January 29, 2022 – Japanese

Saturday, January 29, 2022
VBC Meeting #107: Japanese
Host of the Month: Drew
Location: Denton, Texas

For January, Drew picked Japanese food as the theme because that is what he was craving at the time!

This is what we made:

Slynn: Mango Mochi; Green Tea Cookies

Slynn made mango mochi by mixing puréed mango, agave nectar, and glutinous rice flour. She wrapped this around slices of strawberry because she didn’t have anymore mango which is what the recipe had a person encasing in the mochi. Then she boiled these fruity glutinous rice balls in water for a couple minutes before rolling them in coconut shreds to coat.

She also adapted a recipe for green tea cookies which she made with matcha, coconut flour (she didn’t have the almond flour named in the recipe), sugar, oil, vegan milk, and baking powder (not in the recipe, but Slynn thought it odd the recipe had no leavener).

Drew: Yaki Onigiri

Drew made yaki onigiri by seasoning cooked sushi rice with sesame seeds, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Using a measuring cup lined with plastic wrap he packed in some rice, set in slices of sweet potato that he had baked and dipped in teriyaki sauce plus avocado slices, then topped off the filling with more rice to form a small hockey puck shape. Then he pan-fried some of the rice balls in vegetable oil for extra color and flavor.

Billy: Inari Sushi

Inari sushi is usually made with aburaage (deep fried tofu pouches), but since Billy didn’t have any, he simmered bean curd sheets that he had stored in the freezer in a mixture of water, miso, soy sauce, and sugar. He filled the seasoned sheets with sushi rice seasoned with sugar, rice vinegar, and salt, rolled them up, and topped them with sesame seeds.

Lauren: Curry Bread; Okonomiyaki

Curry bread is popularly a fried treat in Japan served at many bakeries but is sometimes baked. Initially Lauren tried to fry the buns, but after the first one went in, immediately formed multiple holes, and spewed curry sauce into the oil to erupt in hot dangerous splatters, she decided the rest of the buns would be baked. As many recipes mentioned, she used leftover curry to fill the buns made from a veganized version of Japanese curry which she had cooked for dinner the night before the Vegan Bake Club get together. The curry featured potato, carrot, and onion, and she substituted baked tofu cubes (tofu cut into small cubes and baked for 20-30 minutes or so at 350°F until it formed a light brown skin) and chickpeas. The curry was flavored with garlic, ginger, oil, flour, red wine, S&B Oriental curry powder, garam masala, tomato paste, soy sauce, grated apple, and sugar for the sweet style of Japanese curry. Regarding other changes to the recipe, she added shredded cabbage and reduced the 4 cups of water listed to 2 cups. If she makes the curry again, she will probably reduce the amount of wine used as well, since the curry turned plenty liquidy even after attempting to reduce for a long time. She made the dough, which turned out a nice texture, with bread flour, water, yeast, vegan butter, a little sugar, and salt using a stand mixer then wrapped it around the un-reheated leftover curry, brushed it with a ground flaxseed and water mixture, and rolled it in Panko that had been tossed with olive oil to help it crisp in the oven. These baked at 350°F for about 30 minutes until golden. All the buns burst small openings near there bottoms while in the oven and leaked some curry, but in the end, it didn’t affect the finished product too greatly.

For the Japanese savory pancakes known as okonomiyaki, Lauren used the recipe from Party Vegan which includes the ingredients all-purpose flour, tapioca flour, shredded cabbage, green onion, nori flakes, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, liquid smoke, and vegetable broth. As additions to the recipe, she also included the leftover flax egg from brushing the curry bread and added carrot shreds. The pancakes were served with a side of vegan mayo with a small amount of sriracha mixed in.