Sunog-um Luto-um

Vegan Crepes

2008-09-14T17:20:00.001-07:00

I love this crepe recipe because it doesn't use eggs or milk. And still tastes yummy.

1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup grapeseed/coconut oil
1 T brown sugar
2 T maple syrup
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (I usually use whole wheat)
1/4 tsp salt
1 T vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, blend all ingredients. Cover and chill the mixture for 2 hours. (I am usually too busy and skip this 2 hour step. I also usually add sometimes up to 1/2 cup of water of soymilk to thin the batter enough to swish around the whole pan easily. After a while, the batter tends to thicken. I don't always have maple syrup on hand so I sometimes skip it altogether with still good results).

Lightly grease 5-6 inch skillet with some oil. Heat until hot. Pour approximately 3 T batter into skillet. (I use more--use enough to cover your pan, add more water if it doesn't "swirl" appropriately). Swirl to make the batter cover the skillet's bottom. Cook until golden, flip, and cook on opposite side.

Enjoy!

Vegan French Toast (and Fraffle misadventures)

2008-08-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to be brilliant and different by making my "French toast" in a waffle iron and creating the Fraffle. I only succeeded in being different. I was feeling far from brilliant during the 15 minutes of scraping pieces off my waffle iron after my first attempt. Nevertheless, I did it again (like I said, less than brilliant) and was able to get this picture.

I recommend making French toast the way everybody else does. In a pan. But without eggs and milk.

1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 T maple syrup
1 tsp vamilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 slices bread

Combine milk, flour, syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon in a dish and stir until well mixed. Soak bread slices until soft but not soggy. Cook in skillet until golden brown.

I actually grabbed the wrong container and put nutmeg instead of cinnamon this morning. Still good. Love this French toast. I am not a big fun of the eggy taste of French toast so this is perfect for me.

Fatoush

2008-08-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

If any of you are in the Orlando, FL area, go by and drop by Tony's. Tony's Deli is a small Middle-Eastern restaurant, run by one of the nicest lebanese families. It was here that I was first introduced to fatoush and babaganoush and where I would come to get my fatoush and babaganoush fix. Fatoush is a lebanese salad with toasted pita pieces and one of my most favorite salads. I threw one together last night because our blender is broken and we couldn't use our spinach in our green smoothie.

1 pita bread cut into small pieces and toasted under grill
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 head of lettuce, chopped (I usually use several handfuls of spinach)
4 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 T olive oil

Combine all above in deep dish, mix and serve.

And that's all folks! I usually throw a pita in the oven until it's crispy and then break it apart. This salad is even good the next day.

Ivorian Peanut Butter Tomato Sauce ala Vanda

2008-08-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

Highly recommended by my best friend, Vanda. She sent these simple instructions in an email after telling me how yummy it was. I made it and my husband, who never has an opinion about what I should make for meals, actually told me that this is one dish he'd like to see very often :) So Vanda, as far as I'm concerned, this is a 5 star dish :)

Stir fry 2 sliced onions and 2 cloves crushed, minced garlic in oil. Put in 2 heaping spoons of peanut butter, stir, then add 4 fresh beef tomatoes cut in quarters. Add a little bit of water, and season with salt, pepper, and chili to taste. For non-vegetarians, put whole cooked chicken in.

Serve on top of nice sticky rice.

Tip from Vanda: You want the tomatoes to remain intact
and some tomato juice to be incorporated with the
peanut butter. May add small spoon of tomato pureee
for flavor & concentrated feel to sauce.

I halved the recipe this morning when making it for my husband's lunch and served it over brown basmati rice. This was actually one of my first posts but every time I make it I either forget to take the picture, or we make it at night when the lighting was bad at our house. So today, I figured if I wanted to post this recipe with the picture, I better take the picture today!

Atsara, Mamay's Recipe

2008-08-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Mamay, as far as I'm concerned, is another grandmother. She is my aunt-in-law's mom and we got to visit her once when she was in Florida staying with one of her sons. They had a big backyard filled with mango trees, kalamansi trees, papaya trees, malunggay, camote tops, kangkong, gabi, lemon grass and all things Filipino. The backyard was Filipino heaven, that's all I have to say. It had everything that we miss from the Philippines. They had so many papayas, they didn't know what to do with it so Mamay, rather than having it all go to waste, would make atsara from it. Now atsara is a beautiful papaya pickle that goes extremely well as a garnish with fried fish & barbequed chicken--usually anything fried or grilled. Mamay made Jeremy's day when she gave us a large jar of it to take back home. We found out it went extremely well with Grandma Smith's Gluten Choplets when we cleaned out the jar during our visit in her home. I have been on the hunt for her recipe ever since and just a few months ago, my mom gave me great joy when she was able to get it. So here it is, for your eating pleasure...

1 kilo green papaya, grated (roughly 4 1/2 cups shredded)
1 T salt
1 carrot, grated
1 T ginger, cut in strips
1 medium onion, thinly sliced

Pickling solution:
sugar (I use brown)
vinegar
salt
water

(OK, I'm sorry I don't have the exact measurements for the pickling solution. Roughly it's 1 cup sugar, 1 cup vinegar (apple cider is what my mom and I find to be best) and 1 tsp salt. Usually it's a strong solution so we like it best watered down a bit. I can't remember how much water I put so I'll have to consult my mom on this and get back to you.)

Sprinkle salt over grated papaya. Let stand for 2-3 hours then squeeze thoroughly in cheesecloth. Set aside. Mix with carrot and ginger.

Boil sugar, vinegar, salt and water without stirring. Pour over vegetables. Transfer to sterilized bottle. Allow 2-3 days before consuming.

Grandma Smith's Choplets aka Gluten Steaks From Vital Wheat Gluten Flour

2008-08-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

I met Grandma Smith when we went through New Mexico. She made some really great gluten choplets so I had to get her recipe. She even took me through it step-by-step! So I was taught properly. Here it is folks...enjoy!

Place 3 cups Vital Wheat Gluten Flour in a bowl and add 3 cups cold water all at once. Mix well. Shape into a ball and place in a large bowl and cover with cold water for several hours. Slice thin and boil in broth for 1 hour.

BROTH

1 cup soy sauce (half of the cup I put in is dark soy sauce to give the gluten a darker more beef-like color)
6 T oil (grapeseed or coconut is what I use. For an extra Asian twist, use 1-2 T of sesame oil for some of this)
6 cups water
2 T brown sugar
2 sliced onions
1 clove garlic
3 bay leaves

Optional: Ginger root or ginger powdered spice. (highly recommended by me)

These freeze well, broth and all. To serve, fry after dipping in flour or a breading meal (cornmeal is what Grandma Smith uses). My usual breading mix includes a handful of cornmeal, 2 spoonfuls of flour, 3 good dashes of black pepper, 2 tsp of seasoning salt, a tsp of garlic powder, a couple of dashes of nutritional flakes, and a tsp or two of Chik'nish. Grandma served these with mashed potatoes and salad.

You can also use the gluten in other dishes like strips for stir-fry, gluten barbeque, anything really.

PS. It's also great served with atsara, see next recipe.

Tomato Tortilla Soup

2008-08-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

I got the original non-vegan version of this recipe from Lovingyou.com, when I was planning a romantic surprise for my then-boyfriend. It's a great site for romantic ideas by the way. I "edited" it to make it vegetarian and brought it, still warm, in two separate containers, with a candle and lighter, and 2 warm blankets to the pier by Lake Ivanhoe down the street from his old apartment. We had a romantic moonlight picnic cuddled up in blankets with romantic Italian music drifting down to us from the little lakeside Italian restaurant that was less than a block from us. That was the first time he told me he loved me :) Needless to say, I always think romance whenever I make it. Jeremy, who has since then married me, absolutely loves this soup and counts it as his favorite soup.

1/4 cup finely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
3 tsp grapeseed or coconut oil
2 cups vegetable broth (I use 2 rounded tsp of Bill's Best Chik'Nish and 2 cups of water)
2 T chopped red bell peppers
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3/8 tsp basil leaves, dried
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
7 1/2 ounces tomato puree (I use one can of diced tomatoes or you can substitute with approx. 3 cups diced fresh tomatoes)
1/4 cup grapeseed/coconut oil
5 each corn tortillas, cut into 1/2" strips

GARNISHES
1/2 avocado sliced
Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you have on-hand or omit for a purely vegan recipe)

Cook and stir onions and garlic in 2 T oil in pot. Stir in broth, bell pepper, cayenne pepper, basil, salt, pepper, and tomato puree or diced tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Heat 1/4 cup oil in 10-in skillet until hot. (I don't usually use this much oil in my nonstick pan, I use only about a T or so). Fry tortilla strips in oil until light golden brown. Drain. Divide tortilla strips in two bowls. Pour broth over tortilla strips. Top with cheese and avocado slices.

This is another recipe that I like having cheese in. Sigh, my weakness. Jeremy loves the tortilla strips in the soup. The Mexican version of croutons? Definitely do the avocado slices. So yummy!

Cornbread

2008-08-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Very good with a side of vegetarian chili or tomato soup and best served warm straight out of the oven. Jeremy loves eating this with honey. I think I got this recipe from his mom.

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg beaten (I usually omit this)
1/2 cup milk (I use soymilk)
2 T shortening, melted (I use coconut oil or grapeseed oil)

Mix dry and wet ingredients in separate bowl, then stir liquid into dry (Sssh, don't tell anybody but I just mix them all together in the same bowl. I'm lazy, what can I say). I don't use the egg, it doesn't really need it, I think and I'm not crazy about eggy tasting cornbread. Pour in greased 4x4. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes. Serve warm. This is another romantic recipe, only serves 2. Maybe 3.

Tanya's Banana Bread Recipe

2008-08-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Tanya brought us slices of this banana bread one Friday night before our Bible study and I was hooked. I had to get the recipe. So she gave it to me on the spot. To make it vegan, you can substitute 3 T of apple sauce or 1 oz mashed tofu for each egg but this is probably one recipe that I don't bother and use the eggs anyway. The riper the bananas, the better. And the topping makes it yummier. Here's Tanya's recipe almost word-for-word.

1/2 cup softened butter (I use coconut oil or grapeseed oil instead)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
4 ripe bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour with good results)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nuts
brown sugar and nuts for sprinkling

Cream butter/oil with brown sugar. Whisk in two eggs (one at a time mixing well for each). Add vanilla and ripe bananas to the mix (I use a blender) for adding bananas.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Then add banana mix and stir enough to combine ingrendients. Fold nuts in mix.

Pour mix into lightly sprayed 9x5" pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

I sprinkle brown sugar and nuts on top before I bake.

Belgian Waffles

2008-08-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite waffle recipe, fully vegan, from The Total Vegetarian Cookbook by Barbara Watson. My mom gave me this cookbook for my birthday and I would highly recommend it to everyone. These waffles are easy to make and makes yummy crispy waffles. Jeremy likes these more than the non-vegan kind and this one of the few ways you will get him to eat oats.

6 cups water
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup nuts or seeds
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/8 cup date pieces
3 cups rolled oats

Blend all ingredients except the oats, starting with 2 cups of water. Fill a quart jar with water to measure the remaining 4 cups.

Add oats and three cups of the remaining water and blend until smooth. Let the batter sit for 3 minutes.

Pour 1 1/4 cups of batter onto preheated, oil-sprayed Belgian waffle iron, not allowing batter to come completely to sides. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Add another 1/2 cup of the water to the batter and blend again. You will see the batter thickens as it sits. Pour the second waffle in the iron, then add the final 1/2 cup of water and blend again. Repeat process. Waffle iron may get hotter during the process, so watch carefully! Cooking time may need to be decreased. Makes 6 waffles.

Note: I highly recommend our waffle iron, the Toastmaster Belgian Waffle Maker. Makes great waffles. These can also be frozen and popped in the toaster. Serve immediately if you want them to be crispy as they tend to get spongy after a bit, especially if you pile them up on each other because they "steam" each other.

Bukky's Nigerian Tomato Sauce

2008-02-03T11:47:00.001-08:00

My friend from forever, Bukky, shared her recipe for the tomato sauce that she makes all the time. It was very simple and very yummy so I'm sharing it here with you.

Cut in chunks and put in blender:

1 lb tomatoes (she said she fills up her blender)
1 medium onion
2+ cloves of garlic (to your taste, there's no such thing as too much garlic here)

Blend. Then heat a pot on the stove until it gets very hot. Add

1 T of oil or so

When it gets really hot, throw in

Some sliced onions just to flavor the oil, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of one.

When onions are translucent, pour the tomato mixture into the pot. Add:

1/2 small can of tomato paste
Meat (lb of ground beef or chicken pieces if you're not vegetarian, I threw in a can of mashed vegetarian Swiss Steak and it was great)
Chicken broth (powdered or cube like Knorr, to taste)
Curry powder (also to taste)
Thyme (to taste)
Hot pepper, chopped (optional, she uses 1-2 habaneros, I'm too chicken so I just put a bit of powdered cayenne pepper)
1-2 bay leaves
Salt to taste

Stir well, wait until bubbling, then cover pot slightly, lower heat and cook forever. Well, she said at least for 40 minutes until there's sauce splattered all over your stovetop, and then you know it's done. I waited, let it simmer and bubble for 40 minutes and sure enough, my stovetop was splattered all over with tomato sauce and I felt like I had achieved the proper Nigerian tomato sauce. And it was good. Especially served over cous-cous.

Soymilk

2008-02-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

After much thought about all the soymilk we buy (which we mostly use for cereal during the days Jeremy works and we don't have time to make a proper breakfast) and all the other added who-knows-what they add in the stuff to make it thicker and taste more like cows' milk, I have decided to start making soymilk from scratch, which is an easy enough process. It also has the added benefit of the beany flavor that I love which is usually mostly removed from most brands on the shelf here. So today was my first attempt. I called my mom to get the recipe from the person I've watched make soymilk the most. She gave me the following:

Measure 2 cups of dried soybeans. Soak overnight in approximately 10 cups of water for 12-24 hours.
Drain and rinse beans several times in cold water. The soaked beans will come out to approximately 5 cups of soaked beans.
Puree 1 cup of soaked beans with 1 cup of water in blender until smooth. (You can probably do this 2 cups at a time depending on your blender). Continue with this 1:1 ratio until all beans have been pureed.
You can either 1) pour the puree in large saucepan, add 4 cups of water and bring to boil over medium to high heat or 2) strain the puree first through a sieve or cheesecloth (the way my mom always does it). This time around I thought maybe more soymilk would be extracted from if I boiled it all together so I used Method 1.
Stir constantly to avoid burning the milk. Then simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Strain through sieve or cheesecloth (for Method 1). I recommend you wait a bit until the soymilk has cooled down significantly before straining it so you can squeeze the milk out better (without burning yourself or enveloping yourself in steam--like I did). I added about 4 more cups of water to the soymilk because I found it too thick and put about 3 T of honey (or you can use sugar) in it to sweeten it and make it more palatable for us. Ahn had a beautiful description with her recipe that I just found now. She also recommends that for a richer taste you can soak some peanuts with your beans the night before and/or add a few drops of vanilla afterwards. If you have a hold of pandan leaves, you can boil the milk with a pandan leaf for the pandan flavor. Experiment to see what is best for you. I used only 1 cup of dried beans for this and filled a small 1 liter or so pitcher. I read somewhere that it keeps for 3 days so I didn't want to make too much. It really is not hard to do and if you want to avoid those extra preservatives or thickeners, this is the way to go.

Raw Pasta and Pestos

2008-01-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

So in keeping with the raw theme that has been happening lately, I thought I'd share how you can make raw pasta. First you need to start off with a raw pesto. Here are a few recipes that I got from Cami to get you started.

Basil and Pine Nut
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to seal
2 cloves garlic
2 T pine nuts, leaves
1 soaked for 6 hrs
4 cups basil leaves
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Cilantro and peanut
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to seal
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup peanuts
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 cup parsley
1 bird's eye chili, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Arugula and walnut
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to seal
2 cloves garlic
1 cup walnuts
3 cups chopped arugula (rocket, do not use wild)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Tomato and almond
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to seal
4 cloves garlic
2/3 cup unpeeled almonds, soaked overnight and peeled
1 cup diced ripe tomato
1 cup basil leaves
1 bird's eye chili, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients of your chosen pesto in a blender and season with salt and pepper (putting oil in first will help the blender do its work). Blend until as smooth or coarse as you prefer, check seasoning and transfer to a ceramic bowl or glass jar and add enough olive oil just to cover the surface. Cover and store in refrigerator for up to 1 week. Use in salads, with vegetables or as a spread.

Each recipe makes about 1-2 cups.

Variation: Other nut and leaf combinations could include cashews, hazelnuts, mint or watercress.

To make the raw pasta, the most popular thing to use is zucchini. After peeling it, we make the "spaghetti" by hand using a julienne slicer but you can also use a spiral slicer. Pour a generous amount of salt into the "zucchitini", mix well, and let sit for a few minutes until zucchini is limp and spaghetti-like. Be sure to rinse all the salt out or you will ruin the dish. I am also told that another alternative is squash. For pics of another raw pasta and another recipe, check out this site. Enjoy!

Green Smoothies

2008-01-14T11:13:00.001-08:00

Green leafy vegetables are really good for us, but we still don't tend to get enough greens in our diet. I know we eat a lot of greens in our Asian dishes and we eat salads but it's still not nearly enough. A green smoothie, however, is a great way to get a lot of greens in your diet and is full of fresh nutrients. I was introduced to green smoothies when we visited Cami, my sister-in-law in Australia, as I had previously mentioned, and she got Jeremy and I hooked on them. She drinks a whole blenderful of green smoothie for breakfast every morning. I could go on about how full they are of antioxidants, fiber, minerals & nutrients, how they give you a full day of energy and that we know people who suffered with acne for years and after 2 weeks of drinking a green smoothie a day, their skin cleared up but there are plenty of websites out there already. Just look up "green smoothie." The basic idea of the green smoothie is to blend together approximately 60% fruit and 40% greens--and you've got yourself a yummy green smoothie.

This is the recipe that Jeremy and I have been using:

juice of 3 oranges, freshly squeezed
organic kale
organic spinach/swiss chard
2 Medjool dates, seeds removed
handful of goji berries
2 T of flaxseed, ground fresh in a coffee grinder
2 large pears/ 3 small pears
2 medium to large bananas

The trick, if you have an ordinary blender like ours, is to start with the orange juice. Cut the oranges in half and then squeeze out the juice using a citrus reamer. Pour the juice into the blender. We take roughly 2-3 leaves of kale and tear the leaves off the stem and fill the blender loosely full of kale and then blend until smooth. Then we fill the blender full of spinach or swiss chard or a combination of the two and blend again. You can add a little water if it's too thick or your oranges didn't give out much juice. I usually throw in the dates, goji berries, and flaxseed once the leaves have been blended and let it blend together for 2 minutes or so to make sure the greens are blended smoothly. In the meantime, I'm cutting the pears in quarters and cutting out the seeds and stem. Then I throw in the pears and the 2 peeled bananas, blend until they're all smooth and then pour the smoothies into glasses. Jeremy and I usually split the blender and we usually end up with 1 and a half to 2 cups each. The smoothies are really very yummy and I love how green it is because it looks so fresh. I know some people have a green phobia, my brother among them, so if the green color turns you off, you could try throwing in some fresh or frozen berries--it turns the smoothie into a berry shade and you'd never know there was any spinach in there. It's a great idea for kids who won't eat their greens.

My mother and brother throw in most of the oranges (the white stuff is also good for you, especially for allergies) and my mom adds carrots as well. Just find what works for you and what fruits and greens are in season. Sprouts are especially great for you. You can put any leafy vegetable but the darker the better. We've found kale to be too thick by itself and that's why we mix it with other greens. It is also recommended that you vary your greens and not always use the same ones. Enjoy the healthy goodness of the fresh and natural!

Raw Chocolate Balls

2008-01-10T22:30:00.000-08:00

This recipe is thanks to my sister-in-law, Cami, the raw vegan who lives in Australia with her pretty awesome family. We went down to visit her last October and I was introduced to the concept of eating raw food, a very healthy way to go. Because you're eating fresh, you get most of the enzymes that are removed from heating. Because of her, Jeremy and I have started drinking green smoothies on a daily basis. Tonight, however, I will share a simple raw dessert. Four ingredients, that's it. So simple but so good for you. Did you know that cacao powder has the highest percentage of anti-oxidants? (95,500 in 100 grams in raw cacao, 26,000 in roasted cacao and the next on the list is goji berries--25,300 in 100 grams). Can we say superfood? I didn't have raw cacao powder (processed at no higher heat than 45 degrees Celsius) on hand this time, so I used your ordinary cacao powder which has just a bit more antioxidants than goji berries. I made these for Christmas and they went quickly. Tonight, they're for my chocolate craving.

3 C shredded coconut
1 - 1 1/2 C ground almonds
1 C raw cacao powder
1 C maple syrup or agave syrup

Mix and form into balls.

And that's seriously it, folks. Enjoy this dessert, it's great for you!

Food for thought, raw meals may be the way to go for someone who's nicknamed "Sunogum Luto-um" because she's known for burning food...hmmm....

The Filipino "Chicken Soup": Arroz Caldo

2008-01-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

I am sick with the flu. Lying in bed, hacking away and feeling miserable, I remember when I was little, Mom would always make me some lugaw or arroz caldo. Mom's lugaw was always more bland, a hot rice porridge with boiled chicken and broth (back when I still wasn't vegetarian). Coming to the Philippines though, I was introduced to more flavorful arroz caldos so in my mind lugaw always referred to the bland stuff while arroz caldo was more vibrant, colorful, and flavorful. Lugaw is what I want when I have no appetite and can't keep down anything. But today, since I feel like I'm starving, what I am wanting is arroz caldo.. I looked around for recipes and found this one. I was sick, however, and didn't feel like doing it the "long" way and I wanted more garlic, more ginger, and lemon grass for their health benefits and flavor and I wanted lemon juice for throat-soothing reasons, so this is the version that happened today:

1 T grapeseed oil
1/5 medium onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 in ginger, smashed
1 lemongrass, outer leaves peeled, top leaves cut off, bulb hammered and then whole thing tied in a knot
1/2 can gluten or vege-abalone
1 egg, boiled
1 cup rice, cooked
2 cups water
1/2 cube chicken Knorr
salt & pepper to taste (I like to put a lot of pepper)
2 tsp fish sauce
3 T lemon juice
pinch saffron
1 green onion, sliced

Saute onion, garlic, ginger and lemon grass together in oil until fragrant and onions translucent. Add gluten and cook for 3 minutes. Remove gluten from pot. Add rice, water and Knorr, salt & pepper, and fish sauce. Stir and cover part way and lower heat and let mixture thicken to desired consistency. You may add water to thin mixture if it becomes too thick. Add lemon juice and pinch of saffron. Mix. Pour into bowl. Top with sliced egg, gluten, and green onions.

It was hot & sour, good for the throat, full of garlic, ginger, & lemongrass--all good for your health. Perfect comfort food for when you're sick.

New Year Brunch

2008-01-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I was craving good ol' Filipino food today. I just needed some rice and ulam (what we call any dish we eat with rice). I appointed today as Get Rid of Stuff in the Fridge Day, most specifically the bag of Brussels sprouts I had been planning on cooking for a while, the black tree fungus that I was going to throw in the Christmas dinner stir-fry that I had forgotten about and had been soaking in the fridge since, and a half can of puso ng saging, banana heart or banana blossom in English.

Brussel Sprouts
I threw a cup of jasmine rice in the rice cooker and started to look for Brussel sprout recipes and came across this Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts recipe from Heidi. Click on it for the whole recipe but it's simple. You need Brussel sprouts, olive oil, and salt & pepper. Wash the sprouts, take off the loose leaves, cut off the stems and then slice sprouts in half. Rub the flat end with olive oil and start heating a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Then you place all the Brussel sprouts on the pan flat side down for five minutes until the flat side is golden. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste and after it's golden, toss them a few times to brown other side. And I don't know why I typed all that when the actual recipe is much better written. I skipped the sprinkling with cheese since we use cheese sparingly in this household and they were still pretty yummy. I was popping them into my mouth like snacks while waiting for hubby to get out of bed.

Fried Tofu with Toyo-Ginger-Garlic Sawsawan
My favorite fast and easy ulam. Slice a block of tofu in 1/2 inch slices, heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan until hot and arrange slices in pan and fry until golden brown. It's important to use just enough oil to prevent sticking, too much will result in soggy tofu. The tofu slice is easy to turn once the side is golden. Fry on the other side until golden brown and then transfer to a plate with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. My favorite sawsawan (Filipinos have a lot of different dipping sauces with everything) is a simple toyo or soy sauce with a clove of garlic, peeled and crushed. Today I also added a small piece of ginger, peeled and crushed, just to be different. I love all the sawsawans we have in Filipino cuisine, you can click here to try others. The problem with being vegetarian is there's not a lot of possibilities for using sawsawans. I usually arrange sliced tomatoes with the tofu slices, or else dice the tomatoes and sprinkle them on top of the tofu and then top with sliced green onions.

Puso Ng Saging with Tofu & Black Fungus Strips
And this is where it gets a bit crazy. I needed to use my puso ng saging but I couldn't find any ulam recipes, they were all for salad. So this is what I threw together.

1 T grapeseed oil
1/3 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 ginger, peeled and grated
1 large tomato, sliced or diced
3/4 can of banana blossom (or a whole can will do fine), sliced in strips
2 T of lemon juice
1/3 block of tofu sliced in 1/2 inch slices, fried until golden and sliced into strips
1/2 cup of rehydrated dried black fungus mushroom, sliced in strips
1-2 T of soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
dash of patis or fish sauce
3-4 green onions, sliced

I'm still not sure how to work with canned banana blossom. Usually you're supposed to soak the fresh one in vinegar or lemon juice first to get rid of the sap. I sliced them in strips and then rinsed them with water, then soaked them in the lemon juice just to be sure. Heat oil until hot in pan. Throw in onions, garlic and ginger, until slightly brown. Add tomatoes, banana blossom, tofu and mushrooms. Throw in the soy sauce and salt & pepper to taste. I threw in a dash of fish sauce as well just for fun. I think it took about 3 minutes on medium heat for flavors to mix and then topped the whole thing with green onions.

Fresh Spring Rolls

2007-11-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is a vegetarian version of Curtis's recipe from the Take-Home Chef show. I am posting his recipe here with a few changes. First off, I replaced the crab meat with raw julienned tofu. I didn't have basil, mint or bean sprouts on hand tonight when I made them so I skipped that part and it turned out OK, but I would still recommend using the basil and bean sprouts. I didn't have a jalapeno either but just used one small ordinary chili pepper. I did use the fish sauce because I'm not that strict of a vegetarian sometimes and I liked the flavor, but I used 1/8 cup fish sauce and 1/8 of soy sauce and you can just use soy sauce instead if you want it fully vegetarian. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredient list
For the Dipping Sauce:
2/3 cup/155 ml plus 1/4 cup/60 ml water
1/4 cup/60 ml fish sauce (nam pla)
3 tablespoons/60 g seedless tamarind paste
1/2 to 1 red jalapeno chile (depending on the amount of heat desired), minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons/5 g cornstarch
1/4 cup/60 g cane sugar

For the Spring Rolls:
4 cups/1 liter hot water
Eight 8-inch/21-cm-diameter Vietnamese spring roll sheets
8 ounces/230 g tofu, medium firm to firm
2 cups/160 ounces bean sprouts
4 green onions, cut into thin strips
2 carrots, peeled, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup (lightly packed)/15 g fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup/70 g coarsely chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
Fresh cilantro sprigs, for garnish

To prepare the Dipping Sauce:
Stir 2/3 cup/155 ml of the water with the fish sauce, tamarind paste, chile and garlic in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until the paste dissolves.

Stir the cornstarch into the remaining 1/4 cup/50 ml of water in a small bowl until it dissolves. Gradually add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce, stirring constantly. Simmer gently for 1 minute or until the sauce thickens slightly. Stir in the cane sugar. Pour the dipping sauce into serving bowls and set aside.

To prepare the Spring Rolls:
Pour the hot water into a large bowl. Dip 1 spring roll sheet in the water for about 30 seconds or until it is pliable. Remove the spring roll sheet from the water and place it on a wet towel. Let stand for 30 seconds (if the spring roll sheet is still stiff, sprinkle it with more water).

Place an eighth of the tofu across the bottom third of the spring roll sheet. Top with an eighth of each of the green onions, carrots, bean sprouts and cilantro leaves. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon/10 g of the peanuts over the filling.

Fold the bottom edge of the spring roll sheet over the filling, then fold in the ends of the sheet. Continue rolling the sheet around the filling and into a cylinder. Repeat with remaining spring roll sheets, tofu, green onions, carrots, bean sprouts, cilantro leaves and peanuts.

Using a very sharp large knife, cut the spring rolls crosswise on the diagonal in half. Arrange the spring rolls on a plate. Garnish with the cilantro sprigs and serve with the dipping sauce.

Vegetarian Siopao, Mom's Recipe

2007-10-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

I grew up with siopao, steamed buns done the Filipino way, and what I've always considered the Filipino "hamburger." They take a while to make but are well worth it. They freeze well, and it just takes 10 minutes or so in a bamboo steamer to reheat.

So here you go folks, my mom's recipe word-for-word:

1 1/4 C lukewarm water
2 tsp yeast
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 T shortening
4 1/2 cups flour (I use whole wheat, sometimes with 1 cup all-purpose and 3 1/2 cups wheat)
2 sheets of paper cut into roughly 3 inch squares (more if needed)

Soften yeast and 1 T of sugar in lukewarm water for 15 minutes.
In another bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and oil.
Add yeast mixture and 1/2 of flour. Mix well.
Add remaining flour and continue mixing until well blended. Knead on floured board until smooth.
Shape dough into ball and place in greased bowl. Grease surface of dough. Let rise 30-40 min.
Make filling (see recipe below).
Punch down dough and divide into desired sizes.
Form into (roughly 2 in diameter) balls and let rise for another 30 min.
Flatten dough pieces in circle, spoon prepared filling, top with a tsp of egg, bring ends over to seal.
Place paper squares under ball. Let rise until double the size.
Steam in bamboo steamer (or any other steamer) for 10-15 minutes.

Suggested filling:
2 boiled eggs, diced
sauteed gluten, potatoes, carrots, and peas
*I suggest a medium-large frying pan of diced gluten potatoes, carrots, and peas.
Start with about a tablespoon or 2 of oil, throw in 1/2 to 1 onion chopped with 1 clove of minced garlic, stir until browned. Throw in whatever vegetarian meat you've got (gluten is great--about 2-3 cups should be sufficient), followed by 2-3 potatoes and 1-2 cups carrots, peeled and diced. Add a tablespoon or so of soy sauce, and black pepper and salt to taste. Throw in a handful of frozen peas. Cook until peas are just cooked.

Enjoy!

2/14/2011 Addendum: I kept meaning to add the recipe for the Siopao Sauce and just remembered now. I usually throw the ingredients in to taste but I went and decided to measure it out just for you, my friends, who wanted the recipe.

This is a sweet and sour sauce to be served with the siopao. Peel paper off siopao, break halfway open so insides are showing, squirt or spoon sauce inside, close siopao and rub ends together to spread evenly, bite into siopao. Simple. When you have no time, you can use ketchup...but it's more authentic this way.

In small saucepan put:
1 cup of water
3 T of soy sauce (the MSG-less for those who want to avoid MSG)
3 T of brown sugar
2 T of rice vinegar
1 clove of garlic crushed or pressed
1 T of cornstarch (or flour)
lots and lots of black pepper (grind away or put 2 tsps or so?)
Optional: chili pepper flakes or chili substitute

Mix well then put over heat. Stir until thickened to your liking. You can add more cornstarch or either of the salty/sour/sweet portion to your liking, this was just an approximation of what tastes just about right to me.

Hiyashi Chuka (Japanese Cold Noodles)

2007-10-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

You'll need:
Soba noodles (1-2 rolls for 2 servings)
3 plum/roma tomatoes
2 eggs (or fry tofu strips for the vegan version)
1/2 English cucumber

Our Japanese friend, Aiko, introduced us to this dish. We got the package from an Oriental store, but it's a little tricky to find one that comes with a vegetarian sauce. So it was with great joy that we found the Hiyashi Chuka dressing recipe online.

There are two kinds. The soy sauce flavor or the sesame flavor. We usually use the soy sauce flavor. I usually go ahead and make 2 recipes in case we use more and just store the leftovers in a glass jar.

HIYASHI CHUKA DRESSING RECIPE

SOY SAUCE FLAVOR
1/3 cup water
3 T rice wine vinegar (or rice vinegar)
2 T soy sauce
3 T sugar
1 tsp sesame oil

SESAME FLAVOR
3/4 cup water
4 T sugar
8 T soysauce
4 T rice wine vinegar (or rice vinegar)
2 T grated sesame seeds
1 tsp sesame oil

We use the packaged buckwheat soba noodles. They're usually wrapped in rolls with a ribbon. Each roll is roughly 2 servings. Usually Jeremy and I use 1 to 1 and a half of the noodle rolls. I'm told you are to bring the water to a rolling boil before adding the noodles. Cook until al dente, don't overcook, especially with the cheap brands because they tend to get soggy and break apart. Follow the package instructions, I guess...I don't really know how to describe the state of cook-ness :D Drain noodles, and throw in ice cubes with noodles to cool.

Break 2 eggs in a bowl, add a dash of salt, beat with fork and fry in large frying pan. Transfer to chopping board and roll up to make cutting into strips easier. Slice "roll" into thin strips. Transfer on plate and put in fridge or freezer for quick cooling. Slice cucumber and tomatoes into thin strips as well.

Drain noodles and remove ice cubes. Divide noodles in two bowls. Arrange tomato, cucumber, and egg slices on top of noodles and pour dressing over whole thing. And there you go...eat with fork or chopsticks. Yum!

Once Upon a Time....

2007-10-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

I was a bookworm who always had her nose stuck in a book when her mom called her to help cook in the kitchen. Not surprisingly, when I was college-aged and moved into an apartment with 3 of the greatest roommates who ever lived, I was pretty sad in the cooking department. They soon dubbed me "Sunogum Lutoum,"--my scientific name created from the Tagalog words "sunog" (burnt) and "luto" (cooking) because of frequent episodes of a to-be lunch or supper going up in smoke since I decided to go read a book while it was cooking and promptly forgot about lunch/supper. I improved, I hope.

This is the online version of A Lunatic's Collection of Toxic Waste: Burning in the Kitchen, my collection of recipes gleaned from friends, family, magazines, cookbooks, and the internet written in a small spiral notebook that has since started falling apart over the years.

I am now the Filipino-who-grew-up-in-Africa wife of a blond Canadian prince who is more Asian than me at times, so needless to say, my cooking has been from all over the place with a basic grounding on Asian. We are vegetarians, mostly vegan, but with a bit of egg or cheese thrown in every now and then. I don't really measure when I cook, I tend to throw things in, so forgive my laid-back recipes at times. Most of these recipes are stolen though so they should be easy to follow. Enjoy!