Posts Tagged 'Asian'

Cashew-Basil Noodles

Published July 17, 2010 Uncategorized 3 Comments
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A few months ago, my wonderful friend, Andrea, brought me some herb plants from a farm that she had been working at. From among her fragrant green loot, I was particularly excited about the Thai basil plant, which has since blossomed with some pretty awesome purple flowers. I really love Thai basil’s slight liquorice-like anise flavour and it always reminds of eating spicy basil noodles from one of my favourite Thai/Vietnamese restaurants in Oakville, Ontario, the suburbs where I spent much of my (ongoing) formative years. I’ve no doubt mentioned this before, but noodles are huge comfort food for me, so I was really looking forward to trying this stir-fry dish out. I think it turned out fairly good. It’s a pretty simple dish; it reminds me of the Asian stir-fries I used to make daily when I first started cooking for myself.

One more thing about my pal, Andrea: she’s a seriously great writer who actually just published a little interview with me about veganism for our friend’s online publication, ‘Monsters vs. Me.’ Read the interview here. Thanks, buddy!

Ingredients:
125 grams rice noodles
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 cup onion, diced
1/2 large green pepper, cut into chunks
8 to 10 cremini mushrooms (can use white button mushrooms too)
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons tamari (or other good quality soy sauce)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp water
Big handful of Thai basil, sliced thinly
1/2 cup roasted cashews, unsalted
3/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 green onion, sliced

Instructions:
1. Cook the rice noodles according to package instructions. Set aside for later. Don’t overcook them; mushy rice noodles are the worst.
2. In a wok or a very large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the garlic, ginger, and onion. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the onion is beginning to soften up, about 8 minutes.
3. Add the green peppers and mushrooms. Sauté for another 3 or 4 minutes. Add the soy sauce and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir together and cook for another minute.
4. Add the water, basil, and cashews. Stir together and cook for another 2 minutes, until some of the water has boiled off. Add the sesame oil and rice noodles to the wok or skillet and heat through for a minute, mixing everything together. (If the rice noodles are all stuck together in your strainer, just run them under warm water for a few seconds before adding to your veggies).
5. Garnish with the sliced green onions.
Serves: 2 to 3

Soba Salad with a Spicy Sesame-Tahini Dressing

Published January 19, 2010 Uncategorized 1 Comment
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So my good friend Anthony (a.k.a. Tony from Welland, Tones, WPT, etc.) brought to my attention that it might be a good idea if I were to feature consecutive recipes that used similar main ingredients. I suppose the practicality of this idea was so that whoever reading the blog would have something else to make with the ingredients that they had previously bought for the prior recipe. Regardless of the fact that Tony is probably the only person who actually makes nearly everything I post on this tiny web space, this seems like a pretty good idea! So Tones, this recipe is for you. And I hope you remember it when, during the aftermath of the nuclear holocaust of 2012 in which every individual is fending for her/himself in a ‘survival of the fittest’ environment, you’re tempted to forcibly overthrow the Corder family compound in order to plunder our increasingly valuable preserves, rations, and ammunition… Love you, Tones!

So yeah, more soba noodles with this one. Truth be told, I wasn’t really overwhelmed with the way this dish turned out. It was pretty good, but I think I set the bar too high in my head, since I had been thinking of doing a soba salad with a tahini-based dressing for a long time. It’s still decent though! Feel free to mess around and add/substract whatever salad toppings you like. I originally wanted to do it with some shelled edamame, but I couldn’t be bothered to drive to Whole Foods after not finding them at the nearest two generic suburban supermarkets… ugh, welcome to suburbia: Whole Foods and Metro/Sobeys. Which is worse? I need to get out of my parents’ house and back into the city. Anyway, I digress. The carrots and red pepper are tasty and add a good crunch, but feel free to add things like avocado, marinated tofu, cooked green beans, toasted nuts or seeds, etc. Also, if you want, double up the tahini dressing recipe and save the other half for future salads. It should hold up in the fridge for about 5 days or so!

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups cooked soba
1 cup snow peas
1/4 cup tahini
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon good quality soy sauce
2 teaspoons agave nectar (or 2 teaspoons organic cane sugar)
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek (or other hot chili sauce)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Sea salt, to taste
1/3 cup carrot, thinly sliced vertically
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons green onion, sliced
Black and white sesame seeds, garnish (optional)

Instructions:
1. Cook the soba according to package instructions. Drain and run under cold water until chilled.
2. Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the snow peas and quickly blanch for about 5 seconds. Immediately drain and run under cold water. Set aside for later.
2. In a bowl, combine the tahini, water, soy sauce, agave (or sugar), rice vinegar, sambal, sesame oil, and a pinch of salt. Whisk together until well incorporated.
3. In a mixing bowl, toss together the cold soba noodles and tahini dressing. Once well dressed, mix in the snow peas, carrot, red bell pepper, and green onions.
4. Garnish each serving with a bit more green onions and some of the optional sesame seeds.
Makes: 2 to 4 servings

Soba-Miso Soup with Shiitake and Tofu

Published January 16, 2010 Uncategorized 3 Comments
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I was originally going to post this soup back in December of last year. Although, when I first made it, I over-seasoned it and the soup ended up tasting a bit… poisony. But this version is revised and doesn’t taste like poison at all! I swear!

Soba is wonderful. They’re thin Japanese buckwheat noodles, often served chilled with a sauce or dressing. As I’ve probably mentioned before, noodles are a big comfort food for me, so this warming miso noodle soup is perfect during the cold winter days. Speaking of noodle soups, the other night my friend Rick and I ate at this new vegan Vietnamese restaurant called White Lotus, where we shared a big bowl of veggie ‘beef’ pho and a couple other great dishes. Fresh basil, mint, lime juice, pickled carrot and daikon; so many bright flavours! I had never really tried Vietnamese food before and it was delicious! I highly recommend White Lotus to anyone in/around the Toronto area.

There’s one more thing I’d like to explain about this recipe that pertains to the important realm of nutrition. As part of the base of the soup, I use a type of kelp called kombu, which is a Japanese sea vegetable that has been around for centuries as a health food throughout Asia. Kombu kelp is sun dried and comes in packages of long strips. You’ll be able to find this seaweed in most health food stores.* Incorporating sea vegetables (a.k.a. seaweed/algae)  into your diet is definitely a good idea, and certainly something I, myself, should be doing more of. Since they come from the ocean, sea vegetables contain a very wide range of dietary minerals. Iodine, calcium, magnesium, and iron: seaweed’s got it all! Also, they’re a good source of the B vitamins folate, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid. Other popular types of edible seaweed include nori (sushi!), hijiki, wakame, and spirulina. For further information on sea vegetables (including usage information and ideas), and to see the source from which I found most of the above information, click here!

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 tablespoon ginger, grated or minced
1/4 cup carrot, thinly sliced
6 or 7 Shiitake mushrooms, woody stems removed and thinly sliced
2 cups low-sodium or homemade vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 7″ piece of kombu
4 oz. extra-firm tofu (about 1/4 package), cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon miso
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 1/2 cup cooked soba noodles**
Sea salt, to taste
Green onions, chopped, to taste

Instructions:
1. Cook soba noodles in a large pot according to package instructions. In a strainer, drain and run under cold water to stop noodles from cooking any more. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat canola oil over medium heat. Add ginger, carrot, and Shiitake. Sauté for 2 or 3 minutes until fragrant. Add a touch of water if it’s sticking too much.
3. Add the vegetable stock, water, kombu, tofu, and soy sauce. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, immediately turn heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove and discard the kombu.
4. Add the miso and stir through for about 30 seconds to a minute until dissolved into broth.
5. Add the sesame oil and soba noodles, stir through and let simmer for about 1 more minute until the noodles are just heated through. Season to taste with a tiny pinch of salt, if needed.
6. Serve in bowls and add green onions to taste.
Serves: 3 to 4

*You can also find kombu at pretty much any Whole Foods, but like, get it from a local health food store if you’ve got one in your local area, will ya?!
**To make this recipe gluten-free, be sure to use either soba that is made entirely of buckwheat flour (which can be expensive and hard to find), or substitute another gluten-free noodle in its place. In fact, a thin rice noodle would work great with this recipe. Also, obviously, make sure that your soy sauce and miso is gluten-free.

Vegetable and Tofu Potstickers with a Spicy Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce

Published January 10, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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At the last kitchen I worked at, we’d frequently call up the dishwasher while he was on his way to work and tell him to pick us up some mixed veg Chinese dumplings from a place on Dundas and Spadina simply called ‘The Dumpling House.’ Well, either dumplings or some curried chickpea doubles from a West Indian bakery in Kensington. Whatever we were in the mood for. I kind of miss that workplace… Even if I did cut the tip of my thumb off there. But that’s a story for another time (ask me in person some time, I like telling it). Anyway, those were great dumplings. These potstickers are my attempt at loosely recreating those tasty treats.

‘Potsticker’ refers to the method in which the dumplings (or gyoza) are cooked. I like the potsticker method for two reasons: 1) they combine the best of the steamed and pan-fried versions in one method of cooking, and 2) they’re really, really fun to make. This recipe is fairly labour intensive when you factor in the time it takes to wrap each dumpling. Although, considering that we’re using pre-made wonton wrappers as opposed to making our own dough, it’s not that bad. Anyway, it’s totally worth the time. Invite some friends and/or loved ones over and have dumpling party! I know that’s what I’d do! Also, the dumpling filling for this recipe is pretty versatile. I mean, you could just as easily make spring rolls with it… or even throw it on top of some rice or noodles for a tasty meal in a bowl.

Ingredients:
Canola oil
5 oz. extra-firm tofu, crumbled (about half a package)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1″ cube ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 fresh shiitake mushroom caps, cleaned and minced
1 medium carrot, peeled and minced
1/2 stalk celery, minced
1 cup cabbage, shredded and minced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tsp miso
1/4 teaspoon sambal oelek (or your own favourite hot chili sauce)
1/4 cup low-sodium or homemade vegetable stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
18 to 20 round wonton or gyoza wrappers

Instructions:
1. Heat 1 teaspoon of canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu and sauté for about 8 minutes, stirring often, until golden and slightly crispy. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. In another large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil over medium heat. Add the onion, ginger, garlic, and shiitake mushrooms. Sauté for 4 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add the carrot, celery, and shredded cabbage. Sauté for another 4 minutes, stirring often.
4. Add the bean sprouts, reserved tofu, soy sauce, miso, sambal oelek, vegetable broth, and black pepper to taste. Cook for another 3 minutes or so, until the vegetable broth has reduced a bit. Season to taste with a pinch of sea salt, if needed.
5. Remove skillet from heat and let the mixture cool for a about 10 minutes. Put about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of the wrapper and, using your finger, wet the edges with a bit of water from the bowl. Fold the wrapper in half and seal around the edges, making sure you push out all the air. Pinch the edges over to make creases. Or, you could just watch this video for a good, straight forward explanation (albeit not vegan) on how to wrap a dumpling. Yeah, do that. But, don’t make non-vegan dumplings… I’ll know.
6. Heat a tiny bit of canola oil in a non-stick skillet over medium/medium-high heat. Once hot, add about 7 or 8 dumplings (arranged like in the picture at the bottom). Cook for a few minutes, until the bottom is nice and crispy brown. You can lift them a bit while cooking to peek at how brown the bottom is getting, so as not to burn them.
7. Once the bottoms are crispy, add about 1/2 cup of warm water to the pan and turn the heat up to high. Cover with a lid right away. Let the water boil away for about 5 or 6 minutes. Remove lid. Turn heat down to medium and if there’s still a bit of water hanging out in the pan, just let it boil away.
8. When the pan is totally dry, slide them out and serve with the dipping sauce below. If done correctly and the dumplings were sealed properly without any air pockets, they should look like shrink wrapped little packages.
Makes: about 18 to 20 dumplings


For the Spicy Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon good quality soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek
1/4 teaspoon ginger, freshly grated or finely minced

Instructions:
1. Whisk together until sugar is dissolved.

Welcome!

My name is Ross. I'm a food loving vegan and these are some of my recipes. I'm also the owner of Hot Beans vegan takeout in Kensington Market, Toronto. Check out my 'about' page for more info. Enjoy!

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All images and recipes (unless otherwise noted) Copyright © Ross Corder and Vegan Eats Blog, 2009-2012. All rights reserved. Please do not re-post or otherwise duplicate without permission. Thanks! Also, the "gluten-free" recipe tag is meant primarily for cataloging purposes and does not necessarily ensure that the recipe is completely gluten-free. Be careful to read the labels of any pre-packaged products to ensure that they are indeed gluten-free!
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