Not-quite-winter foods
Aug. 9th, 2006 07:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
changelingJob interview this morning. Eep! No, I am confident and calm. I can do this.
Have experimented a bit the last couple of days with food, which has been nice. Monday night was "Raw pasta", which Steph wasn't that enamoured with because it's still winter and she wanted something hot. Still, I think it was quite tasty, although you have to get your tastebuds to shift gear because raw tomatoes don't have the intensity of a cooked tomato sauce. It's a much lighter flavour, and as Steph said, it would be fantastic for summer. I also made an über-quick chocolate-orange cake. I'll type that recipe up and post it.
Last night we had to eat on the run, so I thought I'd experiment in making a sort of obento box. I opened Charmaine (who I have on loan from my parents - woohoo!) and did some intarweb searching. As usual, I didn't bother searching for things that were already vegan (where's the fun in that?), but found "normal" recipes and fiddled. So we had yakitofu (the "tori" in yakitori means bird, so this is the traditional yakitori skewers with tofu), sukemono, eggplant and raw green beans in what would have been nasu dengaku had we not RUN OUT OF MISO! for the sauce and had I not run out of time to steam the green beans (I would've tossed them in a bit of soy and sesame seeds) and steamed buns. Although most people think of China when they think of steamed buns, Japan has some too. Admittedly what I cooked was a modified barbeque pork bun recipe, but I got the dough from a Japanese source. The "Barbeque tofu buns" were fucking FANTASTIC, and I regret that the amount of dough I made only made seven (I still had some filling left over ...). Once I get back to our place I'll transcribe the recipe. I didn't bring Charmaine with me, and the original filling recipe is hers, so I need her around to write the modification.
The yakitofu (source of much confusion on Steph's part, who thought I was saying "yucky tofu") was also delicious; exactly the flavours that I remember from having yakitori at Ito in the city before I went vegan. I used the little baby leeks we had in the fridge as well. They didn't cook through, but that's as I remember, too. A much sharper taste than caramelised leek. If only normal-sized leeks were around, though, I'd definitely go for spring onions instead. As it were, I probably would have halved the size of the leeks, so as to not overwhelm.
The sukemono was nice. A good side. It's essentially cucumber that's been soaking in vinegar (and other things) for an hour or so. Steph wasn't impressed because she doesn't like vinegar that much. I still think I probably needed to make some sushi rice to go with the yakitofu and the sukemono. Would have mellowed the flavours a bit, tied it all together
I'm sad about the nasu dengaku. I had it for the first time last Friday night and fell in love. I had a go with it on Monday as an entree, but didn't read the recipe properly before switching off the computer, so stuffed the sauce - didn't thicken it. I was very upset that I didn't get the opportunity to try it again last night. I'll have to buy some more miso when we get back home. I can't believe we finally ran out! Oh, well. The brand I bought wasn't quite vegan anyway, so I'm glad it's gone. Shame that the only other miso they have in the shops nearby is about five times the price.
Overall, it was the steamed buns that were the big hit. Barbeque pork buns is one of those few foods I've really missed since going vegan (though I can get some done with fake meat at the Buddhist temple in the city), so it's nice to be able to make them myself. It's also nice that it's pretty easy! Fiddly, but easy. Next time I might try to make some sweet bean buns, since I also know how to make the sweet bean paste now, too.
Poor Steph's been craving hot comfort food, so I'll try to make something a bit more pedestrian tonight. Maybe lasagne with roast veges. Or a dinner loaf with seventies sauce. We'll see how much time I have.
(P.S. Here's an interview with Charmaine. It's unfortunately with George Negus, who is one of the single worst interviewers in the world - he's no Parkinson - but it's still interesting.)
Have experimented a bit the last couple of days with food, which has been nice. Monday night was "Raw pasta", which Steph wasn't that enamoured with because it's still winter and she wanted something hot. Still, I think it was quite tasty, although you have to get your tastebuds to shift gear because raw tomatoes don't have the intensity of a cooked tomato sauce. It's a much lighter flavour, and as Steph said, it would be fantastic for summer. I also made an über-quick chocolate-orange cake. I'll type that recipe up and post it.
Last night we had to eat on the run, so I thought I'd experiment in making a sort of obento box. I opened Charmaine (who I have on loan from my parents - woohoo!) and did some intarweb searching. As usual, I didn't bother searching for things that were already vegan (where's the fun in that?), but found "normal" recipes and fiddled. So we had yakitofu (the "tori" in yakitori means bird, so this is the traditional yakitori skewers with tofu), sukemono, eggplant and raw green beans in what would have been nasu dengaku had we not RUN OUT OF MISO! for the sauce and had I not run out of time to steam the green beans (I would've tossed them in a bit of soy and sesame seeds) and steamed buns. Although most people think of China when they think of steamed buns, Japan has some too. Admittedly what I cooked was a modified barbeque pork bun recipe, but I got the dough from a Japanese source. The "Barbeque tofu buns" were fucking FANTASTIC, and I regret that the amount of dough I made only made seven (I still had some filling left over ...). Once I get back to our place I'll transcribe the recipe. I didn't bring Charmaine with me, and the original filling recipe is hers, so I need her around to write the modification.
The yakitofu (source of much confusion on Steph's part, who thought I was saying "yucky tofu") was also delicious; exactly the flavours that I remember from having yakitori at Ito in the city before I went vegan. I used the little baby leeks we had in the fridge as well. They didn't cook through, but that's as I remember, too. A much sharper taste than caramelised leek. If only normal-sized leeks were around, though, I'd definitely go for spring onions instead. As it were, I probably would have halved the size of the leeks, so as to not overwhelm.
The sukemono was nice. A good side. It's essentially cucumber that's been soaking in vinegar (and other things) for an hour or so. Steph wasn't impressed because she doesn't like vinegar that much. I still think I probably needed to make some sushi rice to go with the yakitofu and the sukemono. Would have mellowed the flavours a bit, tied it all together
I'm sad about the nasu dengaku. I had it for the first time last Friday night and fell in love. I had a go with it on Monday as an entree, but didn't read the recipe properly before switching off the computer, so stuffed the sauce - didn't thicken it. I was very upset that I didn't get the opportunity to try it again last night. I'll have to buy some more miso when we get back home. I can't believe we finally ran out! Oh, well. The brand I bought wasn't quite vegan anyway, so I'm glad it's gone. Shame that the only other miso they have in the shops nearby is about five times the price.
Overall, it was the steamed buns that were the big hit. Barbeque pork buns is one of those few foods I've really missed since going vegan (though I can get some done with fake meat at the Buddhist temple in the city), so it's nice to be able to make them myself. It's also nice that it's pretty easy! Fiddly, but easy. Next time I might try to make some sweet bean buns, since I also know how to make the sweet bean paste now, too.
Poor Steph's been craving hot comfort food, so I'll try to make something a bit more pedestrian tonight. Maybe lasagne with roast veges. Or a dinner loaf with seventies sauce. We'll see how much time I have.
(P.S. Here's an interview with Charmaine. It's unfortunately with George Negus, who is one of the single worst interviewers in the world - he's no Parkinson - but it's still interesting.)
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 11:55 pm (UTC)I'm enjoying reading about your food experiments, by the way. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-08-09 04:05 am (UTC)I'm glad!
no subject
Date: 2007-04-10 06:35 am (UTC)