New vegan, island inspired recipes

Vegan chef Lillian Cumic is back with more trendsetting, plant-based versions of local favorite dishes in her new cookbook, Tasting Hawaii Vegan Style. The book contains more than 120 island-inspired recipes — all plant based and gluten free.

Cookbooks will be available in retail stores in November, but you can preorder now at a special rate ($20) at mutualpublishing.com.

Here’s a crowd-pleasing recipe from Cumic’s new book as a sample. Carrots are one way you can still enjoy “salmon” on a plant-based diet. This healthy seafood alternative is the perfect complement to vegan cream cheese served on crackers or a bagel.

Carrot smoked “salmon”

Ingredients for “salmon”:

• 3 medium carrots, unpeeled

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for marinade:

• 1 cup hot water

• 3 tablespoons caper brine

• 1 tablespoon capers

• 3 tablespoons liquid aminos

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon miso paste

• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

• 1/2 tablespoon mushroom seasoning

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

Directions:

Wash carrots and place on a lined baking sheet while still wet. Sprinkle with salt and rub onto the outside of the carrots.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool slightly: slice into strips using a peeler to resemble “salmon.” Mix together marinade ingredients in a large mason jar. Add “salmon” strips and swish around to coat; seal jar.

Marinate overnight or up to one week in the refrigerator. Drain before serving over a bagel with cream cheese and onion slices.

Mix it up with mazemen

Sun Noodle recently launched a new mazemen product, which is one of the first mazemen retail kits available in grocery stores from any brand. In Japanese, maze translates to “to mix.”

The kits costs $5.49 and can be found at Don Quijote, Nijiya Market, and Marukai, to name a couple.

Featuring two servings of thick and chewy noodles and an umami-rich sauce, this kit is designed to help local home chefs experiment with a broth-less noodle dish. For more info, visit sunnoodle.com.

When salty meets sweet

Hawaiian Chip Co. announced that it has acquired the rights to the well-known Menehune Mac brand from Hawaiian Candies and Nuts Ltd. The company has purchased adjacent land to expand its factory and retail space. Hawaiian Chip Co. will continue to manufacture and sell Menehune Mac treats.

“We are so excited to bring the beloved Menehune Mac chocolates into the Hawaiian Chip Co. family,” states Jimmy Chan, CEO of Hawaiian Chip Co.

Hawaiian Chip Co. will launch its new chocolate dipping sauce specially formulated for chips in November. The kits ($28) will include a tub of chocolate that consumers can melt at home, along with a selection of Hawaiian Chip Co. chips. A 5-ounce container of melted chocolate sold a la carte costs $8; it’s $15 when paired with a 4-ounce bag of chips.