Category Archives: the basics

Vegan Thai ginger gravy

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in comfort food, gluten free, healthy, jasmine rice, quick and awesome, rice, Sauces, Thai, vegan, Vegetarian

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There are some recipes I’ve discovered over the years that are just so so so very good. People, this tofu and mushroom ginger gravy is one of them. A dinner staple in my house for two reasons, it is 1) easy and cheap to make and 2) fricking delicious. It is probably one of the gingery-est things you will ever eat and undeniably delicious even to ginger haters.

First let me honor one of my favorite food blogs, High Heel Gourmet, for turning me onto this home-cooked Thai dish. This lovely lady is an amazing talent and resource and if you want to learn how to cook real Thai food, please check her out. Here is a link to her original recipe for Khao Na Gai, which uses chicken and oyster sauce and fried eggs and sausages. I’ve taken her recipe and adapted (also simplified!) it to make it vegan for my family.

Ingredients
Serves 2 as large portion or 4 as a small portion
3-4 fat garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs sliced ginger and 3 tbs minced ginger (or more! the more, the better)
6 tbs good quality, aged soy sauce (or 3 tbs sweet dark soy sauce and 3 tbs light soy sauce)
2 tbs Chinese wine
White pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
Sesame oil
1 block of extra firm tofu (if you don’t like tofu, use extra mushrooms)
1 box of mushrooms (or 1-2 cups assorted mushrooms)
Olive oil
2-3 tsp corn starch (or potato starch)
1/2 vegetable boullion cube and 2 cups water (or 2 cups veggie stock)

Serve with rice or noodles and any of the following:
Sliced cucumber
sliced green chili
fresh cilantro

1) Chop the garlic, ginger, mushrooms and tofu. If you do not like to bite into a large piece of ginger then mince all the ginger instead of leaving half of it sliced.
2) Put the mushrooms, tofu and half the garlic and ginger into a bowl. Add the soy sauce, chinese wine, 1 tsp white pepper, sugar, 1 glug of sesame oil. Mix and leave to marinade for 30 minutes.
3) While that is marinating, make the rice or noodles according to their directions and set aside. Use asian noodles or jasmine or sticky rice.
4) Heat up 3 tbs of olive oil in a frying pan or wok and fry the remaining garlic and ginger. Do not brown. After a minute, add in the marinated tofu and mushroom, including all the sauce.
5) Fry on high heat while stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes or until all mushrooms are cooked.
6) Add in the half veg stock cube and 1 cup of water and simmer.
7) Mix the corn starch or potato starch with another cup of water till blended and add that in. The gravy will thicken and turn glossy. Cook for another few minutes and taste. Add more soy sauce or white pepper if needed.
8) Add another tsp of sesame oil just before serving.

Eat with chili for heat and cucumber for cooling.

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Rolled omelette with seaweed

21 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in breakfast, eggs, gluten free, healthy, kids lunchbox ideas, Korean, omelettes, party bites, peanut free, Sauces, snacks, Vegetarian

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계란말이, Gyeranmari, Korean egg roll with seaweed (kim,김). If you don’t like seaweed, you can make this pretty egg roll with vegetables, meat or seafood. It’s delicious and pretty. Also, it tastes good at room temperature so makes a good boxed lunch food.

Ingredients:
3-4 eggs, blended well
1 1/2 sheets of kim (dried seaweed)
a little oil
salt and pepper

flat bottomed wok or frying pan
2 thin spatulas for turning
sushi rolling mat

Serve with ketchup (or a little go chu jang mixed with soy sauce)

If you’ve never made this, here’s a good video. She makes it look easy!

1) Heat up a non-stick frying pan or wok on low
2)Pour in a little of the eggs and swirl around to coat bottom
3) Let eggs partially cook and lay a sheet of kim on top. Use the two spatulas to gently fold over the top corner.
4) With the spatulas, move the omelette/seaweed up to the top of the frying pan and pour in a little more egg mixture in the vacated space at the bottom of the frying pan. Add a little more seaweed onto this bare egg.
5) Keep cooking on low and rolling the the omelette over the seaweed at the top. Roll, cook, roll, cook, and add the remaining egg to the bottom of the omelette until done.
6) There should be a little bit of raw-ish egg left to complete the egg roll. The raw egg will help the roll stick together.
7) Cook the completed roll on all sides until all sides just golden colored.
8) When done, remove from frying pan and roll up in a sushi rolling mat to help form its shape. Leave to rest for a few minutes. Then slice.
9) Enjoy with ketchup as the Koreans do or serve with any sauce you fancy. I like go chu jang or other spicy chili sauce. This morning we ate ours with go chu jang and a little soy sauce.

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