mardi 27 mai 2014

vegan kimchi.


Food food food... How much could I talk about food.. Korean food... I could barely stop.
Korean cuisine has to be my favourite cuisine on the planet, and God knows I love chinese, japanese, italian, french or even indian cuisines. But korean dishes are... too good to resist!
The sad thing is very few of them are actually vegan or vegetarian friendly, unless they're slightly modified. Kimchi unfortunately falls into this category as well.
BUT awesome news, it's easy to make it vegan! 
And life couldn't be better could it?

The ingredients you'll need are easy to find and surprisingly, the process of doing the kimchi isn't that laborious! it's a bit long, but not difficult!

You'll need :
-some cabbage,
-garlic cloves
-onion
-ginger
-carrots&/or radish
-green onions
-water&flour/rice flour &sugar to make a porridge
and
-red pepper flakes/powder

As for the measurements, I didn't really respect any recipe guideline, but I recommend Mangchi's recipe. I had only a little cabbage, so I used 4cloves of garlic, half an onion, a small piece of ginger, one carrot, 5green onions and half a cup of red pepper flakes! For the porridge, about two cups of water and half a cup of flour, I didn't use sugar but stevia !


You want to cut the cabbage in small pieces and rinse it thorougly, then salt it and let it aside for 1 to 2hours, while mixing it every half hour to make sure it's evenly salted.
Once you've done that, it's time for the kimchi paste!
Mix the ginger, garlic onion and a bit of water, then add the porridge(just add water&flour&sugar-stevia and mix until it gets thick) once cooled down. Throw in the chopped veggies of your choice, I went for carrot&green onions, and finally, the red pepper flakes! Make sure to add just enough, but not too much. Unless you can handle a lot of spiciness!
Then it's all a matter of coating the cabbage with the paste, storing it in the fridge and the best part... eating it!

The paste you should get at the end!





Kimchi is delicious with white rice, or you could also make kimchi fried rice, kimchi stew, kimchijeon which is a delicious pancake ... It's very spicy, slighlty sour but so delicious!

dimanche 25 mai 2014

Budapest : Details.


Among all the things I love about Budapest are details, very little things. Is that a part of feeling at home? Being fine and happy to look at only the minuscule, banal things instead of the impressive sightseeings. In Budapest I get inspired by the smallest things, my brain draws links between architecture and flowers, I find beauty in forgotten and old signs or buildings, and delight in getting lost in small streets. Here is a collection of details I loved more than others, enough to snap pictures of them. I hope you find interest in them as much as I do!


























lundi 19 mai 2014

Rhubarb and Apple Pie.


Want something sweet but not too sweet? Something comforting but ""guilt"" free?
Let me introduce you this rhubarb&apple pie sugar and fat free!(unhealthy and processed ones that is)

Like diversity and change?
This recipe can be modified to create three slightly different pies, to please everyone!

Ingredients :
500g of rhubarb
4 to 5 apples
vegan crust -you can do it yourself or buy it-
stevia
vanilla powder
Optional : 2 peaches and oat flakes.


Start by cutting the rhubarb without peeling it, and let it cook in a non sticking pan with a bit of water and some stevia. I love the bittersweet taste of rhubarb so I usually don't add a lot, however make sure to add to your taste. Cover and let it cook for about 10minutes, when it's done you should have something that looks like that :


Drain it and put it aside.
Then do the exact same thing for apples. Cut them in small piece and cool them until they're soft.
Then pour the rhubarb mixture onto the crust and also add the apples.


If you wanted to add a bit of a twist, that would be now! You can add peaches to the apples, the tastes go perfectly together. Don't forget a bit of vanilla if you like it, and if you have a very sweet tooth, take some oat flakes and caramelize them in a pan by just heating them with sugar or stevia. Add that on top of your pie once it's done !

Easy, quick, delicious, healthy and vegan obviously!















vendredi 16 mai 2014

Salzburg.

Salzburg is one of these cities that I really wanted to go back to but never quite enough to make the trip. Going to Budapest by train not only was cheaper than flying, it also allowed us to stop by Munich and Salzburg, the latter being pretty nearby the main city of Bavaria.
I had been to both the cities when I was younger on a school trip, something like ... 9years ago? Oh Lord, time's flying by. I was really excited to confront my memories to the current reality, excited to see what had changed and what had not. Well ... from what I remember, nothing has changed much. Salzburg left me the same impression : a jewel or a doll house city. Everything is pretty, small, neat, delicate and ... expensive too!The difference in atmospheer, people and just generally everything with Germany is pretty noticeable, despite them being so close. Bavaria already feels like a little country inside of Germany, but Austria also feels different. 
Austria is beautiful. The cities, the architecture, the countryside, the streets... everything almost looks perfect. Too perfect to me maybe?
I don't think I would like to spend a long time there, but it's definitely a nice, very nice! city to visit, especially when the weather is good. 
Ah reading those words I make it sound like I didn't like Salzburg, don't get me wrong, I did like it! 
It's just... not my kind of city I guess!
But pictures will speak better than words!