Pineapple Spinach Smoothie

Servings: 3 cups

1 fresh pineapple

2 handful fresh baby spinach

A hint of grated ginger

1 cup of water

1 tablespoon of sweetener (optional. eg. honey)

Vegan Seafood Soup

Ingredients: (3-4 Servings)

1 large daikon radish

8-10 shiitake mushrooms

A hand full of kelp

A hand full of green peas

1 inch ginger

vegan crab cake (optional)

sea salt

olive oil

1. Thinly slice radish, mushrooms and ginger.

2. Put a large stock pot or a large skillet over high heat.

Sautee ginger, radish and mushroom slices for 5 mins.

3. Add water until the food is covered.

Bring to a boil.

4. Add a hand full of green peas and kelp.

Bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and cover with lid.

Let it cook for 10 mins.

5. (Optional)

Add vegan crab cake for some extra seafood flavor.

Let it cook for 5 mins.

6. Season with salt.

Purple Yam Patty

Before:

After:

Ingredients:

2 medium purple yams

1/2 cup Glutinous rice flour 

1. Wrap each yam with foil. Put them in the oven at 400F for at least 1 hour or until they are tender.

2. Peel the yams. Smash and mix them well with 1/2 cup Glutinous rice flour. You can use a pastry cutter. 

3. Make little balls with the mixture. Flatten them out on the pan with a little bit of oil. Brown each side.

Glutinous rice is also called sticky rice or sweet rice. It is widely grown and used in Asia. Because of its stickiness and sweetness, people always use it with yams, radish, pumpkins, red beans or sesame to make sweet treats in China. 

Gluten-free Seaweed Avocado Pasta

Ingredients:

Dry and roasted seaweed 

1 or 2 ripe avocado

2 tbsp. soy sauce

brown rice pasta

1. In a large bowl, shred the seaweed (any amount) as fine as you can. 

2. Add avocado and soy sauce (or soy sauce alternatives, eg: Bragg liquid aminos)

3. Add cooked brown rice pasta

4. Mash, mix and enjoy

Seaweed is easy to find in many stores, like whole foods, sprouts and costco. They usually come salted and roasted already.  I got them from a Korean market because they sell larger sheets there.  

Traditional Beijing Salty Sweet Bean Paste Noodle

Ingredients: (Serving size 3)

2 cucumbers

8 shiitake mushrooms

1 firm tofu

5 green onions (1 bunch)

4 cloves garlic

bean sprouts (or other micro vegetable sprouts)

grated ginger

olive oil

rice cooking wine

salty soy bean paste

sweet noodle paste (see pictures below)

asian style wide noodles

3 secrects of this noodle dish:

1. 绍兴料酒

Shao Xing rice cooking wine

2. 黄酱( a salty fermented soy bean paste)

 pronounce: Huang Jiang 

direct translation: yellow paste

on the left

3. 甜面酱 (a sweet fermented soy bean paste)

pronounce: Tian Mian Jiang

direct translation: sweet noodle paste

on the right

As long as we use these 3 ingredients, we can change other vegetables in the dish and still make authentic Traditional Beijing Soy Bean Paste Noodle.

1. Heat up a pan with oil (larger amount is better). Add cubed firm tofu. Cook 5 mins until they start to brown on one side. 

2. Add chopped shiitake mushrooms, greated ginger and minced garlic. Cook 5 mins.

3. Add cubed cucumbers, 6 tbsp rice wine, 1 tbsp salty bean paste, 1 tbsp sweet bean paste.

Mix them well and cook 10 mins. Stir every 2 mins. 

4. Add chopped green onions 1 min before killing the heat.

5. Pour these veggies over the noodles. Top with some fresh bean sprouts.

Flavored Oil - Green Onion Flavor

Ingredients: 4 bunches of green onions. 1 medium yellow onion. Olive oil.

Chop up the ingredients to 1 inch long pieces. Set aside or wipe with paper towel to remove excess water.

Put them in a medium size skillet. Add olive oil about 2/3 of the height of the onions. The onions will be cooked down very fast.

Put them over medium low heat. This is the key of making this rich flavor oil. High heat will burn the onions, leave them soggy and taste like spoiled onions. Medium low heat drains out the water of them slowly but makes them crispy and brown in the end. 

Let it cook for at least 50 mins or until most of the onions are brown and crispy. It may take over an hour if you want them to be perfectly crispy. 

Save them in a jar and enjoy them over noodles with salt and pepper. 

Oyster Mushroom Burrito

Ingredients: Oyster mushrooms, red bell pepper, black beans, cumin, sea salt, olive oil.

1. Sautee oyster mushrooms with olive oil until tender.

2. Add red bell pepper and cook about 3 more mins.

3. Season with ground cumin and sea salt.

4. Wrap the mushrooms and some cooked black beans in a burrito.