Asian Veg-sations!

Hello everybody! Today I would like to share my vegan adventures in my local Hong Kong Supermarket in Flushing, NY. Since Chinese culture has historical and spiritual roots in vegetarianism, these stores often have a medley of unique, vegan-friendly products that are worth the trip! Also, these stores have LOADS of delicious junk food products (I prefer the term evil healthy snack) so if you've got the munchies, load up!

First up, we have these sexually suggestive "Swallow Balls" hahaha. They are actually a vegan version of the fish balls that are commonly used in Shabu Shabus, and are made with yam flour and soy. Though pretty tasteless, the consistency is top notch and has the ability to absorb any flavoring you add, be it spicy or sweet. I myself used it for my lunchtime congee, with a sprinkling of Maggi and some hot oil pepper flakes. It also comes in Squid and Shrimp flavors! 3.5 out of 5 carrots!















































Next up is Calbee Snow Pea Crisps. I abso-fucking-lutely LOVE these crunchy, faintly-pea-tasting snacks, almost as much as I love the classic Wasabi peas (which are vegan in the Kasugai brand!) A must have for anyone sitting down to watch ChungKing Express or Saving Face late at night! 4.5 out of 5 carrots.

































So, ever since I went vegan I've been depressed at the fact that I had to give up Bugles (which USED to be vegan till they went and added whey!! WHY??). Imagine my orgasm-inducing DELIGHT when I came across these babies! Though they are a spicier version of the classic snack, the crunch factor and overall likeness to the real thing are unsurpassed! 5 out of 5 carrots!!


































So being Taiwanese, I have an undying devotion to stinky tofu, no matter how rancid the olfactory assault (the stinker the better!). However, I seldom like to cook it myself as it lingers on in my hair and clothes (I want to eat it but I really prefer not to have it hanging around on my date), so this delicious packaged sort really takes care of that mess for me! It is absolutely sumptuous and rich in flavor, and the sauce it is marinated in can be used towards noodle soups and stir-fries. Totally delish!! I am going to go ahead and say 6 out of 5 carrots!!!















Finally, we have something for the sweet tooths. This totally natural and satisfying snack can be a bit annoying to crack open, but the buttery flavor and yummy nutty aroma will have you devouring the whole bag! Nuts are also good for hair and skin! ;) 4 out of 5 carrots!



















That's it for this edition of supermarket shopping! Tune in next time for more vegan delights! (Kirby says sleepytime!)

Hey Apple Pie!

By now everyone should know that I am obsessed with making pies. It's not such a bad thing, you know!

This pie recipe is, of course from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I did not use as many apples as she called for, only three, and it came out to be perfect, since that way I did not have to use two of the "Flaky Pie Crust" recipes. I used Fuji apples my mom bought from Flushing (sorry Mom!), which make for a not-too-mushy sort of apple filling since they are already quite a bit solid. I hope to try Winesap or Golden Delicious next time, since she lists those as "Excellent" apple choices for filling, whereas Fuji was just "Good".

It turns out that one slight accidental modification turned out for the better: I got carried away with making the filling while waiting for the crust ingredients to chill in the freezer, and left it in for a little over an hour. Though the butter was incredibly hard to work with by hand at that point, I simply used a handheld mixer and the dough became a bit more pliable after about 5-6 minutes of mixing. Remember, you do NOT want an elastic dough, but a more piece-y, rough-looking texture when it comes to crust.

Well, the extra time in the freezer resulted in an incredibly flaky crust. Quite time consuming, but it was totally worth the extra work!!

I also made sure to add the lemon juice early on so as to stop the apples from oxidizing. Make sure the apples are coated thoroughly with the juice as you prep each apple.

Bon appetit!! :)

ps: I paired my pie with mint-chocolate chip kosher ice cream from Klein's. Yum!

Restaurant Review time! :)

So yes, I have been incredibly lax with updating my blog, and I apologize profusely!! But I have had quite the eventful week, so don't blame me too much! :)

This past week, I've been to a goodly number of vegan restaurants. Let's start with a review of my quickie meal at Black Moutain Wine House in Brooklyn.

I had their "Bahn Mi" Salad, which was obviously a not-too-stellar attempt at a pretty popular Vietnamese appetizer. For $10, I got a plate with shredded cucumber, red bell pepper, Thai basil, vermicelli noodles, and a copious splattering of crushed peanuts as the topper. I must add that I was virtually ravenous when I devoured it, so it may or may not have been as good/bad as I will make it sound in a minute. First off, the noodles were watery. Obviously someone had failed to strain them properly and then just plopped them into a sieve when they remembered it. There was an exorbitant amount of lime juice that permeated the whole dish and made it taste much more unpleasantly citrus-y than it needed be. The vinaigrette as a whole was not to my liking. Not that it was so awful on its own, but that they had just put WAY too much of it. 2 out of 5.

































Next up we have The Organic Grill at St. Marks. I ordered the Tofu Scramble, and I must say it was pretty delicious (however my omni-friend did not agree. Oh well!). The mozzarella they used was a good consistency, stretchy and flavorful, not rubbery and artificial tasting like so many I've tried in the past. The tofu "scramble" was seasoned to perfection and not too salty or overtly spiced, which is great because you are free to add as much S+P as you like (which I did of course!). It came with a piece of toast cut in half, as well as your choice of broccoli, onions, cauliflower, zucchini, kale, green peppers, black olives, fresh or sundried tomatoes, portobello shitake or white mushrooms, spinach, and carrots, and of course vegan or dairy mozzarella or cheddar. 4.5 out of 5!















As a finisher, I visited Stogo, and had a scoop of their chocolate hazelnut and pina colada flavors. Sorry, no pictures, I ate it all! :) The pina colada is my all-time favorite flavor, due to it's not-too oppressing sweetness and creaminess. It also provides a good base when you want a sort of "flavor cushion" against the other flavors, which are indeed more sweet. They also had a Blueberry flavor which I believe is seasonal, as it is not listed on the site, though it was nothing too special. I myself personally like to see how much of each flavor is left so I can gauge the popularity, and it usually yields some good results! You can get a small size for about $4 and that includes two generous scoops. Yum!

Pancit Time!

This weekend, I decided to make a dish that I often fall back on when I get seriously hungry. The recipe, Three-Flavor Pancit, is from Vegan Planet (search for "pancit" in the Amazon preview, and the shot of the book is right there on page 260, how convenient), a book I like to use mostly for the Asian recipes (another good recipe from that book is the Corn Chowder, which is a great appetizer and goes awesomely with a Triple Baguette from Eli's on 81st and 3rd... ps: the Double is the same price as a Triple baguette there, just a heads up! More bread for less dough! :) )

The recipe is basically a stir-fry, vegan version of Pad-Thai, and is endlessly satisfying, since it is chock-full of protein and fiber.

One crucial thing is to fry each ingredient separately, and be mindful of how much oil you add, since you do want to add sesame oil at the end for flavor (it doesn't say when to add the sesame oil in the recipe itself, which is odd, but it really tastes great at the end as a sort of seasoning).

For this particular instance, I did use whole-grain spaghetti instead of vermicelli, which was fine, but vermicelli does give it more originality. Conversely, thin spaghetti or even angel hair pasta is fine. Whatever your preferred noodle is, this recipe is fairly easy to make and so very tasty!

Be sure to have a large bowl on hand in which to put the ingredients in after they finish their turn in the skillet/wok. After frying them all individually, toss it all back in and fry just to make it up to par in terms of temperature.

Enjoy!


Westsoy seitan strips and red bell peppers.













I over-fried the tempeh a bit...













Having a large bowl on hand makes it so much easier.












I like frozen peas vs. canned. Just boil a little and stir 'em in!


























Make sure to thoroughly combine the ingredients.































Finished product! Don't forget the cilantro and scallion garnish, they really add to the overall palate of the dish.

Mmm, pie!

One of my favorite things to do is bake. A few days ago, I decided to make some peach pie, straight out of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's fabulous book, The Joy of Vegan Baking.

To make the pie, she recommends you to chill all the ingredients before assembling the crust. This is pretty crucial, since the warmer the ingredients, the less flaky and crispy the crust will be (and isn't a non-flaky crust not really a crust at all?). What I like to do is to combine all the crust ingredients into a mixing bowl that fits into the freezer, making sure the margarine (I think margarine makes for the best crust, not butter) is pretty chopped up before freezing. I froze mine for the recommended 30 minutes.

Here's how my pie turned out (as you can see some hungry animals got to it before I snapped this pic):






























For the whipped cream topping, I used this beyond delicious kosher product from my local kosher supermarket, A-Z Kosher in Fresh Meadows, on 186-05 Union Turnpike (sorry, the photos would just not upload vertically):
















Some rave reviews from mommy, who usually HATES vegan baking:

Late Night Snax!!

So it's midnight, and sure enough, I feel an onslaught of munchies. What a better way to sate those munchies than with some delish Rice Crispies, Vegan-ized?

Here's what you'll need:

- About 8 cubes Sweet & Sara vegan marshmallows (so good! :) )

- 2 tbsp Earth Balance buttery spread (stick form is the one I used, worked perfect! I think it's the same as the tub form though).
















- Rice Crispies (ghetto Western Beef "Crispy Rice" was just as delicious and crunchy crisp!).



















To make the crispies:

1) Melt the butter at low heat in a small pot.

2) Add the marshmallows , and stir till they start to melt. When they do, make sure the melted part doesn't start to burn at the bottom. Make sure to keep scraping the melty part off the bottom.

3) After about 5-6 minutes, it should be ready to have the crispies added (don't worry if the mallows are not totally melted, the crispies will still adhere to them in an even manner).

4) Add the crispies, and cover all the white mallow spots with additional crispies, till you can't see the white anymore.

5) Transfer to a flat pan, shape as desired, and enjoy! :)



































So I would like to take a little time out to thank the lovely ladies at Sweet & Sara, who so nicely gave us (me as well as my sisters and friend) extra mallows with our very reasonably-priced purchase, a tour of the factory (it was very clean!), as well as lovely chit chat and samplings of their new product, Cinnamon Hazelnut and Mocha Almond Biscotti, which would be very lovely with some Silk or tea :). Thanks for making my late night munchie possible, Sara! :D















^ All my S&S booty! :))