A few years ago when my husband and I had a long layover in Singapore, one of the first things we did was go in search of food. We ended up in a small restaurant in the airport that had a wide variety of noodles and soups. I forget what I had, but my husband ordered the laksa, and I was hooked. A fiery bowl of coconut milk-based broth with noodles and seafood, what’s not to like?

A few months after returning home, I was flipping through old articles in a Martha Stewart magazine, and I came upon a recipe for Malaysian Prawn Laksa. Laksa is one of those things that everyone does differently, and I’m pretty sure this isn’t the most authentic recipe, but it’s easy to make, easy to procure the ingredients at your local supermarket, and best of all it tastes great! (more…)

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Asian, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

My husband and I love to do dinner and a movie nights. We’ll sometimes settle on the movie first, sometimes the food first, and then we pick the other to match. Think Bollywood movies and an Indian feast, or the Godfather with spaghetti and meatballs. The other night, we decided to watch Rashoman, and I wanted something easy to nosh on so we could plop on the couch the entire time and graze on our food.

A while back I picked up some rice paper, and I had never gotten around to making spring rolls with them. I’ll admit, I was a little intimidated because they seemed like they’d be a pain to work with. However, I decided tonight would be the night I attempted to make spring (or summer, as some refer to them) rolls, and I started planning what to stuff them with. (more…)

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Appetizers, Asian, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch by Courtney

One of the things I discovered in Japan was my love of boiled tofu for breakfast. What once sounded slimy, bland, and rather disgusting is now a craving that must be fed. So on a recent trip to the Japanese grocery, I picked up a few items to make this morning meal part of my routine.

First and foremost, there’s the tofu itself. I picked up some soft tofu blocks, as my local grocery often will only have firm or extra firm. Then there are the toppings. Some toasted seaweed and bonito flakes were unique items I needed from the Japanese grocery, because ginger, scallions, and soy sauce are kept on hand at my house already. (more…)

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Breakfast, Dairy free, Gluten free, Japanese, Vegan, Vegetarian, World traveller by Courtney

A few weekends ago I finally got around to making my own sukiyaki from a recipe in a new cookbook, Japanese Hot Pots. When we had this for the first time in Japan, I loved the social nature of the meal, chattering as we plopped in the ingredients, the discussion of whether or not the individual pieces were ready for eating yet. It was a lot of fun, and something I so wanted to recreate.

So I did, and it was so much easier than I anticipated! I headed to the Japanese grocer to pick up the ingredients, which did lend a hand in the ease of this meal (my beef was already sliced to the perfect thickness – though you could easily get everything you need at your normal grocery and take the time to slice your own). This was fun in itself, as I got to wander the aisles, seeing what new treasures this grocery had to offer (dried sardines with sticky sweet soy sauce was one!). (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Japanese, World traveller by Courtney

Even though almost every Japanese restaurant I’ve been to has sukiyaki, I’ve never tried it. It always seemed odd to me that two people had to order the meal, and given that I had no idea what it was, I always decided to pass, getting sushi or soba. While we were in Kyoto, one of our options for dinner at the ryokan was sukiyaki. Given that we always ate the same thing at the ryokan, I decided we should try it. Man have I been missing out all this time!

The Japanese seem fond of cooking their meals at the table. In this instance, a gas burner was lit, with a cast iron pot atop. Our hostess brought out two huge plates, one piled high with beef, another with a variety of vegetables. Two eggs were sitting at our place settings, still in their shells. After the pot was heated up, bits of this and that were added to it, and a broth poured over it all – just enough to get everything wet. (more…)

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Dinner, Japanese, World traveller by Courtney