Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Koya – Udon Noodle Bar – London

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I love noodle soup. So when I read about Koya in Gwyneth Paltrow’s newsletter, the GOOP, I knew I had to go there. I was happy that my foodie friends, Sarka and Giulia were also keen on trying this place.

Once you step through the navy doorway curtain of this very plain-looking specialist, it’s noodles with everything. This is thick, white udon, made with wheat flour imported from Japan, then kneaded by foot (in a good, hygienic way) for extra chewiness.

Customers can vary how they have their noodles: according to temperature: hot udon with hot broth (dashi), cold with hot broth, or cold with cold dipping sauce; and topping from various meats to mushrooms with walnut miso. Staff seem happy to advise.
We got there by lunch time and the place was very busy packed with Japanese people. That was one good sign we went to the right place. Tap water was placed on the table immediately as we sat down, which is always nice. The menu is simple and there are always specials on the blackboard.

We ordered three small-plate starters/salads to share, then everyone had their own noodle soup. All of us ordered hot  udon with hot broth. I asked for vegetarian broth and it wasn’t a problem.

The fresh noodles were amazing: slippery and chewy. Yum! I loved my toppings too: fried tofu with fresh spring onion.

They are open everyday from 12:00 – 15:00 and 17:30 – 22:30 (Sunday to 22:00). Koya focuses on the friendly characteristic of udon and proposes various recipes, delicious to both Japanese and non-Japanese alike.

My advice would be to go and sit down at the counter and watch the team in action and if you have opportunity speak to the chef.

Koya believes their genuine and honest attitude will establish an eatery to be loved by all. I believe it too!

Koya
49 Frith Street, Soho
London
W1D 4SQ
www.koya.co.uk

Closest tube station: Tottenham Court Road tube
Telephone: +44 20 7434 4463
Twitter: @KoyaUdon
Main courses:£6.70 – £14.70

Hokkaido Squash "Mac&Cheese" with Swiss Chard

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I was going to post this recipe before I went to Tuscany to visit my amazing Tuscan food blogger friend, Giulia with two other food lovers: Regula and Karin. I got very busy before the journey so I didn’t have time to write the post. The funny thing is that this morning, Giulia posted a very similar recipe, an autumn pumpkin mac&cheese dish on her blog.

I made a vegan version of this meal. I didn’t have experience with nutritional yeast before but I loved the taste of this “cheese” sauce. It’s healthy, savory, creamy and makes you want more.

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast. It is produced by culturing the yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses for a period of 7 days and then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging it. This yeast is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins, and is a complete protein. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium and is free of sugar, dairy, and gluten and popular with vegans and vegetarians and may be used as an ingredient in recipes or as a condiment.

I used Hokkaido squash to make it but you can use any kind of squash or pumpkin. Recipe adapted with some changes from Oh She Glows.

The real colour of the dish! 🙂
Hokkaido Squash “Mac&Cheese” with Swiss Chard
Ingredients (serves 2)

– 1 cup Hokkaido squash puree (peeled, baked and pureed with a blender)
– 1 cup unflavoured almond milk (or oat/rice/soy milk)
– 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast (flake)
– 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (or corn starch)
– 3 cloves garlic, chopped
– 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
– 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
– 250 g penne
– 3 big leaves Swiss chard, chopped
– salt, pepper
– olive oil
– coconut oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Cut the Hokkaido squash in half. Scoop the seeds out of the squash with a spoon. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 40-60 minutes or until tender. Then allow to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the cheese sauce. In a bowl whisk together almond milk and tapioca starch until clumps are gone. In a pot heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil, add almond milk + starch and whisk. Stir in the remaining ingredients: nutritional yeast, chopped garlic, mustard and season with salt and pepper. Whisk over low heat until thickened. Blend the sauce with 1 cup of roasted squash. Set aside.

Cook your pasta al dente in salted water according to package’s directions. Drain and set aside.

In a big bowl mix together cooked pasta with the squash-cheese sauce and chopped Swiss chard. Add the mixture into a pan and bake it in the oven for 10 minutes at 180C (350F). Serve with salad.

Roasted Kapia Pepper Sauce with Fusilli

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I love roasted kapia peppers. I just simply sprinkle with olive oil and roast them in the oven. At the end of the roasting the remaining olive oil is mixed with the taste of the peppers and you will get something very yummie. Take a small piece of crunchy bread and dip it into this oil mixture. You will be in heaven, I promise! 🙂
First time I cooked this pasta dish a few weeks ago. I randomly threw all the ingredients together, I didn’t have too much time for cooking. I was going to make a salad with it but because of the lack of time I just chopped some zucchinis into julienne and top the pasta with it. The zucchini’s clean, sweet flavor goes well with the pepper, tomato, spicy sauce. Second time I made this dish for my Budapest Vegan Club’s friends (without the goat cheese) and everyone loved it. I’m sure, you will too!

Roasted Kapia Pepper Sauce with Fusilli
Ingredients (serves 4)
– 500 g fusilli
– 8 pieces kapia peppers
– 4 cloves garlic, sliced
– 4 tomatoes, chopped
– 6 leaves basil
– 4 baby zucchinis, cut into julienne
– goat cheese
– olive oil
– salt, pepper
Method
Heat oven to 180C. Place peppers on a sheet pan, sprinkle with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil and roast for 15-20 minutes until the peppers’ skin gets black. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Peel the skin and remove the seeds carefully. Place it in a bowl. 
Cook the fusilli al dente in salted water according to the package. In the meantime add sliced garlic, chopped tomatoes, basil leaves and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the roasted peppers. Season with salt and pepper and with a hand blender work the mixture until it gets smooth. Pour the creamy sauce over the cooked and drained fusilli and stir well. Serve the creamy fusilli onto plates, top with the zucchini and goat cheese crumbles.

And one more photo that doesn’t belong to this meal… I took it a couple of weeks ago and I really liked it that’s why I though I would share it with you.

Creamy Avocado Macaroni

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I can’t tell you how many years ago it was (but imagine a long long time!) that I spent every summer with my brother at my grandparents’ place in a small Hungarian town, called Makó. Both of my grandmothers cooked lunch everyday. When we heard the bell ring at noon on the radio, the lunch was ready, the table was set and we could eat. I can still evoke the smell of those kitchens. I remember the vintage cutleries and plates we used – today I’m trying to find some of these in my parents’ garage – I’m a kitchen props addict! 🙂 If we had pasta for lunch it was obvious that my grandmothers made it fresh. During Socialism there were no dried spaghetti, fusilli or penne pastas in the Hungarian stores. If you wanted to eat it, you had to make it at home. Oh, how I miss this home made pasta time!
Today, we, people are a bit too comfortable, don’t you think? It is easier to buy the dry pasta from the shelves of the supermarkets then make it at home. I know it because I do the same. So I decided to do something against it. I bought a pasta machine and from now on I’d like to make fresh pasta as much as I can.

I’m talking about my childhood and especially the fresh pasta because my dearest Italian friend, Giulia hosts May’s Monthly Mingle and the theme is Fresh Pasta. Behind the idea of Monthly Mingle is the talented foodblogger and food photographer, Meeta whose work I admire very much. She loves entertaining and with this virtual mingle she would like to invite everyone over to join her and her guest hosts for a bit of fun, story telling and hopefully a lot of laughter.

Giulia, as a true Italian, is a fresh pasta maniac. It has gradually become her favourite dish and her favourite executive toy when she’s stressed. Well, this macaroni making was my first try and I was a bit stressed to handle the pasta machine… twisting and cutting the macaronis at the same time! They don’t look very pretty but with the creamy avocado sauce the whole dish tastes fresh and delicious. It is a quick, comforting, home-y food.

Thank you  Giulia for setting this exciting challenge!

Creamy Avocado Macaroni

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the pasta
– 2 organic eggs
– 200 g semolina flour + more for dusting
– a pinch of salt

For the avocado creamy sauce
– 2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
– 3 garlic cloves, peeled
– 1 lemon’s freshly squeezed juice + lemon zest
– small handful of basil
– salt, pepper
– 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method

To make the sauce place all the ingredients in the food processor. Start blending it until becomes very smooth. Set aside.

To make the pasta dough mix together the flour with the eggs and salt in a bowl. Using your hands knead the dough until it gets elastic, kind of soft and doesn’t stick to your fingers anymore. Set aside for 15 minutes. In smaller portions press the dough through the pasta machine making macaronis or any kind of shape. Sprinkle them with flour.

In the meantime bring salted water to a boil in a  medium sized pan. Add in the macaronis (in portions).  When the noodles begin to float (3-5 minutes) on the top, remove with a slotted spoon, drain and rinse well and place pasta into a bowl. Follow this procedure until all the macaronis have been cooked. Pour sauce over the pasta and toss until fully combined. Garnish with lemon zest, pepper and serve immediately. (This dish does not reheat well due to the avocado in the sauce.)

Spinach-Walnut Penne

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I made this recipe a few months ago but I forgot to post it. Did it happen with you too? 🙂 I found the photos on my computer and I was glad to remember the recipe. The worse is when I find food photos and I don’t remember the exact quantities of all the ingredients – this way I can’t post the recipe on my blog. 
Spinach goes really well with walnut and goat cheese. I added some broccoli too, it was a leftover in my fridge and I wanted to use it. It is an easy pasta dish, the result of some improvisation and the ingredients are still seasonal (except walnut).

Spinach-Walnut Penne

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 200 g penne pasta
– 1 big handful of fresh spinach, chopped
– 1/4 of a whole broccoli, florets and stalk
– 100 g walnut halves
– 100 g goat cheese + 25 g for serving
– 1 cup (2 dl) dry white wine
– 1 lemon’s freshly squeezed juice
– 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
– olive oil
– salt, pepper

Method

In a dry pan roast the walnut with salt for 5 minutes. Set aside. Boil the penne in salted water al dente (according to the insturcitons on the package), drain and set aside. In a pan heat olive oil and saute the garlic for 2-3 minutes, then add wine and lemon juice. Stir around, cook for 2 minutes before adding the broccoli. Cook for 7-8 minutes, add spinach and goat cheese while stirring. Let it simmer for 5 minutes before adding the cooked penne and the roasted walnut. Season with salt and pepper, stir for another minute and make sure the penne is covered with this wine-lemon-goat cheese sauce. Turn off the heat. Serve it with goat cheese on top. Yum!