Kombuncha Brooklyn also had some really fresh and tasty kombucha drinks. They are the first NYC based kombucha brewery and all their kombucha are made with carefully selected organic ingredients. Their varieties come in fun names like Blue-Green Envy, Straight Up, The Grape Equalizer, Red Ginger, and Urban Passion. The Straight Up is their signature kombucha. The Blue-Green Envy is their signature craft-brewed one that contains blue-green algae and cordycep mushrooms. The Grape Equalizer features rich purple concord grapes, the Red Ginger has spicy ginger and sweet strawberries, and the Urban Passion is infused with tropical passion fruit. They explained to me that you can buy their freshly brewed kombucha in these huge 32oz Amber Glass Growlers. Then, when you’re done, you can bring it back to them to refill. Neat! It’s kind of like what beer breweries offer. I was really tempted to grab a growler, but it would have been a struggle carrying it back with me since I was already carrying so much. Next time.
Follow @KombuchaBK on Twitter or find them on Facebook.

Honest Tea was there too. Honest Tea offers a nice variety of organic, delicious, and healthy beverages. I like to enjoy my tea and its natural flavors, with little to no sweetening and Honest Tea is great because their teas are just barely sweetened. They handled samples of two new additions to their antioxidant-rich organic iced teas – the Classic Green Tea and the caffeine-free Heavenly Lemon Tulsi. They also introduced their newest brewed cacao infusion, Honest Cocoanova, that will be hitting stores soon. Honest Cocoanova is their line of low-calorie, organic, brewed cocoa beverages that’s available in Cherry Cacao, Mint Cacao, and Mocha Cacao. I tried the Mint Cacao and found it to be light and delightful. You can taste the chocolate flavors and the mint was a refreshing addition. I’m not sure how it would appeal to the majority of people though. If I had to compare it to something, the beverage is kind of like a watered down glass of chocolate milk, except dairy-free. Yeah, but that description doesn’t sound very appealing. If you prefer rich and sweet beverages, then you’d probably not enjoy it. But if enjoy Honest Tea products in general, then there’s a better chance you’d like this one too.
Follow @HonestTea on Twitter or find them on Facebook.

PALO introduced me to mamajuana. What is this Mamajuana? Mamajuana is a “blend of healthy roots and herbs which was traditionally prepared as tea and drank for vitality in the Dominican Republic.” PALO is a natural root tea, brewed from mamajuana, and provides energy and balance but without the caffeine. It tasted pretty good, refreshing too!
Follow @drinkpalo on Twitter or find them on Facebook.

Earth Balance was there serving up samples from their line of soymilks. There’s chocolate, original, unsweetened, and vanilla. Each serving of their soymilk provides a good 7 grams of soy protein. Whenever I hear Earth Balance, I think of buttery spreads. I never knew they also made soymilk. Now I have another brand of soymilk to choose from when I’m at the supermarket. Earth Balance products are plant-based, vegan, and made with no artificial ingredients and hydrogenated oils. It’s also free of gluten, lactose and eggs, which makes it friendly to people with special diets or food sensitivities.
Follow @Earth_Balance on Twitter or find them on Facebook.

Lastly, I’ll tell you about Balance and their flower essences infused spring water. Each combination is designed to help you stay relaxed, promote vitality, keep focused, and stay stress-free. There was a complimentary bottle of Mind, their original one, in the VIP gift bag. Mind is enhanced with… Black-Eyed Susan (Helps with focus and concentration and channeling of energy), Crowea (Calms and helps with worry. Has a centering affect), Banksia Robur (Restores vitality), Bush Fuchsia (Balances the right-left hemispheres between being creative and analytic during the course of the day), Paw-Paw (Helps prevent feeling overwhelmed. Also helps with digestion), and Bush Iris (Helps with circadian rhythms for sleeping and digestion)… but it tastes just like water to me. I found the bottle to be quite visually appealing too.
Follow @drinkbalance on Twitter or find them on Facebook.

And that about concludes all the snacks, foods, and beverages I came across at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival! Looking forward to the next one!

I Eat Grass features Executive Chef Ayine Howell and Chef Oscar Macow. They provided samples of their vegan tempeh tuna salad and macaroni and yease. They assembled vegan tuna salad sandwiches and scoops cups of macaroni and yease for sale. The tuna salad was also available for purchase in a mini tub. It was all so delicious! I sampled a bit of the macaroni and yease and was really happy at how tasty it was. It was definitely a big hit. When I came back to purchase a container to go, they had already sold out. So, I just picked up a prepackaged tuna salad sandwich to bring home. I totally want to try more of their dishes. It’s going to be tough though, since they are a catering service. I wonder where and when is the next time I’ll get to enjoy their fantastic dishes.

Loving Hut also had their take on macaroni and cheese with mock chicken. They had a spicy buffalo one and a regular one. They also cooked up quesadillas. Apparently, they are a newly opened, international chain restaurant that’s all vegan. Their New York location is on 7th Ave between 29th and 30th. I actually walked by it the other day. It’s currently being renovated, so it might be easy to miss. Their macaroni and cheese was really tasty too. I purchased some to-go to share with friends and family after the festival, and they kindly boxed them up for me. By the way, everyone enjoyed it.

Foodswings the Williamsburg-based vegan fast food spot also served up macaroni and cheese, along with their cupcakes and treats. I didn’t get a chance to try their foods, but I’m definitely curious about checking them out. Luckily they are located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and just a train ride away. The chick behind the table was dressed as a scandalous devil and the dudes were like punk angels. Amusing. The way that the described it, Foodswings is kind of like your fast food burger/bar food place, except all vegan-ized. I’ll have to go check out their burgers some time.

The V-Spot Cafe, the Park Slope Latin vegan restaurant, sold a wide variety of their vegan empanadas. I picked up a breakfast empanada and a Colombian empanada. The breakfast one was filled with tofu scramble, soy cheese, and black beans. The Colombian one was filled with potato, carrot, onion, corn, and seasoned seitan. They were so delicious!

And there were pickles! Rick’s Picks offered their 14 varieties of hand-packed and all natural pickles. I picked up a jar of The People’s Pickles. I always enjoy their pickles!

I’m not much of a salad dressing person, but I did enjoy sampling the various salad dressings by Wholesome Creations. Their salad dressings are 100% natural, vegan, gluten-free. There’s no chemical preservatives, no added colors, and no artificial flavors. There’s Lemon Paradise Salad Dressing, Mediterranean Salad Dressing, Green Tea & Ginger Salad Dressing, and Cranberry Pomegranate Salad Dressing. I liked the Green Tea & Ginger one most. These dressings could be lots of fun.

Regal Vegan provided samples of their Faux Gras, a toasted walnut lentil pate. They also introduced their newest product Basilicaux, a basil cashew spread. I grabbed a cracker and gave it a try. The spreads were so flavorful and delicious! It’s healthy too. The spreads are filled with fiber, protein and healthy fats. They would go great on toast or crackers, or as a veggie dip. The spreads are good for about two weeks from the date of manufacture, since it’s all natural and there’s no preservatives. They also sold their Banh mi made with their Faux Gras, cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber, and jalapeno, inside a baguette. I didn’t go for the banh mi, but I did pick up a container of the basil cashew spread. The Basilicaux is actually not sold in stores yet, but it’s coming soon. I was happy to find that their Faux Gras can be found near me at SAI Organics, in Astoria.

Heart Beet, an Indonesian Vegetarian Catering Company, served up a variety of delicious foods. There were samples laid out as well as package ones for purchase. Their dishes are Asian, Western, and European inspired. Each food item had all their ingredients listed. There was a mixed salad with iceberg lettuce, fuji apples, bean sprouts, cilantro and served with a nutty dressing. For hot food, there was tofu and tempeh with coconut milk, which featured tofu, tempeh, long beans cooked in coconut milk and seasoned with various spices. They had a sweet and sour sauce with peanuts (peanuts, palm sugar, tomato, vinegar and salt) as well as a soy sauce dressing (soy sauce, sesame seeds, sesame oil and rice vinegar). For desserts, there were small containers of tasty looking cassava cake (cassava, palm sugar, grated coconut and salt), as well as black rice pudding (black rice, taro, pandan leaf, palm sugar and salt) which is served with a coconut milk. They are a very new company and don’t have much of a web presence right now. They are starting off small and relying mostly on word of mouth for now.

I really like their uses of peanuts, coconut milk, and all the wonderful spices. Their dishes reminded me of the vegetarian food from home and the Vietnamese desserts I’ve grown up loving. The black rice pudding reminded me of che (Vietnamese pudding) and the cassava cake reminded me of banh khoai mi (Vietnamese cassava cake). I purchased a package of black rice pudding to bring home for my mom, because I’m sure she’d enjoy it too.

Beyond Sushi by Espirit Events showcased their beautiful vegan sushi rolls. Behind the table, you can see the chefs preparing and assembling the delectable and healthy bites. Their vegan sushi features fresh fruit and vegetable ingredients like kiwi, mango, carrots, micro greens, and edamame. The rice is colorful. Instead of white rice, they offer a variety, like black rice, six-grain medley of red, black and short-grain brown rice, purple and hull-less barley, rye berries and long-grain red rice. Also, some of the rolls are assembled using soy wrappers instead of seaweed sheets. I wanted to buy a box of sushi to bring home, but it was too bad they sold out by then.

Sacred Chow, a vegan restaurant in the West Village, sold their dijon marinated raw kale and their grilled tofu. They also had some of their vegan pound cake for sale. I grabbed a few samples and it was all quite tasty. I would be cool to check out their restaurant some time. They post their daily specials online too. Bookmarked!

Verile Catering, a plant-based catering company, sold plates of their raw zucchini and daikon pasta with fresh watercress in a miso mustard sauce. The dish looked so tasty and delightful. I think it’s really neat to make “fake” pasta with shredded vegetables. They also had their dessert pizzettes creations, which featured an oat-based crust with frosting like vanilla, lemon buttercream, chocolate, and almond, and choice of toppings like chocolate, roasted peanuts, candied ginger, banana chips, and dried cranberries. Yum!

I’m so happy I was able to learn about and try out so many delicious food products and dishes. The only sad part is that I don’t know when’s the next time I’ll get to enjoy those distinctive dishes from the catering companies, but I’ll definitely keep a lookout for future opportunities.

Personally, I’m not vegan or even vegetarian, but I do enjoy eating vegetarian foods. For the most part, I maintain a low meat diet and eat mostly fish. Vegan cuisine also comes in very handy since I’m lactose-intolerant. I know many people who are instantly turned off when you mention the words “vegetarian food” or “vegan food”, but these dishes are not your typical preprocessed soy burger. I’d definitely recommend my fellow omnivores to keep an open mind and give these alternate dishes a try too.

I was very excited about the event. Even though I’m not a vegetarian/vegan, I enjoy eating a mostly vegetarian diet! I’m also a fan of vegan dishes and treats. Since I’m lactose intolerant, the non-dairy options works great for me.

I peeked at the list of vendors posted on the website an they all look interesting. I made sure I had a light breakfast in the morning, so that I would be ready to sample all the foods they had to offer.

I showed up around 11am and I was stunned by the crowd. There was already a huge line that went all the way down the block. Luckily, I had purchased a discounted VIP ticket earlier from LivingSocial. General admission was free, but the VIP ticket gives you priority admission to the festival and a gift bag with products, coupons and info from companies, like Manhattan Tribal, Crunch Fitness, Manna Bread, Splitz Snacks, and WholeSoy & Co, to name a few. To me, the $20 I paid for this $50 VIP ticket was totally worth it.

I made my way to the registration table, checked in, and received my generous gift bag. The place was packed. I was excited and a bit overwhelmed at the same time. Where should I go first? All the lines to the tables are so long. There’s so many people. I decided to take skim through the program and work my way around the festival. My strategy for exploring the festival was to visit every table, one row at a time.

The vendors included vegan and vegetarian food companies, health food stores, restaurants, and catering companies as well. There were lots of sweets. Cupcakes and cookies were scatter everywhere, from Sweet Cheeks to Wild Flour Baking Co to Decadent Vegan Treats. Vegan marshmallows were a major hit as well. Sweet & Sara offered generous samples of their varieties of gourmet vegan marshmallows and treats. There were a number of chocolate vendors, with their raw, organic, exquisite chocolates. And how can I forget to mention ice cream? The Raw Ice Cream Company sold their organic ice cream that’s made out of raw ingredients and also free of refined sugar. Luna & Larry’s Organic Coconut Bliss had their coconut milk based ice cream, while Organic Nectar sold their Cashewtopia ice cream made from a raw, organic cashews, sweetened with agave syrup. On the savory side, mac and cheese was quite a popular dish. A number of restaurants showcased their vegan interpretation of the classic macaroni and cheese, including the Brooklyn-based Foodswings and I Eat Grass catering. I’ll go into more detail about all the foods I tasted at the festival and all the goodies I purchased as well, in my upcoming posts.

In addition to the food samples and sales, there were also speakers and events happening on the “Apple” stage and the “Banana” stage. This included cooking demonstrations, speakers talking about nutrition, and panel discussions. It was a little too crowded, hot, and noisy for me to find a spot and watch the events, but I did catch a glimpse of a few food demos – Beyond Sushi Executive Chef Guy Vaknin and Sushi Chef Borgil Tsoomonz of Esprit Events demoed and discussed their organic, vegetarian sushi. Culinary instructor, author, recipe developer and pastry chef Fran Costigan talked about developing recipes for her delicious, rich, and moist vegan pastries and cakes. Amie Valpone HHC, AADP, talked about clean eating – making healthy choices that are nutritious and enjoyable. She shared some of her favorite gluten-free products and talked about gluten-free eating as well.

I caught a glimpse of the belly dancing performance by Manhattan Tribal, NYC’s first
American Tribal Style Belly Dance company. It was quite awesome! This was followed by a musical performance by artist and songwriter Maya Solovéy too. There was also a Vegan Cupcake Eating Contest Sponsored by Sweet Cheeks Vegan Bakery, and a Vegan Doughnut Eating Contest Sponsored by Dun-Well Doughnuts. I’m a big fan of cupcakes and doughnuts, but I can’t imagine how it would feel like to chowing down large quantities of them. I totally missed the spectacles. I wonder how those went down.

Although the festival was a bit too crowded (more like extremely crowded), it was a great experience and I got to discover so many new vegan/vegetarian products and restaurants. I was lucky that I had purchased a VIP ticket beforehand. I overheard that some people ended up waiting 2.5 to 3 hours just to get in, and many others turned away. Damn, if I didn’t have a ticket, I don’t know if I would have had the patience to wait that long. During the whole time, the line to get in went down the block, around the corner, and some more. I guess the organizers underestimated the turnout. The event space was definitely too small to handle the capacity. Even inside the venue, there were moments when no one was able to get by or move any where. The tables were overcrowded with people waiting for food samples, looking at products, and chatting with the vendors – all happening at the same time. It got really warm and stuffy, real quick. I stepped outdoors a few times for a breather and also sat around in the open space on the lower level.

Parked right outside the venue was the Cinnamon Snail, a Vegan Organic food truck. They must have been a life saver for the people that were waiting to get in/ couldn’t get in. There was also a long line for the truck, but compared to the other line… this one was nothing. I didn’t order anything from the truck, but I saw some of sandwiches that people were ordering and eating. They looked delicious! The items on their menu were quite impressive as well. Like most other mobile eats, they can be found on Twitter: @VeganLunchTruck and on Facebook. I found out that they are usually in Hoboken, NJ. But…

Great news for NYC peeps! The Cinnamon Snail truck will be at the Hells Kitchen Flea Market gourmet Food Truck Bazaar this coming Sunday April 10th, along with a few other mobile eats. Maybe I’ll go check them out there!

More about the food festival:

• The Sweets
• The Savories
• The Beverages

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine or cooking wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp 5 spice powder
• 2 rolls of mock chicken, sliced*
• 3/4 cup edamame
• 3/4 cup diced carrots
• 3 cup water or vegetable broth
• 1 tsp dried wakame seaweed flakes**
• salt, to taste

*Substitute with extra firm tofu, sliced or cubed, if desired
**Rehydrate by soaking it in water for a couple minutes and then draining it

Directions:

1. Marinade the tofu with soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, and 5 spice powder.
2. In a large soup pot, add the marinated tofu along with the edamame, carrots, water/stock.
3. Bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for at least 15-20 minutes.
4. Add the wakame seaweed.
5. Simmer for a few more minutes.

Here it is served with a bowl of yam noodles. Enjoy!

Promoting a healthy lifestyle using Japanese ingredients and cooking methods, the festival aims to enlighten New Yorkers about the many wholesome foods and flavors of Japan and how to incorporate them into American kitchens, ultimately increasing the understanding of Japanese culture through food.” – www.NYJapanTown.org

The festival featured a great handful of food vendors, as well as non-food vendors. The food vendors included a nice selection of local Japanese restaurants as well as international Japanese brands and food distributors. The event ran from 11am to 6pm, with schedule cooking demonstrations throughout the day sponsored by the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad (JRO). The demonstrations were hosted by Chef Billy Strynkowski of Cooking Light magazine, Chef Fred Sabo of the Met Museum’s Trustees Dining Room, Jenna Zimmerman, an Assistant Culinary Producer from the Food Network, and chefs of from Tanuki Tavern, Sushiden, Souen, and Hakata Tonton.

After some of the demonstrations, people can line up for free tastings, take a survey about the tasting, and receive a goodie bag. (Inside the goodie bag, I found a full-sized bottle of Otafuku Okonomi Sauce!)

We sampled misoyaki (miso marinated meat) by Marukome USA (top right), a piece of okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) by Otafuku Foods (bottom left), and mentaiko spicy cod roe on toast by Hakata Tonton (bottom right). The samples were delicious! This was my first introduction to mentaiko, which is actually marinated roe of pollack. It was tasty with a little spice. I am curious to try out more dishes with mentaiko.

There were also drink samples like Kikkoman Pearl Soymilks and Yakult, a mini probiotic drink that I remember so fondly from childhood.

Right next to Ito En (the tea distributors), there was a vendor handing out an interesting green colored beverage. It reminded me of wheatgrass drinks (which I like), and so I approached it with curiosity. Ryokko Aojiru is a Japanese health drink made from organically-grown young barley grass and green tea leaves. The drink is nutritious – rich in vitamins B1, B2, calcium, and dietary fiber. It tasted pretty refreshing. It has a much lighter taste than wheatgrass drinks. I grabbed a couple samples.

Well, that about covers the free food we had… and now here’s the munchies we actually paid for!

Beard Papa is NOT just about the creampuffs anymore. When we saw the lady waving around this Mango Ice Shower, we knew we had to get a hold of one too.

The Mango Ice Shower is shaved ice topped with fresh cut mangos, a mango sauce, and a shot of condensed milk (?). The picture on the left was the versatile and indestructible one that the lady used to draw attention. The picture on the right is the one we bought for $5. I swear the one of the left is not real, but the real thing on the right did not disappoint at all. It was super delectable, and not overly sugary sweet at all.

Cafe Zaiya caught my attention with their hot and tasty mini curry buns. You can see them make it right on the spot. We just had to be careful… contents inside the bun might be scorching hot. It was very tasty, but when all the curry filling sank to the bottom of the bun, we realized there wasn’t much filling at all. There was not as much filling as the curry bun sample that they were displaying. But for $1.50, we still enjoyed it very much.

It was the dude with the pig nose that drew us into Hakata Tonton. We picked up the Grilled Tonton Pork skewer for $5. The pork is served with with a spicy garlic sauce. The pork was juicy and the sauce added just even kick!

From far away, I wondered what those huge tubs of white stuff was. Each tub is actually 30 lbs of silken tofu. I could not resist but to buy a small bowl of Otokomae Tofu for $1. You get a choice of dressings – I picked the sweet soy sauce one. I’m a huge fan of tofu! I really enjoyed by how smooth and creamy, and tasty the tofu was. There was definitely something unique about it. I will look for this brand of tofu the next time I’m at the Japanese market. Apparently, Otokomae means a handsome guy in Japanese. They also have a product called Johnny Tofu, which is a yogurt-like creamy tofu.

Ajinomoto Frozen Foods USA sold containers of their reheated frozen gyozas for $2. Their gyozas have a thin wrapper and a unique shape, which allows them to cook to perfect crispness while still remaining tasty and juicy inside. We grabbed a container of chicken gyozas, since the edamame vegetable gyozas were temporarily unavailable.

Katagiri had every item in their stall for $1. They had mochi, sushi, ramune, hichew, and more. We picked up a two dangos, which are little balls made with mochiko (rice flour) and served on a skewer. The Matarashi Dango is the more common one and is covered with a sweet-salty sauce (soy sauce and sugar mixture). The Sesame Dango is covered with a black sesame seed paste. The regular Dango was delightful but we really enjoyed the Sesame Dango! Katagiri is a Japanese grocery store in Manhattan, located on 59th St near 3rd Ave.

Suzuki Farm was there selling their fresh organic Japanese vegetables. There was a Battle Robot stall, where you can pick you battle robot and challenge them to a match. This drew our attentions because it reminded us of that Battle Bots TV show, back in … wow it was about 10 years ago when it originally aired. TOTO, Japan’s leading toilet manufacturer, was there too, showcasing their Washlet – an innovative toilet seat that features an integrated bidet.

Check out more pictures in this album.

This was the second festival in JapanTown’s three-part series of festivals. The first one was the Cool Japan Festival which took place in the East Village back in July. And…

The next one will be the Soul Food Festival which will take place in the Upper East Side. So, mark your calendars!
Date: Sunday Sept 26th, 2010
Location: Lexington Avenue between 93rd and 96th Streets

Keep up to date with NY JapanTown:
NY JapanTown Blog
NY JapanTown on Facebook
NY JapanTown on Twitter

Tofu can be enjoyed raw as well. (Just make sure you’re using tofu from airtight packages and that the tofu hasn’t been sitting around opened for days.) Here’s a recipe for tofu crumbles using firm tofu. These tofu crumbles are pretty basic and can be used as a topping for many dishes, e.g. scooped onto a salad or added to a sandwich or wrap. If raw tofu is not your thing, you can cook it in a pan with some olive oil and it’ll kind of resemble scrambled eggs.

The basic idea is to press the tofu and then crumble the tofu with your hands. The tofu should reach a ricotta-like consistency. Then, season and flavor the tofu as you like.

Pressing the tofu changes the texture, drains out the water, and makes the tofu a bit firmer. A simple way to press tofu is to place the block of tofu between some paper towels in a large flat plate. Then, place another flat plate and then put a heavy weight on the plate. Let it sit for about an hour.

Here’s one recipe that I tried for flavoring the tofu crumble. I decided to go with a simple herbs and olive oil blend.

Ingredients:

• 7.5 oz firm tofu, pressed and drained
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, crumble up the tofu with your hands.
2. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Mash until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese, a few minutes.
4. Add olive oil and stir.
5. Add nutritional yeast and combine all ingredients well.
6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
7. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Here’s another variation for tofu crumble. This one has curry powder!

Ingredients:

• 7.5 oz firm tofu, pressed and drained
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Same as above.

Enjoy in a sandwich!

Or in a salad!

What better way to celebrate Pi Day than to bake and eat pies!

Savory pies! Pizza pies! Sweet pies! Fruit pies! Cream pies! Pie shaped cookies!

I just came back from a week of traveling and don’t have too much in my kitchen right now, but I’m tempted to make some kind of pie tonight. I bought a bunch of bananas yesterday when I made a quick stop at the supermarket for milk. I’m thinking of possibly making a simple tofu banana cream pie. I’ll see.

For now, here are some links to what other foodies are doing for Pi Day!

• Benevolent kitchen
• Blondie and Brownie
• Doughmesstic.net
• Hounds in the kitchen
• TheKitchn

Here are some savory and sweet pie (and pie-like) recipes on Lookytasty.com:

• Chicken Pot Pie
• Spinach and Mushroom Poleta Quiche
• Blackberry Tofu Cheesecake
• Blueberry Tofu Cheesecake
• Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Stir-fry Rice Noodles

Ingredients:

• 8 oz rice sticks (about half a package)
• 3 garlic cloves
• Scallions
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 cup bean sprouts
• 2 eggs, beaten and fried, cut into strips
• 1 package of flavored tofu, cut into strips

Strips of tofu, fried egg cut into strips, bean sprouts, and scallions

Seasonings:

• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp citrus soy sauce
• 4 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Soak the rice sticks in warm water for 30 minutes or until they turn soft and drain.
2. Heat oil in a wok or large pan. Add chopped garlic and stir-fry until it turns light brown.
3. Add shredded tofu and rice sticks, followed by the seasoning mixture.
4. Add sliced fried egg, bean sprouts and chopped scallions.
5. Stir-fry for a couple more minutes.

Marinated Beef

Ingredients:

• A little less than 1 lb of beef, thinly sliced (I picked up some thinly sliced strips of beef from the Asian supermarket.)
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 2 1/2 tsp oyster sauce (I used a vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce.)
• 1 1/2 tsp citrus soy sauce, or light soy sauce

Directions:

1. Mix the garlic, cornstarch, sugar, black pepper, ginger powder, oyster sauce and soy sauce in a bowl to form the marinade. Stir until well mixed.
2. In a large bowl, add the marinade to the beef.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it marinade for at least an hour. (I prepared the meat the evening before and let it marinate in the fridge overnight. Let meat go to room temperature before cooking.)
4. Heat some oil in a wok or large pan. (I sprayed some PAM instead.)
5. Add the meat. Cook on medium high heat until beef is cooked.

… and that’s all the recipes from my Chinese New Year/Valentine’s Day Feast. Happy Eating!

Watercress soup

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken thighs
• One bunch of watercress
• 1 cup baby carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried red dates, pitted
• 1 tbsp goji berries/wolfberries
• 5 cups of water

Directions:

1. Blanch chicken in boiling water for 2 minutes. Set aside.
2. Place water in a pot and bring to boil.
3. Place chicken, carrots, and red dates in pot.
4. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer for about an hour.
5. Add watercress leaves and wolfberries.
6. Continue letting it simmer for 20 minutes.

After preparing the soup, I transferred it into my slow cooker and let it keep warm in there before serving.

Spinach and Tofu Dumplings

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 bunch of spinach, rinsed
• 12 oz firm tofu, diced
• 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• Salt and ground pepper
• 1 package of dumpling wrappers

Preparations:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil in high heat.
2. Blanch the spinach by letting it cook for about 30-60 seconds and then remove it from the pot. Move the spinach to colander and run cool water over to stop the cooking. When the spinach is cooled, squeeze out remaining water.
3. Chop up spinach.
4. In a large mixing bowl, stir in the spinach, tofu, cornstarch, soy sauce, sesame oil.
5. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Ready to assemble dumplings! (See below – Shape the dumplings)

Mock Beef Dumplings

Ingredients for the filling:

• 3/4 lb soy protein (I used Lightlife Smart Ground veggie protein crumbles, which was very convenient since it resembles ground meat.)
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/3 cup chopped scallions
• 2 1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced and crushed into a paste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp water
• Salt and ground pepper
• 1 package of dumpling wrappers

Preparations:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the soy protein crumbles, onion, scallions, ginger, and garlic.
2. Mix well using a large spatula or your hands.
3. Add the salt, pepper, olive oil, and water.
4. Continue mixing for a little bit.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. (I actually prepared the filling the night before and left it in the refrigerator. When I was ready to make the dumplings, I took it out and let it to go to room temperature first before wrapping.)
6. Ready to assemble dumplings! (See below- Shape the dumplings)

The next step is to…

Shape the dumplings.

I wrapped the dumplings in three shapes, which Andrea Nguyen refers to as pea pod, big hugs, and pleated crescent in her Asian Dumplings cookbook. (Visit asiandumplingtips.com for more helpful tips on dumplings making.)

The pea pod is formed by folding the wrapper in half and making a series of pleats from one side to the other. The big hug is formed by holding the wrapper in half and bringing the two ends together like a “hug”. The pleated crescent is formed by folding pleats along one portion of the wrapper and pressing it against the unpleated edge.

Links to instructional videos on pea pod, big hug, and pleasted cresent.

I picked up two packages of Twin Marquis dumpling wrappers, one Shanghai style and one Hong Kong style. The spinach and tofu ones were wrapped with the white Shanghai style wrapper. The mock beef ones were wrapped in the yellow Hong Kong style wrapper.

I placed the folded dumplings on to large sheets of parchment paper, which I had lightly dusted with some all-purpose flour. This helps prevent the dumplings from sticking to each other.

These dumplings can be boiled, steamed, or pan fried. I boiled a batch of the dumplings and placed the rest in sealed containers in the freezer.

Serve with your favorite dumplings sauce!

Watercress soup
Watercress, carrots, red dates, goji berries in a homemade chicken broth

Boiled dumplings
The Spinach and Tofu dumplings are ones with the white Shanghai style wrapper. The Mock Beef dumplings are filled with seasoned soy protein and are wrapped in the yellow Hong Kong style wrapper. For the wrappers, I used the Twin Marquis dumpling wrappers.

I wrapped the dumplings in three shapes: pea pod, big hugs, and pleated crescent. I came across these terms from Andrea Nguyen’s Asian Dumplings cookbook. Aside from being an awesome dumpling cookbook with wonderful recipes, it also provides a great description on the many ways for shaping dumplings, with easy directions and simple pictures.

The pea pod is formed by folding the wrapper in half and making a series of pleats from one side to the other. The big hugs is formed by holding the wrapper in half and bringing the two ends together like a “hug”. The pleated crescent is formed by folding pleats along one portion of the wrapper and pressing it against the unpleated edge.

Stir-fry rice noodles
(Shredded flavored tofu, eggs, bean sprouts)

I decided to serve the marinated beef on the side rather than incorporate it into the noodles.

Marinated sliced beef

Vegetarian rice cake from Bread.A Bakery

The food turned out great. Everyone was a happy eater. The soup was a simple, flavorful, and very comforting. The dumplings were awesome as well. The spinach and tofu combination made really light appetizing dumplings. The mock beef dumplings were filled with seasoned soy protein. I used Lightlife Smart Ground veggie protein crumbles as my mock ground beef. These dumplings were quite an interesting experience. The end result was… its appearance looked like beef dumplings, it felt like beef dumplings when you’re chewing it, it was flavored like beef dumplings, but your brain could tell it wasn’t beef. It was my first time using the Lightlife veggie protein crumbles. I like it a lot and plan on using it in future recipes. The noodles looked great and tasted just as great. The marinated beef was yummy too.

Unfortunately, the dessert never happened. I had planned to bake some chocolate walnut brownies, but by the time I was finished with cooking the appetizers and main course, the kitchen was packed and I was out of counter space, or any kind of space. The brownie ingredients are sitting in my pantry right now. They are happy. I think they will be there for a while.

There’s so much food! I packed some of the dumplings and put them in the freezer. I forward chowing down the rest of the food throughout this coming week. Very sweet!

Recipes and even more pictures to come!