Try this meal: Vegan Nagaimo Pancake (top left), Lemon Daikon (top right), Myoga and Red Potato Miso Soup (bottom right) and Rice.
I often hear people tell me that Japanese food isn’t very vegetarian or vegan friendly and I would agree only because dashi (fish and kelp stock) is hidden in almost everything. I would however argue that there are a plethora of vegetarian and vegan options but you just have to leave the fish out and substitute it with kombu (kelp) dashi. Omnivores, please don’t leave because you’re scared of vegan food. I promise this build a meal makes up with it’s meatlessness with tons of flavor!
I would give the difficulty level of these pancakes a 7 on a scale of 1-10 if you’re making it for the first time. Making the batter is really easy but frying these little guys can be a pain without the right pan.
***WARNING*** Use your best non-stick pan otherwise they will stick to your pan.
Ingredients (Servings 4-5)
3/4 cup of grated Nagaimo/Yamaimo
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon of kombucha*
1 sheet of nori (seaweed)
sesame seed oil for frying
*If you can’t find kombucha but you have kombu, use a coffee grinder to grind up some kombu into a powder. Although if you use your grinder for coffee, then it might pick up the flavor of coffee. It’s nice to have a coffee grinder to use just for spices and other ingredients.
Directions
1. Grate the nagaimo and put in a bowl.
2. Add the soy sauce and kombucha and mix well.
3. Get a really good non-stick frying pan really hot and then add the sesame seed oil.
4. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of the mix to the hot pan and let it fry on low for about 2-3 minutes or until it’s golden brown.
5. Flip it over (and this is the hard part because it’s soft when it’s hot) and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve on a plate and put a piece of nori (seaweed) on top.
Note: The are easier to eat when they are cool because the starches in the nagaimo firm up and you can pick it up with chopsticks. If you prefer to eat them hot, serve over a bowl of rice.
Grate the nagaimo.
Mix well. Yum looks appetizing!
Cut the nori into 2 inch squares. You can get about 8-9 out of 1 sheet.
This photo is to remind you to get the pan hot before you add the oil.
The edges are firming up so this one is ready to be flipped.
Cool before eating.
Once cooled, you can pick up with your chopsticks.
Naomi Kuwabara was born and raised in California but spent many summers in Japan growing up. She has spent time living in Hokkaido and Osaka, both meccas for Japanese cuisine. Her passion is cooking and sharing her experiences cooking Japanese food with others. Her blog Umamitopia is about her experiences cooking Japanese food. Her greatest inspirations are from her mother and grandmother. Her cooking adventures can be found at http://umamitopia.com.
