Lukas Volger - Bowl: Vegetarian Recipes for Ramen, Pho, Bibimbap, Dumplings, and Other One-Dish Meals

All-in-one-bowl meals are some of the most tantalizing options on restaurant menus today and some of the easiest to prepare at home. In this book, Lukas Volger shares his own fresh, expertly structured vegetarian bowls for every season of the year.

VEGETARIAN CURRY LAKSA (): The Malaysian counterpart to Japanese ramen, light yet fortifying.

SPRING BIBIMBAP (): A craveable early-season rendition of the Korean rice-based bowl, with tangy quick-pickled chard stems and kimchi.

SPICY CARROT DUMPLINGS (): Tingling with jalapeo and garlic and seasoned with cilantro and peanuts. You can serve them over salad or as an appetizer.

BLACK RICE BURRITO BOWL (): A brazen feast for the eyes and taste buds, with black beans and black rice, mango, and pepitas.

Also by Lukas Volger

VEGGIE BURGERS EVERY WHICH WAY

VEGETARIAN ENTREES THAT WONT LEAVE YOU HUNGRY

Copyright 2016 by Lukas Volger

Photographs copyright 2016 by Michael Harlan Turkell

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to trade.permissions@hmhco.com or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

www.hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Volger, Lukas, author.

Title: Bowl : vegetarian recipes for ramen, pho, bibimbap, dumplings, and other one-dish meals / Lukas Volger ; photography by Michael Harlan Turkell.

Description: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015037777 |

ISBN 9780544325289 (paperback) |

ISBN 9780544326255 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Soups. | Stews. |

Vegetarian cooking. | Cooking, Asian. |

BISAC: COOKING / Vegetarian &

Vegan. | COOKING / Courses &

Dishes / General.

Classification: LCC TX757 .V648 2016 |

DDC 641.81/3dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015037777

Book design by Melissa Lotfy

Food styling by Rebekah Peppler

Prop styling by Michael Harlan Turkell

v1.0316

for my dad, Ron Volger

acknowledgments

Thank you to all the important people who shaped this book into what it is.

Thank you so much to those involved in the nitty-gritty, who made it a smooth ride: my wonderful agent, Alison Fargis, and everyone at Stonesong; rock-star editor Rux Martin, as well as Stephanie Fletcher, Melissa Lotfy, and everyone at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; the great photographer and bowl scout Michael Harlan Turkell; and superb food stylist Rebekah Peppler.

Thanks to tasters, testers, soundboards, and the many important people in the periphery of this project: Blake Bachmann, Emily Gould, Bennett Madison, Anya Yurchyshyn, Macartney Morris, Laura Wing, Matthew Spencer, Kris de La Torre, Natasa Lekic, Nozlee Samadzadeh, Sadie Stein, Ruth Curry, Ann Pappert, Cara Howe, Cathy Erway, Jina Kim and Matt Lewis; Alex Kristofcak and Steve Viksjo of Jarry; Dave Liatti and everyone at 61Local; David Jacobs and everyone at 29th Street Publishing; and Martha Rose Shulman, Melissa Clark, Jeff Gordinier, Kristin Iverson; and all of the nice people at Charlotte Today. Thank you, An Nuygen and Sara Chun, for all your help during the photo shoot.

Im very grateful that the Brooklyn Public Library is available as a resourceI spent so many hours there in the cookbook collection, and slumped over my laptop while working on the manuscript.

Very special thanks to Meghan Best, food adventurer and karaoke support; Lesley Enston, my test kitchen partner in palate; Izzy Forman, self-care coach; and Kat Hunt, visionary and my ever-reliable advocate.

And finally, thank you to my family, whose presence and support means everything: my brother Max Volger, sister-in-law Casady Volger, and nieces Zoe and Ali; my stepmom Pam Robinson; the memory of my mom, Pam Volger; and of course, my dad, Ron Volger, to whom Ive dedicated this book not just because he was my very first editorhe, after all, is the one who first mandated that I say Thank you rather than I want to thank...but because hes there for it all, and his support and encouragement always keep me moving forward.

introduction

THE INCLEMENT WEATHER ONE RAW SPRING EVENING PRESENTED TWO OPTIONS. I could bunker in, or I could venture out and take advantage of the empty seats at one of the local restaurants. I chose the latter course and decided on Chuko, a ramen shop about a half-mile walk from my apartment. I soldiered into the gusty, wet wind, taking note of the empty restaurants, where hosts and servers stood somberly among empty tables.

At Chuko, though, the windows were clouded over with steam, as diners bent over piping hot bowls of ramen, slurping up noodles. When my vegetarian ramen arrived, it was everything Id been hoping for: a rich, cloudy miso-based broth engulfing a tangle of tender noodles, topped with a scattering of sweet cabbage, chunks of squash, and an egg so soft it became one with the broth when I poked it open with my chopstick. I felt so pleased with myself, so rewarded for having endured the miserable weather. I looked around the restaurant and saw the same satisfaction on the other diners faces. Storm? What storm?

In the United States, ramen may still be best known as a college-dorm standby, those ten-for-a-dollar pouches of fried noodles and seasoning packets, but thats changing as enthusiasm and demand for craft ramen surges. In New York City, where I live, that cultural shift happened when David Chang opened his restaurant Momofuku in 2004. Vegetarian ramen, however, has been slower to the scene. Momofuku famously didnt even offer one until ten years later, in 2014. Other ramen shops that added a vegetarian option to their menus seemed to do so only as an afterthoughtusually a watery or over-salty bowl of miso soup with some noodles and tofu tossed in. But Chukos vegetarian ramen inspired me. It was an exercise in balance, with a structured, flavorful broth at the heart; fresh, tender, slithery wheat noodles as the backbone; and a changing cast of seasonal vegetables as texture and flavor adornments.