Okonomiyaki and my gratitude (for 20,000 views!)

I’m still on blog-cation but I thought I couldn’t let 20,000 views pass by without saying hello and by golly, thank you!!!* So thank you for reading, commenting, linking. THANK YOU!!! You know it totally makes my day to obsessively check my sitemeter and see that someone in Salt Lake / Perth / Bombay / Tokyo / Lima / Sao Paulo was reading my blog for 25 minutes! And to get comment luv. Awww, it’s great!!!

While I’m here, I should show the lentils I sprouted, as well as the riff on okonomiyaki I did with them. Is is really okonomiyaki if I just put stuff into a pancake, and ate it with Worchestershire sauce on top – without the genuine soup and other such? Yes, I know I’m taking liberties – so, feel free to see Just Hungry’s more comprehensive recipe here. But if you are lazy like me and want to just have a whiff of that Osaka sensibility with minimal work….read on!!! (Instead of “lazy” you can always use the word “busy” – works just as well!)

Sprouted Lentils, in a Colander

How to Sprout Lentils

It’s pretty easy. Soak 1 cup of lentils overnight. The next day, rinse and drain. Then loosely wrap the lentils in a few layers of paper towels (or I guess cheesecloth would work too). Leave the wrapped parcel in a shallow bowl. Check on it everyday – keep the lentils slightly wet by dripping enough water. Mine were “done” in about 5 days. Makes 5 cups of sprouts.

Pancake Mix

Lentil Sprouts with Pancake Mix

Okonomiyaki in the Making!

Slice of Okonomiyaki, plated (pre-Worchestershire Sauce)

Slackerrific Impromptu Okonomiyaki

• 5 cups of sprouts; (from 1 cup of dried brown lentils = 1/4 lb = about 20 cents)
• 1 cup of soy milk; (about 50 cents)
• 1/2 cup of prepared pancake mix; (I think this was still too much batter – likely better to just use about 1/4 cup);
• 1 egg; (about 16 – 18 cents)
• Worchestershire sauce to taste.

Wash and dry those sprouts. Because you have been watching over them as vigilantly as hawk, you will have very few “bad” sprouts – rotten / dry / etc. Pick through and discard. Mix the soy milk, pancake mix, and egg into a very large mixing bowl. Mix. Add the sprouts Fold them in. If you have other good stuff, this is the time to throw it in – I think shredded cabbage would be great here too. Heat up a skillet. You can do what I did – made a huge one – or make a few smaller ones. Totally up to you.

Pour the mixture into the pan according to the size you desire. The sprouts will wilt a bit. Check the bottom of the okonomiyaki by slipping the spatula underneath – what color is it? Golden brown? Time to flip it! Flip it. Then do the same check. Eat immediately! Slosh generously with Worchestershire sauce. Makes three – four servings. Takes less than 1/2 hr.

Next time, I’ll use less batter, and will add more more more stuff, like maybe some protein (tofu / chicken / etc.) How did it taste? Well, you can definitely enjoy the sprouts – earthy, not quite crunchy, yet offering some small resistance to one’s teeth. My diners gave it big, big thumbs up! I liked it. Well, maybe because it was breakfasty. Also, anything that gets browned in a skillet with starch is likely to win my heart. (like those jack mackerel cakes! and that spinach frittata!) I think the lentils plus the soy milk makes it very very filling and satisfying.

And now, I’ll include here a totally gratuitous picture of Watermelon Kanten. Yeah, it’s good. Why? Because you have that almost-crunchy resistence of the watermelon flesh, then the give of the kanten. Ok! I’m back on blog-cation now!

Watermelon Kanten

* Right now, this blog has over 19,000 views, and I expect it to reach views 20,000 in a few days, since it’s averaging about 2000 ~ 2500 views/month. (And I remember when I used to get 180 views per month!!! – and it still boggled my mind that anyone would read this blog back then! I don’t even force my dearest friends and family to read it!) Thank you so much for reading!!!

Update: one of my dear kin tells me that my enthusiasm for the number of views I’ve gotten is a bit impassioned, to the degree of causing laughter on her part. Surely you cannot take me too seriously! Doesn’t everybody remember Sally Fields’s 1985 Oscar acceptance speech?

Mango Kanten

I am falling in love with kanten all over again. Summer = = cool, fruity desserts. Like mango kanten! Sometimes mango kanten comes out like this:

And that’s fine. It’s actually quite pudding-like. But, I kinda like it to be firmer, more like yokan.*

Mango Kanten

• 1 can of sweetened mango puree ($3.49 for 30 oz – I used Ashoka, a brand sold in Indian markets);
• 2 cups of water;
• 4 grams of powdered kanten (about $.50 worth);
• sugar to taste (optional); and
• lime slices (optional).

Boil the water. Add the puree. Mix, mix, mix. Once the temperature rises again to barely a simmer, add the powder. Mix, mix, mix. You want to avoid lumping! Taste it. Add sugar/sweetener if necessary. Pour into a 9″ pie plate (it will just barely fit). Let it cool to room temperature. Then cover with wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. Cut it into squares and serve. Makes a lot…at least eight or nine servings (turns out to be about $.50 per serving or less). Squeeze a bit of lime if you have it – I kinda like the contrast with the dense mango flavor.

*One of these days, I will have to make a tea-flavored yokan (photo displayed here by kind permission of ya ma):

P.S. I had no idea that people prepare kanten in Mumbai…interesting!

P.P.S. Here is some gratuitous food porn, of castella (fantabulous Japanese dessert by way of the Portuguese):

It’s something you can enjoy even if it’s cold and gloomy out!

I love sweets, but, I don’t make very many…I guess I’m trying to be more daring about my desserts! So, here are some other recipes I’ve blogged about that are perfect for you if you are a novice like me:

• My Mom’s Kohi Kanten;
• Tropical Influenced Fruit Salad: major hit with no added sugar!; and
• My Grandma’s Cranberry Salad.

My Mom’s Kohi Kanten – Coffee Pudding (Vegan – and about $.10 per serving!)

Kanten…so many reasons I love it:

1. it’s a naturally ZERO calorie food. That’s right. I said, ZERO!
2. it’s filling and yet not wiggly-jiggly (unlike gelatin);
3. even the laziest prep yields yummilicious results; and
4. I grew up eating it!

Below is a picture of agar agar in stick form.

At any Asian market you can find premixed packets of almond kanten for less than 2 or 3 dollars – really tasty with even the least interesting fruit cocktail. Growing up, we had that all the time. Perfect summertime dessert. Nice and cool! But avoid buying agar agar at Whole Foods. I have seen the Eden versions for almost 6 dollars!!! You should be able to buy the stick agar agar for $2.00 or less per 10 grams (.35 oz). the urban vegan recommends buying the stick format and sticking the sticks into the food processor to make flakes.* I’m used to the stick forms, but, I think this is a great tip for people accustomed to the flake format. Also, people can get quite glamorous with agar agar (also known as kanten in Japanese). I am stockpiling ideas for what do with it. And coffee kanten is a classic (kohi = coffee in Japanese). So here it is!

Mom’s Kohi Kanten

• 2 cups of boiling coffee – sweeten to taste (pennies);
• 5 grams of powdered agar agar (about 1/2 of a stick of agar agar – about $.50 worth); and
• coconut milk – this is optional (about 10 teaspoons – roughly 1/4th of a 13 oz can – $1.59 = $.40 cents worth).

Dissolve the agar agar in the boiling hot coffee in a saucepot. Mix mix mix. Add your sweetener. Mix. Pour the piping hot mixture into a pie plate. Alright, just cover and chill it for about 2 hours. Done. It’s traditional to cut it into squares (as you see above). Splash on a teaspoon of coconut milk per serving. If you have them around, put a roasted coffee bean on top. Makes eight~ ten servings, depending on the size (less than $.10 per serving – half of that if you do not use the coconut milk of course). Be sure to have this with some lovely tea!

(you can also cool it into cute little cups for individual servings)

* the urban vegan’s post is actually VERY helpful for gaining a good understanding of agar agar. Read it and let the erudition flow!

P.S. I don’t really follow diet news, so, maybe someone can tell me if there are any standards for what is “low-carb”? My very casual research shows me that the FDA hasn’t made a decision yet, but, I’m guessing that might not be the latest info.

Update: VegCookingBlog, thanks for linking to this post! My stats are blowing up 🙂 !!!! I’ve also written a post on making Mango Kanten.

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Housekeeping notes:

(1) I’ve added a “Tips” page to the blog to park handy things I learn about (and/or blog about). For example, last week, limes went on sale – 10 for a dollar. So…I’m not going to use ten in a given week…and they don’t last forever…but they can last longer if you slice them and freeze them. Like so:

Might be better to peel skin off – haven’t tried it that way yet. Works grrrrreat in iced tea. (This is a tip contributed by my mom.)

(2) Not sure why, but Feedburner sent off an old post (from April ’07) on May 10. It wasn’t my doing! I’ll try to find out why that happened.