Category Archives: Asian Recipes

A “Spam” Musubi That’s Vegan

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A musubi that's not quite what you think it is.
A musubi that’s not quite what you think it is.

It looks exactly like everyone’s guilty-pleasure Hawaiian snack food.

Only this musubi is vegan.

Indeed, this one spotlights a new plant-based version of Spam.

To the growing list of faux “beef,” “chicken,” and other proteins now comes OmniPork.

Designed to mimic pork, it’s made from a blend of non-GMO soy, peas, shiitake mushrooms, and rice. It was developed in Canada by food scientists for Hong Kong-based food innovation company, Green Monday, which owns OmniFoods.

It’s available in three forms — OmniPork Ground, Strips, and Luncheon, each for $5.99 per package. All three can be found in the freezer cases of Sprouts; while the Strips and Ground are carried by select Whole Foods.

When I received samples of all three, I went straight for the Luncheon first, curious to see how it would compare to the familiar stuff in a can. The verdict? Quite impressively.

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Get Your Fun On With Toad-In-A-Hole Sheet-Pan Kimchi Hash Browns

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A novel version of toad-in-a-hole.
A novel version of toad-in-a-hole.

In the United States, it’s the childhood favorite of an egg cooked inside the cut-out-center of a bread slice. In the United Kingdom, it’s the homey dish of stubby sausages baked in airy Yorkshire pudding batter.

Now comes the creative minds of America’s Test Kitchen re-imagining toad-in-a-hole as a big ol’ pan of sunny side-up eggs nestled in a raft of hash browns and kimchi.

How marvelous does that sound!

Best yet, it’s from the new cookbook entitled, Five-Ingredient Dinners: 100+ Fast, Flavorful Meals” (America’s Test Kitchen), of which I received a review copy, meaning it takes few ingredients and little time to actually put together.

The cookbook includes more than 100 recipes for complete meals that are sure to spark the appetite, such as “Steak with Shichimi Togarashi Charred Cabbage Salad,” “Chipotle Shrimp Risotto,” “Grilled Garam Masala Chicken, Tomatoes, and Naan with Chutney” and “Chili-Crisp Steak with Rice Noodles.”

Like most five-ingredient cookbooks, this one does take some liberties, most notably not counting staple ingredients, which would then put the count over. That’s why with each recipe, you’ll see a box labeled “Staple Ingredients” that you’ll also need, including salt, pepper, extra-virgin olive oil or unsalted butter.

“Toad-in-a-Hole Sheet-Pan Kimchi Hash Browns” was simply too much fun to pass up making.

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Scallion Oil-Poached Chicken

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Classic poached chicken with a vibrant scallion-ginger sauce.
Classic poached chicken with a vibrant scallion-ginger sauce.

Betty Liu makes the rest of us look like slackers.

Not only is she a doctor training to be a surgeon in Boston, but she’s a home-cook so gifted that she created an award-winning food blog, bettysliu.com. Her writing, recipes and photos have appeared in Bon Appetit and Saveur magazines. She’s also taught food photography classes around the world.

On top of that, she debuted this year, the top-selling cookbook, My Shanghai: Recipes and Stories from a City on the Water” (HarperCollins), of which I received a review copy.

My, oh my.

It’s even more impressive when you realize that Liu didn’t even learn to cook until she was in college, and missing her mother’s cooking. Back then, whenever she visited her parents, she cajoled her mother into teaching her how to make her favorite dishes. After college, she worked in Shanghai for a spell, which only deepened her passion for that regional cuisine.

Her cookbook honors her heritage and her family’s cooking, spotlighting the Jiangnan region, which encompasses the lower Yangtzee area, including the city of Shanghai. Not surprisingly, Jiangnan cuisine is all about seasonal fresh ingredients and elevating the natural, pure flavors of the food.

This beautifully illustrated book is complete with lavish photos that bring this region of China to life, as well as useful images that take you step-by-step through specific techniques, including making “Suzhou-Style Mooncakes,” “Scallion Flower Buns,” and “Shanghai Big Wontons.”

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Honey & Sriracha-Glazed Duck Skewers

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A taste of a yakitori bar in your own home.
A taste of a yakitori bar in your own home.

Duck, duck, sticks.

That’s what this easy grilling recipe is all about.

“Honey & Sriracha-Glazed Duck Skewers” is from the new “Skewered: Recipes for Fire Food on Sticks from Around the World” (Dog ‘n’ Bone), of which I received a review copy. It’s by Marcus Bawdon, who runs the UK BBQ School and is the creator of the cooking site, CountryWoodSmoke.

The book features more than 60 globally-inspired recipes to up your grill game, including “Pina Colada Chicken Skewers,” “Grilled Gnocchi Skewers,” “Burnt Ends and Dill Pickle Skewers,” and the unlikely, “Kangaroo & Bacon Skewers.”

This duck recipe is super easy, but I admit that I took a few liberties with it.

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Miso Pork Stuffed Eggplant

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Eggplant cups stuffed with a savory pork and eggplant mixture.
Eggplant cups stuffed with a savory pork and eggplant mixture.

As someone who keeps a bare minimum of apps on her phone, I admit that Kitchen Stories was new to me.

The app was founded in 2014 by two business students with a penchant for cooking. They bill Kitchen Stories as the first video-based, design-oriented cooking app.

Now, the two have come full circle with a Kitchen Stories cookbook, “Anyone Can Cook” (Prestel), of which I received a review copy.

In the cookbook, the app team, based in Berlin, offer up a globally-inspired array of recipes such as “Glass Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Dressing,” “Spicy Chickpea Burgers,” “Savory Dutch Baby with Smoked Salmon and Horseradish,” and “Rigatoni with Walnut-Ricotta Pesto.”

I decided to give it a whirl with “Miso Pork Stuffed Eggplant,” which reminded me of an oversized version of a dim sum specialty.

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