Eggplant Unagi - Vegan

As per the  Wikipedia,  Unagi don is a dish from Japan. It consists of large bowl filled with steamed white rice and topped with fillets of eel grilled in a Japanese style Kabayaki , very similar to Teriyaki. Those fillets are glazed with sweet soy sauce and caramelized over charcoal fire. But with this Vegan version Eggplant is perfect to give fish kind of texture and look. You can use tofu also but I just love any kind of Eggplants so I go with Eggplant. You can make the sauce and cooked both side of 

eggplant , applying sauce on both sides and its done. 

You can long purple eggplant for this and make sure when you flip you don't break the skin , since presentation is also very important. You can roast or bake the eggplant too. But I like stove top method best. 

Ingredients : 

2 Long Chinese or Japanese purple eggplant

Sesame Seeds

Cooked rice

Oil

Sauce 

3 tbsp. Mirin

1/3 cup of hot water

2 tbsp. light soy sauce

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1/2 tsp. sugar

Method :

In a bowl, add mirin, hot water, light soy sauce , maple syrup and mix it. and keep it aside.

Trim off the eggplant top , then cut into 4 or 5 inch sections, Steam over high heat until tender about 8 to 10 minutes. 

Once the eggplant is cooked and cooled down, use a sharp knife to cut it open like a book but careful not to cut thru skin. 

Then make another slit on the right and then left. Now score the flesh to create a holder for the sauce.

Heat a non stick pan with oil over medium heat.

Put the cut side down and pan fry till its golden brown 

Apply the sauce one tbsp. at a time

Then flit again so now flesh is at the bottom  of the pan and taking all the sauce while you are applying sauce on the skin. 

To serve you can roast some scallions or bok choi or spinach or any greens in little oil and salt or you can skip that too and just eat the rice and eggplant

To assemble, put cooked rice in a bowl , top it with eggplant and drizzle with extra sauce and garnished with sesame seeds and enjoy. I had some fried rice leftovers so I used that one.

General Tso's Jackfruit - Vegan

I was never a fan of jackfruit but after making it as a replacement for the meat product, I stated to like the taste and texture. Its like tofu, it doesn't have its own flavor , you can add it in any sauce and it will take that sauce flavor and make it delicious.  I have made  Jackfruit Biryani - Kathal Biryani ,  Pulled Jackfruit Tacos,  Vegan Birria Quesadillas with Jackfruit, to name a few. And now I started to like it now. We all made General Tso sauce and use paneer, tofu, chicken, beef so why not this humble Jackfruit and here it is. It is ready in under 20 minutes and delicious.

I served it with fried rice , you can have it with plain white rice or noodles and If you need more vegetable on side you can have steamed bok choy or broccoli or carrots and diner is done. 

Ingredients :

1 tbsp. oil

2 cup defrost jackfruit or 1 can jackfruit

for sauce

3 tbsp. rice vinegar

3 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari 

2 tbsp. Hoisin sauce

1 tbsp. crushed or finely chopped ginger

3 cloves finely chopped garlic

1 tsp. corn starch

1 tbsp. sriracha or chili garlic sauce or red pepper flakes 

Garnish :

1/2 tsp. sesame seeds

Method :

If you are using frozen jackfruit then de frost it first and pat dry .

If you are using can one then drain , rinse and pat dry.

With fork or hands shred the jackfruit into bite sized pieces. I didn't like the seed in it so I took that out too. 

Heat a pan over medium heat. 

Add oil and jackfruit and cook for 5 minutes so its nicely warm and crispy too. 

In a small bowl combine sauce ingredients  together and mix it

Add sauce in to the pan and mix until jackfruit is covered in sauce. 

Cook on medium to low flame for 5 -6 minutes and make sure you are stirring occasionally till the sauce is thick and change the color little bit.

Don't let it burn the sauce , take it off from the heat and serve with rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and enjoy warm General Tso's Jackfruit. 

Pad Krapow - Stir Fried Thai Basil - Vegan from Impossible burger

So I have made same dish  but Gluten Free Thai Basil Tofu Stir Fry - (Pad Krapow) and with tofu. But I wanted to try it make it with impossible burger patties, If you dont have that you can use soy granules too. Just soaked them in hot water and then take it out and remove water from it and use it in the recipe. This is such quick and flavorful dish that by using one pan you can make it and by the time your rice will be done too. I have added more spice but you can adjust as per your taste. This recipe includes Thai Basil which is a must, Thai green or red chilies and what ever other vegetables you like to use, just add one or two vegetables since the flavor comes from the granules and sauce. Leftover is easy to store in fridge and you can heat up in the microwave it.

Ingredients :

2 burger patties (defrosted)

6-7 green beans cut in big pieces

5 small Portobello mushroom cut in lengthwise

2 green onions white and green separates

few pieces of celery

2 Thai green chilies cut in small pieces 

1 cup vegetable stock

1/2 cup fresh Thai Basil

1 medium sized onion cut in length wise

4 garlic cloves

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. Fresh grated ginger

1 tbsp. Chili flakes

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 tbsp. Vegan fish sauce

2 tbsp. Oil

Method:

In  a pan , add oil and sauté onion, garlic and ginger on high heat until its softened.

Add the granules and chili flakes and stir well and cook over medium high heat for a few minutes

Add the vegetables and green chili  and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Now add stock and soy sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce and cook till you get nice thick sauce . 

Add basil too.

Check the seasoning and adjust it if necessary. 

Serve hot with jasmine rice or plain rice.

Filipino Tofu Adobo

This is a vegan version of classic Filipino dish which is normally cook with chicken or pork. When pork is used, its fat gives nice flavor and stickiness to the sauce but since here we are going to use tofu, we will use more oil to give that greasy finish. Tofu just like eggplant, absorb all the flavor from the sauce and become perfect to finish it with rice. This adobo usually cook with peppercorns, bay leaves and lots of onion and garlic in savory and sour sauce with little sweet from the sugar.  There are lot of ways to cook adobo also, Mine is simple but you can add potatoes and carrots too if you want. Only thing is that will increase your cooking time. Adobo has soy sauce and vinegar  , two essential elements for this dish. I have used fresh tofu in this one but frozen tofu will give you nice meaty texture. 

Ingredients :

1/2 block of firm tofu cut in squares

4 tbsp. oil

7 cloves of  garlic finely chopped

1 medium size onion cut in match sticks

1 tbsp. whole black peppers

3-4 dried bay leaves

2-3 tbsp. soy sauce

1/2 cup vegetable broth

2-3 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. dark soy sauce

1/2 tbsp. sugar

White rice to serve

Method :

Pressed the tofu and take out the extra liquid. Cut the tofu in square pieces or your desired shaped.

Heat non stick pan and add a generous amount of oil. Deep fry  or pan fry tofu in oil until is crispy from all sides and golden brown.

Take out the tofu and in the same leftover oil , add garlic, onions and whole black peppers. Cook till onions are little tender.

Add the bay leaves, soy sauce, vinegar and vegetable broth. Mix it and simmer till its boil.

Add now sugar and dark soy sauce , taste and adjust the seasoning. I tasted it this point and feel like drinking it as it is. 

Add the tofu in it and let it cook for 10 minutes in sauce, If your broth is less , add more. 

The longer tofu soak up the sauce, it will be the tastier .

Serve it with white rice. 

Enjoy

Spicy Chili Oil Dumpling Soup

Is it soup season yet? For me yes , sure it is. I can have hot bowl of soup in cold winter days for lunch or dinner. This soup is made by my most favorite ingredients, dumplings and hot chili oil. For this recipe I used ready made dumplings to save the time and I wanted to try this specific packaged one. But if you already made it and froze it then you can use that too or you can make fresh one too. The whole thing with the readymade dumplings came together in less than 15 minutes and who don't like quick diner on week nights?

Ingredients : 

6-8 dumplings - you can have more or less , its your choice

1 tbsp. chili flakes - adjust as per your spice level

2 tbsp. finely chopped garlic

4 tbsp. oil

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1/2 tbsp. dark soy sauce

1 tbsp. Vinegar

pinch of sugar

1 tbsp. sesame seeds

1 green scallion finely chopped

some mung bean sprouts 

4 cups of vegetable stock /broth

Method:

In a soup pan add broth, When its bubbly, add your dumpling and cook for 5-7  minutes. 

Meanwhile in a heat proof bowl, add your chopped garlic  , chili flakes, both soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds, vinegar and mix it and adjust the seasoning.

Add half of the scallion and reserve half for the later.

When dumplings are near to be done, in small pan , add oil and making it hot till it smoke slightly . 

Now add oil in to the bowl mix of garlic and seasoning and mix it with spoon. 

Then add broth and dumplings into the bowl and mix it .

Before serving add rest of the scallion and mung bean sprouts and enjoy it before it cools down.