Vegan Gluten-free Peanut Cookies ピーナッツクッキー天使のキッス

 

日本語のレシピは　ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory から　ご覧下さい。

January is the coldest month in Japan.

I am re-affirming it to myself recently.

But I’m not sure I feel so because it is metrologically really so or because of my age. 

I need to find the methods this and that to make myself comfortable to pass this cold season which I often wish to escape from.   

Fortunately I found some ways and I am still fit and active.  Hooray !!

Japanese New Year finished, but Lunar New Year is coming soon !

When it arrives, the spring is around the corner. 

Hotokenoza, one of the first wildflowers of the year that I found during my walk.

I would be able to smell the spring in the air and find the pretty spring wildflowers on the ground despite of the coldness which may last some more. 

Oinunofuguri, another lovely wildflower of the very early spring.

Today I am sharing a recipe which was created from my fond memory of Lunar New Year in Singapore.

Singaporeans celebrate the New Year with the variety kinds of cookies.  I used to love those cookies and wanted to learn how to make them from the first year I experienced it. 

At that time, internet was not popular at all even in IT advanced Singapore.  So I got most of the information from the newspaper, “Straits Times”.  I used to like to read it and spent hours to read it every day especially for the first few years there.   I learned so many things and got so much information about Singapore from it.  Without it, I probably was not able to actively immerse myself in Singapore. 

I searched “Cookery Class “section of the classified ad of Straits Times and went to learn how to make the cookies mainly from individuals by visiting their homes. 

MRT, the subway was not constructed yet, so I drove wherever I went and learned the map of Singapore too, of course without GPS to guide me.   Oh yes, I was very active looking for something new all the time.   

Though I was brought up in Japan during my childhood and live in Japan now, 21 years of my life in Singapore, starting to work, starting to have a family, starting to have my own business there influenced me so much.   Who I am now cannot be without those days.  

My life in Japan now is very quiet and frugal,  very different from the one of those days, but I can really appreciat what I have now and my mind is always peaceful and contentted.  

I treasure those memories in me as I probably can’t visit Singapore anymore.

Well I should stop my memory talk now…

Enjoy my recipe, the vegan peanut cookies and Baci De Dama (It is a Italian word meaning “Lady’s Kisses” and actually it is the chocolate sandwiched cookies.)

They are very easy to make and very tasty !

But are so fragile, so be gentle whenever you handle them until they go into your mouth !

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タグ：マクロビオティック ビーガン 天使のキッス ピーナッツクッキー マクロビオビーガン 旧正月 チャイニーズニューイヤー 米粉 小麦アレルギー グルテンフリー マクロビオティック料理教室 ビーガン料理教室 Japanese vegan macrobiotics Gluten-Free Japanesecooking Japanesecookingschool Vegancookingclass Chinesenewyear lunarnewyear peanutcookies bacidedama

Potato mixed with Pesto Giapponese 新じゃがの和風ペスト和え

日本語のレシピは　ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory から　ご覧下さい。

 ♫♬ One potato, Two potatoes, Three potatoes, Four, ♫♬

♩♪ Five potatoes, Six potatoes, Seven potatoes and More ! ♬♫

Do you know this song ?

This is the song that I often sing for small kids.

The lyric is very simple and the sound is rhythmical, so it is easy even for Japanese toddlers to sing along together.

I feel like singing this song more often these days.

Guess why ?

 

Because it is going to be the harvest season of the potatoes soon.

The potato leaves in my backyard look much more vigorous than last few years.  

I am anticipating the bigger harvest this year.  ( Yes, “bigger” not “big”.  My vegetable patch is small, and I could lay only a few potatoes in the soil in early spring. )

I can probably harvest them in fortnight.

The potatoes are sold all the year round in the shops.

But the harvest is usually only once a year, (in some areas twice is possible.) 

The new potatoes are fresh !

When the potatoes are fresh, I like to steam and eat them in simple ways.  

I am sharing one of such potato recipes with you today.

I named the paste that is to mix with the potatoes “Pesto Giapponese “ , following the recipe of “Pesto Genovese”.  

Instead of using Italian basil, I used daikon/white radish leaves this time. 

Actually, any kinds of edible greenery leaves from the wild can be used with no extra cost. 

In this way you can also enjoy the different flavors. 

I made Pesto Giapponese using the leaves of dandelion from my backyard previously and it tasted great too.

 

I also replaced the pine nuts that the original Pesto Genovese requires with the walnuts that I picked up from the riverbank towards the upstream near my town.

You can use any types of nuts but try to choose the one from where you live if it is possible,

and also check the date of manufacturing and make sure that they are fresh. 

Minding them is not only good for your health and well-being,

but also for other creatures and environment.

 

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タグ：くるみ タンポポの葉 オリーブオイル walnut potatoes pesto genovese 大根の葉 じゃがいも ジェノペーゼ 料理教室 ペスト macrobiovegan ビーガン macrotiotics 新じゃが Japanese Vegan Dandelion マクロビオティック

Vegan Shredded Chicken Salad Rice Harvest ビーガン棒棒鶏 新米

日本語のレシピは　ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory から　ご覧下さい。

October is the month of harvest of rice in Japan.

The diet of Japanese people changed drastically after the world warⅡby the influence of US.  

It became common to eat bread, meat and dairy daily since then, though it used to be rare for Japanese people to eat those foods before.  

The diet was westernized in short period by the government policy. 

 

Yet the rice still exists as a pillar of our diet.

The rice grains are hung for drying. 

The pastoral scene like this is rare and precious nowdays. 

I am very lucky to be able to see and purchase the sun dried rice in my neighbourhood.

I think one feels something missing if hshe finishes the day without eating rice at all.   

Japanese people are generally very particular about the quality of rice.  When you go to the normal supermarkets, what you can find in the rice section are usually only Japanese short grain rice.  But there are lots of varieties under different brands, which may make you wonder what the differences are.   

They are often categorized by the seeds and the prefecture where they were grown.   Each prefecture or region has different climate, different water, different humidity, different soil, different air, and all of those affect the growth, the taste and the texture of the rice grains.

I was born and raised in Akita where the rice quality is considered excellent.   However I still remember the moment that I first tasted the rice of Niigata prefecture at a small inn in ski resort, it was sooo good.  It tasted much better than the rice I had been eating.

Since then I sticked to Niigata rice whenever I purchased.

When I moved to Singapore, Japanese rice was not available there, so I had to go for either American short grain rice or Australian medium grain rice.   Their textures and tastes were very different for me.
I needed to find the methods to cook them to the satisfactory texture somehow, and eventually I found they can turn out to the similar texture as Japanese rice when I used the pressure cooker to cook.

 

The time passed, and after learning Macrobiotics, I stick to the philosophy to lead a life the way the nature intended which is to eat locally and seasonally.  Though I’m in the situation where I can buy Niigata rice easily, I eat the rice raised where I live.
I now know how to cook this local rice to its maximum level, which is also most suitable texture for me.
I came to think it is not only the kinds of seeds and the places of production which determine the quality of rice but the methods of preparation greatly affect the outcome. 

(In my online class in October, I am sharing the ultimate method of cooking brown rice.  Check the website if you are interested in learning how to cook the brown rice in the clay pot.　)

 

I just had my first shinmai rice（literally means new rice), yesterday.

Shinmai is a delicacy, and it is such an exciting moment to open the lid of pot after cooking.

“Beautiful !”  It looked much shinier than the one that I was eating until the day before.

I made lots of onigiri to enjoy this shinmai.

I think onigiri is the best rice dish to appreciate the umami of rice.

 

(Some of you might think why I made onigiri with polished white rice, but not with the brown rice. 

I eat brown rice together with miso soup for breakfast everyday but I want different types of rice for other meals, and I also simply want to enjoy shinmai with polished rice for lighter texture. )

 

Onigiri Lunch of soup, pickles and salad for my family

Simple typical  Japanese meal

Inside the pot is the soup with lots of seasonal vegetable.

Onigiri recipe was introduced already some time ago.  So visit this page if you want to learn how to make it.

 

This month recipe is again mock chicken dish to collaborate with Hachidory to promote the campaign to be compassionate to chickens.

(Visit my previous post for another vegan mock chicken dish, “Torisoboro”)

I am using the abalone mushroom to get the similar texture of shredded chicken.   It is salad with cucumber and sesame-based dressing.  Some of you may be familiar with the name of Chinese chicken dish, Bangbang Ji 棒棒鶏. 

The cucumber season is going to finish soon in Japan, so try it before the natural open field crops are out of your sight.

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タグ：Japanese vegan マクロビオティック Vegan chicken 棒棒鶏 Vegan Bang Bang Ji Abalone mushroom 新米 ビーガン棒棒鶏 エリンギ ビーガン料理 きゅうり macrobiotics Onigiri 米 おにぎり Japanese rice cucumger

ビーガン鶏そぼろ Japanese Flavor Vegan Minced Chicken

日本語のレシピは　ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory から　ご覧下さい。

Songs by cicadas have gone,

but the orchestra by the insects is calming our soles at night.

The autumn breeze that I can feel on my cheeks are pleasant.

The moons and the stars are adding the nostalgia to my heart.

 

Mid-autumn festival is coming soon.

It is the day that we spend the quiet and peaceful time watching the moon at night.  It is said that the moon looks most beautiful on this date, which is 15 of August in lunar calendar. 

We can locate the moon at the best angle to look up as the position of the moon is not too high nor too low from where we are.

 

 

The mid-autumn festival is called “Chushu no Meigetus/中秋の名月” or “Otsukimi/お月見” in Japanese.

I decorate the counters in my living room with rice dumplings, wall hanging of the full moon, Susuki/silver grass, rice plant, moon shaped or moon painted candles during this season.

 

 

On the actual day of “Chushunomeigetsu/中秋の名月/お月見“, we are supposed to offer the rice dumplings, Susuki and the harvests of early autumn such as taros, chestnuts, grapes and pears to the moon.

 

When I was small, it was celebrated in this way and I used to love this event.  But nowadays most of the Japanese people do not do anything special on this day, may be except some young people who love to eat special burgers called “Otsukimi Burger” that McDonald’s promotes during this season.

 

It is sad that people’s minds do not go to autumn festival when October comes but go to Halloween which does not have any roots in Japanese culture.   Halloween was widely spread all over Japan in a short period and is now celebrated by children and young people, but this beautiful traditional Japanese event is not, and just fading away...

 

I am introducing “Otsukimi jiruko/Moon dumpling in sweet red bean soup” in Kids Family online class in October, wanting people be aware that this festival is coming soon and to know that it is such a lovely event. 

(Visit my cooking class website and click “Latest/最新情報” if you are interested in the class, http://kurinascooking.la.coocan.jp/)

The recipe of this month is nothing to do with this festival.

It is “ Vegan Torisoboro/ Japanese Flavored Vegan Minced Chicken”.

This is to synchronize with “Hachidory”, Japanese vegan information site which has been promoting the vegan dishes to replace the chicken.

 

Most of the chickens in the chicken farms are living in the horrible conditions, and more chickens are succumbed to death during hot seasons as they are kept in the envionement with poor air ventilation.  Chickens cannot control their body temperatures by releasing the heat from their skins like we do.     

 

Please be compassionate to those chickens and reduce the consumption of meat and eggs.

 

 

My “Torisoboro” looks real minced chicken.

It is not only its appearance that looks real, but its taste too.

So do try cooking and see what I am saying is true or not!

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タグ：Torisoboro macrobiotics Japanese Festival mid autumn festival Vegan minced chicken Japanese vegan Hachidory 料理教室 中秋の名月 お月見 鶏そぼろ丼 鶏そぼろ マクロビオティック ビーガン

Vegan Parmesan Cheese ビーガン粉チーズ

日本語のレシピは　ビーガンベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory からご覧下さい。

 

"Trying to be a vegan, but not easy to give up cheese..."

Are you the one ?

It seems that cheese is the hardest food to get rid of when one wants to be a vegan.    It was so for me too.

Here is the recipe you have to try if you are also one of them.

It is “Vegan Parmesan Cheese”, which looks real and tastes similar to the real one.   Some vegans and vegan-to-be like to use the nutritional yeast to obtain the similar texture and the taste of the cheese, but I do not feel good when I consume it, so my methods of making mimic cheese always go with the natural traditional ingredients without using the synthesized products.  

The main ingredient for this recipe is “Sakekasu”.

It may not be easily available outside Japan, but you can still try Japanese grocery shops or Sake breweries if you have them near your place.

manually pressed sakekasu

You also need a blender and an oven that can control the temperature as low as 100 centigrade.

“Sakekasu” is the by-produce of Sake, Japanese rice wine.

machine pressed Sakekasu

“Sake” is made from rice, water and the culture called “Koji”. 

my hand made Sake

After they are well fermented, they go to the last stage to be pressed to separate the liquid and the solid.  The liquid is “Sake” and the solid is “Sakekasu”. 

It is sold in sake breweries and also in some supermarkets in Japan.

The traditional cooking methods are to use it as a main ingredient for the marinade for the vegetables and fish, or to add in miso soup during winter.

 Kasujiru, winter soup

I marinated Hayatouri squash in the Sakekasu based bed.

 

In addition to the traditional ways of cooking, I like to use it for making vegan cheese (I have a few more cheese recipes apart from today’s one.), for bread making as a role of the yeast, for yogurt making to ferment the soymilk.

It is an amazing ingredient indeed.

Here's the recipe of Vegan Parmesan Cheese ! 

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タグ：Vegan cheese Vegan Parmesan macrobiotics macrobio-vegan sakekasu rice flour マクロビオティック ビーガン ヴィーガン ビーガン粉チーズ 酒粕 米粉