M. Verdone (cooking) @sixohsix@kith.kitchen

Watch an absurd robot arm make an iced americano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfoSuYBU5j8

The channel is amazing and has a lot of neat street food from Korea and Taiwan, though very much _not_ vegetarian.

One glib fact about Canada vs the USA is that Canada is known as a multicultural mosaic, while the USA is the cultural melting pot of forced integration.

Which is not absolutely true but maybe it explains why America invented the Chow Mein sandwich.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/chow-mein-sandwich

Mapo tofu! This came out exactly as I wanted. I'm currently in a spice high right now.

I started with this recipe (for which there's also a nice YouTube video): https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/6a41g8/recipe_authentic_sichuan_mapo_tofu_%E9%BA%BB%E5%A9%86%E8%B1%86%E8%85%90/?st=jyvn2qtx&sh=17a08177

I made the recipe vegan by replacing the meat with a couple mushrooms fried in an excess of oil and the chicken stock with veggie stock (from powder cuz I am lazy). Turned out great!

Actually... this reminds me of something: when making Kimchi one technique is to make a porridge of rice flour and water which helps the Kimchi liquid coat the cabbage air-tight (instead of falling to the bottom the jar.)

This is exactly that, but made of potato starch.

It has to be heated to simmering or nothing happens.

As it cools it gets thicker... and it looks completely obscene.

I was wondering what happened when you used starch to thicken water. Well... it works. You get... thick jelly water. Yay? Now what to do with this power?

Did you know that in Germany you can have two different kinds of alcohol-free beer?

You can have beer with alcohol removed, which is generally sold both as a social drink for those who wish to abstain, but also as an isotonic sports drink.

But you can also have Malz drink, which is effectively beer before fermentation. A sugary soda made of boiled malted grain, flavored with hops. It's kinda like... beer for kids.

Okay I have a question. You know how you can use cornstarch or flour to thicken a soup or sauce?

What happens if you do that with just... water?

Yang Chun Mian (plain noodle soup) is a Chinese soup you can have for breakfast. The linked recipe speaks breathlessly of complicated things like pork lard, but i skipped all that.

I boiled Chinese noodles, added light and dark soy sauce, replaced pork lard with sesame oil, and replaced broth with the water used to cook the noodles. It was still great, but now vegan and easier/lazy.

I'm sure the complicated version is better but quick meals are important sometimes.

https://thewoksoflife.com/yang-chun-noodle-soup/

Doenjang is the Korean form of miso, with a slightly "cheesier" taste than Japanese miso. It also seems to be less salty, but I'm not sure. A fun new ingredient to work with!

Haven't had much time to experiment or cook dinner at all lately, but today I tried a recipe for doenjang jjigae. Well, I followed the steps, though substituted a lot of ingredients (no meat, naturally).

Turned out a lot milder than I expected but with a bit more finesse might be quite good.

https://www.koreanbapsang.com/doenjang-jjigae-korean-soy-bean-paste/

This kind of worked but also... no. Compared to store bought no-sugar-added oat milk, mine is too thin and not sweet enough. The store bought one has added oil and salt and that night help... but how to incorporate that? For the sweetness I think I could roast or cook the oats?

My blender was pathetic and probably didn't draw out enough protein from the oats.

Interesting experiment but I think my tools and skills failed me.

My experiments in tofu and plant milk are limited because I don't have a powerful blender. I'm considering getting one but there's no room in the kitchen for one right now... 🙁

This is cool... Vzyme is transglutaminase, an enzyme that you can use to curdle plant milks, to make vegan cheese.

Transglutaminase is also "meat glue" but I like it better as a vegan cheese coagulant.

https://www.cashewbert.com/screen/product/transglutaminase

Gonna try making some oat milk. Allegedly the recipe is:

Soak 1 cup rolled oats in water for at least 1/2 hour.

Dump the water.

Blend oats with 4 cups water.

Press through cheesecloth or nut milk bag.

Will report in later with results.

In the Vegan cheese front, I was completely amazed by vegan cheese made by Polish cyberpunk ravers. Serotonina cheese has a deep, complex taste and a smooth texture. The Brie-like one was great.

This was the first time I ever enjoyed a fermented nut cheese and now I see so many flavor possibilities in the future.

Now: L'herbivore Seitan

Another Seitan based fake meat with liquid smoke flavor. A very good balance, here, and the texture is dense and not too spongey. World definitely use this in stir fry.

Taste: 3/5
Meat likeness: 4/5