Book Review: Ani’s Raw Food Asia

I have been writing raw Asian recipes for some time now, thus I was really nervous when I saw that Ani Phyo would be coming out with a new cookbook titled Ani’s Raw Food Asia.  Why nervous, you may ask?  As silly as it may sound, I was a little apprehensive that some of Ani’s recipes would be too similar to the ones I have developed – after all, there seems to be only so many ways to create a raw version of a particular food.  Nevertheless, after waiting months for Raw Food Asia to finally launch, I Amazon’d the book and found it waiting for me in the stairwell of my fourplex some three days later.

Immediately I flipped to the “wraps” section in order to compare my Thai spring rolls with Phyo’s.  Sweet relief was mine when I saw that, while quite delicious sounding, her spring rolls were nothing like my own!  After having checked the ingredient lists of a few more recipes and finding all but maybe one quite satisfying, I was finally able to relax and enjoy the book that Phyo had undoubtedly worked quite intensely on.

Organization of the book was a little peculiar to me at first.  I had expected that it would be divided by region: Japan here, China there, etc., etc.  Instead there were sections for noodles, wraps and pancakes, rice dishes, soups, and so on.  Nearly every other page hosted a gorgeous full color photograph of either a food dish or a travel scene.  There were so many in fact, that one could easily forget they were reading a cookbook – a far cry from Ani’s first (apparently nervously published) raw-book.

Though the book itself is beautiful and the recipes expertly crafted, I can’t help but find issue with just a few of the book’s features.  Throughout the chapters are scattered essays on life, spirit, and the environment, as well as quick tips and quotes, both of which are accompanied by little category symbols.  While this will not be an issue for most readers, I found it quite distracting when looking at or for recipes.  The more I gave these elements thought however, the more I realized they were quite appropriate.

Ani’s Raw Food Asia is more than a cookbook.  Phyo has done her time sweating over recipes, appeasing publishers, doing TV circuits and news clips – she is now at a place in her raw career where she can write the book she’s always wanted to write.  That is why Raw Food Asia reads more like an essay collage on a holistic, Asian inspired, enlightened lifestyle.  It is a journey into sights, sounds, smells, flavors and sentiments that only a Californian Korean-American like Phyo could impart.  While I would not recommend it as an actual cookbook for new raw foodists, I feel that it is an excellent addition to a raw food library.  Thank you, Ani!

Tools of the Trade

When I first started raw food, I had a really jank hand-me-down dehydrator - one of those circular ones with the stacking trays that had been around since the 80’s.  It worked great for dehydrating banana slices, but once I began to experiment with raw “breads”, the doughnut shaped trays just weren’t cutting it.  Thus I put it out to the universe that I needed a new rectangular dehydrator and, fast forward to Christmas, my wish came true!  Moreover, Old Roundy found a brand new home and to this day is still happily making banana chips.

Equipment can make or break your raw food experience depending upon what you want that experience to be.  Plenty of raw dishes, like salads, slaws, and my Thai spring rolls don’t require any special paraphernalia.  But if you want to make bars, “breads”, “meats”, most desserts, and other simulated un-raw foods, than you’ve got to get serious about your tools.  Since raw food on this level parallels science, it pays to invest in top-of-the-line, high quality gear.  The cheap stuff will only cause headaches, wasted food, and lacerated or gouged fingers (speaking from experience!).

Thus a well stocked raw kitchen should include the following equipment:

• Dehydrator - rectangular with heating device mounted on the back instead of the bottom
• Blender – any run-of-the-mill blender will do, but a Vitamix blender is highly recommended.  It’s pricy, but for good reason!  Universe, it’s what’s next on my list!
• Food Processor – used mostly for making “meats”, flours, and desserts; you can’t raw without it
• Mandolin Slicer – essential for thin, even vegetable slices.  Again, quality is key

Other helpful tools one would be sensible to pick up along the way may include:

• Juicer – smoothies can be made out of veggie and fruit bits left over from recipes!
• Citrus Juicer – if you have weak hands like I do, this one’s a must
• Zester – many recipes just wouldn’t be the same without fresh zest!
• Coffee Grinder – used for grinding flax or spices, and for making small batches of fine, powdery flour
• Mortar and Pestle – for grinding herbs and mashing seeds or other accents
• Spiralizer – I don’t use one, but if you want spirals, why not?
• Cheesecloth or Micro Sieve – essential for making “milks” and doing other heavy-duty straining
• Wide-mouth Mason Jars – I keep all of my dry ingredients and most of my leftovers in these.  Plastic containers tend to absorb the odor and sometimes flavor of what was stored in them and worse yet, can sometimes leave a plastic aftertaste to foods.  Mason jars are also really handy in making sun teas
• Ice Cream Maker and Popsicle Molds – I would never expect anyone to go raw without providing them with sunny, summer day alternatives
• Stationary Bike Power Generator – crafty earth-conscious folks have found a way to rig stationary bikes for generating some serious wattage.  You can thus run your kitchen appliances off the grid, while getting your exercise!  Kits can be found on-line or in some bike shops.  Again, I hope to acquire one of these at some point!

And there you have it: the tool shack of raw!  If these two lists seem overwhelming, you needn’t worry – there is no reason to go into debt on a raw tool shopping spree.  Simply gather one piece of equipment at a time as you try out various recipes.  Start perhaps, with a dehydrator and work up from there.  I call this the 'one meal at a time' approach.  If you go gung-ho at the get-go, you may quickly burnt out or worse yet, decide you don’t like the raw lifestyle and thus have wasted much time and money.  Be sensible, and as with all things, seek balance.

Look for upcoming posts on keeping a raw kitchen stocked, seasoned and spiced!

Thai Spring Rolls: Gone Like Hotcakes!

It never fails – the second you start a blog, life decides to make you busy!  Moreover, life decides to bring a shortage of appropriate ingredients to your area.  I have been holding onto the ingredients for my Thai Spring Rolls recipe for over a week now because I have been unable to locate Thai basil anywhere!  But since today was Mother’s Day, I thought I’d kill two birds by using my mom’s expanse of prep space (in comparison to my own) while also treating her to the dish; she loves little more than healthy pretentious delights.

Three trips to three local stores yielded no Thai basil, so I settled for regular Italian and hopped over to mum’s.  I also cheated by picking up a bottle of fancy Thai peanut sauce instead of making my own raw version.  I already have a recipe written for raw peanut sauce but it’s currently too involved and ingredient heavy for me to pull off last minute.  In case you are wondering, I do write first and test later.  Food is too expensive for me to leave all to chance.  This is why standing next to my mom’s sink, as I whipped up the perfectly planned ingredients for my Dipping Sauce (see recipe below) I realized that I fancy myself the Nicola Tesla of raw: invent in the head first, draft and build later!

                                                            

Assembly of the rolls took much longer than I had anticipated, most likely because I chop and julienne like someone with a bad case of arthritis.  I had also barely caught my cilantro and green onions in time, so they needed extra care.  However, one of the great things about finally testing a recipe, time consuming or not, is how chef’s intuition kicks in once the heat is on (pardon the cooking pun).  I had bought a papaya a week ago for another recipe and took it to my mum’s only because it too seemed moments away from going towards the light.    I decided last minute to make it the “meat” of the dish and I’m so glad I did!  It was the one ingredient my alter ego, Tesla, had missed.  One-hour-plus and a characteristic mess later, a beautiful platter of rolls lie in wait for the feast… and thus we did until there wasn’t a sprig of cilantro left.

Thai Spring Rolls

Serves 2-6

head of Boston bib lettuce

½ papaya

1 c kelp noodles*

½ cucumber, julienned

1 medium carrot, julienned

½ red bell pepper

raw slivered almonds 

6-10 Thai basil leaves

fresh cilantro sprigs

one green onion, diced

one recipe Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

*Kelp noodles are raw, clear noodles made from kelp.  I buy them at my local co-op, but I imagine they can be found online or at Whole Foods.

Dipping Sauce

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp agave nectar

2 tsp nama shoyu sauce or Bragg’s Amino Acids

1 recipe Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce (coming soon!)

1.       Prepare Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce according to recipe

2.      Rinse kelp noodles thoroughly and place on top of a linen towel to dry

3.     Gently pluck whole leaves off washed lettuce head.  Remove bulk of the spine from each leaf and cut larger leaves in half

4.    Slice papaya into 2-3” long slabs, cut bell pepper into thin sticks, and prepare  all other  vegetables and herbs as indicated

5.      Blend ingredients for Accent Sauce and pour into dipping bowls for serving

6.   Place lettuce leaves on a serving platter – each leaf will make one wrap.  Amount of each ingredient per wrap will depend upon leaf size, but start with placing about one heaping Tbsp of noodles per small leaf at one end of the leaf, and layer following ingredients atop noodles: bell pepper, cucumber, carrot, basil leaves, green onion, papaya

7.  Spoon a dollop of peanut sauce along the length of each roll and top with almond slivers and a couple cilantro sprigs.  To eat wraps: pick one up, gently wrap leaf around contents, dip in sauce and enjoy!

Greetings from the Golden State!

I will never forget my first encounter with the raw food movement – I was perusing the isles of a bookstore in a desperate attempt to walk off the pounds of greasy Asian food I had eaten for dinner just an hour before.  I felt bloated and tired, as one often does after such a meal, and I could barely keep my eyes open as I searched for an interesting title.  I have no idea what brought me to the cookbook section; after all, who could think of food in such an engorged state?  Yet there I was, and there staring at me from atop a high shelf, sat a beautiful glossy book.

It was Juliano Brotman’s RAW: the UNcook Book.  I was intrigued by the cover’s paper-bag façade, colorful veggie lettering, and wildly exotic recipes and ingredients found inside.  What truly fascinated me however, and left me haunted for weeks, was the idea of raw food itself.  Never before had it occurred to me that raw food was even an option – I grew up cooking food and that’s just the way it was.

I didn’t end up  purchasing Juliano’s book that night, though I later would.  Instead, two weeks of not being able to get the concept off my mind finally lead me to purchase my other favorite raw book, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, by Ani Phyo.  Her book was much less flashy and way less gourmet, but that’s what made it perfect for a raw greenhorn like me.  I started with the easy stuff: salads, soups, and shakes, and slowly built my repertoire from there.  It took me several paychecks and a great deal of organization before I could tackle the serious dishes like “breads” and “meats”, but before I knew it I was altering recipes and making my own raw concoctions.

Yet it wasn’t until I had amassed a large raw cookbook collection that I realized I should write my own.  I was altering so many recipes – too many – in order to make them more palatable or more realistic for the average person’s cooking skills.  Moreover, I had a story to share through my food that the others did not.  What had been almost an entire decade of struggling with my weight ended up a victory speech, which I feel would not have been possible without my passion for raw food.  What’s more, my concerns about the inhumane and ecologically unsound practices associated with factory-farming vanished, as I was no longer consuming animal products.  My lifestyle didn’t change overnight, and I’m still not 100% raw, but what raw food did for me was open a door to a better, healthier, happier world.