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Eggplant Musubi

I can’t believe I had forgotten to share this recipe with you…

Hawaii is the number 1 consumer of SPAM in the United States… Apparently, Hawaiians love their potted meat. I have to admit, back in the days when I was growing up I looooved when my grandma made for us Spam sandwiches with mayo on criollo bread. That was a treat we only ate while on vacations.

Now… my tastes have changed. And while I wanted to bring a traditional and authentic take of a Hawaiian Luau to my Yogi friends, I also wanted to make it accessible to everyone. Some of us have access to good vegetarian “hams”, but I figured that eggplant is something most of you will be able to get and will not cringe when you read it on a recipe. The teriyaki marinade is what will bring it all together in true Hawaiian musubi fashion.

This recipe is a tad long… but there are just 3 main steps – 1. cook the rice, 2. cook the eggplant, 3. assemble the musubi. So don’t be overwhelmed by it all. I used two small plastic containers of the same size that can fit one inside the other to form my musubi. There are musubi contraptions, but I could not find one for the life of me in Puerto Rico. Once you get the hang of it… it will be a breeze.

EGGPLANT MUSUBI

2 cups short grain brown rice

3 cups water

1/3 cup plain unseasoned rice vinegar

3 tbs brown sugar

½ tsp salt

2 small eggplants, peeled and sliced thinly

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar

4 cloves garlic, grated

1-inch piece of ginger, grated

About ¼ cup of Black Sesame Gomasio as seasoning

2 nori sheets, cut into thin strips

Olive Oil

First, cook the rice… I use a rice cooker, but you can do it on the stove top if you prefer. The idea is to cook the rice thoroughly but that it’s a tad sticky. Not fluffy for sure. Although by using short grain rice you get that consistency inherently.
Cook the rice without oil, just a light sprinkling of salt. In a measuring cup mix together the rice vinegar, the 3 tbs of brown sugar and salt. Set aside. After the rice is cooked, transfer to a plastic or wooden bowl to cool completely. While rice is still hot, drizzle the vinegar/brown sugar mixture over the rice to season. Set aside for the rice to cool completely.
Secondly, we season the eggplant… Using a mandolin or a very sharp knife, slice eggplant in thin, ¼ inch slices. In a large flat container mix together the marinade for the eggplant – soy sauce, brown sugar, grated garlic and ginger. Mix together well to make sure the sugar dissolves well in the soy sauce. Add the eggplant slices to the marinade, making sure all sides of eggplant are coated with the marinade. Marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet or griddle and pan-fry the marinated eggplant slices until caramelized, about 2 minutes on each side. As you cook the eggplant slices, set aside on a baking sheet.
So now… we assemble the musubi. Moisten your hands with water. It will help with the rice not sticking as much to your fingers while you’re assembling. Take about 2 tbs or rice into the bottom of the plastic container. Sprinkle lightly some black sesame gomasio as seasoning over the rice. Place a piece of eggplant over the rice. Fold the eggplant slice if it’s necessary to fit into the small plastic container. With the secong plastic container press the eggplant/rice tower to form a compact package. Using a sharp knife separate the rice/eggplant for the edges and flip over and tap on a cutting board for the rice/eggplant to release from the container.
Wrap with a thin strip of nori. The nori sheets come scored in strips, we cut each of those strips in half, to make them yiled more strips for sheet.

Musubi tastes best the same day it is made. Never refrigerate because the cold makes the rice hardens and it’s not very nice to eat.

As you can see, the recipe has a few steps, but it’s not very difficult to make. And when you get the hang of making the musubi, it becomes kinda like an assembly line. I want to thank Jesús Omar for being my musubi assistant the day we had to make 50+ musubis for the Hawaiian Vegetarian Festival. The crowd was surprised they were eating “vegetarian sushi” for the first time.

Next time, I will definitely try to make this with what they call “sham spam”… my version, of course. Stay tuned.

Tags: #karmafree, brown rice, eggplant, food, ginger, Hawaii, nori, rice, rice vinegar, seaweed, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sushi, teriyaki, Vegan, vegetarian

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Categories appetizers

Tofu Mushroom Poke

15 May

Poke is not something you used to do on Facebook… it’s a salad served raw in Hawaii. From the looks of it, it’s the Hawaiian ceviche and the correct pronunciation is Poke /poʊˈkeɪ/.

When I traveled to Peru, I had delicious tofu ceviche and white mushroom ceviche. Both vegan, and both tasted as authentic as ceviche made with fish. So I decided our Hawaiian ceviche, or poke, would include both tofu and mushrooms. To add more interest, color and crunch, I thought I would include some broccoli florets into the mix.

This is a simple dish with many components coming together. Feel free to make some parts the night before you’re serving this and finish it off the day of with the broccoli and tossing it all together in the marinade. This way the tofu marinates overnight and the broccoli is served fresh – the best of both worlds.

TOFU MUSHROOM POKE

2 blocks of extra-firm tofu

1 pint of cremini mushrooms, quartered

1 bunch of broccoli, florets only cut in half or thirds

2 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

2 shallots, finely minced

4-6 scallions, thinly sliced

About ¼ cup Garlic and Herb Seasonings

3 garlic cloves, grated

2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup tamari

2 tbs toasted sesame oil

The juice of 2 limes

Salt to taste

Slice each tofu block in 4 slices. Place slices in a baking sheet lined with 2-3 paper towels. Cover with 2-3 additional paper towels, top with an additional baking sheet and weigh with something heavy. Drain weighed tofu slices for about 30-60 minutes.
After tofu slices are drained, season liberally with Garlic and Herbs seasoning. Cook tofu slices in a dry non-stick skillet. After you’ve placed them on the skillet, leave them for a while without touching them. The crust they will develop will prevent them from sticking to the skillet and make it easier to turn them. Sear them on both sides. Set aside to cool off.
Cut each slice of tofu in 12 pieces – cut into 3 pieces on the long side. Cut those 3 strips in half and then those halves in half again. Set aside.
Mix the marinate in a container with a lid that you can cover and marinate tofu for a while – tamari, olive oil, sesame oil, shallots, scallions, grated garlic, grated ginger, lime juice. Add tofu slices to marinate. Add shredded carrots. Marinate for about 4 hours or even overnight in the fridge.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch broccoli florets for about 1 minute, until they turn bright green. Scoop them out of the boiling water and shock them in a bowl filled with salted ice water. This will stop the cooking and set the bright green color. Working in batches will help you control the blanching process and avoid any over cooking. When broccoli is cooled, transfer to a colander for the florets to drain well and dry.
About 2 hours before serving, combine marinated tofu/carrots mix with quartered mushrooms, cooked broccoli florets and sliced scallions. Toss well to combine and allow marinate all together. Toss every 20 minutes to make sure all components are marinated.

Serve at room temperature.

If you enjoyed this recipe… you can check out the other dishes we served at the Hawaiian Vegetarian Festival here in a previous post serving as anchor for all the recipes.

Tags: broccoli, carrot, cremini, food, ginger, Hawaii, mushroom, scallion, tamari, tofu, Vegan, vegetarian

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Categories appetizers, Salad

Vegan Longrice Soup

1 May

One of my friends on Facebook suggested this soup as something very traditional to Hawaii… And, coincidentally, it was one of the hits of the Hawaiian Vegetarian Festival at the Yoga Center.

It has quite a few ingredients, but it’s not a complicated recipe at all. It’s all about making a very flavorful broth to enjoy with some veggies and noodles. The cellophane noodles are great because they’re made from mung beans and are naturally gluten-free. This might not be traditional, but I suggest you break up the noodles a bit before adding them to the soup… I find that if you leave them whole, they’re a hassle to serve and eat. Don’t kill the messenger, but I also like shorter noodles of pasta… (ducks head in protection of potential tomatoes thrown her way).

I guess you could use only vegetable stock and avoid the hassle of boiling vegetables for the stock… but I like the idea and flavor the fresh veggies give to the stock. And the ginger needs some time to infuse its flavor into it too. Don’t be afraid at the amount of stock this needs… this recipe will serve about 10-12 people. You’ll need more stock than you’ll think you’ll need because the noodles soak up some and people will go back for seconds. Mark my words…

VEGAN LONGRICE SOUP

4 cups water

1 quart vegetable stock

2 vegetable bouillon cubes

1 large onion, quartered

6 cremini mushrooms, halved

2 bell peppers, seeded and halved or quartered

4 garlic cloves, smashed

Half of a bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley

A 6-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into large chunks

2 large carrots, grated coarsely

1 bunch of watercress leaves

2 packages of cellophane noodles

A bunch of scallions, sliced thinly

Salt and pepper to taste

Toasted Sesame Oil, optional

Toasted Sesame Seeds, optional

In a large stock pot, add the water, vegetable stock, bouillon cubes, onion, mushrooms, peppers, garlic cloves, parsley and ginger. Cover pot and bring stock to a boil and lower heat to medium to simmer for about 30-45 minutes for the veggies to release their flavors. After the stock is done, turn off the heat.
Remove the cooked pieces of onion, parsley, pepper, ginger and any loose garlic cloves you can find. The mushrooms will be so small that you can leave them in.
Add the shredded carrot and the cellophane noodles. Move the noodles around so they hydrate and loosen up.
Add the watercress leaves and sliced scallions. It will stay warm for about 1-2 hours. Garnish with extra scallions, toasted sesame seeds and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, optional.

Tags: #karmafree, carrot, cellophane noodles, dairy-free, food, garlic, ginger, gluten-free, Hawaii, Hawaiian, Polynesian, Vegan, vegetable stock, vegetarian, watercress

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Categories appetizers, side dishes

Vegan Coquito

1 Dec

Yes… I went there. My sister has been dairy-free for some time now and she was craving Coquito.

Being the good big sister that I am, I developed this version omitting the evaporated and condensed milks. I must admit, this turned out to be a really cool experiment. The flavors and the spirit of Coquito is still there – without rum or dairy.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I and my sister did.

VEGAN COQUITO

1 pint coconut creamer

2 containers coconut cream

2 containers of coconut milk

30oz of spiced tea – using a baggie each of cinnamon sticks, anise seeds, star anise, cloves and a 5” piece of ginger

2 tbs vanilla powder or extract

2 tbs cinnamon powder

2 tbs nutmeg

Just like my regular recipe for coquito, you first make a spiced tea – In a medium saucepan pour 3 cups of water, cinnamon sticks, anise seeds, star anise and cloves. Add also the piece of ginger cut up into small pieces or rounds. No need to even take off the skin. Bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat for about 15-20 minutes to create a strong spiced tea. This will give the coquito most of its spiciness. Turn off the heat and allow the spices to concentrate the flavor of the tea. Let cool a bit. You could even make this the day before and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the Coquito recipe.
I find that if you have a really large pitcher or plastic jug with a large mouth that will accommodate about 90oz of liquid, this is the best way to assemble this…
In the large pitcher I described above, combine the coconut creamer, coconut milks and creams of coconut with 30oz of the spiced tea. Add the vanilla powder, cinnamon powder and freshly grated nutmeg. Using an immersion blender, blend the whole thing well to combine and make a tad frothy.
Allow to chill in the refrigerator in that same pitcher you made it in.

Serve chilled in small shot glasses. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

Tags: anise, anise seeds, cinnamon, cloves, coconut, coconut cream, coconut creamer, coconut milk, dairy-free, food, ginger, gluten-free, nutmeg, star anise, vegetarian

Comments 5 Comments
Categories beverages, Puerto Rican delicacies, Xmas

Coquito Ice Cream

25 Dec

I have been meaning to make an ice cream using my Coquito recipe for years… but recently I asked my mom for her ice cream maker and I have become a frozen dessert maniac.

I educated myself on making ice creams… proportions, flavors, textures. And the best ice creams always included some sort of egg component. And as you know, eggs are no-no’s in KarmaFree Cooking. I was willing to give this project a few tries, but making Coquito takes a few steps and I didn’t want to be wasteful.

I struck gold when I took my ice cream making inquiries to a Facebook group we have – the Serious Eats Water Cooler. There a few friends introduced me to Max Falkowitz, an ice cream guru who’s also part of the editorial team at Serious Eats. Between his recommendations and my friend Jerzee Tomato’s input, I came up with a brilliant combination of texture and smoothness.

Create a custard… without using eggs and mix in the Coquito. Genius!!! The Coquito has fat from the coconut milk, evaporated and condensed milks so all you need to do is add some more to the custard.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! My mom was in awe when she tried it… as has been each and every person who has tasted it after that. This was a home run!

COQUITO ICE CREAM

2 cups of my Coquito Recipe

1 ¼ cups half and half

2 tsp cornstarch

½ cup brown sugar

First we need to create the components… you can make a batch of Coquito first and then make the cornstarch custard.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add 1 cup of half and half and sugar. Add the cornstarch to the remaining ¼ cup half and half. Whisk well to create a slurry and while whisking, add to the saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.
Whisk or stir constantly using a wooden spoon to avoid any lumps while the mixture thickens. It’ll take about 5-6 minutes. The custard is done when it coats the back of a wooden spoon and when you run a finger thru it, the sides of custard will not get back together.
It may look a tad loose, but it’ll thicken in the fridge while it cools.
Transfer the custard to a heatproof bowl or even a glass measuring cup and chill in the fridge at least 2-3 hours. I place a plastic film over the custard to avoid it creating a film on top. You can do this even a few days in advance if you want. Just like making the Coquito in advance.
When you’re ready to assemble the ice cream, in a pitcher bring together 2 cups of Coquito and the cornstarch custard, which should measure just a tad more than 1 cup. Mix well to combine and add to your ice cream maker. Churn 25-30 minutes according to your ice cream machine’s instructions.
Transfer to a container to freeze in the freezer for about 2 hours before serving. It’s delicious right off the ice cream maker… but it’s at its best after a few hours in the freezer.
When you’re about to serve it… leave it a few minutes at room temperature before scooping.