Sweet Beans??? What???

If you grew up in an Asian culture, you're most likely not shocked to find beans in desserts, but as I try to recall, I don't remember ever seeing beans pop up in Western desserts. I've got to say that my Westerner friends are missing out because beans can be exceptionally delicious as desserts.

The most commonly used bean in Asian desserts is probably hands down adzuki beans, especially in the Japanese culture. Adzuki beans tend to be cooked, then mashed into a paste and mixed with sugar to be used as topping or filling in Japanese desserts. If anyone thinks green tea (matcha) ice cream (vegan ice cream, of course) is good, get your hands on some adzuki ice cream. You'd be pleasantly surprised. In the Chinese culture, we use adzuki in mainly our warm liquidy desserts such as this one that I'm featuring today.

Last week as winter is still stubbornly lingering, I started to feel homesick. Yes, I admit it, I miss the beautiful sunshine of California (but I'm still not coming back until LA has a well-built public transportation system). Daydreaming about the winters I had in LA, I started craving the Chinese adzuki bean "soup" that my mom always made during these cold times to warm up our bodies. Determined to bring some Cherng tradition to Amherst, I called my mom and asked for her secret adzuki bean soup recipe.

Luckily, there is a mini Chinese grocery store within walking distance from my apartment, which surprisingly carries EVERYTHING you will need to make any Chinese dish, vegetarian ones included. I had no problem getting the 3 ingredients I needed: dried adzuki beans, lotus seeds and sugar ice. The end result was exactly as the ones that my mom used to make, and it definitely satisfied my homesickness. Oh yeah, and it was also quite nice to have it for breakfast and dessert for the following week. Dessert for breakfast??? What??? What can I say, we Chinese peeps are just rebels like that.

There you go, Connie. Ask, and you shall receive.

Nice chewy red beans and lotus seeds in a sweet broth

Give me some of that vegetarian curry chicken, mon!

Every time I go to New York City for my vegan cooking class, I seek out a new vegan eatery. Since I've been going to my cooking school in October, I have been to at least 10 different vegan/vegan-friendly restaurants. Sadly, I have not been documenting my trips to these restaurants, so I don't have materials to post on my blog. But no fear, my faithful readers who lie awake at night thinking about my blog! (Hey one can dream, right?) I have finally adopted the habit of taking my camera with me to NYC and taking pictures of anything that I want to put on my blog, so look out for entries about neat vegan restaurants that I will be going to in NYC!

In the meantime, I will talk about this eatery that I went to back in November. So when I said that I haven't been documenting my trips, I really meant that I haven't been documenting my trips EXCEPT this one trip to this vegetarian deli called Uptown Juice Bar. When I go to NYC for my cooking class and have no place to stay, I stay at the cheapest but liveable hostel that I can find. During this trip, I was staying at a hostel in the Upper Eastside of Manhattan, and after a scrutinizing search on HappyCow.net, the only vegetarian eatery I found around the area was this deli.

The deli is locate in Harlem, where most of the people on the street seem to be black, with a strong emphasis of the Caribbeans. The storefront is small and plain. The front half of the deli is just as narrow as the door with the juice bar and food on the left hand side. As I was browsing at the selection of cooked food, I was pleasantly surprised. I never would have expected to find wholesome dishes such as kale, seitan, and tofu cutlets at an urban deli. I ordered a 3-item combo and proceeded to the back half of the deli.

As I approach the dining area, I felt I was at a different place. All of a sudden, I find myself in a serene, soulful and spacious room with tropical and jazzy paintings on the wall. In the very back of the deli is a set of double doors that seem to lead to a back garden of some sort. As I was sitting and enjoying my lunch, the sun was shining through the back doors that created a very relaxing and dreamy atmosphere.

So what did I get??? I got curry chicken, collard greens, and cabbage. I was craving greens when I ordered my food, hence the collards and the cabbage (you won't believe how hard it is to find some decent cooked vegetable in NYC). The food may sound plain or look plain, but trust me when I say that the taste is light-years away from plain. The curry chicken was perfectly seasoned, and I can still distinctly remember the freshness of the veggies, especially the natural sweetness of the cabbage. Best fast vegan food I've ever had by far.

On the way out I grabbed a vegan sweet potato pie to go, which was also very satisfying.

So the next time you find yourself wandering in Harlem, seek out this place. You won't be disappointed.

Belarusian Borsh

My boyfriend Max was born in Belarus, a country surrounded by Russia, Ukraine and Poland. The culture is very much like Russia. The main language is Russian, and the food is primarily Russian-originated with influences from other neighboring countries. I have never dated someone or even had a friend from Russia or Eastern Europe, so when I started seeing Max, I was learning something new about that culture on a daily basis. The most "authentic" experience I have had is visiting Max's home in Boston where his mom lives. It was there that I started to see what Russian food entails.

I have had some traditional Russian dishes at Max's house ever since my first visit a year ago, especially on New Year's Eve, which is the biggest Russian holiday. We had an awesome Russian feast at Max's house (My contributions were a tofu lettuce wrap and an espresso chocolate pie. Not very Russian, I know, but they sure were delicious!). Every time I visit Max's house, Max's mom always, without fail, makes borsh, a tomato and/or beet-based vegetable soup.

[A quick disclaimer dedicated to Max, borsh is first of all supposed to be spelled as BORSH, and not borsch or borscht. BORSH is the direct translation from its original Russian name, so all those other ways of spelling that are so much more well-known in the U.S. are just another incidence of American's tendency to westernize and personalize other cultures. Second, there is a variety of traditional borsh. Some borsh are beet-based, some are tomato-based, some are made with beef stock, and others are totally vegetarian. The Belarusian and Ukraine variety is tomato-based and is typically vegetarian. Ok, there, Max. Hopefully I have done Belarus some justice.]

I love soups, so I always look forward to Max's mom's borsh whenever I visit. Finally, after the sixth time I had it at Max's house, I decided to give it a try myself. Max's mom gave me 2 beets and a packet of borsh soup base as symbols of encouragement and hope. "Can a Chinese girl properly make a Belarusian dish??" is what I'm sure was running through her head. Well, I did make it, and it tasted great. It was perfect for the winter weather. Of course, I made a tomato-based version (the Belarusian way) with chunks of beets because I love beets. I topped the soup with a dollop of home-made vegan sour cream, the way that borsh is traditionally eaten. This borsh comes with Max's Belarusian seal of approval :)

A perfect soup for the wintery weathers of the northeast


Loaded with fresh veggies