indonesian stir-fried noodle bowl from "vegan bowls" + #2

These are a few of my favorite things...about Vegan Bowls:

Over the next few weeks, I will share with you my most favorite aspects of my new cookbook, Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N).

#2.
My next most favorite aspect of Vegan Bowls is that all of the recipes are on one page (except for a few that have substitution suggestions spill over to the next facing page).

This is really important since the recipes contain no sub-recipes needing to be made first. This means that once you turn to the recipe you want to make, there will be no further page turning needed to complete the dish.

My publisher and I really worked hard on making this a reality - especially since these are complete meals! Complete meals that you can prepare without any sub-recipes or page turning. I love this concept when I cook for my own family and I wanted to bring that uniqueness to this special book.

If you missed it, Reason #1 is posted HERE.

Below I am sharing my recipe for Indonesian Stir-fried Noodle Bowl from Vegan Bowls and felt it was appropriate to let you see the rest of the Chapter 5: Pastas. This chapter includes 14 delicious pasta recipes, including recipes from Europe, Asia and regions of the U.S.

If you have heard of the Laos dish of larb and have been wanting to make an authentic vegan version - look no further than Vegan Bowls. The Reuben Mac and Cheese is my homage to Tami Noyes of Vegan Sandwiches Saves the Day and the upcoming cookbook, The Great Vegan Grains Book (Amazon, B&N).

The list really goes on and on and not a single recipe is your ordinary, run-of-the-mill vegan renditions of pasta dishes. After you peruse the list, get in the kitchen and make the stir-fried noodle bowl below. It is quick and so, so good!

Indonesian Stir-Fried Noodle Bowl
SERVES 4
Mei goreng or bami goreng is a popular street food all over Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It is a sweet and spicy dish of noodles fried with vegetables and eggs. The sauce usually calls for kecap manis, a thick, sweet sauce, but here we will make our own sauce using tamari, mirin, fresh ginger, and garlic. (Recipe from Vegan Bowls,  copyright © 2015 by Zsu Dever. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press, LLC.)


NOODLES
8 ounces medium-thickness brown rice noodles

SAUCE
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup reduced-sodium tamari
1/4 cup mirin
1 tablespoon sambal oelek, or to taste
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon natural sugar

VEGETABLES
1/4 cup vegetable broth, divided
1 small red onion, cut into 1/8-inch slices
3 cups small broccoli florets
3 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 celery rib, cut into 1/8-inch slices
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or vegetable broth
6 ounces baby kale or baby spinach
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed in a bowl of hot water and drained

NOODLES: Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add the noodles and cook just shy of al dente, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Drain the noodles and cool under running water. Set aside.

SAUCE: Combine the broth, tamari, mirin, sambal oelek, ginger, garlic, and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

VEGETABLES: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of broth and the onion. Stir and cook until the onion is browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside in a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of broth to the skillet. Add the broccoli. Stir and cook until the broccoli begins to char, about 2 minutes. Add the cabbage, celery, garlic and 1 tablespoon of broth. Stir and cook until the cabbage begins to char, about 2 more minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside with the onion. Add the sauce to the skillet and simmer until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the oil or 2 more tablespoons of broth, the kale, the edamame, the reserved noodles, and the reserved vegetables. Stir and cook until the pasta is warmed through and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with more sambal oelek and tamari. Serve hot in bowls.

shyoyo ramen

How many of us have actually had a really good bowl of ramen? Although the noodle soup is ubiquous in Japan, even there, chances of finding a vegan bowl of ramen is rare since many of the broths are made with some kind of animal stock.

Making the broth at home, even making it close to authentic, is easy and fast, but you have to make the base of the broth first.

Ramen first caught my eye when I was researching Vietnamese Pho for Vegan Bowls (Amazon, B&N). I was surprised to learn that the broth for the Japanese version of the noodle soup is much simpler and less involved in terms of spices and flavorings.

I added tofu and vegan sausage to my ramen, since there is meat in the authentic version, but you can add either, both or vegetables instead.

There are three kinds of Japanese Ramen:

1. Shyoyo - seasoned with soy sauce, tamari or shoyu
2. Miso - seasoned with miso
3. Shio - seasoned with salt

I made my version, Shyoyo Ramen, seasoned with tamari. The whole shebang was ready under thirty minutes, so it is definitely worth the extra effort to make this more authentic ramen soup, in lieu of boiling water and adding a packet of who-knows-what and calling it ramen.

Shyoyo Ramen with bamboo ramen noodles.

Shyoyo Ramen
Serves 4

1 (2-inch) piece ginger, cut into 3 slices
1 small onion, cut into ½-inch wedges
4 unpeeled garlic cloves
4 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
1/4  cup reduced-sodium tamari
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
1/2  teaspoon dulse flakes
1/2  teaspoon sea salt
1 (10-ounce) package super-firm tofu, cut into 1/4 -inch slices
2 links vegan sausage, cut into 1/4 -inch slices on the bias
2 tablespoons sake or mirin
1/4 small cabbage, chopped
1 small carrot, cut into julienne slices
10 ounces ramen noodles
Scallions, minced
Togarashi seasoning

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, onion and garlic and cook until charred on both sides. Add the water, broth, tamari, oil, dulse and salt. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the broth into a medium pot, discarding the vegetables. Season to taste and add the tofu, sausage and sake to the broth and continue to simmer until needed.
2. Heat the large pot over medium heat. Add the cabbage and cook to sear. Carefully pour the broth with the tofu and sausage into the large pot. Add the carrots and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes.
3. Heat a medium pot of salted water to boiling. Add the ramen and cook until al dente, stirring often. Drain.
4. Serve the ramen with the broth, tofu, sausage, scallions and togarashi.



 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.