな場合は豆乳を多めに入れるのがお奨めです（僕は豆乳を多めに、じゃぶじゃぶと入れました）。

Stir Fried Tofu & Vegetables w/Brown Rice

2011-01-21T08:56:00.007+09:00

Ingredients
Deep fried tofu
Komatsuna (Japanese Mustard Spinach)
Carrot
Onion
Black beans (boiled)
Ginger
Soy sauce
Salt
Sesame oil

Brown rice
Oats
Millet
Forbidden rice (Black rice)

Another quick dish for a busy day. Nothing fancy but still yummy!

Cut deep fried tofu into cubes and slice all vegetables into small slices. Place carrot, onion, ginger in pan on medium low heat and saute them in a little sesame oil until carrot become tender. Mix komatsuna, tofu and black beans and cook few more minutes then season with salt, pepper and soy sauce. Serve them with brown rice.

BTW, I've always boiled my beans before cooking and prepared to store some in refrigerator or freezer for future meals. Never add salt anytime you are cooking the beans since salt will harden up the beans. The cooking water from beans will be all-purpose soup stock so don't drain them away.

Here is good one, try this super easy awesome hot soup. Beans' Cooking Water + Ginger Juice + Soy Sauce.

タマネギ、にんじん、ショウガをニンジンがしんなりするまでゴマ油で炒めて、サイコロ大にカットした厚揚げ豆腐、茹でた黒豆、小松菜を入れてさらに火が通るまで炒めます。火を止める前に塩、胡椒、醤油で味付けしてできあがり。ところで、豆の水煮を冷蔵庫に常備しておくと、簡単な野菜炒めにもサッとひと味加える事ができてとても便利です。豆の茹で汁は温めた豆乳とブレンドしてホットドリンクにしたり、豆の甘みを生かしてスープストックにしたりと色々使えます。特に寒いこの時期に最高なのが茹で汁にショウガの搾り汁とお醤油を加えただけの超簡単の即席スープ。これは本当に美味しいです。煮豆はタッパーに入れて冷蔵庫に保存しておけば数日は色々な料理に使えるのでお薦めです。

Soymilk Miso Ginger Soup

2011-01-20T11:22:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Deep fried tofu
Ginger (minced)
Onion
Carrot
Potato
Shiitake mushroom
Shitake Stock (The water used for rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms)
Soy Milk
Miso
Shungiku (boild)

Perhaps this could be an alternate version of traditional Miso soup with much more silky texture and creamy taste. You can put in almost any kind of vegetables in your soup so enjoy your won soymilk miso soup!

Boil Shitake Stock (half of the total soup) then put all vegetables and tofu then cook until potato and carrot become tender enough.

Add miso, dissolve it completely then pour soymilk over it. Heat the soup until it is hot but not boiled. Mix boiled Shungiku (or any green leaf) right before you serve.

普通の豆乳味噌スープですが、すりおろしたショウガを入れるのがポイントです。寒い冬の朝、これでしっかり体が温まります。具材の野菜はもちろん何でもOK。カボチャとショウガも相性が良さそうですね。全体量の半分の椎茸ストックと野菜をボイルして野菜に火が通ったら味噌を溶かして、さらに豆乳を加えて温まるまで火を通します。仕上げに、おひたしにしておいた春菊をちらしてでき上がりです。

Brown Rice Soymilk Risotto

2011-01-17T15:46:00.001+09:00

Ingredients
Cooked brown rice
(w/Oats, Milletmm, Forbidden rice [Black rice] and Black beans)
Any chopped vegetables
(Onion, Mushroom, Chinese cabbage, Watercresses)
Soymilk
Salt
Pepper

This is the perfect dish for busy day and also delicious leftover vegetables recipes that can be cooked in a few minutes.

Place a little olive oil in a saucepan and add all the vegetables to the pan and sweat them for a minute on a medium low heat. Add cooked rice and soymilk then salt and pepper to season. Cook until heated through.

刻んだ残り野菜をさっと炒めて、そこに雑穀＋黒豆を混ぜて炊いた玄米の冷ご飯を加え、さらに材料がひたひたになるぐらいの豆乳を入れて軽くボイルすれば出来上がりの超簡単リゾットです。味付けは塩と胡椒だけですが、味はすごく濃厚。以前、玄米チャーハンが野菜の水分でベッタリしてしまった失敗を逆手に取って、ならば始めからベッタリOKのリゾット作戦を思いつき、豆乳でひたひたにしてみたらリベンジ大成功でした。

Vegan Burger (Yam Potato & Oatmeal)

2011-01-17T09:40:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Yama-imo (Chinese yam)
Oatmeal
Onion
Mushroom
Dried oregano
Salt
Pepper

Tomato ketchup
Soy sauce
Vineger

The flavor and texture of Yama-imo (Chinese yam) is radically different from ordinary potato. I am still on the way finding good recipe using Yam-imo and this is one of my favorite dish of Yama-imo. Because of its strong slimy texture, grated Yama-imo would be good to use as a thickener in much the same way as cornstarch or flour is used.

Mix Yama-imo (grated), oatmeal, chopped onion, chopped mushroom, dried oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl and knead the dough just until it comes together with your hands.

Flatten the patties and put them in the pan and cook on low heat until golden brown.

Remove the patties from pan and mix tomato ketchup, soy sauce and vinegar in the pan then pour the sauce over the patties on your dish.

すりおろした山芋にオートミール、みじんきりのタマネギ、キノコ、オレガノ、塩と胡椒をよく混ぜてハンバーグにしてみました。山芋の強い粘りのおかげで具材がしっかりまとまるのでとても簡単。ふわっとした山芋とオートミールのクランチーな食感がうまく調和してとても美味しくできました。ソースはケチャップ、お醤油、お酢を混ぜて火にかけて一瞬ジュワッとなったらできあがり。

Creamy Avocado Green Pea Pasta

2011-01-15T09:04:00.001+09:00

Ingredients
Shell pasta
Avocado
Green pea (boiled)
Garlic
Onion
Olive oil
Soy Milk
Salt
Black pepper

This Creamy Avocado Green Pea Pasta is a quick and healthy meal for busy days but still taste very nice.

Start boiling water (add salt) for your pasta.

Scoop out the entire avocado into a bowl. Mash up avocado well and mix soy milk until they are smooth enough.

Chop onion & garlic then put them in olive oil in a saucepan and saute slowly on medium low heat until tender them. Meanwhile, prepare your pasta.

Mix avocado sauce, green pea into onion & garlic pan and add salt and pepper for taste then warm them up (do not let boil the sauce).

Dress pasta with avocado sauce along with a little cooking water from pasta if the sauce is too thick.

茹でたシェルパスタにクリーミーな豆乳アボガドソースを絡めたパスタディッシュ。みじん切りのニンニクとタマネギを炒めて、そこにアボガドソース（マッシュした完熟アボガドを豆乳でなめらかにのばします）と塩、胡椒を加えて沸騰しない程度に火を通します。仕上げに茹でた青豆を混ぜ合わせれば濃厚でクリーミなソースが完成。ソースをパスタによく絡めればできあがり。

Vegan Spring Rolls

2011-01-14T08:41:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Spring roll wrappers
Renkon (Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera)
Gobo
Konjac
Chinese cabbage
Carrot
Ginger
Shiitake mushroom
Soy sauce
Oatmeal

*Sweet Chili Sauce
Vinegar
Tabasco
Pineapple juice
Soy sauce
Cornstarch (dissolved in cool water)

I found some leftover vegetables from the other recipes I've cooked last couple of days in the refrigerator so I simply transformed them quickly and easily into a vegan spring rolls. I think any vegetables can be used and the key ingredient here is Oatmeal because it absorbs excess water from vegetables well and also add some nice tender texture.

Stir fry all shredded or chopped vegetables until they have softened. Mix oatmeal and soy sauce then remove from the heat and let them cool (I would recommend to leave them overnight in the refrigerator to make flavors blend and soak taste well into oatmeal).

Wrap and roll vegetable filling into spring rolls then fry & roll them in oil until golden brown. Put Sweet Chili Sauce* over the spring rolls or serve it as the dipping sauce.

*Sweet Chili Sauce
Put vinegar, tabasco, pineapple juice and soy sauce in the sauce pan then stir and cook until boiling. Add cornstarch mixture slowly and stirring constantly until smooth and thickened.

ごぼう、レンコン、ニンジン、糸こんにゃく、ショウガ、シイタケ、オートミールを良く混ぜて醤油で軽く味付けして春巻きの具を作ります（混ぜ合わせた具材を一晩冷蔵庫に入れておくとオートミールに味が良く馴染んで美味しくなります）。春巻きの皮で具材を包んでフライパンで焦がさない様に焼き上げました。甘酢ソースはお酢、タバスコ、パイナップルジュース、お醤油を火にかけて、片栗粉か葛粉でとろみを付けて仕上げます。

Soy Milk Vegetable Stew

2011-01-13T08:25:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Renkon (Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera)
Onion
Carrot
Potato
Broccoli
Dried shiitake mushroom
Shitake Stock (The water used for rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms)
Soy Milk
Soy white sauce (Wheat flour, Soy milk)
Salt
Pepper
Brown sugar

Soy Milk Vegetable Stew is one of my favorite recipe especially in this cold winter time. I enjoy Renkon in my soy milk stew and I think it works very well. Renkon is very popular root vegetable in Japanese cuisine and it has crunchy texture and high nutritional value.

Put onion, renkon, potato, carrot in a saucepan and saute in oil until onion gets lightly browned. Mix shiitake mushroom, salt, pepper and brown sugar then add shitake stock about they all soaked. Cook until potato is soft enough. Mix soy white sauce* and broccoli then add more soy milk and cook about five more min.

*Soy White Sauce
Blend a little flour into low heated oil in saucepan then slowly add soy milk, stirring constantly. Add more soy milk slowly until the sauce become smooth and thickened.

Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Style Mixed Vegetable Rice)

2011-01-12T08:18:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Rice
Wheat grain
Pea
Gobo
Carrot
Ginger
Dried shiitake mushroom
Aburaage
Konjac
Shungiku (Garland chrysanthemum)
Shitake Stock (The water used for rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms)
Salt
Soy sauce

Our cat hit my face and scratch my face earlier than usual when I was sleeping in my bed early this morning. In a second I realized why. I put all ingredients into the rice cooker then set timer before I go to sleep last night so yummy smells coming from our kitchen.

Rinse and drain rice, wheat grain, pea then soaking them for about 30 minutes before cooking.

Cut gobo, carrot, ginger, shiitake mushroom, aburaage and konjac into little strips, about 1 inch long. Stir Fry them in the pan for a few minutes and add salt (no need to cook them completely). Remove from the heat and let them cool.

Set grains and pea into rice cooker then pour the shitake stock appropriate amount as it required then add vegetables and soy sauce.

When it has done to cook, mix boiled shungiku in the rice then serve.

I gave him (cat) a little rice but he didn't like it at all although it was perfect rice to me.

Hummus & Deep Fried Tofu Sandwich

2011-01-11T13:52:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Chickpeas (boiled)
Lemon juice
Tahini (white sesame paste)
Garlic (crushed)
Salt
Olive oil
*Blend all ingredients above in food processor until thoroughly mixed.
Bread
Deep fried tofu
Carrot (pickled thin strips carrot in vinegar overnight)
Lettuce
Onion (Soak the thinly sliced onion in cold water for about 30 minutes)
Soy mayonnaise

Hummus is very easy to cook and taste really great. I love to cook my hummus sandwich with deep fried tofu. They make perfect combination.

Before you make your sandwich, it would be good to roast deep fried tofu on a pan until it becomes golden brown both side.

Cantonese Style Veg Chow Mein

2011-01-10T08:16:00.001+09:00

Ingredients
Chow Mein
Deep fried tofu
Chinese cabbage
Carrot
Dried shiitake mushrooms
Shitake Stock
(The water used for rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms)
Broccoli
Ginger

Starch
Soy sauce

Topped a thick sauce filled with various vegetable on the crispy and golden noodles.
Shitake Stock (The water used for rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms) would be the key ingredients that makes taste rich of thick vegetable sauce.

Cook rehydrated chow main noodles on the pan for a few min and spread out soy sauce over the noodles and cook until they are crisp and golden. Set the noodles aside on the dish.

Stir fry carrot, ginger, shiitake mushrooms and chinese cabbage in the pan. Mix broccoli and tofu then add shitake stock, salt and soy sauce, cook until carrot get soft. Mix starch (dissolved in cold water) and cook until thick then pour vegetable mixture over top of the noodles.

Soy Milk Vegetable Curry

2011-01-09T07:30:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Daikon
Carrot
Onion
Black beans (rehydrated and cooked)
Genger
Dried date palm
Salt
Vegetarian Curry Paste
Soy Milk

This is very quick and easy vegan curry to serve up with rice. Vegetarian Curry Paste (Made by Mascot. Sold some supermarket and Costco in Japan) makes things easy to make real awesome indian curry at home.

Cut daikon and carrot into cubes. Put onion, daikon, carrot in a saucepan and saute in oil until onion get well browned. Mix genger, dried date palm, salt and add a little curry paste (purpose to season roughly early on) then add boiled water and cook until daikon and carrot get soft. Mix cooked black beans, rest of the curry paste and add soy milk then cook about ten more min.

If the curry is too runny, add starch to curry and cook for a few more minutes until they get thick.

Hijiki Seaweed & Vegetable

2011-01-08T08:10:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Hijiki Seaweed
Carrot (shredded)
Mashroom (shredded)
Konjac noodle
Green beans (cooked)
Salt
Blown suger
Soy sauce

This type of cooking is somehow classic but Hijiki can be used in many different way. It might be good with beans, pasta or rice both warm or cool dishes and Hijiki contains plenty of nutritious minerals.

Put dried hijiki in a bowl. Wash them and let soak them for 30 minutes then drain hijiki over a colander.

Cut carrot and Mashroom into thin strips. Also, cut Konjac noodle in about one inch length. Cook vegetable and konjac in a saucepan and saute hijiki in oil. Season the ingredient with sugar, salt and soy sauce. Add water in the pan about they 1/4 soaked. Simmer the ingredients until the liquid is almost gone. Mix green beans and serve.

Inari Potato Croquette (Bean Bag Wrapped Mashed Potato)

2011-01-07T08:39:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Aburaage (deep-fried tofu)
Potato (mashed)
Carrot (minced)
Onion (minced)
Parsley (or any chopped herb)
Salt
Pepper

"Inari Potato Croquette" sound wierd but be adventurous and try it. They taste great!
Inarizushi is a pouch of fried tofu filled with usually just sushi rice. It is another Japanese traditional food also popular local food in Hawaii.
I filled mashed potato instead of sushi rice however, pumpkin or beans might be good to replace potato filling too.

Boil or steam potato and mash. Put minced onion, carrot in the pan and make them brown in oil. Remove the pan from heat and mix with mashed potato, parsley, salt and pepper well.

Put aburaage (fried tofu) into boiling water for a few minutes to remove its excess oil. Drain and dry aburaage with paper towels and let them cool completely. Cut aburaage in halves and inside-out the pouch. Open the pouch and stuff potato filling (shaped into a cylinder) inside. Fold in the open side to close the pouch. Cook on the pan or place them in a oven until golden brown .

Kinpira & Fried Tofu

2011-01-06T08:43:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Gobo (shredded)
Carrot (shredded)
White sesame seeds
Salt
Soy sauce

Deep fried tofu
Grated daikon radish
Soy sauce

Brown rice
Oats
Millet
Forbidden rice (Black rice)

Kinpira is one of traditional Japanese dish and also a standard Japanese style vegetarian, vegan dish as well. Burdock and carrot are very popular root vegetable commonly used for Kinpira.

Lightly shave the gobo skin and shred gobo and carrot into very thin strips. Fry (low heat) gobo strips first for about 5 minutes then add carrot strips in the pan and stir-fry them until they get tender. Add salt and soy sauce in the pan and stir-fry well then sprinkle white sesame seeds.

Cut deep fried tofu into dice then bake them in the medium heated oven for app 10 minutes. Serve with grated daikon radish and soy sauce on top.

Veg Okonomiyaki

2011-01-05T08:24:00.001+09:00

Ingredients
Komatsuna (Japanese Mustard Spinach or any leaf vegetable)
Satoimo taro potato (or any sticky potato)
Onion
Carrot
Soy milk
Whole grain flour
Salt

Topping
Aonori
Soy mayonnaise
Worcestershire sauce

Mix together whole grain flour, salt, and grated Satoimo then mix in the soy milk. Add chopped leaf vegetable, sliced onion and shredded carrot and mix them together thoroughly.

Spoon the Okonomiyaki mixture on the low heated pan and spread it into a round shape about 1/2 inch thick. Put the lid on the pan and cook about 10 min. Remove the lid and turn it over, pressing down on it slightly and cook about 5 more min.

Spread the Worcestershire sauce over the okonomiyaki, top with soy mayonnaise. Sprinkle on the aonori and now it's ready to eat.

Tips: Ratio between flour and grated Satoimo would probably work 2:1. If the mixture becomes too wet, add more flour but it would be better to avoid to mix in a lot of flour. It should be look like all vegetable mottled with flour before you place them on the pan.

Mashed Broccoli & Potato Ball

2011-01-04T08:52:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Broccoli
Potate
Oatmeal
Salt
Black pepper
Tomato ketchap

Once Broccoli have cooked (boiled or steamed) and is tender, it is easy to mash so I mixed with salt, pepper, potato (also mashed) and Oatmeal then shape all mixture into balls. Cook and roll over on a pan until they start to brown.

Veg Yakisoba (Chow mein)

2011-01-03T08:51:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Yakisoba
Ginger
Shiitake mushroom
Komatsuna (Japanese Mustard Spinach)
Soy sauce
Salt
Black pepper

Topping
Aonori
Soy mayonnaise

This is a very simple and easy dish but still very delicious. I prefer "MUSO Chow Mein" and think it's the best organic dried chow mein noodle available in Japan. I prefer salt, pepper and soy sauce for seasoning however, instead of using soy sauce for seasoning, Worcestershire sauce is used as the main flavoring in almost every Japanese style Yakisoba.

Spicy Nattō Veg bowl

2011-01-02T09:01:00.001+09:00

Ingredients
Nattō
Grated daikon radish
Daikon radish leaves (boiled)
Nori (shredded)

Rāyu (Hot sesame oil)
Soy sauce
Vineger

Brown rice
Oats
Millet
Forbidden rice (Black rice)

The most popular seasoning for Nattō might be soy sauce and I like to eat that way of course but why not add some more variety on it?
My No.1 nomination seasoning for Nattō would be Rāyu dressing sauce. Also, I would recommend to put few more topping in your bowl like grated daikon radish (without juice), boiled daikon radish leaves and shredded Nori.
Mix everything when you eat like this.

Sweet Kinako Mochi (Rice Cake w/sweet soybean flour)

2011-01-01T16:16:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Mochi (Rice cake)

Kinako (sweet soybean flour)
Brown sugar
Salt (a drop)
Almond

Mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during this time of season.

I mixed the same amount of Kinako and Brown sugar with a drop of salt then dissolved them by a few boiled water. Souse it over on toasted Mochi with Almond.

Hope 2011 is healthy, happy and prosperous to you all!

Komatsuna (Japanese Mustard Spinach) Pesto Soy Milk Cream Pasta

2010-12-31T12:21:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Pasta

Komatsuna
Garlic
Tahini
Salt
Soy Milk
Olive Oil

I know basil pesto pasta might be the best however, I sometimes enjoy to try some other leaf vegetable beside using basil. Today I used Komatsuna (Japanese Mustard Spinach) and instead of using pine nuts, I mixed Tahini.
We enjoyed it very much!

Yōkan

2010-12-30T12:56:00.000+09:00

Very sweet Japanese traditional confectionery made from Azuki beans.
You can purchase this kind of Yōkan almost any kind of grocery store (even convience store) in Japan.
It contains no animal extracts and is completely vegan however a large amount of white sugar might be used.

In case if you are not familiar with Yōkan, Please refer to wikipedia.

Vegetable Miso Starfly with Mixed Grain Brown Rice

2010-12-30T11:45:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Carotte
Onion
Shiitake mushroom
Ginger
Miso
Soy sauce
Red chilli
Brown sugar
Sesame oil

Brown rice
Oats
Millet
Forbidden rice (Black rice)

Starfly vegetable is one of my routine meals especially on busy day.
I enjoy various starfly vegetabl seasoning each time I cook for instance Chinese-style sweet & sour, Spicy Indian curry, Hot Mexican taco and today I decided to go with salty-sweet'n Miso. I also added red chilli just a little bit to make taste slightly hot. It works!

Vegan Dumplings

2010-12-29T21:23:00.000+09:00

Ingredients
Wonton wrappers
Any leaf vegetable (shredded)
Chivee (shredded)
Mushroom (shredded)
Ginger (grated)
Oatmeal
Starch
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Salt Pepper

Dipping Sauce
Vinegar
Soy sauce

Any shredded or grated vegetable could be dumplings filling and tofu would be great filling too. I prefer mixing Oatmeal because they absorb extra juice from vegetables and prevent filling become too wet.

When I cook, I place dumplings on a pre-heated pan then quickly pour boiled water about they half soaked. Cover the pan and reduce heat to low then steam & roast until water boiled away and wait until they lightly-browned (no need to flip dumplings).