We were able to talk about Remy Morimoto Park and food, culture and AAPI month. Enjoy this interview and a recipe for crunchy pad thai-inspired salad and flavored soup.
Tell us a little about yourself and your work.
I am the author of Vegan Cookbook and creator of Health and Wellness content. I was in college and started a blog on Veggiekins as a way to share recipes and spread the vegan lifestyle. Since then, it has turned into my full-time job. I am also the founder of the matcha brand Frauth. Outside of work, I divide my time between New York and Los Angeles. You can usually find me at the farmers market!
In your experience, how did you find foods to tell stories and shape them?
When you come from all kinds of cultures, I think food is very important because it is one way in which culture is passed down from generation to generation. I think that’s why sharing recipes and passing them over is so important to preserve culture. In my Asian culture, in Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese culture, food is a way to communicate with each other and share love, so I think food is really important. In our culture, it is not so common to express verbally that you love someone. We don’t really talk much about emotions, but we always get together around the table, share meals as a family, and many of our holidays and family gatherings revolve around food. There’s a joke that your Asian parents might not apologize or say they love you, but they’ll always put food on the table for you or cut out a fruit plate to let you know. So with that in mind, I think food is a crucial part of Asian culture. Personally, for me, many of my childhood memories revolve around a particular meal or tie it together. The food evokes lots of very powerful memories and I think it’s such a great ride for storytelling.
How do you educate people about the intersection of food, health, community and culture?
When it comes to most Asian foods, there are really not many dairy products. I think it’s incredible. They also have a lot of vegan-friendly options, which makes them such a great foundation. Similarly, in my three cultures, there are a variety of existing plant-based diets followed by religious organizations, for example. I think there’s a lot to explore and the same can be said about most cultures. For example, in Korea, there are monks who eat food mainly from plant-based temples. In Japan, shongjin dishes are also mainly plant-based. And in China, many Buddhists don’t eat any meat or animal products at all. Furthermore, my grandparents told me they mostly ate plant-based (mostly grains and vegetables) because meat and animal products are very expensive and more expensive due to the higher classes of society. Today I think people associate meat with Asian cuisine (e.g. Korean barbecue), but in reality, many Asian cuisines have historically revolved around grains and plants.
What plant-based ingredients and vegan dishes do you want to emphasize as your culture and other Asian culture traditions? What is your favorite dish to cook?
Of course, a plant-based ingredient that I think is essential for Asian culture is tofu! No Asians are used to tofu. I think it’s incredible as it is a great source of plant protein. Rice and other grains are commonly used throughout Asian cuisine, and my personal favorites include tempe and more unique Asian vegetables that are not usually found in traditional grocery stores (e.g. bean sprouts, bokchoi, morning glory, pea chute). In Asian cuisine, there is a very diverse range of vegetables.
As a plant-based chef, what are you thinking about going forward to encourage people to include more fruits and vegetables in their diet?
One of the things I want to emphasize most is that vegetables can be treated with more care than meat and other animal products. I think many people will make minimal effort when preparing vegetables, or even eat them raw. When we marinated, smoked, sous videos, roasted or cooked slowly, the results are very different.
Today, people are developing this hunger for more global cuisine and are more interested in trying food from other cultures. This is a great way to encourage individuals to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their diet. For example, if you start exploring beyond the US alone and see what the world has to offer, you will see that there are so many different types of fruits and vegetables that you can enjoy. Plus, there are more flavor profiles and spice blends to collaborate to season the vegetables. It’s very important to keep it interesting for the palate!
What does AAPI month mean to you and how do you celebrate your heritage?
AAPI month means a lot to me because I’m not just an Asian, but an Asian American. I had already moved here in the United States and was born to parents who spoke English primarily at home. I don’t feel 100% Asian, and of course, I don’t feel 100% American either. It’s an incredible sign that people are really embracing other people and diversity, and that’s very important. It helped to introduce other cultures to others and encourage curiosity and hunger about knowledge about others.
I truly celebrate my heritage through food and shared recipes that I feel are authentic to my culture and my Asian American family. It’s so much fun to be able to share it with others and do its plant-based, especially!
Tell us a little about your cookbook, sesame, soybeans, spices, and what inspired you to write it.
My cookbook was really inspired by my family and my upbringing. “Asian Americans” is the best way to describe my family and the food we eat, as we are Asians (and therefore three different Asians), but we are also very Americans. The food on our table, which grew up, looked like a combination of both Western and American food and the Asian food I grew up eating. For example, one of my favorite things is popcorn, but there’s a Japanese Furikake seasoning on top. Sometimes you sub-out chili paste or hot sauce with Gochujang, a Korean fermented red chili paste.
Throughout my cookbook, I wanted to emphasize that eating vegan doesn’t mean you have to give up on your culture, but it’s really fun to reconnect with your culture by trying to recreate those favorite recipes as vegan. Not only will your vegan lifestyle be more exciting and inclusive, but it will also be more sustainable as there is more variety in the foods you eat. When I first became vegan, I thought I could only eat foods like salad bowls, grain bowls, smoothie bowls and more. Then I realized that it’s really not a diet, it’s a way of life, and that when you’re creative in the kitchen, almost all cooking can be vegan-friendly.
Through my cookbook short stories, I also document my journey to becoming vegan and reconciliation with my relationship with food. I shared a story about how being vegan taught me compassion and supported the journey. The process of writing a cookbook meant a lot to my family as we were able to connect more than ever through food. I chat with them about my childhood recipes. That was what I wanted to try to replicate. We are both in the kitchen and talk on the phone while we are trying to make the recipe. It was a very nostalgic time for me as I often find myself reminiscing about childhood memories while cooking.
Crispy Pad Thai-inspired salad
1-2 servings, 10 minutes of preparation
For Pad Thai inspired dressing
½ Fresh lime, 2 tablespoons juice 2 tablespoons tamarind puree 1 clove garlic, 1 tablespoon finely mined 1 tablespoon wine vinegar 2 tablespoons cashew butter (optional, for creaminess)
For salad
2 cups shredded purple cabbage 3-4 mini cucumber, Julienned 1 large carrot, Julienned ½ cup Siphona dradicchio
option
Decorate fresh Thai peppers with crushed peanuts, decorated with dried chili flakes, decorated with green onions, decorated with
Instructions
In a large bowl, add all the dressing ingredients and then whisk together. Adjust to the taste. If you are using cashew butter, you can choose to thin it with 1-2 tablespoons of water. Add all the salad ingredients to the bowl and then coat the vegetables using hands or tongs. Garnish with peanuts, chili flakes and green onions if necessary.
miso soup
8 servings, preparation 30 minutes, 15 minutes cooking time, 30 minutes soaking time
For Dassibro
10 cups of filtered water 5-6 dried sea ith mushrooms 3 comb pieces (approx. 3 x 3 inches) 1 green onion stem, sliced diagonal carrots, sliced diagonal 3 sliced diagonal leeks (white parts), semi-yellow onion, half 12 oz of Silken tofu ¼ cup dried seaweed
Other ingredients
5 tablespoons 5 insect paste 5 tablespoons 5 tablespoons white flavour o paste
For decoration
Taste green onions (green top), thinly sliced scrubs, and cooked mushrooms (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the dasibro
Add water, dried mushrooms and kelp to a cooking pan. Soak for about 15-30 minutes. (The longer you soak, the more flavors will be released). Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat until it is cooked. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green onions, carrots, onions and onions and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the tofu and then remove the pan from the heat.
Rehydrate
Add in a small bowl with enough hot water to cover the dried seaweed. Soak until the wakame is soft and touched, then drain and set aside.
Add the flavor paste
In a small jar or bowl, add the red and white flavours of olive oil with small water. I want to add enough water so that Misos turns into a thin paste. You can use a whisk or chopstick to break down and pour the paste. Add wakame and the whipped flavor to the pot and gently stir to mix. Adjust to the taste. Decorate with green onion tops, sculptures and cooked mushrooms if necessary.
For more information about Remy, check out her blog, Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube.
