I must confess that I had soup my day 1 detox. 

After writing the day 1 detox, I got hungry, and felt cold. I guess I just ate cold food, No, fresh living food only and also quite small amount unlike me. I normally eat at least 4 times more than that. also we are having quite cold summer this year in Sydney :( 

so I wanted to have something warm, also filling…so made kale, enoki, daikon and buckwheat soup

1. Cook the buckwheat in a boiling water until cook. Set aside. 
2. place water, daikon ( Japanese radish ) and vegetarian Asian stock in a pot and bring to the boil and reduce heat and simmer until daikon is cooked. Add light soy sauce to taste. 
3. Fry the enoki mushroom in a sesame oil.  Set aside
4. Put cooked buckwheat, enoki and shredded kale in a bowl and pour the soup over. 

I was bit weak yesterday but I felt much better after having soup. Only problem is that I had two big bowls of soup…oops! 

Just in case you are not familiar with enoki…

Enoki mushroom

Enoki mushroom is very popular mushroom in Japan. we put is in miso soup, stir fry, hot pot…and more! 

I  saw some recipes that using enoki in raw in Australia but I really don’t think it is a good idea. not tasty at all and even taste horrible. 

The best way of using enoki is ” pre fry” the enoki with sesame oil. It add beautiful sweet taste if you fry. 

I used to add enoki directly in stir fry, omelette or soup. Then I was told that ” pre fry” technique, gosh, that is right, it is much nicer! 

When enoki is raw, looks a lot but once they are cooked, they shrink a lot :( 

If you can’t use it up, you can always freeze after frying, or keep in fridge for a week. 

 This is the last restaurant in Melbourne and like the most! 

Thanks to Sharon, who lives in Melbourne and has been vegetarian for eight years recommend this restaurant. Her most favourite vegetarian is ” Young green food ” on Brunswick st but I simply didn’t have time to go that far. I will go next time I am in Melbourne. 

Gopals- seves Hare Krishna meals  NO ONION, GARLIC !!!

Even though it is in the middle of CBD, it has peaceful atmosphere. 

Love the ” green view” 

Indian paintings…

Hare Krishna meal doesn’t mean it is all Indian. You can have vegetarian lasagna!

there are a few ” meal deal ”  

• $8.5- Kofta ball, rice and salad
• $9.9- Lasagna and green salad
• $10.9- 2 kind of veggie dish, salad, rice or nan, juice and desert
• $11.9- soup, 2 kind of veggie dish, salad, rice or nan, juice and desert

6 veggie dishes to choose from 

4 kinds of salads 

I choose  ” full course”  the $11.9 one !

It is serious amount of food! 

start from sweet corn soup 

Broccoli, carrot, pea, red capsicum, snow pea, cabbage and of course, sweet corn

Varieties of veggies!  YUM 

main veggie dishes 

Kofta ball 

Balls are made from shredded veggies - zucchini, carrot and cabbage and fry with chickpea flour and made ball with self raising flour. Lovely! 

Satay curry 

potato, carrot, cauliflower, pea cooked with peanuts sauce 

Green salad and beetroot salad with kofta ball with tahini dressing.

Juices to choose from 

lemon and mint sounds good and also I love lassi but it contains dairy so….

I choose ” apple and wheatgrass juice” , sounds healthy, isn’t it? 

sago

Sago with coconuts milk, soy milk, dates, apple and walnuts. Most ingredients are naturally sweet so I bet small amount of refined sugar is used, I think 

When I go to vegetarian restaurant, I can’t get plenty of vegetable. more noodles or rice but here, I seriously think that I ate a lots of veggies and they are fresh! 

No processed food like fake meat but all fresh veggies! I had totally vegan without garlic and onion. It was healthy and yummy! Generous serving as well. How can’t I love this place? 

It is such a beautiful day again in Melbourne! 

It is the best time to have Lord of the fries by Yarra river cos it is take away only!  ( I went to  Elizabeth street shop. I am not sure other shops has tables ) 

beautiful river side 

See the queue ! 

 I have been exited about “ Load of the fries” when I first found out a few days ago. 

Why so exiting?  because….

 -Fries are special here! 

It is “ fries” shop as you can see from the name. They are 

• ·      Not frozen
• ·      Use Aussie seasonal potato 
• ·      No trans fat oil are used
• ·      Cut fresh

 It is very hard to find such fries, isn’t it?

 -It sells vegetarian burgers nuggets and hot dogs. 

All vegetarian patties are

• ·      NO ONION OR GARLIC,
• ·      GLUTEN FREE
• ·      VEGAN  
• ·      Halal and Kosher.

Burgers for EVEYBODY!

-Burger buns are freshly baked everyday, vegan and have choice of

• -       White
• -       Wholemeal
• -       Gluten free

-I can choose the size of burger!

• ·      mini
• ·      mini double,
• ·      big
• ·      big double

- I can choose even type of cheese!

• ·      Cheese ( of course without renet  )
• ·      Vegan cheese

-Varieties of sauce for flies are available. Very international!

classice sauce

• ·      Aussie
-Rich Tomato Sauce + Vinegar
• ·      American
-Smooth Southern BBQ
• ·      Belgian-
Our Famous Euro Mayo
• ·      Indian
-Spicy Mango Chutney Yogurt
• ·      Parisian-
Aioli Garlic Mayo
• ·      Thai
-Golden Satay Sauce
• ·      Vietnamese-
Spicy Chilli Mayo

Deluxe Sauces

• ·      African
Belgian Mayo + Ketchup + Onion
• ·      Asian
Belgian Mayo + Thai Satay + Onion
• ·      French Canadian
Shredded Cheese + Hot Gravy
• ·      Italian
Shredded Cheese + Hot Napoli Sauce
• ·      Mexican
Chilli Salsa + Yogurt

I was tempted to order nuggets that have really good reviews but I decided to have burger “ meal deal “   that comes with burger,  sampler fries, classic sauce and drink

 Original burgers without onion

Original burgers normally comes with  LOTF patty, cheese, pickles,  onion, lettuce, Belcian mayo, mustard, ketchup 

with wholemeal bun,  vegan cheese !

with  Vietnamese spicy chilii mayo for flies.

 I normally don’t choose juice but it say ” organic” and ” squeezed daily” 

I couldn’t help choosing one. 

 Also found out that oranges are actually from Victoria!  Very local focused shop. Potato, bun, juices are from local area! Isn’t it fantastic? 

I must say mini burger is really really mini. I was actually very surprised how small it is. but actually it is perfect since ” sample fries” are actually quite generous portion 

see the photo from 

http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2009/06/02/lord-of-the-fries-melbourne/

This photo was taken in 2009. I am sure the mini burger become bit bigger now. 

I bet many non –vegetarian people are eating veggie burgers without knowing!

what a fabulous shop even though I wouldn’t say it is healthy meal choice….I would LOVE to go back next time I go to Melbourne! 

Load of the fries are available only in Melborune

CHADSTONE SHOPPING CENTRE

CHAPEL STREET

ELIZABETH STREET

FLINDERS STREET

MELBOURNE CENTRAL

I have green smoothie every morning. I truly think that this habit is the best habit I have at the moment. 

Ingredients are fruits and green leafy veggie + seeds + alkaline water 

No sugar or daily! full of goodness! 

For seeds, I have been putting only chia seeds but these days I start to put both chia seeds and flaxseeds ( linseeds ) Flaxseeds are much cheaper than chia seeds but contains more omega 3 than chia seeds, so why not add some! 

Seeds are more ” active ” when soaked…Seeds are in sleep so need to wake up them to enjoy the maximum benefits. So soak night before or first in the morning.

Put 3 TBSP chia seeds and 2 TBSP flaxseeds in alkaline water.

( I have a jar that make alkaline water )  

Today’s fruits- ripen banana ( with sugar spots! ) and pears. This combination hasn’t changed long time, actually since the flood hit Queensland. Luckily bananas are not $14 per kg anymore but still $7.99 or little more, so have been putting expensive banana ( my boy friend doesn’t care the cost of banana…) and cheap fruits to compensate the price of banana…

And kale, of course!!!!! 

Kale is quite strong compare to other green such as spinach, parsley, lettuce or silver beet. Whenever use kale, we put extra banana or pear to make the smoothie ” drinkable” 

jar is absolutely full! 

Super drink full of fibre, antioxidant, protein, vitamins, minerals, omega 3,6,9 !!!!!

Lovely way to start the day xx

By the way,  vita mix, the super blender is the key to make ” drinkable” green smoothie. I highly recommend this. 

My Kale week is still going on :)

Today, I cooked Japchae, the Korean noodle. 

Japchae is a popular Korean noodle dish made from sweet potato. Yes, it is GLUTEN FREE noodle :) stir fried with thinly sliced carrot, onion, spinach and mushroom seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and sugar. Pretty simple! 

Dried Korean sweet potato noodle - boil for 10 mins before frying

Today’s Japchae

Kale, carrot and enoki mushroom

Kale is like spinach so no problem at all! 

Normally sugar is used for seasoning  but I used ” agave syrup” today for healthy option. 

Lower GI than sugar and contains full of nutrients unlike white refined sugar! 

Japchae is tasty either hot or cold. It is great to bring to office for lunch :) 

Another lovely kale cooking :)))))

epicvegan:

• 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;
• 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;
• 70 million gallons of gas — enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico…

little change make a huge difference 

(Source: pinealglands)

Thanks to Andrew’s fabulous tip to cook tasty minestrone with lots of bean ( I put around 400g of beans )  and veggies, now I got a lots of left over especially beans…well, I did it on purpose cos I don’t want to cook from scratch everyday! but I hate eating the same food two days in a row. so I change a little…. 

Day 1 : Minestrone 

Day 2 Minestrone covered with whole meal bread, steamed and roasted veggies with vegan gravy 

I put left over wholemeal pizza dough  ( click here to get pizza dough recipe )  on top on soup and put in the oven. I also put pre steamed pumpkin and potato in the oven as well. 

When you put the pizza dough, make sure there are enough space between soup and pizza or bread dough. 

Pour generous amount of vegan gravy over the roasted and steamed veggie. It is also nice to eat bread and gravy together. 

This gravy is delicious and easy.  Even meat eaters love this. No cholesterol! much much healthier than real gravy. 

 vegan gravy 

    Ingredients:

    1 vegetable bullion cube

    2 cups water
    1/2 tsp onion powder
    1/4 tsp  garlic powder
    2 TBSP savoury yeast flakes ( nutritional yeast ) 
    1 TBSP soy sauce
    1/2 tsp mustard
    1/4-1/2 cup whole meal flour (I use brown rice flour for gluten free version)
    1 tablespoon vegan butter 
    sea salt and pepper, to taste

Method: 

1. Place flour in the pot and add water slowly while mixing then add all ingredients

2. Cook over medium heat and bring to boil 

3. Cook on medium low heat until the gravy get thick. 

* you can add 1 TBSP vegan butter

( pls use non- hydrogenated one to avoid trans fat! ) to get richer flavour 

This is my favourite vegan butter 

Serves: Enough for a dinner with 4 people

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Day 3 Vegan shepherd pie with vegan gravy 

I still have gravy left and also lots of beans on the bottom of soup so I made shepherd pie! 

All I need to do was make mushed potato. Simply cook potatoes and add some soy or rice milk, salt and pepper to taste. 

Lay the left over beans from soup without liquid,  then place the mushed potato on top then brush some olive oil to get nice colour 

EASY!!!!  The pie goes with vegan gravy 

I love soup. I have soup or soup noodle at least a few times a week, in winter. 

I love making vegetarian minestrone ( No more bacon!!! )  Just putting whatever veggies I have in fridge. 

I have lots of silver beet stem left so decided to make minestrone! 

Many people eat just silver beet leaf but please remember to eat stem! 

silver beet

stem! what a waste you throw these! 

Typical way of cooking stems is braise and bake in a gratin dish with parmesan cheese but I often put them in my stew or soup or make kinpira ( Japanese style stir fry ) 

So today’s minestrone ingredients are 

 silver beet stem, celery, eggplant, tomato, zucchini and soup mix beans! 

AND!!!!!!! 

secret spice…CURRY POWDER! 

Andrew, who came to my Tofusion class, told me that his spaghetti Bolognese was absolutely fabulous, many people claimed that that was the best Bolognese they had.

Okaaayyyy…he told me the secret of his Bolognese , basically put EVERYTHING in his pantry. like soy sauce ( I actually put soy sauce quite often so I am not surprised ) , mayonnaise (!) but he never ever forget to put one ingredient…. CURRY POWDER! 

His Bolognese sauce also got lots of veggies like celery, carrot..so I thought, bolognese is tomato based with veggies , so why not try with minestrone! 

Then…worked out VERY WELL :)))))  Curry powder helps to get rid of sourness of tomato. I can still taste tomato but not sour, maybe that is why the soup taste great! make it milder and give rich subtle flavour of all spices..cumin, turmeric..and more in the curry powder. Also turmeric gave a nice colour as well 

I love new tip for my minestrone, thanks Andrew !!!!!!!

My boy friend took me surprise our anniversary dinner.

He choose the restaurant.  

It is at Bilsons. He got three hats ( Three hats means the best in Australia ) but not this year. 

I really don’t understand why he lost his hat this year because food was FANTASTIC! 

Tony Bilson is the one who taught French cooking to Tetsuya. 

We ordered vegetarian degustation menu. 

You can choose from ” Grand” - which is full course and ” Petit” for less dishes. 

Grand is $195 pp and Petit is $145 

We both ordered grand course..I was going to order petit and steal some dish from him but he knew it would happen..and I am glad I ordered grand course. 

Okkaaay, let’s see the food!!!!! 

Start from

chips 

Isn’t it cute? also tartar sauce was really nice

Bread with smoked tomato butter

Very cute and taste great

Next dish, I was very exited to hear what it is…so I forgot to take photo before I ate….

Whenever I go to degustation, I do that…just over exited! 

Well, why I got exited? 

Because…garlic was cooked in many interesting ways

Garlic sponge with fermented garlic, poached garlic and garlic chips with coconuts foam

that would be the title of dish. This dish is not even on a menu. 

Black looking one is fermented garlic, garlic chips is extremely tiny so you can’t see..but orange thing in front is poached garlic then yellow thing at the back is garlic sponge. 

It is vegan dish. Well, I must say, it was really nice. garlic sponge is not really sponge, quite crunchy with flavour of coconuts. Enjoyed crunchiness and fluffy foam combination with various garlic texture.  GORGEOUS! 

Spinach, Fregola, strawberry FD, Black pepper

Well, this is the title in the menu..but I explain more cos this dish got lots more going on. 

Cooked spinach with Fregola pasta, which is French pasta that has kind of chewy texture. little bit similar to tapioca. Spinach is cooked with Pernod, which is French liquor that made from aniseed. 

Strawberries were freeze dried and coated with Greek yogurt and underneath them, Mascarpone and black pepper sauce

You can see two black round things in the dish, they are  like jelly that made from Shiraz wine. When I put it in my mouth, the strong shiraz taste just pop out! It is not just jelly! 

The head chef worked at El Bulli in Spain that got no1 restaurant in the world title many times! and very famous for cooking food using science. Ferran Adria, the chef is called ” father of molecular gastronomy”  he makes foam, and all sort of weird thing..

 so he must be good at making food in chemistry way not traditional way. It is already happening a few EL Bulli style!  

This dish has got so much going on but, well balanced, in some way..AMAZING

I must say it is  another gorgeous dish…

Mustard tofu, red onion, smoked white beans, Brussel sprouts

Can you see little leaves of Brussel sprouts? I hate them but I can eat little leaves :)

Tofu is marinaded in mustard and blow torched. 

 Red onion confit. confit is a one of French cooking technique. confit is basically cooked in oil or fat ( for meat ) and sugar ( fruit )  in very low temparature.  I heard confit of meat or fruits but not onion. Interesting. Red onion was soaked with olive oil and cooked very slowly…

In the middle? well, deep fried shallot with root. Well, deep-fried roots is quite good

Highlight of this dish is  broth made from smoked white beans. NNN..I just want to drink the broth as a soup. not enough! soooo yummy 

Broccoli, pistachio, goats blue, baby sorrel 

BEEEEEEAUTIFUL presentation! 

This is like garlic dish, the ingredients are cooked in a different way in one dish! 

two main ingredients. 

Broccoli, florets and stems are freeze dried ..you see curly things in front.

Other stems are slow braised and rolled. Also Broccoli jelly with baby sorrel on top. 

Baby sorrel is a herb that has a fresh, sharp lemon-citrus flavour.

and some surprise blue cheese was hidden under broccoli …

And other side…

Three round things in front is pistachio tempura.

On the bottom is pistachio sauce. Very rich creamy sauce.

Also pistachio oil was drizzled on top :) What a dish! Just FANTASTIC! 

I am running out of my breath. I will write the rest tomorrow :) 

I watched ” Food Inc” and got shocked about food last month. 

Ellen Degeneres who turned to be vegan told that ” Food Inc ” is like a Disney movie compare to ” Earthlings” 

That is how I found out this documentary.

This made me cry, also think differently in many ways. 

Please watch this and if you feel something, please pass on this to your friends…

It is getting so cold in Sydney!!

It is nice to have something warm.

I bought very nice  congee like packet. A manager in the kitchen where I run cooking classes was having this and she recommended me.  Yes, it is vegetarian ( vegan )

Ingredients are all healthy!!! ( it is not gluten free )

Yam, tomato, pumpkin seeds, green tea, Job’s tear ( hatomugi in Japanese ), wild rice, red split lentils, black bean, black sesame, seaweed, oats, buckwheat, wheat, vegetable ( carrot, cabbage, celery), sea salt

All you have to do is pour hot water!

I can actually taste coriander…even though packet does not say …but you can see coriander look like leaf below. I LOVE coriander so great for me :)

These instant thing is normally not so healthy because tend to contains MSG and refined salt and chemical that you don’t know.. but it uses sea salt and not salty at all

so actually I have to add more sea salt this is my favourite sea salt 

Also it contains B12 !!! which is very important in vegetarian diet.

I saw more variety in the shop so I will try others soon !!!! I think this big bag that contains 12 sachets was $12 or something so one sachets is $1. It is not too bad! 

Also my vegetarian friend gave sweet sesame and yam drink that is the same brand so I tried this one, too

Even though I don’t have sweet tooth, I felt that I need little bit sweeter..which is great because you are avoiding refine sugar ( this packet uses brown sugar anyway ) but I did not add any thing. but if you want, you can add honey or agave syrup..

ingredients are

black sesame, purple yam, job’s tear, black wild rice, buckwheat, wheat germ, rye, oat, brown sugar

I think this Taiwanese brand ” Greenmax” is pretty good. I used to use this brand’s green tea powder.  believe or not, some Japanese green tea contains too much colouring  which is to look good in baking so I understand but sometime too much and  does not have much green tea taste….very sad. So I used to mix Taiwanese green tea and Japanese green tea to bake cakes. …Anyway, I trust Taiwanese products in general!