Numbing Char-siuIsh Eggplants

This has been the MOST popular recipe on my Instagram feed - more than 100 saves of the post from 2021 and tested by many of my followers and connections. It still blows my mind! Originally developed with Trumpet Mushrooms to create a deeply flavorful vegan Chinese BBQ style dish at home, in later iterations I realized Eggplants are better suited to absorb that umami bomb marinade and transform magically when roasted or deep fried.

This has converted many eggplant haters and believe it or not when I served it at a dinner party to all my meat loving friends, they couldn’t tell it’s vegan?! So this LNY , I present you an easy side that might change your perspective about eggplants.

Ingredients (serves 4 as side)

1 lb Eggplants, cut into large 2-3” chunks (preferably Chinese or Japanese variety - easily found in produce section of Asian specialty markets)

Marinade

3 tbsp Hoisin Sauce (substitute with Oyster Sauce if you’re are not Vegan/Vegetarian or you have it on hand)

4 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (substitute with Tamari or Coco Aminos to suit your dietary restrictions. You can use Light Soy Sauce as well , just increase it to 5 tbsp)

2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar (substitute with white vinegar you have on hand, but do try to scout rice vinegar - it’s pretty great and versatile)

1.5 tsp Pomegranate Molasses (substitute with 1 tsp Maple Syrup and increase the rice wine vinegar to 3 tsp)

1.5 tsp Maple Syrup (extra 1 tbsp for glaze)

5-7g Fresh Ginger, peeled and grated

6-7 Garlic Cloves, minced

1 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder

1-1.5 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns (preferably green variety but the red ones are fantastic too)

1 tsp Gochugaru (substitute with red pepper flakes of your choice)

1-2 Star Anise, whole

Neutral Oil for cooking

Garnish

2 tbsp finely chopped Chives

2 tsp toasted Sesame Seeds

1/2 tsp Gochugaru (substitute with red pepper flakes of your choice)

Directions

🍆Salt eggplant chunks and let it sit on a colander for 20-25 mins (skip this if using Japanese/Chinese Eggplants). Meanwhile, whisk all marinade ingredients until smooth (don’t worry about the whole star anise , it’s for the most amazing aroma)

🍆Transfer drained eggplant chunks and marinade into a large ziplock bag. Make sure it’s sealed properly, shake well until eggplants look well coated. Let them marinate for at least 4 hrs or upto overnight. Soak up all the deliciousness!!

🍆 Fish out eggplant cubes and transfer marinade (alongwith the whole star anise) to a saucepan. At this stage, you can either bake or deep-fry the marinated eggplants - 

Baking: pre-heat oven to 425F, toss marinated eggplants in 2.5 tbsp Neutral Oil. Bake on a parchment lined sheet for 25 mins or until the outside is golden crisp and inside is soft. I recommend dividing into large sheets to avoid crowding in the oven

Deep fry: heat 200ml neutral oil. Once shimmering, fry eggplants for about 7-8 mins in three batches

🍆 Make glaze: add 1 tbsp maple syrup and about 1/4 cup (40ml) water into the saucepan with reserved marinade. Give it a good mix and cook on medium heat for 10-12 mins or until syrupy consistency

🍆Toss fried/baked eggplants in the sticky glaze so that everything is well coated. Transfer sticky golden eggplants to a serving platter and garnish. Chives and chile pepper. Enjoy!

My Ultimate Soy Curry

Like everybody else, I have my set of comfort foods as well - that help in serotonin boosts to ride through rough workdays, dreary weather or after a long holiday! For me the top spot is invariably a good crispy bottom dumpling bowl with fixings such as sautéed greens, fried shallots, some sauce or lots of chili oil. Then comes the trio of Rasam-Rice, Khichdi (aka Kedgeree) and this Soy Puff Curry. The soy puffs are a great source of protein and absolutely incredible at soaking up all the curry goodness and transforming into these magical flavor bombs. However if you can’t find them then highly recommend looking for Soft or Firm Silken Tofu instead of regular Firm Tofu.

With an overriding flavor of Black Cardamom (found in Indian Grocery stores) and the cooling creaminess from lentils-coconut combo, this one can be a curry canvas for various toppings such as - grilled halloumi or any meat, pasta, meatballs, koftas, fried eggplant, silken tofu… the list is endless truly. I urge you all to make an effort to seek out this specialty cardamom variety that’s native to South Asia and a critical ingredient for Biryanis, it’s very unique - is more floral than green one and when toasted renders a slight camphor like tingly sensation on your palate. If you can’t find them then regular green one will be fine too but not the same. I hope just like in our house, this one will become a staple in your house too!

*Note: it tastes better the next day!

Ingredients (serves 4)
2 Bay Leaves
2 Whole Cloves, Crushed
4 Whole Black Cardamom pods, Crushed
2 Tbsp Sunflower Oil (substitute with any Neutral Oil)
2” Knob of Fresh Ginger, grated
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Shallot, thinly sliced
1 tsp Ground Turmeric
1.5 Tbsp Sambal Oelek (Indonesian Chile Paste) - substitute with Sriracha or any Hot Sauce. Red Curry Paste works in a pinch too!
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 Tbsp Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar

65g Red Lentils, properly rinsed
400g Vegetable Stock or Water
315g Coconut Milk (I prefer full-fat but reduced fat works just fine)
1.5 tsp Fine Sea Salt
90g Soy Puffs (each cube halved) or 100g Soft Tofu
210g Frozen Chopped Spinach, unthawed
1/2 Tbsp lime juice
Generous drizzle of favorite Chili Oil for each serving

Directions
💥 Heat up a deep bottomed pan; on medium-high flame dry roast first 3 ingredients for 3 mins or until very fragrant. Then add oil into the pan, sauté the spices for a minute and immediately add ginger, garlic, shallot. Continue sautéing for 5-6 mins on medium flame

💥 Now add sambal paste, turmeric, tomato paste and sugar - sauté everything for 2 more mins. Then add lentils, vegetable stock/water, coconut milk and salt. Bring it to boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 mins

💥 Fish out the bay leaves; Add soy puffs and spinach (straight from the freezer). Give it a good stir, let it cook for 3 mins. Turn off the heat and add lime juice

💥 Divide into serving bowls, drizzle generously your favorite chili oil on top and serve with your favorite flatbread (mine are Chinese Scallion Pancakes or the Trader Joe’s Malabar Parathas) or some jasmine rice. Enjoy!

Crispy Taro Cake Bowl

Whether it was the influence of several friends and colleagues being Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Taiwanese or just my very deep-rooted love for the flavors from East Asia - we celebrate Lunar New Year every year. Other than making Nian Gao (the New Year cake) from scratch we do try to make most of the traditional dishes such as dumplings, hand-pulled noodles, pickled veggies, turnip and taro cakes. Along with some non-traditional ones such as Baozi or Gua Bao, Steamed Eggs, Rice Paper Rolls, Wontons, etc. The spirit of eating a lot of food with friends and family being intact!

For this year’s celebrations, I made this salad with leftover Taro Cake pieces and was a massive hit at the party! I made the cakes from scratch but you can find them in specialty stores such as H-mart or Park to Shop. If not then, substitute with Tteok or Tofu for similar textural delight or else go with boiled baby potatoes or cauliflower florets. Add some chopped up omelette or boiled eggs for extra richness. Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Ingredients (serves 2 as Main)

Vegetable Base
2 Persian Cucumbers, de-seeded and cut into 2” chunks. Salted and drained after 10 mins
2 Baby Carrots, thinly sliced into batons
1 Celery, cleaned & thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 Jalapeño, thinly sliced
1 small garlic, crushed
1 tsp Chili Oil (Homemade or Lao Gan Ma)
1 tsp light Soy Sauce (substitute with Tamari or Coco Aminos based on your dietary preferences)
1/2 tsp Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Doubanjiang or Fermented Broad Bean Paste(optional but highly recommended)

Sauce
2 tbsp Neutral Oil
4 Scallions, finely chopped (Handful greens Reserved)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

1 tsp Brown Sugar or Agave or Maple Syrup
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (substitute with Tamari or Coco Aminos based on your dietary preferences)
2 tsp Black Vinegar (substitute with equal parts of Balsamic and any White Vinegar)

10-12 pieces of rectangular Taro Cakes, cooked (substitute with 100-120g sliced rice cakes/Tteok or soft tofu)

12g Cilantro, roughly chopped (substitute with basil)
1 tsp Black Roasted Sesame Seeds
1 tsp White Roasted Sesame Seeds

Directions
🧧 In a large bowl, combine all vegetable base ingredients and mix thoroughly. Keep it aside for 15-30 mins or while you prep rest.

🧧 In a non stick skillet - add oil, scallions, garlic and spices. Turn on heat on the lowest setting/flame. Fry the aromatics until they begin to color and become very aromatic (about 4-5 mins on low flame). Fish out the fried aromatics into a small bowl and increase the heat to medium.

🧧 Now gently fry the cooked Taro cakes or any of the substitutes until golden and crisp on both sides. Be patient for this step as it will take about 15-20 mins of attentive frying - but when you achieve that crisp exterior and jelly like soft n chewy interior it will be all worth it! If using rice cakes, then it will be much faster but keep an eye as it’s easy to over cook and make it rubbery. If using tofu, then gently coat with some cornstarch (about 1 tbsp). Adjust the timing if using Potatoes or Cauliflower. Once fried, transfer the Taro cakes to a paper towel lined plate to get off any excess oil

🧧 Now add rest of the sauce ingredients to the bowl with fried aromatics. Give it a good mix and transfer into the large bowl with vegetables. Transfer the crisp Taro cakes into the large bowl, add fresh cilantro, give everything a gentle mix and let the flavors meld for 15 mins

🧧 Divide into serving bowls, finish with roasted sesame seeds. Enjoy!

New York I Love You Ramen

Here I present you a meat-free Ramen that I have been working on for almost a year - Soy-Sesame-Miso Based Broth with a very special topping of blistered scallions, corn and Jammy cherry tomatoes tossed in a dressing. It’s a recipe that I’m incredibly PROUD of and may have shed happy tears over…

It’s my humble homage to three of my favorite shops in NY Mr Taka Ramen, Nishida Shoten and Ivan Ramen where I have spent hours to just get a spot, always returning happy & content! The eggs in the picture are completely optional, without those the dish is completely Vegan.

Ingredients (Serves 3-4)

250g Dry Ramen Noodles
3-4 Ramen Eggs
6 Roasted Nori Sheets (packaged)
2 tsp Toasted Black Sesame Seeds
Shichimi Togarashi (optional)

Dashi: combine everything & keep it aside for an hour. Discard mushrooms to repurpose for something else
Two 2” x 2” pieces of Kombu
10g Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
500ml warm water

Umami Sesame (toast everything for 2-3 mins and grind into fine powder)
1 tbsp white sesame seeds

1 tbsp White Sesame Seeds
2 tsp Chile Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Demerara Sugar (turbinado sugar, if not available then use light brown sugar)
1 tsp Sea Salt

Broth
1.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
15g ginger, grated
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 scallion, finely chopped
Full qty. of Umami Sesame
1 tbsp tomato paste
1.5 tbsp Doubanjiang (Spicy Broad Bean Paste mostly used in Chinese cooking)
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Mirin
2 tbsp White Miso
750ml Unsweetened Soy Milk, room temp (substitute with Oat or Sesame Milk)

Topping
3 scallions, cut into long 3cm pieces
55g steamed corn kernels
12 Cherry Tomatoes
1.5 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (1.5 tbsp Light Soy)
1 tsp Mirin

Directions
🍜 Make sure to prepare Dashi and Umami Sesame beforehand. Prepare the topping by heating up a nonstick skillet. Once smoking, add scallions and char for 2 mins then add corn and keep charring. Transfer both to a small bowl, now add tomatoes to the very hot skillet and char until each of them is bursting and jammy (about 6-7 mins). Now toss all of these charred toppings with rest of the ingredients and keep it aside

🍜 Now to make the broth - combine first 4 broth ingredients in a deep-bottomed pot and cook on medium flame for 4 mins. Then reduce the heat to low, add next 3 ingredients sequentially at 1 min interval and cook for 5 mins in total

🍜 Deglaze using soy sauce for 1 min then once soy is slightly absorbed into the base, deglaze using mirin for 1 more min. Now remove kombu sheets (it will be slimy) and transfer dashi into the pot. Once lightly simmering, add 1 tbsp miso by slowly dissolving it into the broth

🍜 Add soy milk and keep stirring while it cooks for 2 mins. Add remaining miso by slowly dissolving in the broth and turn off the heat

🍜 Now assemble the bowl - divide cooked noodles into bowls, ladle some broth, add the toppings with a ramen egg and Nori Sheets. Finish with some chopped scallion greens, sesame seeds and a dash of shichimi

Spicy Turmeric Udon with Smoked Tofu & Crispy Shimeji

I adore the chewy bouncy texture with a bite from Udon noodles. Invariably I always have a packet of cooked Udon in my freezer, no need to thaw straight into boiling water for 1 min and hot sear in the pan with the sauce for another minute or two and done. This version has both chile pepper and sriracha for the kick but feel free to adjust to suit your spice tolerance. Smoked tofu adds another layer of complexity which is hard to substitute so highly recommend procuring some from your local grocery store.

Ingredients (serves 2)
3 tbsp Neutral Oil
1 tbsp Ground Coriander Seeds
1.5-2 tsp Ground Turmeric (adjust based on your personal preference)
30g (4oz) Buna Shimeji Mushrooms (any petite cluster mushrooms should be okay), whole & separated tossed in 1/2 tbsp Corn or Potato Starch
1/2-1 tsp Chile Pepper Flakes (adjust to your spice tolerance)
1/2 tsp Flaky Sea salt
220g Cooked Udon (I prefer the frozen pre-cooked ones from the frozen Aisle in H-Mart)

4 scallions, whites finely chopped & greens thinly sliced for topping
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp Miso Paste well mixed with 2 tsp Sriracha & 1/2 tsp Water
120g Smoked Tofu, finely diced (if living in the US then the Trader Joe’s Sriracha Tofu could work)
1/2 head of roasted garlic - about 10 cloves (optional but highly recommended)
2 tbsp Light Soy (substitute Tamari or Coco Aminos)
1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar (substitute with Apple Cider Vinegar)
40ml Water (I use reserved Noodle cooking water)

Generous squeeze of Lime (optional but kinda not!)

Directions
🍜 Heat up a wok or deep bottom pan, sprinkle some water to test if it sizzles. Once it does, quickly add oil, coated mushrooms, coriander and turmeric. Fry on high heat for 5-6 mins or until golden brown. Fish out mushrooms into a bowl and leave spiced oil in the wok. Add chile flakes and salt to fried mushrooms, toss well and keep them aside

🍜 Add scallion whites & garlic to the spiced oil. Turn on heat and fry them on low heat for 3-4 mins or until it’s aromatic. Now add miso-sriracha concoction and fry for 1 min then add Tofu & Roasted garlic (if using). Fry for 1 min then add remaining ingredients. Let it cook on medium heat for 2-3 mins or until begins to bubble a lot

🍜 Now transfer the Cooked Udon into wok, fry everything (while mixing well) on high heat for 2 mins. Divide and transfer into serving bowls, top with fried mushrooms & reserved scallion greens. Finish with a generous squeeze of lime!