Welcoming the Year of the Dragon - Raw Asian Style

 新年快乐! 

 恭喜发财, 万事如意!

Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing you fortune, happiness and that your dreams come true during this year of the dragon, which will be a powerful year for transformation and manifestation. I am definitely hoping to harness the fire energy of this year to help me through some exciting changes. What do you want to manifest this year?  Envision it, believe it, and make it happen this year!

'Fu' character welcoming fortune into my home

 

First 2012 Potluck Cru (Auberge Espagnol) of the Paris Raw Food Community

To start the Year of the Dragon, Parisian raw foodies gathered chez moi for a great evening of yummy dishes with an Asian twist, recipe swapping, conversation, a lot of laughter, and a little September Sessions as midnight approached.

 

Parisian raw foodies celebrating Chinese New Year
(Do you see the dragon in the tapestry on the back wall?)

Chinese food is one of my favorite cuisines due in part to having lived in China for close to 9 years. During my time in Asia I also developed a great appreciation for Japanese, Korean, Thai and Singaporean cuisines as well. Last summer I was in Portland browsing through Powell's City of Books and came across Ani Phyo's 2011 masterpiece (and masterpiece may be an understatement) recipe book of raw Asian dishes: Ani's Raw Food Asia. 

If you are not familiar with Ani's raw recipe books and personality, I highly recommend you follow her via the social media tools--she has been a great inspiration to me over my raw journey due to her eco-sustainable lifestyle, accessibility, and of course, her innovative recipes. Ani is Korean-American, and Ani's Raw Food Asia is a fantastic fusion of east-west recipes that are *easy* to make. This is the most unique raw recipe book that I own and it holds a special place in my heart due to my love of Asian food. Recipes cover dishes from Korea (bimbimbap! kimchis, namuls), Thailand (green papaya salad, soups, curries), China (dumplings!, hoisin sauce, "stir-fry"), Japan (sukiyaki, noodles, matcha green tea ice cream), Indonesia (samosas!), India (dal! pulaos) and Vietnam (pho!)...

Lotus Root Chips

 

For our potluck, I made Ani's lotus root chip recipe, but instead of serving them as chips with the mustard dip, I mixed the lotus with the mustard sauce and served it as a salad. The lotus chips were really well received as most people living in Paris had not tried lotus before. Lotus has a light taste and a great crunchy texture. If you live in Paris, you can buy them at Tang Frere's in the 13e arrondissement. Here is a picture of what the root will look like when you buy it.

Lotus root

 Ani Phyo's Lotus Root Chips recipe

- Peel and slice lotus root into 1/8 inch thick pieces

- Soak immediately in lemon water to avoid oxidation (purely for aesthetic purposes)

- Pat slices dry

- Place in mixing bowl with 1 1/2 tsp Nama Shoyu and 1/8 tsp cayenne

- Let marinate for at least 30 minutes so the lotus root will soften

Ani Phyo's Pine Nut Mustard Sauce

Ani recommends to serve this sauce on the side as a dip, but it was a bit watery for a dip, so I added it to the lotus chips marinade.

1 T Nama Shoyu

3 T apple cider vinegar

1 tsp mustard powder or 2 T prepared mustard

2 T agave or maple syrup

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup apple juice or filtered water (I will reduce this to 1/4 cup next time as the end result was too watery for a dip, but that could be because I omitted the pine nuts)

1 tsp ground flax meal

1/4 cup finely chopped pine nuts (I did not have these on hand, and they are not in season right now)

- Mix all ingredients together. 

Lotus Root Chips, photo courtesy of Opal Taylor

Green Papaya Salad

The second dish I made was a green papaya salad, using a recipe I had recently acquired at a vegan thai Foodies Cooking course. David offers a variety of types of cooking classes and dinner parties in Paris and in the Cote d'Azur--the classes are friendly, fun, you make a ton of different dishes, and you learn alot. 

I bought the green papaya at Tang Frere's in the 13e arrondissement. Choose a green papaya that is firm and has no yellow/orange spots.  I used a julienne peeler to quickly julienne the papaya for the salad.  Next time I make this recipe (there will definitely be a next time!) I will increase the lime + sweetener in the dressing, and I will add julienned carrots and Chinese cabbage to the salad mix.

David's Spicy Green Papaya Salad

1 firm green papaya

1/2 cup cashews roughly chopped

1-2 cups bean sprouts

8-10 cherry tomatoes, cut lengthwise in quarters

1 red chili, minced, seeds removed

3 spring onions, sliced into long matchstick-like pieces

1/2 cup Thai basil, roughly chopped if leaves are large

handful of fresh coriander

Dressing:

2 T oil

2 T soy sauce

3 T lime juice

1/2 to 1 T liquid honey

Green Papaya Salad, photo courtesy of Opal Taylor

Tomato Dal

Over the past few weeks I have been trying different recipes from Ani's Raw Food Asia, so I thought I would include them here as well.

This Tomato Dal, inspired by Indian daal, had a great creamy texture and a nice bite due to the sun-dried tomatoes. But I missed the chewiness that the lentils provide in daal. Perhaps next time I will keep some sunflower seeds whole and add them in at the end as lentil substitutes. I made a parsnip/ cashew "rice" to eat the dal with. Ani proposes a Samosas with Tomato Dal and Mock Tamarind Sauce recipe which sounds amazing.

Ani Phyo's Tomato Dal

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup diced tomato

1 cup diced cucumber

3/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp curry

2 T chopped sun dried tomatoes

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp sea salt

In a food processor, process almonds and sunflower seeds into small pieces. Add tomato, cucumber, cumin, curry, and sundried tomatoes. Process to mix well. Add oil and salt and process to mix.

Tomato Dal on Parsnip/ Cashew "Rice"

Cucumber Pickle

Also from Ani's Raw Food Asia, this is a super simple cucumber salad with a great mix of flavors. I wouldn't call it a pickle as my cucumber slices were not "pickled", but that could also be because of my choice of cucumber. There were no small cucumbers available, only the standard large ones; I would prefer to use smaller cucumbers next time. Here is a quick online tutorial for how to prepare lemongrass.

Ani Phyo's Cucumber Pickle

2 cups sliced cucumbers cut in semi-circles

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp minced lemongrass

1 tsp chopped red onion

1/8 to 1/4 tsp chopped red chile 

Ingredients ready for Cucumber Pickle

Everything in the Fridge Leftover Noodle Soup

Today we had our first snow in Paris and it is positively freezing out! Inspired by Ani's Asian noodle recipes, and working with the ingredients in my refrigerator, I threw this together for lunch. It was light and tasty. Next time I would like to add a creamy component to it - either a creamier sauce (perhaps made with coconut meat), or a creamy condiment added to the top of the dish like a raw hoisin sauce.

There are four components to putting together your noodle soup. Be creative and don't be afraid to experiment with each part. Below is what I threw together.

Prepare your broth

- Bring water to a hot temperature (yes, this soup is warm!)

- Dice ginger, garlic, onions and blend with water

- You can also add a little oil and soy sauce if you'd like

Prepare your noodles

- I used a seaweed noodle I purchased in Mallorca. You could use kelp noodles or make zucchini noodles with your spiralizer.

Prepare your veggies

- Thinly slice bok choy, Chinese cabbage, carrot, and/ or whatever you have in the fridge to throw in. Mushrooms, fennel, peppers, daikon, turnips would all be great too. Experiment!

Prepare your toppings

- I added cilantro, red chili, bean sprouts, green onions, and alfalfa sprouts

- You can experiment with herbs, sprouts, seeds, chopped nuts, and even dried fruit like raisins or chopped apricots.

- Squeeze of lime juice

To construct, first add the noodles, then your veggies, and then pour the broth over it all. Finally, add your toppings.

Raw Noodle Soup for a Cold Winter Day

 

Close-up of Toppings on the Noodle Soup

Happy Year of the Dragon! 

• If you are in Paris and would like to join our Raw Food Community, please contact me through the blog. 

• Do you have a raw asian recipe to share?

• What is your favorite cuisine that you would love to discover more raw recipes for?