Vegan Ramen ビーガンラーメン

 

日本語のレシピは　ビーガン情報サイト　”Hachidory"　を　ご覧ください。

Which do you prefer winter or summer ?

This is a question we often ask each other among friends and family since I was small.

When the summer came, I used to think I prefer winter, and the winter came, I used to think I prefer summer.

Now my answer is always the same.

I definately prefer hot season.

When it is cold, I do not want to get out of futon, Japanese bed in the morning, and am reluctant to move around even within a house.  

I often ended up staying in the kitchen whole day. 

"Lazy" may be is the best word to describe myself in the winter, though I actually do not like to be lazy. 

Because of this hardship - might sound exaggerated for those who prefer winter- , my meal time with piping hot soup and bath time in 42℃ hot water are super happiest moments for me. ( You may be wondering why I am so precise, but temperature of Japanese bath is usually controled by 1℃ unit, and it is not hot enough if it is 41℃, and it is too hot if it is 43℃ for me.) 

I cook most of my food with clay pots during winter.

The food cooked with clay pots is not only hot and can maintain its high temperature, but also very gentle in its taste and texture.   

I am showing off some of my clay pots today.

They look the same, right ?

Yes, they are same, but different in sizes.

These claypots are most freqently used in my cooking, and are often used for cooking rice, making soup and simmer the red beans.

I sometimes encounter very attractive clay pots and am tempted to get them, but I have to give up because I don't have any more space to keep them.

If I had much space and money, I'm sure I would be a clay pot collecter !

Well, I move to introduce the recipe of January 2018.

I am going to show you how to make vegan Ramen today！

"Ramen" is not a traditional Japanese food though I know it is very popular as Japanese food even in overseas nowdays.  

The noodles are usually made from wheat, water, pH balance additives to make the noodle texture firm, and quite often with eggs, coloring and oil.

Therefore you'd better check the ingredient list when you purchase ramen noodles.

"Udon" noodles which is usually made from wheat, water and salt only is healthier alternative, and suitable for this recipe too. 

Look for fresh thinner udon for a replacement of ramen.

As introducing instant food using the ready made ingredient is not something that I can boast, I am also going to show you how to make "Shiraganegi" (literally means white hair leek).  

It is a bit time consuming work, so if you think it is too much, you can skip it, and top up with plenty of blanched bean sprouts instead.

But "Shiraganegi" is very usuful for other dishes too, and can make the food very presentable, so try it if you want to improve your cooking skill.

Let's get started !

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タグ：白髪ねぎ ビーガン料理 Ramen Vegan Cooking Class ビーガンラーメン ラーメン マクロビオティック料理 macrobiotics 土鍋 野菜ラーメン

Vegan Miso Soup 昆布だしの味噌汁

 

 (日本語のレシピ、最後の方に、あります。）

It is a frosty world outside whenever I open the sliding shutter doors in the morning.

Yes, it is the coldest season in Japan now , and at about 5 a.m. , the tempreture hits the lowest degree of the day.  

It can go down to －6℃ here in Saitama.

I know it is much better than other places like Canada where some of my friends live, but I cannot help feeling freezing cold.

So I always try to look for something nice which can happen only in winter, and cheer me up.

The clear cloudless blue sky,

The crystal shining stars and moon,

The energetic tress which shed off all the leaves,

The churping birds flying here and there, enjoying their lives fully in the nature.

And yes, winter vegetables,

Kabu/turnip, Daikon /white radish,  the carrot,  Goboh/the burdock,

Negi/the leak.  

 Those are representing the winter vegetables, and people living in this regeion eat them everyday.

( You may have noticed that those are all root vegetables.  

The root vegetables are considered very Yang and keep your body warm.)

There's one more vegetable that we appreciate only in cold season only.

It is oblone.

It is quite big and heavy.

It is not a root vegetable.

It has leafy part and non leafy part.

The leafy part is light green color.

The non leafy part is white color.

It has many layers.

The leafy part of inner section is yellow.

Do you know what it is by now ?

It is

It looks like this in the field.

When it is not tied with a string, its leaves open up like this.

Hakusai, the Napa Cabbage!

We often eat it in a steam boat and also make it into pickles to presereve.

Just simply blanching in boiling water and eating with Miso sauce mixed with Yuzu juice and chopped leak is also one of my favorites.

It goes nice with preserved tomato sauce if you want to enjoy it in different style.

Today, I am introducing you Miso Soup with nap cabbage.

The miso soup is easy to make, but many people use instant soup stock or use artificial Miso which contains unnatural flavours, or the one heated up to stop the fermentation for easy storage.

Miso soup is a very basic traditional Japanese food.

Follow my recipe to appreciate the real goodness of miso.

I do not use any fish products for stock, so it is pure vegan miso soup.

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タグ：冬野菜 昆布 昆布だし 油揚げ 大根 白菜 味噌 ビーガン みそ汁 macrobiotics Japanese Food MISO miso soup Vegan

Turnip Gratin カブグラタン

最後の方に　日本語のレシピが　載っています。 

Here's a quiz of December for you.

I am white in color.

I am round in shape.

My skin is very smooth and silky.

I have long and green leaves on top of me.

I can be eaten raw.

Japanse people like to put me into the Miso soup.

They also like to mix me with vinegar.

Who am I ?

I am

Kabu is my  most favorite winter vegetable !

I enjoy Kabu in various ways....

Steam and eat with miso mixed with leak and Yuzu.

Slice very thin and mix with vinegar, salt and sweetner.

Steam and make into salad with millet dressing.

Adding into soup.

Rub salt and make into pickles

 

Kabu is translated to turnip, but I found the turnip sold in Singapore was quite different from the ones grown in Japan.

This is called "Ayamekabu", top part is pink colour

The skin of Japanese turnip looks smooth and shinny, and its texture is silky. 

We can enjoy these fine texture when we eat it raw rather than steaming, simmering or boiling.

My most favorite way of eating it is to make it into salad mixed with vinegar and sweetner.

(I introduced this recipe last year.)

Today, I am sharing my recipe of Gratin.

I am sure this would make you happy on a freezing cold day.

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タグ：macrobiotics Vegan Bread crumb Gratin kabu Japanese turnip Turnip 米粉 豆乳 パン粉 ホワイトソース マクロビオティック ビーガン グラタン 蕪 かぶ

Japanese citron, Kinkan Jam /きんかんジャム

 (きんかんジャムの日本語のレシピが　最後の方に書いてあります。） 

Here's another Japanese citrus fruit which is now in its season.

(There are so many variety of citrus fruits in Japan these days, but Kinkan and Yuzu are genuine Japanese citrus fruits which have been exsisting since long time ago, and poweful enough to grow by themselves not needing special cares nor fertilizer.)

"KINKAN" is very tiny, even smaller than longans.

I like to eat it in the form of salad mixing with vegetables such as cabbage, onions and leafy green vegetables.

Salad with kinkan, cabbage and parcerly

Salad with kinkan, watercress and walnut

Another way I enjoy this fruit is to transform them into jam, and add into bread dough, scone dough, or use it as a topping or a nappage for cakes and pies.

Scones, kneaded with kinkan jam.

My scones are flaky and crispy and every one loves them !

A whole cake with tofu cream and kinkan jam

Sliced shot.   I used Fave Garvanzo flour, so this is gluten-free!

and also chemical free, no baking powder nor baking soda used.

Soy bean cream pie with kinkan nappage

I'm going to share my kinkan jam recipe with you today.

My fruit jam is always not too sweet so the real taste of that paraticular fruit remains.

If Kinkan is not available where you live, jut replace it with other citrus fruist or any kinds of berries.

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タグ：きんかん きんかんジャム Kinkan Japanese citrus fruit Macrobiotic cooking Vegan ビーガン料理 マクロビオティック料理 マクロビオティック料理教室

Radish in Yuzu and Soy Sauce 大根の柚子しょうゆ漬け

”大根の柚子しょうゆ漬け”　の日本語のレシピが、最後の方に書いてありますので、見て下さいね。

Yuzu is one of the Japanese citrons harvested in winter.

Its aroma is very unique, fragrant and strong. 

When I used to live in Singapore, it was a very precious fruit flown from Japan.

It was sold only one piece in a packet with high price tag.

But I can use countless of those for my cooking now as my town grows lots of Yuzu trees, and it is very common to have a Yuzu tree in our own gardens. 

People do not know why, but the trees can bear lots of Yuzu every other year.

We did not have so many fruit last year, but are having plenty of those this year.

It is very pleasant to see many yellow fruit among green leaves with the background of cloudless blue sky here and there. 

  In Kanto area, the sky in winter is so blue and beautiful, and it looks as if it is positioning much higher up above us than in other seasons.

Though my Yuzu tree still can't bear fruit yet,  I received lots of them from my neighbours and the participants to my cooking classes.

Yuzu named "Tadanishiki" which has no seeds.  Usually Yuzu has many  seeds in it.

See what I cooked with them recently.

Yuzu rice flour cake.  I made with the method that I invented, with no chemical raising agent such as baking powder, bi-carbonate soda nor dry yeast.  No eggs used, of course.

 Yuzu Jam.   The color changed to dark orange as I do not use refined sugar in my cooking.

Tohu Mayonnaise with Yuzu.    Creamy fragrant mayonnaise is so yummy when it is spread on bread for sandwiches.

I also add Yuzu peels in soup, tea to enjoy its aroma.

It is also very refreshing if we squeeze its juice over oily food such as Tempura and fried veggies.

Today I am sharing one of my recipes which is sooo easty to make, and requires only one Yuzu so that you can make it without hesitation even if it is sold one piece only in a packet where you live.

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タグ：YUZU Yuzu recipe 柚子 大根 柚子のレシピ マクロビオティック料理 マクロビオティック料理教室 Macrobiotic Japanese cooking