Alt Feast

Offering alternative recipes without gluten, dairy, corn, or coconut

Category: Recipes

Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon
I love finding patterns and when it comes to cooking soups, I find soups fall into 1 of 4 categories:
1. Tomato-based soups
2. Chicken based soups
3. Bacon based soups.
Note: this is not all soups… just a trend I’ve started mapping out for most western styled soups. I’ll go into detail about it another day.

Yup. Bacon.

Bacon isn’t just a breakfast food. It’s a wonderfully salty flavor-packed piece of fatty meat that works wonders as a foundation for many dishes. You don’t even need that much of it! 2 slices (what’s usually on the plate of a typical American breakfast platter) is all you need for a dish that can serve ~4.

Today I made pumpkin soup. I’ve made pumpkin soup before and it’s been… all right. I’m not personally fond of the pureed soups. I like texture. You know, the soups that can serve as meal replacers on their own. But puréed soups like these are especially great when paired with a sandwich. And today’s recipe was good enough that my husband got up for more.

This soup relies on bacon and caramelized onions to get that savoriness that makes the soup taste full-bodied. And relies on white sweet potato to give it that extra creaminess that you might miss from omitting cream.

It will lack the fattiness of a cream-based pumpkin soup, but honestly I prefer it this way.
Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon (dairy free)

Use bacon to makes this traditional soup extra savory and delish

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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Course Soup
Cuisine American

Servings 4

Equipment
1 Heavy Bottom pan min 3 QT
1 Blender or immersion blender

Ingredients

2 strips of bacon
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Butternut Squash, cubed approx 4 cups cubed
1 Japanese Sweet Potato, chopped approx 1 cup, optional, see notes
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
2 tsp oregano
3 tsp parsley
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt or to taste, see notes

Instructions

Add the chopped bacon to a pot on medium heat to render out the fat. Stir occasionally to prevent burning and sticking, and let cook until bacon crisps, then remove the bacon while leaving the fat behind.
Depending on your bacon, you may want to remove some of the fat. Ideally you want about 1-2 TBSP bacon fat. If there's less than that, add some olive oil. If there's more, use a paper towel to remove as needed.
Add the onions to the bacon fat and saute, stirring occasionally. The more caramelized, the more flavor that gets released into the soup.
Add garlic, squash, and sweet potato. Give it a stir then add the rest of the ingredients starting with the broth.
Adjust heat to high and bring pot to boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, close lid, and let cook for 20 min.
After 20 min, remove lid and stir. Test the squash and sweet potato. They should both be soft now.
If using a blender, carefully ladle the soup into the blender and puree til smooth, then return to pot.
To serve: Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle soy yogurt overtop for visuals and use a toothpick or skewer to draw a spiral to create the white trails in the yogurt. Sprinkle the previous cooked and chopped bacon and serve.

Notes
Add salt to taste. Depending on your chicken broth, you may not need additional salt. Mine is homemade so there’s no salt from it, so 1/2 tsp work great for me.
For the sweet potato, you can use either orange or white flesh version. the white flesh version is sweeter so I recommend that. The sweet potato added thickness and sweetness to the soup.
For the decorative yogurt, use a flavorless yogurt or cream or simply omit. It only adds visuals and doesn’t really affect the flavor.

Keyword soup
January 20, 2025
Gluten Free, Dairy Free Italian Wedding Soup
Wedding soup is a chicken broth-based soup whose primary flavor profile is from oregano, parsley, and parmesan cheese. It’s popular in the US and is one of my dad’s favorites, though we rarely ate it because of how salty the canned version could be.

Key Ingredients

Most of the ingredients in this soup are pretty standard meat and vegetable ingredients of a chicken soup, but there are 3 ingredients to be wary of in this recipe

Noodles

Wedding soup usually includes a pasta called orzo. Orzo looks like a rice grain but it’s wheat just like any other pasta. Other types of small pastas (“pasting”) used in this soup are acini de pepe (dot-shaped) or stelline (tiny star-shaped). There are gluten free variations of these, so it’s easy to replace. Otherwise, you can just substitute with rice, but it will lengthen the cooking time.

Parmesan cheese

Parmesan cheese is mixed into the meatballs themselves and the rind is often used to provide the soup with savoriness and saltiness. For a dairy-free version, we can actually replace the cheese with nutritional yeast, but it changes the cooking order. Rather than adding the cheese rind in the beginning, we’ll be sprinkling Nutritional Yeast at the end to get that savory “cheesy” taste.

Chicken bone broth

If you don’t do this already, I highly recommend making homemade bone broth as part of your kitchen basics routines. Homemade stock/broth is significantly tastier and pretty low-effort as long as you have a slow cooker.

Boxed broth is a fair alternative, but many broth variants have hidden corn. Look out for “natural flavor” or “vegetable stock” with unidentified ingredients. Broth is a food where corn is a highly likely ingredient in the broth. Bone broth is less likely to have it but it still can.

Making the Process Easier

While most recipes call for pre-cooking the meatballs either in the oven or by searing in a pan, this dish can be done in 1-pot by rolling and dropping the meatballs directly into the soup as it cooks. Pre-cooking the meatballs helps sear the flavors into the meatball better, but for a quick weekday meal, it’s perfectly fine and tasty to skip this step and cook the raw meatballs directly in the broth for a faster weekday meal.

Healthy Substitutions

The traditional recipe calls for meatballs made of 1/2 ground pork and 1/2 ground beef, but TBH I always make this with ground turkey or ground chicken for a lighter meal. I’ve also mixed in 1/2 cup sweet potato puree instead of almond flour for the heck of it, but that does sweeten the meatballs a bit. If you don’t care about authenticity, there’s a lot of variation you can do.
Italian Wedding Soup (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

A comforting soup that works great as a meal and tastes better when the noodles have absorbed the broth and softened.

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Course Main Course, One-Pot Meal, Soup
Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 4 people

Equipment
1 Pot at least 3 quart capacity

Ingredients

Meatballs
1/2 lb ground pork can replace with ground turkey
1/2 lb ground beef can replace with ground turkey
3 tbsp almond flour
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 egg
Soup
1 cup diced onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup diced carrots
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orzo or other tiny pasta, such as stelline
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt to taste
1/2 tsp tumeric optional, for color
3 cups chopped spinach

Instructions

Make the Meatballs
Add all the meatball ingredients into a bowl and, using your hands, mix it all together until fully incorporated. Set aside.
Make the Soup
In a heavy bottom pot, heat olive oil on medium heat and add diced onions and sauté until softened.
Add the garlic and diced carrots and continue to sweat the vegetables, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and turn the heat to high to bring to a boil.
As the chicken broth starts to heat, wet your hands and start rolling small meatballs from the meat mixture, dropping them into the soup 1 at a time. As the broth heats, it will cook the meatballs and cause them to float to the top.
Once boiling, add the orzo, and stir frequently to prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom as they cook. Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the nutritional yeast, salt, and tumeric. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Turn off heat.
You can serve immediately, but I recommend waiting 20 minutes for the noodles to expand and get softer. Some reason it tastes better this way in this soup.

Notes
This recipe is more of a lazy weekday method to making wedding soup. You get a tasty comforting soup, but I’m not optimizing for the best “gourmet” experience.
For best flavor, bake or pan sear the meatballs before adding to the soup. This step helps seal flavor into the meatballs and makes them more savory.

Keyword bone broth, chicken soup, meal soup, noodle soup, soup
December 31, 2024
Puerto Rican Pastelón – A Naturally Gluten Free Dish
Pastelón de platano maduro is a Latin-American layered dish made with ripe plantains and a meat filling. Popular in both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, I was introduced to the Puerto Rican version first through my fiancé and fell in love. Who knew Latin America had so many gluten-alternative dishes and ingredients readily available to explore? Our version of the pastelón recipe is packed with flavor while minimizing the unhealthy fats. It is an all-in-one dish that is sweet, savory, and hearty– a perfect 1-pan dish to serve a whole family.
Jump to Recipe

Watch our first cooking video on YouTube! Don’t forget to follow us there for more video content in the future!

But First, About Plantains

If you aren’t familiar with plantains, a plantain is a tropical tree fruit that is common in Latin American countries, having originated from West and Central Africa. It looks very similar to a banana, but anyone who has ever handled a plantain can tell you they are very different foods. Plantains are a lot starchier than a banana and must be cooked to eat. When peeling, you often need a knife to cut through the peel, which is also a lot harder and stiffer than a banana’s. The taste and culinary uses are also different as well.

The fruit is used in many dishes and is eaten in both its green state and yellow state. When the plantain is green, it is starchier and not sweet. It is commonly fried in to plantain chips or tostones or boiled into a masa. Ripe yellow plantains are sweeter. When fried, the sugars within the ripe plantain caramelize, turning a golden-brown color, making a delicious dessert all on their own. Ripe plantains are also boiled into a masa, but it comes out softer (and of course sweet).

Like a banana, as a plantain ripens, it goes from green to yellow to black, getting sweeter as it changes color. For a pastelón, you want yellow to black plantains (but of course, this is a pretty flexible dish). The blacker they are, the sweeter (and softer) they’ll be. The sweeter the plantain, the more it will provide a sweet contrast to the savory filling.

Our Method

Pastelón starts with ripe plantains as its primary starch. Traditionally when cooking the Puerto Rican version, you cut the plantains lengthwise into flat slices and fry them first before laying the slices into a single starch layer. This method gives more texture, flavor, and gives the plantain a softer bite, but also makes the overall dish heavier since it’s frying. So instead, we boil and mash the plantain, then scoop and press the mash into an even layer for the base and the top of the pastelon.

Our version also does not use cheese or bechamel sauce, which is typically added as a top layer to the dish. A cashew cream sauce would be a good alternative to the bechamel, but for simplicity’s sake we simply do not add it and instead include a generous side of garlicky mayo ketchup! For the cheese, you could substitute with a store bought vegan cheese shred, but keep in mind most of those contain coconut. I personally haven’t missed the cheese in this recipe since the meat filling used is incredibly flavorful already. To make up for the lost moisture though, we make sure the plantain masa is slightly wetter than standard. In our case, we add pumpkin to the masa, but you can optionally just add more liquid instead.

Recipe

As a layered casserole dish, the recipe for Pastelón can get pretty complicated, but when it comes to the steps they actually aren’t too difficult. You can also vary up the fillings if you like. Add mushrooms or onions into the beef filling for added vegetable content. Too much variation and you’ll move away from this being a true Pastelón, but hey. As long as it tastes good and feels good, who’s really complaining?
Pastelón (Gluten and Dairy Free)

A Puerto Rican and Dominican inspired pastelon made healthy with mashed ripe plantains, ground beef, and no dairy or gluten

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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours

Course Casseroles, Main Course
Cuisine Dominican, Latin American, Puerto Rican

Servings 8

Equipment
1 9×12 casserole Dish glass or ceramic
1 large pot for boiling plantains

Ingredients

Plantain Masa:
4-5 Ripe yellow plantains the blacker the better
1 cup pumpkin puree to add moisture and more nutrients
1 tbsp dairy free butter or cooking spray or oil, for greasing the baking pan
Beef Filling:
1 tbsp olive oil or other cooking oil
2 tbsp sofrito If you can't buy sofrito, see below
1/2 cup tomato sauce check the label, some brands include corn starch or corn flour for thickening!
1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
1/2 cup sliced olives
2 tsp adobo spice blend Goya brand is traditional, but see below for a separate adobo recipe
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
Additional ingredients:
3 eggs optional, but helps "glue" everything together
1 cup green beans optional, but adds nutrition and texture
Garlicky Mayo-ketchup
3 tbsp ketchup make sure you get one without corn syrup!
2 tbsp mayonnaise add more or less to taste
2 tbsp rice vinegar if using white vinegar, reduce to 1-2 tsp
2 tbsp sake can sub with water
2-4 garlic cloves we like it really garlicky, so adjust according to taste

Instructions

Make the Plantain Masa
Cut off the ends of the ripe plaintains and slice open the plantain skins lengthwise from end to end. Peel back the skin to reveal the white plantain fruit (it looks a lot like a banana but is much starchier). Roughly cut the plantain into chunks for boiling.
In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add the plantains and let simmer over medium heat, about 20 mins. Test with a fork for doneness. If the fork easily pierces the plantain, it's ready (this is similar to how you would boil potatoes).
Drain the plantain pieces, then with a fork or potato masher, mash the plantains. Add the pumpkin puree and then continue to mash. Optionally add 1-2 TBSP of water until desired consistency (like a mashed potato, not overly wet. You want it to maintain some substance by being slightly dry).
Cook the Beef Filling
Add oil to a pan and gently sauté the sofrito over medium-low heat (careful! sofrito is wet so may splatter). Add the ground beef and break it apart with a spatula.
Add the tomato sauce, red bell peppers, adobo spice, oregano, bay leaves, and olives, stir to cook. If it's too dry, add a splash of water or sake. Cook under the liquid is mostly gone.
Assemble the Pastelón
Prehead the oven to 350ºF.
Grease a 9×12 baking pan
Scoop half the plantain masa into the pan. Spread it around and press it down into an even layer
Remove the bay leaves from the beef filling, then spread all of the beef filling overtop the plantain layer. It should completely cover the bottom in an even layer.
Scatter the green beans overtop the beef filling.
Crack 3 eggs and beat well. Gently spread 1/2 the beaten egg overtop the beef & green bean layer evenly across the dish. Use a basting brush to even out the spread as needed.
Add the rest of the plantain masa to the top of the dish, being careful to spread it evenly and press it into a flat layer. Then gently spread the remaining beaten egg overtop this plantain layer, again using a basting brush to even out the spread as needed.
Optional: Sprinkle ground achiote (can sub paprika) as a garnish
Bake at 350ºF for 45 min.
Once finished, remove from oven and let it sit for 10 min before slicing. Enjoy!
Make Mayo-Ketchup condiment
Mince the garlic or mash in a mortar to draw out the most flavor
Add ketchup, mayonnaise, vinegar, sake, and garlic to a bowl and mix completely until fully incorporated. Serve on the side with the pastelón.

Notes
If you can’t find sofrito, you can make some yourself, but if that’s too cumbersome, just add minced culantro (or cilantro if you also cannot find culantro), onion, and garlic.
Pastelón is a great family meal dish, but it also can be made ahead and served as leftovers. Pastelón also freezes really well for meal prep!

Keyword casserole, dairy free, family meal, gluten free, layered bake, plantains
February 18, 2023
Bibimbap Sauce (Cho-gochujang)
When I go to restaurants I normally eat bibimbap plain. That is, when you order bibimbap, they often serve it with a thick red sauce on the side known as “cho-gochujang (or “chojang” for short). It’s a condiment made with gochujang (Korean red chili paste) that is slightly sweet, slightly spicy (or very spicy depending on the gochujang used. Most restaurants do not serve it very spicy), slightly tart, and slightly savory. Adding it to a bowl of bibimbap really elevates the flavor and makes it more complex.

However, a common culprit found in cho-gochujang is corn syrup. Or oligo-syrup made with corn. And if the restaurant isn’t making their own and buying premade in bulk, there’s also likely to be corn starch too. In addition, people have their own recipes and flavor alterations they like…. Soy sauce and wheat can be additives too. It’s hard for the Korean restaurant staff to know what’s in their unlabeled bottles of cho-gochujang. So I just don’t try it.

Corn syrup is easily replaceable. Honey is the premium sweetener of choice, but I’ve found maple syrup to work just as well. you can also sub for plain sugar and just dilute it a bit more with water.

I personally don’t like my cho-gochujang very sweet and prefer to highly the savory and vinegar flavors more. Add more sweetener if you’d like.
Korean Sweet Red Pepper Sauce (Cho-Gochujang)

Commonly served on top of bibimbap or as a condiment for other Korean dishes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes

Course Condiment
Cuisine Korean

Ingredients

2 TBSP gochujang (korean red pepper paste)
1 TBSP rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp honey (or maple syrup or other sweetener of choice)
2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt (just a pinch) to taste

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl
2 TBSP gochujang, 1 TBSP rice vinegar, 2 tsp sesame oil, 2 tsp honey, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp salt (just a pinch)
Serve drizzled on top of bibimbap or on the side as a condiment

Keyword sauce
February 21, 2022
Grilled Mixed Rice with Vegetables (Dulsot Bibimbap)
Bibimbap is my go-to dish whenever I go out to a Korean restaurant that I don’t know. By default, it has none of my allergen foods (no gluten, dairy, corn, or coconut) and when made well, is a very balanced meal of vegetables and rice. You can also get it with beef (and most American restaurants serve it with beef by default as well) For the most part I’ve done fine with that. But fair warning… the beef is commonly marinated in a sweetened soy sauce (aka “bulgogi” style beef) and that does come with risk of gluten (soy sauce has gluten) and corn (when corn syrup is used).

As one of my favorite Korean dishes, I had to spend some time this month making bibimbap. While bibimbap is easy to put together, I don’t really consider this an “easy dish”. There’s just a lot of different ingredients and they all have to be cooked separately to get a good taste. This is perhaps easier if you prep the ingredients as “banchan (Korean side dishes)” in advance, but unless you’re in the habit of doing weeks of single-cuisine cooking (or whole months (like me in this 12 months of cuisines challenge or longer), it’s likely you’ll be prepping several of the ingredients used that same day.

The best way to make cooking bibimbap easier is to have at least SOME of the toppings prepped beforehand so the day you assemble they’re all ready and seasoned. In my case, I had my prepped bean sprouts (kongnamul muchim) and premade garlicky spinach (store-bought, not homemade, but probably one of the easiest side dishes to recreate). All I had to cook was the julienned zucchini, beef, egg, and then assemble with the freshly cooked rice.

Bibimbap is not a dish that can truly be a “recipe” although I tried my best for you to create some measurements to start with. The ingredients for bibimbap toppings don’t have to be the exact ones I listed (additional vegetables that are commonly used are mushrooms, carrots, seaweed, kimchi, and pickled cucumbers). The idea is to have a variety of bright colors so when mixed it is an appetizing meal for both the taste buds and eyes.

A simple formula to keep when putting this together though: at least 1 crunchy thing for texture, at least 1 pickled thing for tartness vinegary tartness, at least 1 vegetable flavored with salt and sesame oil, and preferably 1 thing with sweetened gluten free soy sauce for umami-ness.
Grilled Mixed Rice (Dulsot Bibimbap)

An iconic Korean dish made easy for home cooking

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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Course Main Course, One-Pot Meal
Cuisine Korean

Servings 2

Equipment
1 earthenware pot alt nonstick pot, but you won't get as good of a crisp at the bottom

Ingredients

2 cups freshly cooked rice
Zucchini Topping
1/2 cup julienned zucchini
1/8 tsp salt (just a pinch)
Spinach Topping
1 bundle spinach (bundles vary, approx 3 oz of raw greens)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame seeds
Additional Toppings (remember all toppings are modifiable)
kongnamul muchim (prepared bean sprouts)
pickled daikon
fried eggs
salted seaweed
Beef Topping (optional)
1/4 lb shaved beef (or finely cut)
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar (optional) (or sweetener of choice)
1 TBSP sake
Bibimbap Sauce (optional)
2 TBSP gochujang
1 TBSP rice vinegar
2 tsp honey (or maple syrup or sugary syrup of choice)
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt or to taste

Instructions

Prep Cooking Ingredients
If you don't have it on hand already, start by cooking the rice. Bibimbap is best with freshly cooked rice.
2 cups freshly cooked rice
First sauté the vegetables. Starting with the zucchini, add 1-2 tsp of cooking oil (olive or avocado is my preference) and cook over medium heat until zucchini's color has become bright green and slightly wilted in texture. Add salt (and pepper if you like) to taste. Remove and set aside.
1/2 cup julienned zucchini, 1/8 tsp salt (just a pinch)
Next we cook the spinach. In the same pan, add another 2 tsp cooking oil and add in the minced garlic. Once fragrant, add the spinach and stir to coat. The spinach will wilt a LOT. Once wilted, drizzle sesame oil and sprinkle the salt. Toss to coat. Remove and set aside.
1 bundle spinach, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp minced garlic
Beef topping is last. Mix the seasoning ingredients in a separate bowl. In the same pan that you've been using, add in 2 tsp of cooking oil, then add the beef into the pan. Stir to cook evenly. Once most of the pink/red is out of the beef, add the seasoning sauce. Cook the beef in the seasoning sauce until the sauce is evaporated. Remove and set aside.
1/4 lb shaved beef, 1 TBSP soy sauce, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp sugar (optional), 1 TBSP sake
Assembly Time
Coat 1 TBSP of sesame oil into an earthenware pot and turn on stove to medium heat.
Line the bottom of the pot with the freshly cooked rice, using as much or as little as you prefer (I usually avg about 3/4 cup per person eating). Once the pot starts heating you'll start hearing sizzling sounds from the rice.
Drizzle additional sesame oil overtop the rice.
While rice is sizzling, start assembling the bibimbop. Places the various vegetables into different quadrants of the pot, making sure to leave room for the beef (if using). Top with salted shredded seaweed and place the fried egg on top (if using).
1/8 tsp salt (just a pinch), kongnamul muchim (prepared bean sprouts), pickled daikon, fried eggs, salted seaweed
Allow rice to sizzle for 5 minutes.
Remove pot from heat and serve in pot. Use a spoon to stir the grilled rice from the bottom. Try serving with homemade bibimbap sauce*.
2 TBSP gochujang, 1 TBSP rice vinegar, 2 tsp honey, 2 tsp sesame oil, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp salt

Notes
*I highly recommend taking a little extra effort to make the bibimbap sauce. It really elevates the bibimbap meal. Store-bought tends to be too sweet and often has corn syrup. Homemade is very easy and you’ll find the sauce can be used as a condiment for many other things.
In my version, I used an unknown earthenware pot I owned (meant for stovetop stews I think more than recipes like this). The Korean stone pots are definitely superior in this kind of dish, but are pretty unique to Korean cuisine and therefore not easily found outside of a Korean market. If you don’t have a stone pot, earthenware pots or cast iron are the next best thing with nonstick pots as a last resort.

Keyword one-pot meal
February 21, 2022
Trying Toran-guk (Taro soup)

I had never had Korean taro root before.

After ordering a bag of taro root that sat in my fridge for a month (I originally wanted to use them to cook Japanese satoimo nimono, but ran out of time), I decided to use them over the weekend to try something new.

First off… Korean taro (and Japanese taro) is different to Chinese taro, which is the kind I am used to.

Chinese taro is large, often the size of a large papaya. It has a thin brown bark-like skin and purple veins on the inside. When cooked, the white and purple colors of the flesh meld together to create a pale lavender-grey color. The texture is like a potato, but creamier and is served sliced and stewed with meat or mashed into a sweet dessert (yes, it is a savory and a sweet food option).

Korean taro, on the other hand, are small, fitting into the palm of your hands. The skin is a hard bark and hairy like a coconut and the flesh is pure white. When cooked, the taro flesh is starchy like a potato, but also slimy like okra. It is more “yam”-like (think nagaimo) than the Chinese counterpart.

Chinese taro root are large and have purple veins running through its white flesh.

Korean taro roots (and Japanese variety too) are small and have coconut-type hairs covering the outside.

Both varieties are pretty toxic when raw and even irritate the skin if not handled properly (though i think the smaller hairier ones irritate skin more than the large one). Once cooked though, the toxins are cooked out and it’s perfectly safe to eat. In fact, it is known to be one of the earliest cultivated plants for consumption.

I followed a recipe for Taro Soup by Maangchi in order to try this root vegetable. The soup itself was fairly basic: taro, beef, garlic, water, salt, fish sauce, green onion, and most importantly perilla seed powder.

This was also my first time cooking with only perilla seed powder as the flavoring agent. Perilla seeds (or shiso seeds) are a common Korean spice, but outside of gamjatang (pork neck bone stew), I hadn’t really seen it used in any recipes. Out of the bag it smells… odd, so I wasn’t expecting the soup to taste so good!

Perilla seeds definitely have their own distinct flavor and Maangchi’s recipe does call for a lot of it. It’s nutty, but also has this top-of-mouth flavor that I can’t quite distinguish. Once you get past the new-ness of the flavor, the soup is really tasty and the taro makes it quite hearty-feeling.

My soup turned out a bit… murky though. I can’t decide if it was due to not soaking the beef first (therefore removing the blood) or if it was due to my perilla seeds. Maangchi’s recipe calls for perilla seed powder, whereas I only had whole perilla seeds, so I ground my own in a mortar for this soup. The powder itself was pretty brown in color. Maybe store-bought perilla seed powder has less of the husk and is therefore whiter in color.

I will try this again one day and see if I can get that more pure white color that she depicts in her photos.

February 8, 2022
Potato Starch Noodle Stir Fry (Japchae)
One of my favorite sides to order at a restaurant. I’m happily surprised at how easy it is to make at home. The recipe for Japchae takes your standard stir fry dish, adds flavored tare, and adds potato starch noodles.

Potato starch noodles are, by default, gluten free! But like all packaged noodles, be sure to check the ingredients list. I have less trouble with this when buying Korean-brand potato starch noodles, but Chinese brands can have varietals that also include corn starch (whether that corn starch is used in the noodles themselves or are just dusted on the outside for noodle separation in the packaging I can’t be 100% sure).

Korean brands of potato starch noodles even offer organic options.

Once boiled, potato starch noodles expand slightly and become slippery and chewy.

For the homemade version, I used less soy sauce and less sweetener to “lighten it up” a bit. I also swapped the sugar for maple syrup, which does not alter the flavor at all in this recipe (maple is too mild a flavor compared to soy sauce or garlic).

As for serving, I’ve seen this eaten as a main and a side dish. Just depends what kind of mood you’re in. 😉
Jap Chae (Korean potato starch noodle stir fry)

A gluten free stir fry noodle dish that's has a chewy bite. A very popular dish in Korean restaurants.

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Korean

Servings 4

Equipment
1 large pot for boiling noodles
1 large non-stick pan for stir frying

Ingredients

1 bundle Korean potato starch noodles approx 4 oz (1/4 lb)
1 julienned carrot
1/4 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup julienned zucchini other green vegetables also work, including spinach
4 oz beef i.e. sirloin, rib eye, etc
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms i.e. oyster mushrooms, king oyster, shiitake, shimeji
2 green onions cut into 2-in strips
1 TBSP olive oil or other oil of choice
Japchae Sauce
2 TBSP gluten free tamari or use soy sauce if you can tolerate gluten
2 TBSP maple syrup or other sweetener of choice
2 TBSP sesame oil
2 tsp garlic powder or fresh minced garlic
1 TBSP roasted sesame seeds
2 TBSP sake
1 pinch black pepper or to taste

Instructions

Prep Steps
In a large pot, boil water and add the potato starch noodles to cook per package instructions (approx 6 minutes boiling). Strain the water, rinse under cold water, and set the noodles aside.
1 bundle Korean potato starch noodles
If you're vegetables aren't sliced already, slice the onion, julienne the carrot and zucchini, and cut the mushrooms to match the matchstick size of the other vegetables as best as possible (this will depend what mushroom you're using. For oyster mushrooms, use your hands to tear the mushrooms lengthwise into strips).
1 julienned carrot, 1/4 cup sliced onion, 1/2 cup julienned zucchini, 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms, 2 green onions
Cut the beef into small bite-sized strips too, as close to that matchstick size as well.
4 oz beef
Mix all the Japchae Sauce ingredients together and set aside.
2 TBSP gluten free tamari, 2 TBSP maple syrup, 2 TBSP sesame oil, 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 TBSP sake, 1 pinch black pepper, 1 TBSP roasted sesame seeds
Stir Frying Steps
In a non-stick skillet on medium heat, add 1 tbsp of oil. Add in onions and carrots and cook until onions become translucent.
1/4 cup sliced onion, 1 TBSP olive oil, 1 julienned carrot
Add in zucchini and cook, moving the ingredients until zucchini is glistening (aka. halfway cooked). Remove vegetables from pan and set aside.
1/2 cup julienned zucchini
In the same pan, add the beef and mushrooms and 1/2 of the Japchae sauce. Cook and move the ingredients around until most of the liquid has evaporated.
4 oz beef, 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
Add the noodles and rest of the sauce. Stir and flip the contents around carefully and constantly to prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom as it absorbs the sauce and the sauce evaporates.
1 bundle Korean potato starch noodles
Once the sauce has mostly evaporated again, return the cooked vegetables to the pan. Add the green onion and toss to coat for ~1 min. Turn off the heat.
Serve hot or cold (I love these noodles cold).

Keyword noodles, stir fry
February 7, 2022
Soybean Sprouts side dish (Kongnamul Muchim)
Outside of kimchi, soybean sprouts are my FAVORITE of the side dishes. Salty, crunchy, and savory from the sesame oil in its seasoning sauce, I find these incredibly addictive when part of a banchan set.

Soybean sprouts have a different texture to mung bean sprouts (which is more commonly found in stores). They are crunchier and hardier and have a yellow soybean attached to the white sprout that give an additional texture to each bite. You CAN cook this recipe with mung bean sprouts if you can’t find soybean sprouts, but the texture will be mushier and softer and you won’t get that yellow soybean bite at the end which, in my opinion, is the best part.

An important thing to remember if buying soybean sprouts, soybean sprouts cannot be eaten raw. They are difficult to digest and you may end up with stomach pains. In addition, bean sprouts are known to carry more bacteria than other vegetables so it’s normally recommended to cook them first.

For this recipe, you can actually make 2 versions at the same time: spicy garlic and plain garlic. I really loved the idea Seonkyoung Longest had of making both the plain and the spicy versions with the same batch of bean sprouts. This is especially useful if you’re only cooking for a small family, since soybean sprouts tend to be sold in 1 lb bags. And once you buy it, you generally want to cook it right away since they have a very short shelf life.

If you don’t like spicy, just double up on the non-spicy ingredients and leave out the Korean chili powder and you’ll be good.

This recipe is also 100% vegan and safe from my 4 food intolerances (no gluten, corn, coconut, and dairy). This is also a dish that is normally safe for me when eating out at restaurants too.

This recipe is adapted from Seonkyoung Longest’s Kongnamul Muchim recipe. Do check out her website for additional Korean recipes and fusion recipes as well as some really helpful videos.
Soybean Sprouts Side Dish (Kongnamul muchim)

A spicy and non-spicy option, this crunchy and salty vegetarian side tastes amazing

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes

Course Side Dish
Cuisine Korean

Equipment
1 large pot
1 large strainer

Ingredients

1 1-lb bag of soybean sprouts mung bean sprouts are ok, but will not be as crunchy
1 TBSP salt for boiling the soybean sprouts
Base (Non-Spicy) Seasoning (per 1/2 lb soybean sprouts)
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp sesame oil
1 pinch black pepper
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1 minced garlic clove
1 diced green onion
Additional (Spicy) Seasoning (add to Non-Spicy ingredients for Spicy version)
2 tsp gochugaru (korean red pepper flakes or powder) optional for spicy version

Instructions

Rinse the soybean sprouts in a large bowl of water and remove any blackened or mushy sprouts or beans from the bowl. Strain the rest and set aside
Bring a large pot of water with 1 tbsp salt to boil (enough water that the soybeans would be fully covered). Once boiling, add the soybean sprouts and boil for 4 minutes on high with the lid on.
Turn off the heat and let the sprouts sit in the hot water for 1 more minute.
Strain the soybean sprouts and then rinse in the large bowl under cold water to stop the cooking process.
Divide the cold soybean sprouts into 2 dishes
For the non-spicy soybean sprout side dish
Mix the salt, sesame oil, black pepper, garlic, green onion, and toasted sesame seeds in a bowl, then add 1/2 the soybean sprouts in. Using chopsticks or your hand, toss the soybean sprouts to coat them thoroughly. This is now ready to serve.
For the spicy soybean sprout side diesh
Mix the salt, sesame oil, black pepper, garlic, green oinon, and toasted sesame seeds, AND gochugaru in a bowl, then add the other 1/2 of the soybean sprouts in. Using chopsticks or your hand, toss the soybean sprouts to coat them thoroughly. This is also now ready to serve.

Keyword banchan, bean sprouts, namul
February 4, 2022
Garlic Eggplant Side Dish (Gaji-namul)
This is an incredibly easy-to-make Korean side dish that takes minimal effort. I actually learned how to make this dish through another food blogger, Maangchi, who is an AMAZING source of Korean dishes and cooking techniques. Many of her recipes convert easily to a gluten-free lifestyle.

This recipe is already a fairly easy one to make, but rather than take out a stove-top steamer, boil water, and watch the time and water levels to make sure it steams well, a way to make cooking this dish even easier is to steam the eggplant through the microwave.

Microwave-steaming is kind of a cheat way to cook, but it works just as well as stovetop steaming and arguably retains more nutrients than the traditional method. With the eggplant steaming in a microwave, all you have to do with this dish is mix together the seasoning sauce and wait for the microwave timer to complete. Then mix the two part together for a delicious vegetable dish.

Steaming eggplant in the microwave is a quick and low effort method that also retains nutrients well

Torn up pieces of eggplant pick up the sauce better than knife-cut.

To adapt this recipe to a gluten free diet, the only ingredients to watch out for is the soy sauce and fish sauce. For fish sauce, make sure to buy one with safe ingredients (I always get this Lucky Star brand because its ingredient list is simple (it also doesn’t contain shrimp, whereas others do, and my partner cannot have shrimp), or just omit and replace with a pinch of salt instead. Otherwise, use a gluten free tamari for the soy sauce and you should be good.
Garlic Eggplant Side Dish

An easy-to make vegetarian side-dish with strong garlic flavors

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 minute

Course Side Dish
Cuisine Korean

Servings 4

Ingredients

1-2 long purple eggplant Chinese or Japanese varietals are best because of their quick-cooking and sweetness, but other eggplants work too
3 minced garlic cloves
2 diced green onions
1 TBSP gluten free tamari soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce omit if vegetarian and add 1/4 tsp salt instead
1 tsp gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes or powder)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 TBSP toasted white sesame seeds crushed

Instructions

Cut the eggplant into 2-in length, then cut each piece in half.
Place the pieces in a microwave safe container with 1-2 TBSP of water. Place container with the lid slightly ajar into the microwave on high for 5 minutes.
While the eggplant is steaming in the microwave, in a separate bowl, mix your seasoning ingredients together.
When the eggplant is dont, remove from the microwave and let it sit on the counter for 5-10 minutes until it's cool enough to handle.
With your hands, tear the eggplant lengthwise into bite-sized strips and add the strips of eggplant to the bowl with the seasoning sauce.
Mix together and serve. Alternatively you can store this side dish in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Notes
This recipe was adapted from Maangchi’s Gaji-namul recipe on her website. She offers a more traditional way to make this via the stovetop steaming method. Definitely check out her website since she has a lot of Korean recipe videos you can watch as well!

Keyword banchan, eggplant, namul
February 4, 2022
Japanese Curry
The last recipe I want to share for Japanese Cuisine month is Japanese curry.

Japanese curry is one of those easy-to-make recipes that also has a deeply passionate following. Every home has at least 1 box of the pre-made curry blocks and there are plenty of variations and brands available to choose from. Just boil some water, add your stew basics (potatoes, onions, carrots), and melt some of the cubes to have a ready meal for a family.

Curry blocks like these are easy to find and there are many brands and varieties to choose from. However, these are not friendly to a gluten free, corn free, or dairy free diet.

In order for someone with dietary restrictions to gluten, dairy, and corn to enjoy Japanese curry, you need to make it with Japanese curry powder

The reason curry is “easy to make” at home is because of those curry blocks, cubes of pre-made flavored roux that are shelf-stable. It’s very uncommon to find anyone who makes Japanese curry from scratch. You’re more likely to find rows of the curry block boxes in the grocery store than a single container of Japanese curry powder.

This is one of those foods that makes me jealous of those without my dietary restrictions. Even when cooking from scratch, Japanese curry is a roux-based curry, meaning it starts with a base of slowly browning a mixture of flour and butter to make what is called a light roux.

This method of making Japanese curry took a lot of research and exposure to many cuisine types to come up with and has a lot of thanks to give to Indian cuisine specifically.

The magic ingredient that makes eating Japanese curry possible is… cashews.

Indian cuisine has cashew based curries (which also tend to have dairy in it to… another story for another day) where cashews are soaked and blended into a pureé where when boiled, thickens the broth into a creamy stew.

We use the same method in this Japanese curry recipe.

Cashews have been soaked overnight and are ready to be blended for today’s curry recipe.

Blend the soaked cashews in a high-powdered blender to produce a thick creamy liquid that we’ll use to substitute the dairy in this curry

Everything in the pot! Don’t worry if the color is too light at this point in time. As the curry cooks, the contents will meld into a darker more even color.

After 20-30 minutes of simmering and occasional stirring, the curry will turn tan and the flavors will have melded.
Cashew-based Japanese Curry (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Corn Free, Coconut Free)

A curry free from gluten, dairy, corn, coconut, and soy that uses cashews to create that thick stew we all love

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Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes

Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 6

Equipment
1 Vitamix blender or other high-powered blender
1 large pot

Ingredients

Cashew Cream
1/2-3/4 cup raw cashews raw is best, but roasted and unsalted work ok
2 cups water
Curry
1/4 cup chicken fat other animal fat also works. Olive oil or other vegetable oil also acceptable but may not create as rich of a curry. See notes.
1/4 cup diced onions
2 chopped carrots
1 chopped potato
1/2 lb sliced beef
1/4 cups curry powder S&B curry powder is iconic, but you can also make your own Japanese curry powder. See notes.
2 cups beef broth chicken broth or dashi stock also ok

Instructions

Prep Ahead
Soak the cashews in water for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. But do not soak more than 12 hours (I find the ground cashew grains stay separated if they are oversoaked).
1/2-3/4 cup raw cashews, 2 cups water
Make Cashew Cream
Right before starting to make the curry, blend the cashews and water in a Vitamix or other high-power blender until the cashews turn into a creamy liquid consistency. Set aside
Make the Curry
In a 3-qt or larger pot, add the chicken fat and onions. Sauté until onions are translucent
1/4 cup chicken fat, 1/4 cup diced onions
Add the potatoes and carrots. Add the sliced beef. Add the curry powder and stir to cook, but be careful not to burn the powder.
2 chopped carrots, 1 chopped potato, 1/2 lb sliced beef, 1/4 cups curry powder
Add the cashew cream, and then add the beef broth. Add more water as needed. Increase heat to boil.
2 cups beef broth
Once boiling, reduce pot to simmer and stir frequently, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan with the spatula to prevent the cashew cream from burning. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Serve when ready. The flavors will meld over time, so this curry is also great if reheated next day. Enjoy

Notes
The creamy richness of butter is what gets lost in this recipe compared to using curry roux cubes. In order to add this back, I highly recommend using animal fat.
For the earthy flavors of a roux, I recommend adding some “umami” with either MSG, salt-cured egg yolks, or powdered shiitake mushrooms. I especially enjoy eating a bowl of Japanese curry with a mixed-in umeboshi.
S&B Oriental Curry Powder is the only off-the-shelf Japanese curry powder I see in Asian grocery stores. Japanese curry is a pretty iconic flavor so you can’t go wrong with it. However, if you’d like better control with the flavor profile, you can also mix your own batch of curry powder. I have a go-to recipe I use. Recipe TBD.

Keyword cashew cream, curry
February 1, 2022