If ever there was a side note that needed to be posted, if you don't all already know, you NEED to check out EthicalPizza.com. Set up by the same guy who ran SFVegan, and did the first animal kill counter, this site has some amazing video tutorials on making your own delicious vegan pizza in your oven.
I think we were at Deva Deva Cafe, eating their amazing vegan pies when I said something about making it ourselves. Of course, it was easy to say back then because in Japan... most people don't have ovens!!! (shocking...) Anyway, the tiny little broilers they have are used mainly for fish, and even putting a little garlic bulb to roast can be a tight fit.
So make sure to check out EthicalPizza.com. So far we've made their dough recipe maybe a half dozen times, and it has always came out great. We can't even find parchment paper, so we have just been giving the crisper a little grease and so far, none of our pizzas have come close to sticking. Here's a quick, not so whole foods recipe that we tried and ashamedly love:
Vegan BLT Pizza
1 pie's worth of dough from EthicalPizza.com
1 small head romaine lettuce
1 tomato
1 bacon replacement (we used bac-os... yikes...)
3 Tbsp vegan mayo
Salt + Pepper
Prepare dough as you like (we used some whole wheat flour). Roll out, and add 3 Tbsp of mayo on top and spread around like a sauce. Add sliced tomato + bacon replacement on top and put in the oven for around 10 minutes @ 500F. While pizza is baking, chop up lettuce and mix in a bowl with 1 Tbsp mayo and salt and pepper. After 10 minutes, add the lettuce mixture on top and finish baking for another 5 minutes.
We've also tried a the basic recipe on their site (great!), potato/artichoke (great!), and bbq with the new Gardein bbq nonsense (blech...). Marinated tofu and leftover pasta sauce is killer as well. I think I'm making up for all that lost pizza I've missed in the last few years...
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Vegan Mug Brownie Recipe
Although Japan has some amazingly delicious vegan desserts, I still find myself craving a good old chocolate brownie... almost everyday :)
One of my favorite recipes to make back in the US was this Mug Brownie recipe that I discovered on the internet and then veganized. Luckily, all of the ingredients are readily available at most super markets in Japan.
4 Tbsp flour (粉 - pronounced こな kona)
4 Tbsp sugar (砂糖 - pronounced さとう satou)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder (ココア)
2 Tbsp canola oil (キャノーラ or カノーラ pronounced kyanoora or kanoora)
2 Tbsp soy milk (豆乳 - pronounced とうにゅう tounyu)
1 Tbsp hot tap water
Use a microwave safe coffee mug. Add all ingredients and mix well. Be sure to scrape the bottom thoroughly to make sure you mix all the flour in. Once it is all mixed, put it in the microwave for 90 seconds. Let cool a bit before serving.. and enjoy!
One of my favorite recipes to make back in the US was this Mug Brownie recipe that I discovered on the internet and then veganized. Luckily, all of the ingredients are readily available at most super markets in Japan.
4 Tbsp flour (粉 - pronounced こな kona)
4 Tbsp sugar (砂糖 - pronounced さとう satou)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder (ココア)
2 Tbsp canola oil (キャノーラ or カノーラ pronounced kyanoora or kanoora)
2 Tbsp soy milk (豆乳 - pronounced とうにゅう tounyu)
1 Tbsp hot tap water
Use a microwave safe coffee mug. Add all ingredients and mix well. Be sure to scrape the bottom thoroughly to make sure you mix all the flour in. Once it is all mixed, put it in the microwave for 90 seconds. Let cool a bit before serving.. and enjoy!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Daily Eatins
I thought I'd do a quick post on what we have been eating every day, as a guideline to other vegans on what exactly there is to eat here. There's a pretty wide variety of food, and my cooking skills are improving every day by working with the local ingredients. Most of the dishes are simple 1 and 2 pot meals, and Japanese are pretty big on side dishes it seems, so feel free to mix and match.
Maybe I will have Laura do a part II on this soon, since she has her own things she makes as well! Fear not vegans, there is lots of delicious food out there, even in Japan.
- Vegan Ramen - sesame oil + garlic + ginger, then add water, boil, add a bit of instant konbu dashi and some soy sauce, and add udon + tofu + whatever. Top with some bean sprouts.
- Inari Sushi - these cute little football looking things make up a good portion of our breakfasts. They are just sushi rice with some yuba wrapped around them. Our local suupa, Sameto, has them half off if they have any left after 11pm, so we often get 10 of em for $2!
- Pancakes - Japanese people seem to dig pancakes, there is a big section at the store next to the "homemade cake" stuff. Unfortunately, many contain dairy products, but who uses a mix anyway. Maple syrup is expensive, but it is expensive anywhere.
- Chickpea Cutlets - Vital wheat gluten (guruten @ Natural House) + chickpeas (a bit expensive here, so bring your own dried ones or have em shipped). Recipe is in the Veganomicon.
- Yakisoba - get some noodles from the suupa, fry em up with some veggies (Japanese eggplant are good and super cheap, with onion, carrot, whatever), add some Kagome brand veg. sauce and maybe some vegan mayo that I bought at Loving Hut :O.
- Japanese Curry & Rice - this is a scary one. Right when we got here we made some curry and it had pork in it :(. I figured the same box would have the same ingredients as it does when I get it at the asian markets in the US, but nope. Anyway, many natural food places carry a veggie curry roux mix that you can use. Add pickled ginger and you are in heaven.
- Spaghetti Neapolitan - see post below
- Mos Burger - fast food joint that uses veg oil for frying potatoes, and has a vegan rice patty burger with stir-fried carrots, burdock, lotus root, etc inside. (kinpira burger) Pretty good :)
Maybe I will have Laura do a part II on this soon, since she has her own things she makes as well! Fear not vegans, there is lots of delicious food out there, even in Japan.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Ketchup Spaghetti is Delicious
I'm gonna do up a quick post about a food that we have fallen in love with. We've already made it twice, and will probably make it again later this week: Japanese style Spaghetti Neapolitan.
Made with the freaky Japanese ketchup that comes in a soft bottle, plus the AMAZING Japanese eggplant, which tastes so entirely different than what we get in the US. These なす are deep purple, but almost flat white inside with an even texture, probably because they are so thin and short... but they are full of flavor! Very little bitterness too, and the recipe takes care of that so by the time you bite into one, they are just sweet and salty and delicious :)
Serves 2
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
olive oil
1 japanese eggplant, chopped
salt
oregano
enough spaghetti for two people
200 ml Japanese style ketchup (if using american ketchup, try to avoid heinz and use a less salty/sugary ketchup)
1/2 cup of beans (whatever you like, here there are small cans of mixed beans)
Cook spaghetti until done, drain and set aside.
While spaghetti is cooking, sautee garlic and onions in a generous amount of olive oil. When onions start to soften, add eggplant, a few generous pinches of salt, and maybe 1/2 tbsp dried oregano. Cook until eggplant loses most of its bitterness. Add more salt if this takes too long.
Add spaghetti noodles to the onions of garlic, mix up, then slowly mix and add the ketchup. Add beans, heat until hot and the noodles are evenly covered and sticky. We'll add some pics when we remake it later this week, or check the photobucket for a pretty sad picture that does not properly convey its deliciousness.
Enjoy! Kind of reminds me of mac and cheese with the saltiness, plus I usually use ketchup on mac and cheese anyway.
Made with the freaky Japanese ketchup that comes in a soft bottle, plus the AMAZING Japanese eggplant, which tastes so entirely different than what we get in the US. These なす are deep purple, but almost flat white inside with an even texture, probably because they are so thin and short... but they are full of flavor! Very little bitterness too, and the recipe takes care of that so by the time you bite into one, they are just sweet and salty and delicious :)
Serves 2
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
olive oil
1 japanese eggplant, chopped
salt
oregano
enough spaghetti for two people
200 ml Japanese style ketchup (if using american ketchup, try to avoid heinz and use a less salty/sugary ketchup)
1/2 cup of beans (whatever you like, here there are small cans of mixed beans)
Cook spaghetti until done, drain and set aside.
While spaghetti is cooking, sautee garlic and onions in a generous amount of olive oil. When onions start to soften, add eggplant, a few generous pinches of salt, and maybe 1/2 tbsp dried oregano. Cook until eggplant loses most of its bitterness. Add more salt if this takes too long.
Add spaghetti noodles to the onions of garlic, mix up, then slowly mix and add the ketchup. Add beans, heat until hot and the noodles are evenly covered and sticky. We'll add some pics when we remake it later this week, or check the photobucket for a pretty sad picture that does not properly convey its deliciousness.
Enjoy! Kind of reminds me of mac and cheese with the saltiness, plus I usually use ketchup on mac and cheese anyway.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Restaurant Review: Pure Cafe
Pure Cafe has already become one of my favorite places in Tokyo. It is located between Shibuya and Harajuku just a block east from the corner of Aoyama-dori and Omotesando. It shares a building with Aveda, so it is pretty easy to find.
From what I can tell, it looks like their lunch menu offers a three sandwiches that change monthly. For August there is a fresh veggie sandwich, grilled veggie sandwich and a sweets sandwich. Dan and I have already tried all three. My favorite is definitely the Yomogi Sweets sandwich (I think I mentioned it in my previous entry). It's pretty much just bananas, tofu whip cream, raspberries and caramel sauce sandwiched between two pieces of french toast. I would recommend getting this for dessert, however, rather than lunch :)
In addition to sandwiches, they also have homemade muffins (flavors change daily) and an assortment of desserts (including things like cheesecake and fruit tarts). They also sell fresh loaves of bread. You can get a loaf of vegan rye bread for about $8. This evening I went there to pick up some bread and I discovered that they have a pretty delicious looking dinner menu. I will be sure go in the evening next time I go there to eat!
Usually when I visit, there is someone there who speaks English. Although, the first time I went to Pure Cafe, no one working knew any English.. so ordering was a little difficult. But not too hard, since the item names are in English and they have pictures you can point at.
From what I can tell, it looks like their lunch menu offers a three sandwiches that change monthly. For August there is a fresh veggie sandwich, grilled veggie sandwich and a sweets sandwich. Dan and I have already tried all three. My favorite is definitely the Yomogi Sweets sandwich (I think I mentioned it in my previous entry). It's pretty much just bananas, tofu whip cream, raspberries and caramel sauce sandwiched between two pieces of french toast. I would recommend getting this for dessert, however, rather than lunch :)
In addition to sandwiches, they also have homemade muffins (flavors change daily) and an assortment of desserts (including things like cheesecake and fruit tarts). They also sell fresh loaves of bread. You can get a loaf of vegan rye bread for about $8. This evening I went there to pick up some bread and I discovered that they have a pretty delicious looking dinner menu. I will be sure go in the evening next time I go there to eat!
Usually when I visit, there is someone there who speaks English. Although, the first time I went to Pure Cafe, no one working knew any English.. so ordering was a little difficult. But not too hard, since the item names are in English and they have pictures you can point at.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Vegan Healing Cafe in Shibuya
After some sight seeing at Kaminarimon and Sensoji Temple early Friday morning, we traveled to Shibuya to do some window shopping and eat at a vegan restaurant we heard about called Vegan Healing Cafe. Punk You Japan wrote about it awhile back and we didn't really know of any other vegan restaurant to check out, so we headed there. The menu was small and there was only one person working who was the waitress and cook.. but the food was decent. Dan had the falafel burger and I ate fried soy meat. Both came with a big serving of brown rice.
For desert we had soy whip cream cake, which was absolutely delicious. The staff didn't speak very much English, but I was able to get out enough Japanese to find out about a book they sold called the Japan Vegan Restaurant Pocketguide. Luckily, it was bilingual (English and Japanese) so we bought it. It turns out there are over 50 vegan restaurants in Tokyo alone. We cannot stress enough how important this book is for any vegan coming to Japan. Not only does it have locations and maps of all the restaurants, it even has info on what things are safe to buy from the convenience stores and useful phrases. All the restaurants in the book are rated and the author visited each personally. There is also another list of restaurants at the back of the book that the author has yet to visit. You can buy the book at Vegan Healing Cafe and also at Deva Deva Cafe. We only paid 1050円 for it at Vegan Healing Cafe.
After eating lunch we walked around Shibuya checking out all the stores. First we stopped at a small record shop named Guhroovy. They specialize in hardcore techno... and we picked up a flyer for a free show called Day of Hardcore. Among Japanese hardcore fans this is somewhat of a legendary party which coincides with the yearly release of the Day of Hardcore CD. Dan used to get up early to listen to a webcast of the show in America. He is very excited to see it live this year. :)
Just down the road from Guhroovy is a huge Tokyu Hands. It is almost 10 floors, and each floor is divided into 3 sections. It has pretty much everything.. from bicycles to lumber to stationary to cooking utensils and more. But not in a crappy Target style way were everything is cheap. They carry high quality products with equally high price tags. There was even a section that had fabric and sewing machines. I kind of described it as Home Depot meets Ikea.. but they have so much more than that. Definitely a must see if you are in Shibuya.
We also visited Parco, Uniqlo, Shibuya 109 and some smaller boutiques that were in the back alleyways. Shibuya 109 was having a one day only sale and it was jam packed.
We both felt really old among the swarms of high school students. Nonetheless, it was definitely worth seeing.
For desert we had soy whip cream cake, which was absolutely delicious. The staff didn't speak very much English, but I was able to get out enough Japanese to find out about a book they sold called the Japan Vegan Restaurant Pocketguide. Luckily, it was bilingual (English and Japanese) so we bought it. It turns out there are over 50 vegan restaurants in Tokyo alone. We cannot stress enough how important this book is for any vegan coming to Japan. Not only does it have locations and maps of all the restaurants, it even has info on what things are safe to buy from the convenience stores and useful phrases. All the restaurants in the book are rated and the author visited each personally. There is also another list of restaurants at the back of the book that the author has yet to visit. You can buy the book at Vegan Healing Cafe and also at Deva Deva Cafe. We only paid 1050円 for it at Vegan Healing Cafe.
After eating lunch we walked around Shibuya checking out all the stores. First we stopped at a small record shop named Guhroovy. They specialize in hardcore techno... and we picked up a flyer for a free show called Day of Hardcore. Among Japanese hardcore fans this is somewhat of a legendary party which coincides with the yearly release of the Day of Hardcore CD. Dan used to get up early to listen to a webcast of the show in America. He is very excited to see it live this year. :)
Just down the road from Guhroovy is a huge Tokyu Hands. It is almost 10 floors, and each floor is divided into 3 sections. It has pretty much everything.. from bicycles to lumber to stationary to cooking utensils and more. But not in a crappy Target style way were everything is cheap. They carry high quality products with equally high price tags. There was even a section that had fabric and sewing machines. I kind of described it as Home Depot meets Ikea.. but they have so much more than that. Definitely a must see if you are in Shibuya.
We also visited Parco, Uniqlo, Shibuya 109 and some smaller boutiques that were in the back alleyways. Shibuya 109 was having a one day only sale and it was jam packed.
We both felt really old among the swarms of high school students. Nonetheless, it was definitely worth seeing.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
We made it!
We are here in the Sakura Hostel in Asakusa. I's about 6AM in Japan. I could not sleep at all this morning. I'm not sure if it's from excitement or jet lag, considering it is around 2PM in Portland.
The flight was really good, but very very long. I normally don't do so well on planes, but the flight was smooth and I didn't get any motion sickness until we were about to land. We had to circle the airport a bit since there was so much traffic.. and then the landing itself was a bit rough. We did manage to get almost vegan meals on the flight. We called ahead a few times asking for non-dairy vegetarian meals. Dan's meals both ended up being vegan.. but mine had butter, ranch dressing and eggs in them that I had to pick out. Dan was super nice and traded me meals, since I got really sick last time I accidentally ate some dairy. Dan picked out a huge omelet piece from his veggies for breakfast and so it wasn't too bad.
We will update more later.. for now we are going to Akihabara to buy a proper camera!
The flight was really good, but very very long. I normally don't do so well on planes, but the flight was smooth and I didn't get any motion sickness until we were about to land. We had to circle the airport a bit since there was so much traffic.. and then the landing itself was a bit rough. We did manage to get almost vegan meals on the flight. We called ahead a few times asking for non-dairy vegetarian meals. Dan's meals both ended up being vegan.. but mine had butter, ranch dressing and eggs in them that I had to pick out. Dan was super nice and traded me meals, since I got really sick last time I accidentally ate some dairy. Dan picked out a huge omelet piece from his veggies for breakfast and so it wasn't too bad.
We will update more later.. for now we are going to Akihabara to buy a proper camera!
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