Sunday, March 3, 2013

Vegan Food with Fun Names, Part One

I'm not sure what my deal is lately, but I've been really attracted to dishes with odd-sounding, fun-to-pronounce names. I keep seeing these dishes, mostly of the Asian persuasion, on vegan blogs and pinning them to my "Vegan Food I Want To Cook" board on Pinterest.

Now, I'm finally getting around to making a few. So tonight's post and tomorrow night's post will be dedicated to these dishes with fun names! First up — Okonomiyaki!


I found this recipe on The Real Meal. Before I read Allysia's post, I'd never even heard of okonomiyaki. But how much fun is that word to say? Every time I say it aloud, I feel the need to exclaim it and punch my fist in the air, Captain Planet-style.

Okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese pancake that can be made with all manner of ingredients. "Okonomi" means "what you like" and "yaki" means "grilled." What do I like grilled? Tofu!

Allysia's recipe substitutes tofu for the usual egg. That's blended with flour, nutritional yeast, olive oil, shredded cabbage, and green onion. Then the batter is fried, pancake-style. As for the sauce, mine is topped with Allysia's homemade okonomiyaki sauce (ketchup, soy sauce, vegan worcestershire) and chipotle Vegenaise. Allysia topped hers with regular vegan mayo, but I had a fresh jar of the chipotle flavor that I was excited to try.

This little pancake made for a fun and different breakfast. I served my pancakes with fresh apple and orange slices.

9 comments:

The Peace Patch said...

I just stumbled across Okonomiyaki a couple weeks ago but haven't gotten around to trying them yet. Thanks for kicking my butt...gotta give it a go now! :)

Rachel said...

Yummmm! Thanks for posting, definitely gonna have to try these out!

Renard Moreau said...

[ Smiles ] Well, it is the first time that I have heard the name, Okonamiyaki.

Thanks again for sharing another vegan recipe.

Dana Vickerson said...

YUM! I have seen these floating around on the internet lately, and I really want to try it. I think it would be a great Sunday cheat day before I go for a hike meal.

Allysia said...

I'm glad you liked it! It's funny because before I saw this post, Michael was all, "I'm going to the store so I can make me some okonomiyaki tonight!" It's in the air, ha ha. :)

Amey said...

yum! I love okonomiyaki!! There's a 5-star recipe for it in Vegan Eats World too!

Mara said...

Looks good! And it's "okonOmiyaki."

PaganAngel said...

I love this as a breakfast idea! I'd heard of it, but with eggs, and more as a dinner dish (or so I thought). As a tofu savory breakfast, I think I'll have to give it a go!

vegan.in.brighton said...

I love okonomiyaki! So delicious!