Asian vegan recipes

Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Salads, Vegan

Easy Vegan Quick Pickled Wood Ear Mushrooms

Posted on February. 2023February. 2023 by writinstuff

Today’s recipe is one that I have grown totally obsessed with over the past two years and now whenever I find wood ear mushrooms, I have to get at least one package.

Have you ever had these or even heard of them? They are delicious and earthy with this beautiful deep brown color that makes them seem like they’re from another planet. I have had them at an Asian restaurant here or there but most of what I learned about how to prepare these came from good ol’ YouTube University.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy vegan salad, look no further than this pickled wood ear mushroom salad. It’s super refreshing and incredibly flavorful, and best of all? It goes on the side of pretty much anything and especially Asian style dishes.

The good thing about todays’ quick pickled vegan salad is that it is pretty dang easy and only requires a wee bit of patience. And other than the mushrooms, shouldn’t require you to venture outside of pantry and fridge staples.

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, oil free vegan recipes, Salads, Sides, Vegan

Vegan Banana Blossom “Meat” & Hong Kong Style Noodles w/ Crunchy Vegan Side Salad

Posted on October. 2022October. 2022 by writinstuff

Yep, here we are again back in my vegan kitchen with noodles on the menu. I know what you’re thinking, does this chick eat anything other than noodles? The answer is yes, I do eat plenty of other grains but Asian cuisine is my favorite and I love to experiment with it.

And I love to eat noodles.

It’s somewhat of a comfort food for me in that it is the perfect backup when I’m testing out a new recipe because noodles make everything better. If I screw it up, at least we’re having noodles, right?

So there are noodles but there are also banana blossoms. Don’t judge because I know what you’re thinking, here we go with another of those specialty ingredients that are impossible for normal vegans to find. I would have said the same thing, except I was just browsing the Asian section of Kaufland and happened up these canned banana blossoms in water. Of course I grabbed them, because all these vegan chefs have been making everything out of it from vegan fish to vegan chicken and I was curious to try it out.

But deep frying? Not for me, please and thank you. I decided to keep it simple and go with a sauteed version that does still serve as a vegan meat alternative, but subtly so.

And this dish is the end result.

Delicious vegan noodles with banana blossoms

This vegan dish is easy to make and it feels as if it takes a lot more time than it does, which means its a great way to impress vegans and non-vegans alike!

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Vegan

Easy Vegan Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts Recipe

Posted on October. 2022October. 2022 by writinstuff

When it comes to Brussels sprouts there are usually two types of people: those who love Brussels sprouts and those who have bad taste. Hahaha, just kidding! Seriously though if you have a love-hate relationship with Brussels sprouts, I have a easy vegan recipe that is guaranteed to change your mind.

It’s Brussels sprouts season here in Romania and pretty much around the world, which means there’s plenty of time to experiment and find a way to eat Brussels sprouts that you absolutely love.

Why?

For starters this cruciferous vegetable can help you with health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease. It can also help stave off many different types of cancer. And I mean who doesn’t love baby cabbage?

I personally love Brussels sprouts and this week I found a new (to me) recipe to challenge my husband and change the way we think about Brussels sprouts. Kung Pao Brussels sprouts is a fun twist on a Chinese takeout favorite that is totally vegan, super flavorful and really easy to make.

So, let’s get to it, shall we?

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Asian Food, Bowls, Grains, International vegan cuisine, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Sweet & Sour Vegan Cauliflower

Posted on July. 2022July. 2022 by writinstuff

Hey there my fellow vegans and vegan-curious readers!

One of the things I like to do when it comes to vegan takeout recipes at home, is to make a few compromises. Instead of choosing vegan meat alternatives like TVP, vegan beef or seitan, is to go totally plant based and vegetable based to minimize my calorie intake.

If you’re interested, check out my General Tso’s Soy Strips, or Takeout at Home for the Lazy Vegan or the Mongolian Tofu recipe.

I know, I know, it sounds obsessive if you’ve never struggled with weight problems in the past, but now that I know what I did so wrong for so many years, I refuse to repeat that behavior. So instead of sweet sour vegan chicken, I chose sweet and sour cauliflower.

Why?

Cauliflower is super satisfying and it takes on a variety of flavors really, really well. It’s the perfect vessel for a dish that’s full of flavor. If you’d rather eat a shoe than cauliflower, do your thang. Just switch out cauliflower for any other vegan main dish you desire.

Now, let’s get into this Sweet & Sour Vegan Cauliflower recipe.

You can cook this recipe in the oven or on the stovetop, and if you’re really feeling energetic, you can fry the cauliflower first and toss it in the sweet and sour sauce.

The choice is always yours, it’s just a matter of what you feel like doing in the kitchen!

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Salads, Vegan

Vegan Sushi-Style Salad

Posted on June. 2022June. 2022 by writinstuff

As much as I love when the weather turns warm, it’s always kind of a daunting task to find things to make for lunch that are calorie friendly, cold-ish and not salad.

Not that I have anything against salad, you know, it is one of the dishes I love and eat most frequently. You can check out some of my favorite salad recipes here, here and here. But the truth is that a girl needs a little variety in her life to switch things up, ya know? And no matter how many different ways you make salad, something other than dark leafy greens and tomatoes and cucumbers needs to go in my tummy.

Anyway on this particular day I was feeling a little bit creative so I went a little crazy with this idea of a sushi style salad in that it is sushi-like but not actually sushi.

And it began with the idea of a soy sauce and wasabi style salad dressing. Weird, right?

I know.

But here we are, vegan sushi salad.

Change up any of the ingredients you like or don’t like, or add some vegan ingredients I don’t have access to like vegan salmon or something similar and tag me on it.

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Italian, Noodles, Vegan

Vegan Bulgogi Ramen Bolognese

Posted on March. 2022March. 2022 by writinstuff

Sometimes you get a very specific craving for a dish and it might not exist yet or make any sense but you really want it. So what do you do?

Hack it, of course!

There’s been no secrets here regarding my love of Asian food and my even greater love of the almighty noodle. I’ve made Gochujang Spiced Vegan Chicken, Mushrooms & Rice, Vegan Meatball Coconut Curry & Noodles, and even Asian Fusion Risotto. One of my favorite vegan Asian recipes, and most popular, is the Sushi Salad Bowl, so I guess you could say I’m a bit obsessed.

Obsessed and proud of it, thank you very much.

But that all brings me to the point of today’s post and recipe. I had a craving for Bolognese but I also wanted Ramen noodles so I wondered to myself, how can I achieve combining these two things while keeping it healthy and vegan and delicious. My first step was to hit up the ol’ Google Machine to see what kind of ingredient substitutions I needed to make for the Bolognese ingredients.

My second step? Making sure I had those substitutions or something close to it so that I could make it NOW. This is the result. *Gong Gong*.

I don’t know, I felt like the Law & Order gongs were appropriate right here, or maybe I’m just stoked that the OG Law & Order is back on television. 🙂

Vegan Bulgogi Bolognese with Ramen recipe.

So I’m going to tell you right off the bat that the ingredients list is intimidating but only at first glance. Stick with me and you won’t be disappointed.

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Healthy Vegan Takeout: No Delivery Required ~ Teriyaki Tofu w/Sauteed Kale & Rice

Posted on February. 2022February. 2022 by writinstuff

Can you tell that I have a deep and abiding love for Asian food? Maybe it was the Mongolian Tofu that gave it away? Or the Kung Pao Cauliflower? It could just be the wealthy of curry recipes from Aloo Keema to Vegan Meatball Coconut Curry. Either way, it’s safe to say that I’m in love with this varying cuisine and since I’ve been in Romania for a few years now (thanks pandemic), I have been without any Asian-Vegan takeout options.

When life provides you with zero takeout options you know what you have to do.

Make it yourself!

That’s right folks, we have another vegan takeout recipes, and this time it’s healthy. Well, healthy-ish. And easy.

Oh so, easy.

Vegan takeout recipes – Tofu Teriyaki (tvp) & rice.

This recipes follows my simple yet healthy equation for lazy vegan meals too. Grab a protein, a grain and a big ol’ heap of veggies and call it done. Raid your spice cabinet and make whatever cuisine type you desire.

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Vegan

Fire Noodles & Mongolian Style Tofu

Posted on March. 2021March. 2021 by writinstuff

These days I’m loving the mix & match meals that my partner and I have been enjoying. What is a ‘mix & match’ meal, you ask?

Easy, it’s a meal that can actually be two separate meals but you decide to put’em together to create something vegan and delicious. Some people, fancier people than me, might call it fusion but it’s not meant to be a modern statement on any particular cuisine type or anything like that, just a way for the greedy vegan in you to enjoy two things at once.

My hubs wanted Mongolian style vegan beef and fire noodles, and he asked which one would be easier to make and since he was so sweet to ask…I made them both.

The recipe name might not be pretty and to be honest, my photos leave A LOT to be desired. But what you really want to know is, was it delicious?

Hell yeah, it was!

You might think that making two separate dishes is more time consuming, but it’s not. Well, not as long as you do a little bit of prep work.

Step one: Gather your ingredients

I made enough for two adults who eat proper portion sizes, so use that as your best estimate for how much to use, or sign up for Cronometer or any other calorie tracking app. If you’re not there yet, consult the nutrition information on the package.

Step Two: Hydrate the TVP
Obviously if you’re using tofu or seitan or tempeh, you can just follow those instructions, but I used TVP so if you do that, I recommend getting it going as early as possible.

Step Three: Cook ginger, onion, chili pepper, garlic & scallions
I didn’t use any oil, just a bit of water to get it going before seasoning, but cook your veggies how you like.

Step Four: Add TVP to air fryer
I wanted the soy to be nice and crispy before adding it to the vegetables and sauce, if you want it less crispy, drain the TVP and toss it right in once the vegetables are done.

Step Five & Six: Make the SAUCE
The Mongolian sauce is soy sauce based with brown sugar and a cornstarch slurry to thicken. I added chili peppers and Korean chili flakes to spice it up, but you can add ketchup or bbq sauce or premade teriyaki sauce if you like.

For the fire noodles, I used Korean chili paste, butter, tomato paste, spicy mustard and water to thin out the sauce just enough that it was easy to toss the ramen noodles with it.

and there you have it, a quick and easy vegan dinner that will satisfy your craving for noodles, Mongolian beef or just Asian food in general. Don’t be afraid to improvise and taste as you go along.

What’s your favorite vegan mix & match meal?

Asian Food, Bowls, Grains, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Sweet & Spicy Apricot Mushrooms & Tofu Vegan Dinner

Posted on February. 2021February. 2021 by writinstuff

I don’t know about you guys, but I love to cook. I don’t have a problem with blasting some music or listening to a true crime podcast while I get busy in the kitchen. Whether it’s making my favorite dessert from scratch–brownies–or any other thing that’s asked of me, I’ll do it.

But that doesn’t mean I’m all that creative in the kitchen. I will mix and match with the best of’em. For example, I recently made Jerk Cabbage Ramen and it was delicious, if I do say so myself. But vegan cooking isn’t my main job, or even my second job. It’s more of a passion so when it comes to creativity, I have no problem looking to others for inspiration.

One of my favorite vegan food blogs is Rabbit & Wolves because they have tons of unique vegan recipes and they’re just complicated enough to be challenging without pissing me off. So a few weeks back I was scrolling through recipes in search of something delicious and made with mushrooms, and most importantly, something I hadn’t eaten in the past, oh I don’t know, six months.

And that’s when I spotted it. Sticky. Apricot. Mushrooms.

Yep, you heard me right. I was like, “what?” And then I immediately knew what I wanted my partner to make on our next Midnight Tokyo Diner night. But when that night rolled around, there were no apricots and no apricot jam anywhere in the house, because who the heck keeps apricot jam on hand?

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Asian Food, Bowls, Grains, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Vegan

Vegan Mushroom Mapo Tofu

Posted on January. 2021January. 2021 by writinstuff

If you’ve never heard of Mapo Tofu, then you are in for a real treat. I came across video by Wil Yeung on YouTube and you know what happened next? That’s right, it ended up on my plate a few days later!

For those of you not in the know, Mapo Tofu is a Chinese dish from the Sichuan province . It is delicious and spicy and pretty easy to make. And best of all? Easy to make completely vegan.

The key to this vegan version of mapo tofu is perfectly cooked crimini mushrooms. I like to start the mushrooms in the oven and finish’em off on top of the stove so you get that nice crispy earthy flavor on the outside and a nice bit of moisture on the inside.

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