made with in-stink'd

taro cake

my flat mate gaggs and splutters at the smell of taro. fair call, as the smell is acquired. but if there was a god of all food, me thinks taro would be IT. taro is one of the most versatile vegetables around. it is a root vegetable considered a staple in many asian, pacific, and african countries. in heavy rain, the large thick leaves can be used as an umbrella and a beautiful one at that. its other uses include treating insect bites, malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, tropical ulcers and inflammation. food wise (sorry that was a bit gross considering this is a food blog), you will find it in curries, casseroles, stews, dumplings and bubble tea. taro can be fried into chips, steamed, braised, mashed, and commonly baked in earth ovens all over the pacific.

pictured is a vegan version of this malay-chinese classic. essentially taro cut into cubes, seasoned and mixed into a batter of plain flour, tapioca flour and water. pour all this mixture into a large steam-proof shallow dish, leaving at least 1.5cm from the top for the topping. the topping consists of chopped shitake mushrooms, salted turnip, green beans, salted cabbage, preserved mustard leaves and dehydrated tofu (hydrated) marinated in hoi-sin sauce, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, and sesame oil. heat some peanut oil in a wok and when the oil starts to shimmer, toss all the topping ingredients in and stir fry and season. layer the topping onto the taro. cover and steam for 40 minutes.

garnish with finely chopped spring onions.

a little bit of tacos iiii thiiiiinnk....

make your own tacos

Vegan Tacos

grated soy cheese
avacado, cubed and seasoned with salt, pepper, lime juice, smoked paprika
black beans seasoned with a pinch of cumin & lime juice
tomato salsa
soy cream cheese
shredded lettuce, cabbage, cucumber
burritos

Place ingedients in seperate bowls to custom make your tacos.


Tomato Salsa

2 large ripe tomatoes
1 spring onion
1/2 spanish onion
1/4 cup chopped coriander
1 jalepeno chilli chopped
juice from 1 lime
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

bean me up, scotty!

homebaked beans

i am by no means vegan (or vego for that matter), but as a lover of food and a respectable being of the human race and our very crazy planet, i am an advocate for the occasional vegan dish, hence my month of vegan treats!! we should try and incorporate a vegan meal in our weekly diet if we really cared about the future of our existence. we all know that the meat industry causes huge fresh water depletion. we all know that a vegan diet helps reduce our carbon footprint. we all know that meat consumers are promoting the over-breeding of animals (anyone for hormones?). we all know that the animals we eat had a shit life. we all know that animals providing so called "organic meat" probably had a shit life also. we all know that going vegan pays respect to the ocean's ecosystems and rainforest ecosystems. we all know that cooking vegan dishes are a good challenge to create. am i assuming all this knowledge?


Homebaked Beans
Serves 4

3 x 400g tin beans (I like to use 2 x canellini beans, 1 x four bean mix)
200g tin tomatoes or 1 punnet cherry tomatoes when in season
8 french shallots, peeled and halved
1 small clove of garlic finely grated
6 sprigs of thyme
2 bayleaves
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tspn smoked paprika
1/2 tspn cumin
1 tspn tomato paste
1 tblspn barbeque sauce
5 pinches of salt
4 pinches of sugar
3 pinches of black pepper

5 tblspn olive oil

Preheat oven to 220 degC.

1. Rinse beans and place in an ovenproof dish.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Seaon to taste.

best packet noodles ever!!

kimchi ramen by nongshim

so i guess packet noodles isn't the most creative way to kick off my vegan series. i have let you down and i am sorry, but let me tell you this. i have tried and tested almost every brand of packet noodles in the minh phat supermarket on nicholson st, richmond - an asian grocery cave - to single out the best brand of packet noodles that passes the vegan gate. that's 47 packets i went through!!

the kimchi ramen noodles by nongshim have the perfect curves, are thin and slender, yet will hold it's shape when cooked which means they don't break up too easily into rice sized bits. the texture is comparable to hand thrown noodles which is quite firm and chewy. the packet of red flavouring certainly packs a punch of chilli and pepper, complemented by the perfect amount of salt. it was like they had collected all the tears from masterchef and added it to the mix, drop by drop until they were bang on the money.

now i've done all the hard work for you, memorise this packet for when you're next contemplating which out of the 47 packet noodles is the one to go for. vegan or not vegan - this is it.

now i'm off to redeem myself.

the lobby series 6

lobster pizza

Ok ok, so who doesn't love a bit of burnt cheese from time to time?

So that wraps it up for my lobster series. See you next week for the beginning of a whole month packed with vegan specials! Now I'm getting really creative.....