My husband, daughter and I went shopping at an Asian Market for our vegetarian meal. It was quite and adventure. There is so much stuff there it can be overwhelming. The new ingredients we selected are: lotus root, vegetable broth and tofu. We had Asian Soup with Spring Rolls. The soup was not as successful as the spring rolls. I think the vegetable broth gave a tomato flavor that really did not work. The ginger was also very strong and in the future I would cut back on that. The lotus root was good, it tasted like a water chestnut, crunchy without a lot of flavor. The tofu was organic so did not contain any of the MSG that most commercial tofu does. MSG gives me a migraine! The tofu was the consistency of thick yogurt and was not firm enough for the soup.
The egg rolls were very good! We bought KIMBO brand spring roll wraps in the freezer section. They were very good, fried up nicely and were very crunchy with a delicate thin crust. The spring rolls were very flavorful with a nice garlic, ginger taste. A sweet and sour sauce for dipping added a sweetness that balanced the ginger and garlic and tasted wonderful. We have made these spring rolls a couple of times and the wrappers made these the best spring rolls.
Here is a link for the spring roll recipe: http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/recipes/view/4700/wolfgang-s-spring-rolls
Asian Soup
6 cups vegetable stock (chicken would be better) 1C napa cabbage sliced
2T soy sauce Fresh rice stick noodles
1T fresh ginger, peeled and minced 1/2C carrot peeled, julienned
1T garlic, peeled and minced 1T fresh lemon juice
1t chili garlic sauce 1/2t sesame oil
1t fish sauce 1C lotus root very thinly sliced
3T peanut or olive oil 1/2C snow peas
1/2C firm tofu in small cubes
Heat oil in pan and saute lotus root for about 3 minutes on high heat. Add snow peas and carrots and saute for 2 more minutes. Take off heat. In soup pan bring to boil, stock, ginger, garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 4 minutes. Ladle into bowls.
Helen, This sounds really good (if I liked those kinds of foods). I wish I had better taste buds. It's probably because I was made to eat yucky food as a child and so now I stick to what I know and love. Although, the older I get, I have ventured out a little so maybe there's hope :)
ReplyDeleteHelen, you can come and cook for us anytime! I am not brave enough to try to make things out of ingredients that I have no clue about. I try new recipes, but with familiar ingredients. I think you are really brave!
ReplyDeleteTo all those who are vegetarians, that is awesome! However, there is nothing better than a bloody steak mooing at me from my plate! My daughters love steak as well and they will not eat it if it is not bright red in the middle. I remember once when my daughter was about 5-years-old we had dinner at a friend's house and they made steak, medium well at that, and about 4-5 hours after dinner I noticed my daughter had something stuffed in her cheek. When I had her open her mouth it was a bite of steak that she was storing in her cheek. I asked her why she didn't chew it up and swallow it and she said she couldn't, it was just too overcooked. She said she just chewed and chewed and chewed and when she tried to swallow it wouldn't go down and rather than be rude and spit it back onto her plate, she just kept it in her mouth.
ReplyDeleteI did go through a time when I couldn't eat any kind of meat. When I was pregnant with my first child, I tried to eat chicken, beef, pork, etc., but for some reason, the thought of it made me sick and the taste of any meat made me sicker. I am so glad, pregnance is only 40 weeks long!
I definetly love my steak medium rare also!
DeleteThat sounds delicious! I can't wait to hear what's next on your adventurous meal planning :)
ReplyDelete