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Tag Archives: Vegetarian


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Classic Japanese Biscuits “Egg Bolo” (Gluten-free/ Vegetarian)

Japanese egg bolo which is classic Japanese biscuits, has a very small ball shape and a light delicious taste.

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For Japanese, egg bolo may be the first sweet snack because there are many “egg bolo” products as a baby food.

However, lately, homemade egg bolo is very popular because it is easy to make using simple ingredients.

In this recipe, you need only 3 ingredients; cornstarch, egg yolk and sugar. In Japan, there are also other kind of bolo which uses flour or buckwheat flour.

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Ingredients (90 to 100 balls)

1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup cornstarch

  1. Preheat the oven to 320 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar well. Add the cornstarch gradually while mixing by hand. Do not add the cornstarch all at once. If the mixture is still too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.

3. Shape the mixture into a very small ball; the size of the little finger’s tip. (They are going to puff up after baking. The big bolo texture is not good very much).

4. Bake for 15 minutes.

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4 Ingredients Easy Custard Pudding (gluten-free, vegetarian)

There are many recipes for custard pudding. Today I introduce you to the easiest custard pudding. It is simple yet very delicious!!

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It has very smooth texture and great delicate taste!! There is no need to add butter or vanilla extract. This pudding already has rich taste!! If you prefer, you can mix in some shredded chocolate before refrigerating to make chocolate puddings.

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You need only eggs, sugar, cornstarch, whole or low fat milk and one soup pan.

You can use skim milk and nut milks for the recipe, but the pudding is going to be a bit watery  after refrigerating in my experience. When you use skim milk or nut milks, you might want to use less than normal amount of the milk in the recipe.

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Ingredients (servings 4)

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 1/4 cups whole milk or 2% milk

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  1. In a soup pan, whisk the yolks and sugar well.
  2. Add the cornstarch to the pan and mix gently.
  3. Pour the milk gradually into the pan while stirring.
  4. Cook it over medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture  just barely comes to a boil. Turn the heat to low and keep stirring until it is getting custard consistency, for 2 to 3 minutes.
  5. Pour the pudding into a deep (about 5 ounce) grass cup and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

 

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Spinach and Walnut Salad with Lemon Zest (Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-free)

Are you looking for easy, healthy yet delicious recipes? Well, this dish is for you! “Spinach and walnut salad” which has very fresh taste from lemon zest.

The recipe is very easy and quick. It takes only 5 to 6 minutes. Moreover, you can store it for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.

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Ingredients (servings 4)

10 oz. fresh baby spinach

1/4 cup walnuts pieces

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

  1. Boil the spinach for 10 seconds in boiling water. Drain, rinse the spinach under cold running water and wring it dry by hand.
  2. In a mixing bowl, combine the spinach, walnuts, lemon zest, olive oil. Season with some salt and pepper and mix well.

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Eggless Tofu Muffins (Vegan/Vegetarian)

Have you ever thought “NO-EGG TOFU muffins” are good? Well, if you have’t, this muffins may blow you away! Tastes amazingly delicious and  1 muffin has only 164 kcal!!

I experimented so many times to get them the right texture and taste, and this is the best. You won’t taste or smell the tofu when you eat. But if you are really really sensitive to tofu aroma, you can add some squeezed lemon juice to the tofu paste to get rid of the smell completely.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Eggless Tofu Muffins

Here is a tip for storing: After baking, let it cool and wrap each with freezer-safe wrapper. Keep in the freezer and use within 3 weeks. Before you eat, leave the wrapped muffin out to thaw at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours.

My very first cookbook Bento for Beginners: 60 Recipes for Easy Bento Box Lunches is now available on Amazon!!

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In Japan, it is common to add “Tofu” to some dishes as an ingredient, such as hamburger steak, meatball, pancakes, and so on. It makes the dishes healthier and it requires fewer ingredients.

To make muffins healthier, I use almond milk, a combination of dark brown sugar and white sugar, a combination of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, and coconut oil. You can use any kind of milk, sugar and vegetable oil as a substitute.

I hope many people can enjoy these muffins! They are also great for people with egg allergies because they contain no eggs or egg products. These muffins are a healthy and delicious treat!

{Ingredients (12 muffins)}

4 Tbsp. Margarine

2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil (I used Coconuts Oil)

35 oz. (¼ pack) Tofu

1 cup Sugar (I used ½ cup White Sugar and ½ cup Dark Brown Sugar)

¾ cups All Purpose Flour

¾ cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 tsp. Baking Powder

150 ml Soy Milk

Here is my recipe in PDF: Eggless Tofu Muffins


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Perfect and Easy Japanese Rice (gluten-free/ vegan)

Today I introduce you to “How to cook Japanese rice perfectly and easily”. If you have a rice cooker, you can just follow their directions. But if you don’t have one, this is the easiest recipe for perfect Japanese rice.

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Steamed rice is a staple food in Japanese cuisine. Japanese rice has soft texture and rice grains are shiny when it is cooked! We mostly eat rice two or three times a day. Even when we don’t cook, most super markets and convenience stores have many kinds of rice balls and rice products can be cooked in microwave.

Lately, some people add multi-grain rice to white rice when it is cooked to make the dish healthier but steamed white rice remains perennial favorites.

The cookbook Bento for Beginners is now available on Amazon.

 

Tips for cooking Japanese rice;

  • Find dried short-grain white rice, not “sweet sticky rice”.
  • Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes before cooking.
  • The heat level is the key. Once it boils, turn down the heat to very low not to get burned.
  • Do not open the lid when it is cooking even if it bubbles over. Wait patiently.
  • Steam the rice for 10 minutes after cooking.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Japanese rice

Tips for storing cooked rice;

Put one portion of cooked rice without cooling down in a glass container with a lid or freezer bag, or wrap with plastic wrap. Store in the freezer and use within 3 weeks. When you eat, put unwrapped frozen rice on a microwave-safe plate  and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes with a cover.

The key to store is to freeze the rice without cooling so it has fresh cooked rice taste even after storing for 3 weeks in the freezer.

Ingredients (4 servings, about 4 cups)

1 ½ cups short-grain white rice (I recommend Koshihikari Rice 4.4 Lb)

1 2/3 cups water

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Japanese rice


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Freeze-dried Tofu (Vegetarian, Gluten-free)

Today I introduce you to “Simmered freeze-dried tofu with egg”. The dish has delicious dashi flavor and is very healthy.

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Freeze-dried tofu is very common preserved food in Japan. It is rich in nutrients and delicious. The tofu has been often used as an ingredient in Buddhist cuisine since 1600s. 

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The taste is very light and doesn’t have tofu aroma which is good for people who don’t like tofu very much. The texture is totally different from regular tofu. We can grill, simmer, bake and pan-fry them. Moreover, this is a great substitute for meat lately in Japan. 

The recipe is very easy.

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Bring the sauce to a boil and add the tofu. Simmer 15 minutes and drizzle with beaten egg.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Freeze Dried Tofu

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{Ingredients (serving 2)}
*Click BLUE TEXT to link to the product on Amazon*

1.2-ounce Freeze-dried Tofu

2 cups water

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce REDUCED SODIUM [Gluten Free] (Organic)

½ Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. Mirin (Sweet Cooking Rice Wine)

1 Tbsp. Cooking Sake

1 tsp. Kombu Dashi Powder with No MSG (Vegetarian Soup Stock) any kind you choosing

2 eggs

 

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Freeze Dried Tofu


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Microwaved Japanese-Style Fried Egg (Vegetarian/Gluten-free)

Today I introduce you to “Microwaved Japanese-Style Fried Egg ”. Usually we use a special rectangular pan. Here is a quick instruction: Cook thin fried egg and fold up twice. Under the egg, make another thin fried egg and wrap the first fried egg. Continue this 3 or 4 times. Once you get used to cooking this, it is easy, but we need practice so here I will show you how to cook in the microwave. It doesn’t have the exact same shape as pan-fried egg but it is similar and of course it tastes delicious!

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In Japan, this kind of fried egg is a very popular dish, even more than scrambled egg or sunny side up. We frequently add to our meals as a side dish and also add to lunch boxes.

Interestingly, there is a difference in the fried egg seasoning between west and east Japan. In western Japan, it tastes savory, seasoned with soy sauce and Dashi stock. In eastern Japan, it has a slightly sweet taste because sugar is added. 

««Easy and tasty cookbook Bento for Beginners now available on Amazon»»

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In this recipe I made sweet fried egg so that kids will like it too. The seasonings are sugar and milk (any kind is okay). If you want to try authentic fried egg, you can add 1 tsp. of cooking sake and soy sauce to the beaten egg. This makes the egg more flavorful!!

Here is a tip to cook egg in the microwave. Because of the egg’s elements, eggs sometimes change to purple-ish blue color in the microwave. This is natural and doesn’t harm you. However, in Japanese cuisine, the final presentation is very important so we add a splash of vinegar to the beaten egg. This keeps the egg from changing color when we cook in the microwave.

The recipe is very easy.
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Whisk eggs and seasonings. Microwave. Make the shape with plastic wrap and microwave again.

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Microwave Fried Egg

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Ingredients (servings 2)

3 Eggs

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Milk (any kind)

1 tsp. Vinegar

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Microwave Fried Egg


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Tofu and Edamame with Flavorful Thick Sauce (Vegan/Gluten-free)

Today I introduce you to a great high protein dish  “Tofu and Edamame with Flavorful Thick Sauce”. This is an incredibly easy, healthy and delicious dish so it is great for weeknight dinners. 

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The seasonings are soy sauce and cooking sake. Also I use corn starch slurry to make the sauce thicker. The thick sauce coats tofu and edamame and you can enjoy all the flavors together. 

I used frozen edamame in the recipe but you can use fresh too. Edamame is a very useful, versatile and nutritious ingredient. You can add it to many dishes, like omelet, soup, salad, rice, pasta and so on. Or you can just snack on boiled edamame! In Japan we traditionally eat edamame as an appetizer when we drink beer at dinner. The reason being that edamame may help the function of the liver which helps breakdown alcohol. At some common Japanese restaurants, Izakaya, they serve edamame right after we are seated before we  order, like bread sticks in an Italian restaurant (mostly the cost is included in the price as a service fee).

The recipe is very easy and quick.

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Place tofu, edamame and seasonings into a pan and cook. Add slurry and serve!

It is a vegan and gluten free dish when you use kelp dashi stock or your favorite vegetable broth, and gluten free soy sauce.

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Ingredients (servings 2)
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½ pack Firm Tofu

½ cup Frozen Edamame

1 cup Dashi stock (any kind)

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce REDUCED SODIUM [Gluten Free] (Organic)

1 Tbsp. Cooking Sake 

1 Tbsp. Corn Starch (for slurry)

2 Tbsp. Water (for slurry)

Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Tofu and Edamame Dish


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Vegan Quinoa Bowl with Almond Sauce (Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-free)

Today I introduce you to “Vegan Quinoa Bowl with Almond Sauce”. 

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Lately, I love using almond butter for making sauces because it reminds me of Asian flavor!! In this recipe, I use lemon juice, onion powder and garlic powder for the sauce to make the recipe simpler. However, when I combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, almond butter and a hint of sesame oil, it becomes a totally Asian dish!! 

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In addition to the sauce, I use a little bit of warm water to adjust the consistency. You can use some olive oil but since almond butter is high in healthy fat, I don’t need to add unnecessary fat. 

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This dish is wonderful because you can translate the dish into a taste that fits your preference. You can use any kind of vegetables for topping. And if you are not following a vegan diet, it is good to add some cooked chicken!! Plus, you can use any kind of spice in the sauce. I like using some curry powder too!!

The recipe is so simple:
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Cook quinoa. Mix the sauce ingredients. Cut vegetables (Cook them if you need. I cooked the tofu and broccoli). Place everything in a serving plate.

*Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Vegan Quinoa Bowl with Almond Sauce

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Ingredients (1 serving)
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¼ cup Quinoa

½ cup Vegetable Broth

(for topping)

¼ pack (about 3 oz.) Firm Tofu

½ cup Broccoli floret

¼ cup Cooked Corn Kernel

½ Red Bell Pepper

½ cup Baby Arugula 

(for sauce)

1 Tbsp. Classic Almond Butter by Justin’s

Juice of ½ Lemon

2~3 Tbsp. Warm Water

Some Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder

*Detailed and visual instructions can be found in the recipe PDF: Vegan Quinoa Bowl with Almond Sauce