Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Wok Like A Zombie

FOWYGET? (Friend of Were You Gonna Eat That?) Hilary is OBSESSED with everything Asian - mostly Asian men, but also Asian food sometimes. She taught us how to make this INCREDIBLE, super spicy stir fry that may actually be eating my stomach lining, but is totally wonderful.



INGREDIENTS:
- olive oil
- 1/2 clove garlic, chopped
- chilis
- one block extra firm tofu, cubed
- broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
- baby bok choy, slightly steamed
- 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 package white mushrooms, sliced
- rice vinegar
-apple cider vinegar
- soy sauce

Hila taught me how to make this first as a sauce for vegetables, and then we turned it into a stir fry - so this is largely improv. We started out by frying the tofu in olive oil with a little garlic and a few crushed chilis, so it would be firmer on the sides and also spicy and delicious. Hilary is very patient and i am not.


When the little cubes were brown on the sides and lookin' fine, Hila put them in a separate bowl so they could sit and wait for the glorious bed of vegetables that awaited! We started up another pan with olive oil, generous chopped garlic and what Hilary helpfully describes as "enough" chilis. Then we added mushrooms and the pulp from the tomatoes. Those cooked until they smelled so good we just about died.

Um, that keeps posting sideways. Not sure why. Okay! Hila steamed the bok choy just a little bit to soften it up, while I added the broccoli. When both of these things were starting to soften, we combined them with the diced tomato and finally the tofu.


The next part is critical! Sprinkle the stir fry with a light coating of rice vinegar, followed by a splash of apple vinegar. Let that simmer for a bit, and then when you're absolutely sure everything is almost done cooking, add a generous helping of soy sauce. This will change the chemical composition of what's happening, so you have to take the stir fry off the heat shortly thereafter - I don't know; it's science. Do what the nice lady tells you. The resulting sauce will be SPICY AS FUCK, but amazing.

Enjoy over brown rice! I am about to go make some right now.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Restaurats: Veggie Heaven: Austin, TX

when sara and i were in austin, we went to veggie heaven, an amazing vegetarian restaurant on guadalupe.

we got this crazy-lookin' sushi as an appetizer. it's filled with yellow radish, cucumber and carrot, and came with wasabi and ginger. om nom nom nom:


then i ordered the magic tomato, which involves broccoli, baby bok choy, cauliflower, carrots, napa cabbage, fried tofu, onions in spicy gingery brown sauce, and (obvs) magic tomatoes. it's really freakin' spicy and comes with rice, and i want to learn how to make this sauce so i can put it on everything forever:


sara got a veggie chicken bowl over rice noodles, and looked cute while eating it.


um, five stars, fucking delicious and super cheap. i would like to have a smaller version of this place inside my apartment, like how richie rich had a mcdonald's in his house in that macaulay culkin movie.

some chick behind us on the plane ride home was bragging into her cell phone about how she'd gotten lunch from this place to eat on the plane. DAMN that's a great idea.. next year!

Restaurant Project: Lan Cafe

the other day elena rounded up the troops and made an announcement: there are 127 vegan restaurants listed in new york city on supervegan.com, and we haven't been to all of them! what's WRONG with us?

so let's get started!

our first stop was lan cafe, a vegetarian vietnamese place on east 6th street. it's a tiny little place i don't think i'd notice from the street, but once we got inside we loved the atmosphere and um, pretty much everything.

i forget what this soup was called, but it had okra AND pineapple in it and was sort of hot and sour? maybe? recommended.

look at all those things that aren't normally in soup but turn out to taste good there! who knew?

we got this lemongrass marinated tofu, which was too pretty not to take pictures of.


and THIS is some freaking lovely tea.


verdict: four stars, full bellies, very happy. this can only get better.