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.

Tasty Curry of Undetermined Ethnic Origin

elena's roommate annie gave me this recipe for thai curry out of a book. i tried making it with tofu and it didn't go so well, so the next time i tried seitan and it was perfect. i also tried adding okra, which i've never had in thai food ever, but the sliminess of the okra held the curry together pretty well. then i got carried away adding other vegetables. t.i. says you can add whatever you like!


INGREDIENTS:
- 1 package seitan (i used westsoy vegetarian stir fry strips)
- 2-5 dried chili peppers, chopped (i used mexican instead of thai - whatever)
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 jar green thai curry paste (thai kitchen - for some reason all the other kinds of curry paste have shrimp or fish in them)
- 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 medium potatoes, cubed
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 4-5 white mushrooms, chopped
- 1 pkg okra, chopped (i think like 20 pieces?)
- salt
- 1 can coconut milk
- cinnamon
- fresh coriander, chopped

the first thing you'll probs want to do is chop up all the vegetables, to save time later. i made the mistake of putting them all together in a bowl, which was annoying as i later learned they required different cooking times, but boy did they look pretty:


heat up some oil in a wok, add the crumbled-up chilis and then the seitan. the more chilis you add, the spicier your curry will be. fry to your preference, then remove it from heat and set aside.

in a large saucepan, add more oil and fry the garlic and the ginger for two minutes. we learned that if you keep your ginger in the freezer, it's a lot easier to grate.

add the onion and a dash of cinnamon (to taste).

then add curry paste and a few (maybe 3-4) full jars of water. bring it to a boil. you'll want it to be enough water to cover your curry, so you may need more or less water depending on how much stuff you're throwing in there.

add your potatoes, carrots, coconut milk and seitan. bring it back to a boil, and then reduce the heat, add okra, mushrooms and red pepper and simmer for 20-40 minutes (enough time for the carrots and potatoes to get tender). before eating, sprinkle in the slightest bit of salt and a dash of coriander.


oh man, delicious. eat it over brown rice! OM NOM NOM NOM.

and yes that is king tut on my water glass.