Tuesday 13 August 2019

VeganMoFo 2019 #13: K is for Kansha (Recipe Round-Up)



I love Japanese food, and while there are several great options for eating out (see my post for day 11 of MoFo) it is nice to make things at home as well. So I was very excited when I received a copy of Kansha. It is a beautiful book, with lots of very traditional recipes, but it is not the most accessible book in terms of ingredients or techniques, so it just lurked on my shelves and I'd pull it out every now and then to look at it. But eventually I decided that, even if I can't make everything, I can still make somethings! Thankfully I have a Japanese grocery store not that far away from me, because honestly I would struggle finding ingredients without it (and even with it there are lots of things I just can't get). But anyway, here are some things I made!

Soy-Braised Kabocha and Wheat Wheels, Rice Tossed with Radish Greens, and Sweet, Spicy, and Tart Sun-Dried Radish: This meal definitely required some special ingredients. First up, the kuruma-bu, or wheat wheels, which are dried 'wheels' of gluten. I made them a bit too squishy because I followed the instructions on the packet rather than the instructions in the book because I got very confused. As a result, the braising liquid didn't fully absorb into them. It also has kabocha and green beans. This is served at room temperature to allow the flavours to meld, but I would have preferred it warmer (the recipe does say you can zap in the microwave to heat it up. The main liquid part of the braising liquid is a Sun-Dried Radish Stock, which was very easy to make but again needed special kiriboshi daikon also from the Japanese shop. This was served with Japanese rice tossed with homemade furikake. To make the furikake (dehydrated greens), you can yse daikon tops, turnip tops, kale, collards, or beet greens. I used kale, and I made a half batch of it. The kale is blanched, blotted, finely blotted, and baked. Once cooked and cooled, they are mixed through cooked sushi rice. The final part of this dinner was the pickled sun-dried radishes. These used the kiriboshi daikon that was leftover from making the stock, so it was a good way to not have any waste leftover (this book is big on using up everything you can). I didn't have any yellow colouring to add to them, so they are just natural beige colour, but that is fine by me as the taste was not affected. I left these in the fridge for 8 hours before serving, and the flavour was great afterwards.
Rating: Braise :), Stock :), Rice :), Pickles :)

Soy-Braised Kabocha and Wheat Wheels; Rice Tossed with Radish Greens; Sweet, Spicy, and Tart Sun-Dried Radish


Two Kinds of Tofu, Amber Braised with Carrots and Rice Tossed with Radish Greens: This recipe calls for grilled tofu and thick fried tofu. The Japanese grocery store sells both kinds, but they didn't have any grilled when I was there. So I bought a block of firm fresh tofu and followed some simple instructions online to make it grilled. The recipe calls for blanching the tofu, but I didn't bother doing that with the grilled tofu. This is a lovely braising sauce, based on kelp stock (I only needed 1 cup rather than the full one and a half cups) with a few simple things added. I served this with some leftovers of the rice and greens I mentioned above.
Rating: :)

Two Kinds of Tofu, Amber Braised with Carrots; Rice Tossed with Radish Greens


Mixed Vegetables Braised with Thick Fried Tofu: This stew has shiitake, fried tofu, burdock (I used parsnip as an alternative), carrots, edamame, and konnyaku (which I got from the Japanese shop, but is also found in most Asian grocery stores these days). The konnyaku is kind of squidgy and a bit fishy, you could leave it out if you are not a fan or can't find it. I served this over some plain Japanese rice.
Rating: :)

Mixed Vegetables Braised with Thick Fried Tofu


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Dim Sim in the wheelbarrow bed


Dim Sim decided to try out the wheelbarrow bed exactly once. She seemed comfortable enough in it, but once was enough for her. You can see how tiny she is!

12 comments:

  1. I'm impressed that you made your own furikake! I just spent the same amount of time, probably, pouring over the ingredient lists until I find vegan furikake in a jar. Now I feel lazy somehow.

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    1. Honestly, I think this was a one time thing. Or, maybe I'd try it again on the odd occasion. But otherwise, buying it in a jar is where you'll find me. But you are right, it is hard finding ones that are vegan sometimes!

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  2. Wow! That's so much work!! The end result looks amazing and I'm impressed by the amount of effort you put into it. It seems like the results were worth it, thankfully! Hi Dim Sim! What a sweet picture!

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    1. Definitely not a quick weeknight meal book! But it was fun to make some of these things from scratch.

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  3. Wow, I'm really impressed with all the effort you put in!! The meals are all gorgeous and so sophisticated!!!
    I really need to try kabocha squash, I've never had it but I knoiw it's very popular.
    Dim Sim is so tiny!!!

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    1. I love kabocha (which over here is called Kent). It is so sweet, plus you can eat the skin so less prep work all round.

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  4. Yum!! I have some books like that too — books that just beautiful, that I WANT to eat from, but there's just so many hard-to-find ingredients and steps in the recipes, the books just sit there on my shelf. Glad you got this one down!

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    1. It will be a while before I reach for it to cook from again I think. It is definitely a 'project' book. But at least now I know I can make some things from it.

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  5. The tofu looks so good! Sweet Dim Sim; such a big bed for a tiny kitty!

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  6. I love Japanese foods, but I feel you, it is so persnickety. I remember reading how Japanese curry became popular, and some attribute it super easy cooking to it's rise in popularity.

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    1. Oh, interesting about the curry! Also it is damn tasty, which I imagine helps. But I have made a few Japanese curry sauces from scratch, and they are pretty straight forward, you are right.

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