Mar 23, 2013
COOKIN’ RECIPE: Vegan Bagoong
One of my greatest frustrations going largely plant-based is the lack of bagoong. Bagoong (particularly the alamang type, exponentially salty, sweet and spicy) is one of my favorite condiments and stir-fry must have for local dishes. I experimented a few times and used recipes of people who have been on the path longer than I have. Close to throwing in the towel, I stumbled upon a copy of Yummy magazine and saw Marie Gonzalez‘s recipe and followed it to the letter. At the time, it was the closest I’ve come to achieving the depth of umami-ness only real bagoong can deliver. Along the way, I adapted the recipe and made changes to fine tune it to my preference. Yield: 2 cups INGREDIENTS: 1 cup shiitake mushrooms (for this recipe, I find brown mushrooms are better, particularly the dried type then reconstituted) 1 head of garlic, chopped 200 g tausi or salted black beans (reserve the brine) 6 roasted nori sheets 3 pieces of kombu, reconstituted in a little water (reserve the water) 2 siling labuyo or bird’s eye chilies (I like mine spicy) 1/4 cup coconut sugar 2 tablespoons achuete oil HOW TO: Using a food processor, blitz the mushrooms, tausi and nori sheets until everything is well incorporated and resembles a fine mince. In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the achuete oil and fry the garlic until golden. Add the chilies. Add the mushroom mixture and saute for more or less 5 minutes. Add the kombu water and tausi brine. Sprinkle in the sugar, mix and season to taste. This is the first dish I made with the bagoong. This is also great with green mangoes and grilled vegetables. KNL currently produces this bagoong for those people who do not have time to make this. For inquiries and prices, please e-mail or contact us via our FB page.... read more
Feb 11, 2013
Quips From The Leaf Junkie: Ralph Go
Ralph Go – Superfood Grocer Philippines‘ Superman aka Vegan Jiu Jitsu International Champion I had the blessing of knowing Ralph back in 2011 in one of Asha‘s raw food workshops–and now, he and his partner, Carmela, are now KNL’s partners in promoting plant-based lifestyles. At the time, I found it extremely fascinating to find male vegans/vegetarians, particularly the athlete type. Curiosity getting the better of me, I asked for an interview and he was more than gracious and willing to oblige… 1) What was your inspiration/reason for pursuing Jiu Jitsu as your craft? How did you get into it? I started out doing Jiu Jitsu at the end of my first year in college, I was intrigued by the art of it as I saw its applications where the weak can defeat the strong. What I loved the most is the creativity involved, it is like a human chess match with endless moves and transitions. I started training a few times a week, but I was very passionate about learning and I wanted to be the best I can be so it ended up bringing me to compete all over the world, from Southeast Asia to Japan to Europe to Brazil and to USA. I ended up training with the very best in the world. 2) As an athlete, what are the 3 most important things in life (in reference to what you do)? As an athlete I think it is very important to be dedicated 100%, to work hard and to have an open mind. The people I see who succeed in the sport and in life are 100% dedicated. They take a leap of faith based on a burning desire in their hearts regardless of social implications. What Do Vegan Athlete’s Eat? Beet and lentil salad Chia Pudding with Granola 3) What inspired you to follow a vegan diet? How did it affect your overall performance? I first heard about this lifestyle when I watched a UFC match on television where a fighter named John Fitch started talking about how he used it extremely well in his preparation. He recommended books to read such as “The Skinny Bastard” and “The China Study”. After reading these books I was upset how the meat/dairy industry has been destroying our health, our planet, contributes to poverty and tortures billions of animals a day. All I could think about was my family’s health and how so much other people are suffering... read more
Jan 29, 2013
COOKIN’ RECIPE: The Best Bean-Only Chili
Chili bowl with all the trimmings One of the things I am getting better at is preparing food for my husband even when I’m on a fast. To me, preparing food (raw or cooked) is very therapeutic and it alleviates any craving I may have for eating–weird, I know, but it works! In fact, most of the best food I made are developed and made when I am not eating. Deciding to outdo the “performance” of my old recipe for meat chili, I embarked on an ambitious journey with the goal of trumping it with an all-bean, hearty, plant-based, no-animal-product pot of chili. For starters, I did my due diligence. I took out my mental notes on my meat chili, what made it stand out? Learning how to make chili from my Mexican classmates back in college, the secret was chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. I searched high and low, no chipotle, no adobo sauce either (I mean Mexican-style adobo, very different from the Filipino adobo). So what do I do? I rolled my sleeves and set to work. After all, I am Filipino–ingenious extraordinaire is in my DNA. KK enjoying his bowl of chili Beans 2 cups dried beans (I used black and white, you can use pinto, black-eyed, pinto, etc.) – soaked overnight 8-10 cups of water (for the beans) Cook the beans until tender. It will take approximately 1 to 1.5 hours. (I like using dried than canned because it’s tastier and more economical). Do not add salt while cooking the beans, it will make it tough. The beans will be seasoned once the chili is put together. Makeshift Adobo Sauce 4-6 red and green bell peppers – roasted, skins and seeds taken off 1 jalapeño pepper – roasted, skins and seeds taken off 2 siling pangsigang – chopped 3 T ketchup 1 T cider vinegar (either coconut or apple) 1/2 cup water 2 cloves of garlic 1 teaspoon cumin 1.5 teaspoons oregano Blend until smooth. Set aside. All-Bean Chili All the cooked beans All of the adobo sauce 28 ounces crushed tomatoes 2 medium onions, finely diced 3 stalks celery, finely diced 3 cloves garlic, grated 1 T oil 2 teaspoons oregano 1.5 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons cacao powder or 1 tablea 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (more or less, depends on your preference) 2 teaspoons Bovril or Vegemite or Marmite (This is optional, you can use nutritional flakes instead) 1.5 T coconut aminos or 1... read more
Jul 9, 2012
my kitchen staples: alugbati at talbos ng kamote Living a raw vegan lifestyle reconnected me back not only to myself (better health) but also to nature in its simplest and most intimate form…gardening. It’s virtually impossible to prepare food the way it was designed to consume to forget to observe where it comes from.Working with KNL’s current headquarters offerings, we tilled the empty adjacent lot and used up the empty kitty litter and kibble as our front porch as containers for our tomatoes and herbs. A small portion of the lot cradles our compost pit, this is where all the peels go if it cannot be saved by my dehydrator. I am but a beginner in gardening. As a raw foodist and frustrated microbiologist who loves growing little buggers, I became quite the experienced fermentation enthusiast (kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, nut cheezes) and master sprouter of seeds, I figured how hard can gardening be? My inspiration fueled by the glorious rice paddies of Bali, I came home with a portion of my suitcase with seeds and smuggled kencur (called lesser galangal, floral in scent, integral in Balinese spice pastes). As you can see below, my kencur started as such and it will be ready for transplantation again in two weeks. Shakti Yoga and Wellness Center is the proud recipient of some of my priceless kencur. My kencur in two months (May-July) Growing up with my grandparents in the middle of the metropolis who loved to care for animals and garden gave me the appreciation for fruits of the earth and fresh food. I remember as a very young child, I would skip to our garden and pick the ripest tomato off the vine and bite into it with my eyes closed, feel the sweetness and slight tang flood all over my senses. No other fruit can ever compete with a perfectly vine-ripened tomato, bar none. And so, I made it my mission to replicate the experience by planting all the seeds of the heirloom tomatoes and plum tomatoes bought from Down To Earth and Organic Manila respectively. the first tomatoes! so excited for the harvest. Next project will be lettuces and container pechay and tatsoi. I have yet to secure organic seeds and I already have all the soda bottles required to plant all of them. The more I do this, the more I wish I can garden for a living....
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HOME GARDENING: Tomatoes and Staples
Jul 8, 2012
RAWKIN’ RECIPE: Homemade Santol Soda
finished santol soda Learning to work with the seasons, I mostly make the most of what we can find in the markets in the kitchen. These days, heaps of santol are everywhere. Working with the seasons has wonderful benefits: produce in season tastes great and nutritionally superior, plus it’s inexpensive. Santol (Sandoricum koetjape) has no exact translation in English although the French dubbed it as “faux mangosteen” and in some resources, it is referred to as “wild mangosteen“. Santol is anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer. Taking a quick trip down memory lane, I grew up with a couple of trees of santol in my yard whose ripe fruits were generously offered for immediate consumption dipped in rock salt; cooked in coconut cream and chili and chopped finely to make the best santol-ade ever over ice. My grandmother would also use unripe santol as a souring agent in sinigang na isda (sour soup with fish). I have been making guinataang santol and served it with sprouted and cooked rice for the last two weeks at the insistence of the husband–who has roots in Bicol and thoroughly enjoyed his grandmother’s cooking. I rolled up my sleeves and cooked a vegan version of a dish from his childhood. I ended up making juice from the leftover seeds but decided to bring it up a notch and made soda out of it using kefir. bright and bubbly! INGREDIENTS: Santol seeds (used approximately the seeds of 8 santol fruits) Water to cover Coconut sugar to taste (I didn’t use this because it was sweet enough Jar with a tight lid (fermentation jar works well) Kefir water (about 2 tablespoons or more) Put the seeds in a jar, put water to cover and add the water kefir. Let sit overnight on your counter to ferment. Drain and squeeze the seeds, transfer to another jar and put the lid on. Keep in the fridge. Serve... read more
May 11, 2012
RAWKIN’ RECIPE: Dark Mexican Chocolate Crunch Bark
what’s Mexican chocolate without the chili? Coming back from Bali with my raw cacao haul had me engaged full throttle in chocolate alchemy. My resident Vitamix blender cranks out to live for chocolate elixirs with different superfoods and whenever I feel up to it, chocolate cups with almond butter, chocolate bark in all sorts of flavors. There are days I feel like having cardamom, some days mint, some days a generous sprinkling of buckwheat crunchies, and some days, I like it unadulterated pure dark chocolate. And today, I like it hot and crunchy…muy caliente! Loving to have more buckwheat crunchies (rice crispies is basically devoid of any nutrition and obviously not raw so I choose to use buckwheat groats instead. Please see link below to see the health benefits) and inspired by my favorite cup of hot chocolate (thick hot chocolate made with tablea with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne), I made this bark to share with fairies tomorrow. SOFTWARE: 250 g raw cacao butter (or 1 1/4 cup melted cacao butter or virgin coconut oil) 1 1/2 cups cacao powder 1 1/3 cups buckwheat crunchies 3/4 cup coconut sugar seeds of 1 vanilla pod 1 tablespoon lecithin 4 teaspoons cinnamon 1/4-3/4 teaspoon cayenne powder, optional 1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt HOW TO: Shave or shred cacao butter and melt it in a double boiler, making sure the temperature is comfortably warm to the touch until it melts to a pool of liquid. This is very important especially when working with raw cacao butter to preserve enzymes. In the clean super dry blender, add everything (except for the buckwheat crunchies) and blend until smooth, stopping after every three to five minutes of blending, rest for three to five. Blend in stages. Make sure the temperature stays comfortably warm. Blending the mixture continuously will generate a lot of heat. Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper or use 2 dehydrator sheets with teflex. Divide the buckwheat crunchies and chocolate mixture onto two sheets. Make sure all buckwheat crunchies are coated with chocolate and spread the mixture to the sides. Put in the freezer for a few minutes. Once the chocolate hardens, break into shards and keep in an airtight container to keep moisture out. Keep in the freezer if you live in a tropical country. Enjoy!... read more
