Well, here comes the first, and I've included all the bits of Asian here that aren't currently in any other thread; So, North & South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Burma, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and any & all of the little Pacific islands. OK, maybe Australia too, since I doubt we'll get many recipes from there!
For the sukiyaki sauce:
1/6 cup soy sauce
2 Tbs mirin or rice wine
3 Tbs sugar
1/3 cup water
1 Tbs sesame oil (optional)
seitan, firm tofu or a little of each
kabocha or other hard squash, cut into 1 cm cubes
shitaki mushroom, sliced
shirataki or other thin (cooked) noodles
white or Chinese cabbage, shredded
pretty much any other veg you fancy
some finely grated fresh ginger
If you're using the oil, heat it in a skillet & fry the seitan or tofu until it's browned. (If you're not using it, just put the seitan/tofu into the heated pan & immediately move on to the next step.)
Push the seitan/tofu to the side of the pan, and add all the ingredients for the sukiyaki sauce, stirring to mix. Add the squash in a separate pile, & simmer in the sauce for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the ginger, all in their own separate piles, and simmer for a few minutes more. When the veg is pretty much cooked, sprinkle over the ginger, & simmer for one more minute, then serve.
I can't remember where I got this recipe....a vegan magazine, I believe. It was an answer to a long quest for a substitute for this lovely Vietmanese soup that is usually made with beef broth. Hope others enjoy it as much as I do!
Faux Pho
Total Cooking/ Prep Time: 1 hour
SERVES 4 , 4 med servings
- 8 ounces rice noodles, thin dried vermicelli
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced, fresh
- 1 teaspoon five-spice powder
- 6 cups water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped, for garnish
- 1/2 cup basil, fresh Thai, chopped
- 1 fresh chili pepper, preferably Thai, stemmed, seeded and minced, for garnish
- 2 scallions, chopped, for garnish
- 2 limes, cut into wedges, for garnish
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts, fresh, rinsed for garnish
- 2 cups bok choy, sliced
- 1 cup carrots, sliced
- 1 cup green beans
- salt, and freshly ground
- black pepper, to taste
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the rice vermicelli and cook until just tender, about 2 to 4 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.
- In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about a minute.
- Add the five-spice powder and stir until warm and fragrant, about another minute.
- Stir in the water, soy sauce, and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, lower the heat so that liquid bubbles gently, and partially cover. Simmer about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the toppings and garnishes. Arrange the cilantro, basil, chili, scallions, limes and sprouts in bowls or platters and set on the serving table.
- Add the 4 cups of mixed vegetables to the soup and cook until the vegetables are just tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the rice noodles, stir well, then season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the soup is large bowls and invite diners to garnish to taste at the table.
Konbu Dashi
Soak a 3" by 4" piece of dried konbu in one quart of water for 30 minutes. (Wipe any dirt off the konbu first, but don't worry about that white powdery stuff.) Bring the water to the boil & either remove the konbu immediately or simmer for up to 15 minutes (the longer you leave it in, the more bitter it gets).
Konbu-Shiitake Dashi
Follow the konbu dashi instructions, but add 5 large or 10 small dried shiitake mushrooms into the water too. Once you've brought the water up to the boil, regardless of when you remove the konbu, you'll need to simmer it for 15-20 minutes. You can then use the shiitake in another dish, or leave them in the stock if you're turning it into stew or a miso soup.
Raw Konbu Dashi
You don't need to cook this to make dashi; Just leave the konbu in the cold water for a few hours or overnight, then remove the konbu.
Dashi stores well in the fridge for a few days. If you still haven't used it up, you can freeze it, though some of the subtle flavours will be lost.
Some people cut the used konbu up into thin strips & add it back into their recipe, or use it on a salad. You can also make tsukudani with it - where it's simmer in soy sauce, sake and/or mirin, and sugar, until it's dark, sweet & salty - which preserves it. Just cut your konbu up into small pieces & save them in the freezer until you have enough to make some. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll post a recipe once I have.
I've been checking online, & the one from Gold Mine Natural Foods seems to be the only one that's guaranteed vegan (I got an email from them to confirm it). It's available in the US & Australia, but I don't know where else.
Finally, the tsukundani recipe I promised. I got this one from justbento.com, & it turned out pretty good. It's a good use for all that kombu that often gets thrown away when you make dashi. Kombu no tsukudani can be tucked into the corner of a bento
box to add a little variety. It’s also a good onigiri filling. Properly
made and stored in the refrigerator, it keeps almost forever.
- 100g / 3 1/2 oz dry kombu seaweed, ideally one that is thick and covered with a fine whiteish powder
- 4 Tbs (or more) tamari soy sauce or dark soy sauce
- 2 Tbs. rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
- 6 Tbs. sake
- 2 Tbs. mirin
- 2 Tbs. (or more) sugar
-
1 tsp. of grated ginger juice (grate ginger and squeeze out the juice) - optional (I had no fresh ginger in, & I was low on rice vinegar, so I just added some pickled sushi ginger & some of it's vinegar - worked fine, though I should also have reduced the added sugar)
Inspect the kombu - if it has sand or dirt on it (not the natural fine white powdery coating), wash it off. (Nowadays it’s rare to find sand etc. on commercially available kombu, but if you buy it from a local producer or even gather it yourself, you’ll have to deal with that.)
Soak the kombu in water to cover just until it’s soft enough to cut. Drain, making sure the water drips back into whatever you were soaking the kombu in, and cut the kombu into bite-sized pieces.
Put the kombu back in the soaking water and add vinegar. Leave for an hour or more. The kombu should feel a bit slimy at the end of the soaking period. The vinegar helps to tenderize it. Some thicker kinds of kombu may require a longer soak.
Put the kombu and soaking liquid into the heavy pan. Add the other ingredients. Bring up to a simmer then lower the heat - the surface of the liquid should be barely bubbling. Add water if it starts to dry out.
Simmer slowly like this until the kombu is very soft - it should seem almost too soft, since when it cools the kombu will stiffen up a bit. By this point there should be very little liquid in the pan. Taste the kombu, and add a bit more soy sauce or sugar if needed, and simmer some more. When it’s done the kombu will be shiny and caramelized and have a translucent quality, like thin slices of dark caramel or tortoiseshell.
Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
You can also add red pepper flakes or shichimi (or nanami!) tohgarashi for a bit of spice.
This is just a guide really. Add whatever veg you fancy, & make it as spicy or non-spicy as you like.
Serves 2-4
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 4-5 small button mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
- 1/2 block of firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed
- 1 cup vegan kimchi* (about 1/3 jar), including its liquid, chopped a little if it's really big bits.
- cooked noodles (enough for however many servings you're making)
- cayenne powder to taste (optional, & may not be needed at all if your kimchi is a hot one)
- boiling stock
- 3-4 Spring onions (scallions), sliced
Add
the carrot, mushrooms and pepper to your pan, along with the stock (as
much as you need for the number of servings you're making), and
cayenne if using. Simmer until the veg have softened a bit.
Add
the kimchi, tofu & noodles, and stir gently so as not to break up the cubes
of tofu, & simmer briefly to warm through & let the flavours mix. Serve topped with Spring onions.
*Try
to get fresh, unpasturised kimchi. If you can only find the pasturised,
off-the-shelf (rather than from the fridge) stuff, or the fresh kimchi
you have is less than a couple of weeks old, add a couple of teaspoons
of white vinegar to it, let it sit for 10 minutes, then chop it for
use. Acts as an instant fermenter, and aparently makes it taste a lot
better.
