Thursday, May 22

world cuisine wednesdays!!

where did we go?
this time,
we went to japan.
yeah, neighbors,
the wizardry was certainly in full effect last night.
that's a thing.
i was up way early anyway,
so i got started at the beginning of the day,
and in turns throughout the remainder,
i brought a little bit of sunshower-powered thunder down.
i mean it.
i was frosting cupcakes, chopping nuts,
dicing onions, slicing cakes, julienne-ing all kinds of stuff,
and i STILL made time for mowing lawns,
planting pot after pot of perennials,
exercising my tired old arms and legs,
a trip to the superdupermarket,
a little gadget shopping,
and a righteous car-ride, complete with stoic stinkstaff,
(umm, that's a cigar) up my most favorite road in the county.
...really.
and i also made and seasoned the right kind of rice for the job;
and i boiled up a batch of seitan steaks, scratchmade by hand;
and i had my mise en place on point, too, kids.
no jokes.
i had my japan game turned up to eleven.
check the ichi-ban-type teleport:
hey!!
c'mon!
that's a lot of sexiness in one place, huh?
it sure is.
what is it all?
i'll tell you:
*gyoza steamed dumplings!
in the morning,
i minced up some onion and carrot and celery and tofu
and garlic and garlic and garlic and bean sprouts and sesame seeds,
and i sauteed them in tamari and ricewine vinegar and liquid smoke,
and ginger and ground mustard and i added in a bit of vegan roast,
and some daikon radish and some shredded spinach,
and lots of black pepper, and a splash of ho' sauce.
uh huh.
all that.
just so i could hide it all inside of those gyoza.
yuuuuuup.
dumpling filling is complicated, and complicated is expert.
that's a thing.
chili-garlic-toasted-sesame-seed-sriracha-wasabi dipping sauce,
AND ginger-soy-scallion dipping sauce both in little cute spoons?
obviously.
i'm not lazy.
i blend my own because i know what i like,
and nobody makes it in a jar.
no jokes.
and what else?
this:
*miso soup with baked tofu!
cornstarched after eing lightly pressed is the new hottness, friends.
i mean it.
baked tofu gets a crispy skin to it when you doo-doo that method.
it's dope.
white miso paste, and leafy greens, and a sh!tload of scallions,
with a last minute nori infusion,
because a strong dead-oceany fishyishy taste is NOT invited-
and those crispy coated firm squares of superfirm-to-begin-with tofu, too.
miso soup has those fermented samurai nutrients, an' that...
so i suppose that was enough of a reason to make it.
the big plate had the big action on it:
*panko-breaded sesame-oil seitan medallions!
that's right.
i made my wheat-meat longer and thinner (that's what she said?)
so that the twice-as-big broth boiled results wouldn't overwhelm the plate.
smart?
maybe, but just a little tiny bit.
pressed into a plateful of those panko bits,
and seared in toasted sesame oil until browned up.
simple.
perfect.
delicious.
expert.
that's what's up.
plus,
there was peanutty satay dipping sauce,
with ground peanuts and garlic and vinegar and ginger and tamari,
thinned out and then boiled thick again....
and there was plum-paste-vinegar sauce too.
ok,
so actually, it was prunes, because they're actually still plums.
and sugar, and vinegar, and soy, and ginger-
and honestly, even though it was darker than dark in color,
it was sooooo flippin' good.
that's two more sauces.
alternated between bites of those brown crunchy-skinned circles was
the way to do it
yeah, guys.
dinnertime is where we get it going on harder than anywhere else.
*vegetable sushi! 
c'mon, c'mon!!
you know that's a nice touch.
i mean,
i had the mat,
i got the seaweed sheets,
and i sushi-vinegar spritzed the rice.
it had to happen.
cucumber, carrot, braised asparagus, and pea shoots.
rolled up and sliced up and served up
that's so much food at once.
and that's how you know we did what we were supposed to.
-
there was a strawberry vanilla soymilk vanilla soy-yogurt crushed ice smoothie, too.
just to really destroy our stomachs with the consequences of shark gluttony.
and we ate cupcakes and cakes and tarts for dessert.
too much is the right amount,
and too much of too much is the way we decided to span time.
dinner with my peoples is a good thing,
and there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.
check your premise, and you'll know it's true.
i'm grateful for dinner companions,
i'm grateful for the bounty of plentiful vegan eats in my kitchen,
and i'm grateful for the time i have been given;
never quiet, never soft.....

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