roasted eggplant with buttermilk sauce

More Ottolenghi love. The delicate and simple flavours of this dish are a real knockout (can you expect anything less from Mr Ottolenghi?). Serve with loads of little plates of deliciousness.

recipe veganised from Ottolenghis Plenty.

ingredients
2 large and long eggplants
80mls of oil (I used less)
1 1/2 tsp of lemon thyme leaves
seeds from 1 pomegranate
1 tsp of za'atar (I used dukkah)
sea salt and fresh pepper

sauce
1/4 cup of vegan cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of white vinegar
1 small garlic clove, crushed
pinch of sea salt

method
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Prepare the eggplants by slicing them down the middle through the stem (the stem is just for presentation - do not eat). Slice a diamond pattern into the eggplant flesh (be careful not to go through to the skin).

2. Cut side upwards, place the eggplants on a baking dish and brush them with the olive oil until it's all been absorbed. Sprinkle with lemon thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 minutes until the flesh is soft and brown. Remove from the oven to cool.

3. While the eggplants are cooking make the 'buttermilk' sauce by combining all ingredients with a whisk. Whisk until smooth, if your sauce is not thin enough add a small dash of water.

4. Serve warm (Ottolenghi likes its cold/room temperature) with a generous lather of buttermilk sauce, sprinkled with the pomegranate seeds and za'atar. Drizzle with olive oil and a final sprinkle of sea salt.

For the vegetarian version, Cindy and Michael has blogged about it.

lemony leek and cauliflower soup

Soup. I'm still really into soup. The warm days are receding into cold nights and I still get that familiar craving. I've got a bajillion soup recipes filed away and when my magical little vegie box is picked up I match a recipe to whats in it. This week tonnes of cauliflower. So here is lemony leek cauliflower soup. Sent to me by Katie recipe by Tony Chiodo from his macrobiotic/mediterranean fusion cookbook Feel Good Food.

ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
sea salt
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1/2 large head of cauliflower florets (or one small)
4 cups of vegie stock
150g silken tofu
2 tbsp of white miso paste
3 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp of dill, finely chopped

method
1. Saute the onion and garlic with a pinch of sea salt in the olive oil over medium heat until softened.

2. Add the leek, cauliflower and a tbsp of water and saute fo 5 minutes. Cover with the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Take off the heat and crumble the tofu into the soup then whiz until smooth.

4. Put the miso paste in a small bowl and add some soup to dilute and mix the miso. Add the miso slurry to the soup, return to heat and simmer for 3 minutes.

5. Just before serving stir through the lemon juice and dill.

a simple salad

A salvaged disaster. I was going for this asian smoky eggplant salad but I really disliked the dressing and remembered I dont really like eggplant! (beyond babaganoush and nasu dengaku).

But what was left was delicious. Shredded cucumber (look at me! eating cucumber!), carrot, avocado, cashews, toasted pine nuts, spanish onion, mint, dressed lightly with olive oil and balsamic. I was super pissed at the failed recipe but became happier and happier as I munched into this salad. You forget how delicious and amazing fresh, raw, organic vegies can really be.

stuffed artichokes -qaqoċċ mimli

or in Maltese - Qaqoċċ mimli

I was lucky enough to be able to borrow quite a few Maltese cookbooks from co-op leader extraordinaire Margarita (she is Maltese also). Maltese cookbooks are hard to find!! So expect quite a few Maltese recipes filtering through! Artichokes are just about to go out of season so get to the markets quickly. This was my first time cooking them and I have to admit I was a little daunted but it was super easy and worked out SO DELCIOUSLY.

ingredients
4 globe artichokes
2 cups of stale bread (around 6 slices, crusts trimmed), sourdough if possible
2 tbsp of capers
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2-4 tbsp of flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup of olives (preferably green)
2 tbsp olive oil
fresh lemon juice
salt

added extras/ideas:
fresh chilli
lemon zest

method
1. Cut the stalks off the artichokes about 1 cm from the base. Trim the outer leaves off altogether (around 2 levels of leaves) and slice the top off altogether so it removes the tips of most of the leaves (about 2 cm). Trim the hard stalky tips of the outer leaves that didnt get trimmed when you topped the head off.

2.Squeeze a lemon over the top of the artichokes and soak in some salty water (I just did this in the sink, make sure you clean it thoroughly first!) for about half an hour.

3. comes the fun part! Holding the artichoke like a baseball bash it onto the kitchen bench quite hard, rotating it in your hand after each hit until you've done the full 360 degrees. This loosens the globe to enable stuffing the leaves. Gently stick your fingers in between each layer to slowly open up the artichoke like a flowering rose. Now you are ready for your stuffing.

4. To make the stuffing tear the bread into small pieces and throw into a food processor. Add the olive oil, capers, olives, garlic and parsley (and whatever other flavourings you are adding) and pulse a couple of times until it is 'roughly chopped' Grab handfuls and stuff into each layer of the artichokes until they are full.

5. Steam them (I used my rice cooker!) in a steamer (packed in as tightly as possible) for about an hour or until one of the outer leaves falls out easily when pulled. Cut in half, drizzle with some olive oil, lemon juice and salt and ENJOY.

notes: The heart is fully edible but as you go out the leaves become less edible. In Malta you do not wasted anything, there is flesh on the outer leaves you just have to suck on them like getting an olive away from its pit.

A fair bit of work but SO DELICIOUS. Enjoy.

avocado wasabi salad

Salads are slowly creeping back into my repertoire as the seasons change and with 3 delicious organic avocados slowly going bad in my fruit bowl, vegan yum yum came to the rescue. I have heavily tweaked this recipe (I cant eat chickpeas) but feel free to follow the original I'm sure its as delicious as my version. For a great salad read this post and for more salad inspiration hit up my salad index!

ingredients
greens of your choice for 4-6 people
1 carrot, shredded
1 medium head of broccoli (or bunch of broccolini), chopped small
black pepper to taste
vegetable oil or sesame oil

wasabi-tamari butter beans
1 tsp oil
1 can of butter beans, rinsed
1 tsp wasabi paste
1/2 tsp maple syrup
1 tbs tamari* or soy sauce

avocado wasabi dressing
1 ripe avocado, diced
2 tsp mirin*
1 tsp seeded mustard
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp wasabi paste
1/4 to 1/3 Cup vegetable oil

soy roasted almonds
1/4 cup of almonds, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds*
1 tbsp of tamari/soy sauce

method
1. Toss the almonds and seeds in the soy and toast in the oven on high for about 10 minutes (you will hear the sunflower seeds start to pop like popcorn, that means they're almost done).

2. Whisk the wet ingredients for the beans and cook over medium heat until beans have soaked up the liquid, put into a bowl.

3. In the same pan (dont wipe it out) drizzle a bit of oil and pan fry the broccoli until it starts to take a bit of colour (a few minutes).

4. Mash the avo until it resembles a paste and then slowly whisk in the liquid ingredients until all combined.

5. Then rinse your greens, grate your carrot and toss in the dressing. Add your beans and broccoli and sprinkle your nuts and seeds on top. Voila! TASTY!

notes: Tamari is gluten free, soy sauce is not. I used mirin instead of white wine vinegar as it seemed more appropriate. Any kind of seeds would be great, I used a combination of sunflower, pumpkin (pepitas) and linseeds, every salad needs a 'crunch' factor. Soy roasted seeds and almonds are the most DELICIOUS SNACK EVER get into it! The original recipe calls for wasabi powder, I could only find paste. It packs a punch so slowly add if you're bit of a heat pussy. You can always add more, but cant take things back!

vegan sausage rolls

People foam at the mouth at the announcement that Cindy and Michael have brought their "sausage rolls" to potluck. They are so coveted that I have NEVER been able to manage to get a sample before they are all gone (yeah slow poke, too busy stuffing myself with something else no doubt). So on the weekend I decided to make some (its sausage roll weather no?) and also a good snack to pack for MIFF. I did pretty much ALL substitution as I didn't have ANY of the ingredients on hand, but these turned out UH-MAZING. The original recipe is here.

ingredients
125g pinenuts, toasted
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup of cooked bulghur (I cooked in vegie stock)
1/2 cup of cooked lentils (again in vegie stock)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons soy sauce
fresh parsley, chopped (to taste)
1 tbsp of liquid smoke
salt and pepper, to taste
3-4 frozen puff pastry sheets, defrosted
non dairy milk or olive oil spray to brush pastry

method
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2. Pulse the ingredients in a food processor until it resembles sausage mince. Place sausage shape amount of filling along the width end of a piece of pastry and roll tightly (spraying the pastry with olive oil spray along the way so it 'seals' together when rolled over). Pack the ends with mince, you might need the end of a wooden spoon or something to get it all in there.

3. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Seriously, its that easy.

notes: Always keep pastry damp, defrost in the packet and don't open until you're ready to use it. If it is already open, put a damp, clean tea towel over the top. If you dont have liquid smoke GET SOME or a sprinkle of smoked paprika would be amazing. My oven is MUNTED, there is only 'low' or 'high' so my temps are always a bit generic you guys are smart enough to figure this all out though.

adzuki bean, pumpkin, bulghur and coconut croquettes with tamarind sauce

So many notes for this one. Firstly, this recipe was cruelly mentioned in Veganomicon but actually not in the book NOR on the Post Punk Kitchen website. I managed to find it through "the Way Back Machine" but now cannot find it again so its going to be off the top of my head. Secondly, I didn't make the tamarind sauce this time as Clare hates coriander, but I implore YOU to do it! It would be the perfect PERFECT flavours to add to this. If you hate coriander like Clare, I served these with sweet chilli sauce and it was delicious. Don't let the ingredients fool or intimidate you, essentially it is a squash, a grain and a bean. You could substitute either of those for something you feel more comfortable with/have in the cupboard.

ingredients
1/2 cup of adzuki beans, cooked and lightly mashed
1 cup of roasted pumpkin, completely mashed
1/2 cup of bulghur, cooked
1/2-1 cup of coconut (shredded is best, though I used dessicated)

sauce
1/2 cup of tamarind paste
1 tbsp of maple syrup
2 cups of lightly packed coriander

method
1. Combine the pumpkin, bulghur and adzuki beans and form into patties (I didnt season as I had already cooked the bulghur in vegie stock).

2. Roll the croquettes in coconut and put onto a baking tray into a medium low oven (160c) and bake 15 minutes each side.

3. In the meantime whizz up the sauce ingredients and cook some rice if you're into that sort of thing (I'm not huge on rice so I didn't, I served with papadums). Serve and marvel at how delicious and easy it was!!

notes: I added bulghur to the mix, it was not in the original recipe, I had some left over but also felt the croquettes needed something more substantial in them. The coconut flavour is surprisingly powerful which is why I recommend shredded coconut, as dessicated created more coverage therefore more coconut flavour. Soaking the beans is always a pain in the arse but I'm getting into the groove of it now. You could use any kind of beans in this, particularly green lentils out of a can if you want a quick, easy and delicious meal. You can buy tamarind paste from Asian or Indian grocery stores. Tamarind is also know as Indian dates and are quite sweet and sour. Adzuki (or known as Aduki) beans are commonly known as 'red beans' and available as asian supermarkets.

broccoli and potato soup

This soup is delicious and so easy to make. This recipe is adapted from Veganomicon but is off the top of my head. Y'all know how to make soup right?

ingredients
2 medium sized heads of broccoli, trimmed to florets
2 large potatoes, sliced thinly
Vegie stock, enough to cover the veg (about 4-6 cups)
1 medium carrot slices
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup of fresh mint
1 tbsp of fresh dill
4-5 strands of tarragon
salt and pepper

method
1. Sweat the carrot and onion in some oil for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

2. Add the fresh herbs and stir for about a minute.

3. Add the rest of the veg and stock and simmer for about half an hour until the vegies are tender. Drain most of the vegie stock into a container and blend the vegies, adding a little more stock if required for consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Nom!

notes: I then save the stock and freeze it for the next time I'm make that soup.

green pea soup

I get the craving for this soup every winter. I just love it. So hearty and warm.

ingredients
1 1/2 cups of split peas
2 tbsp oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely slice
1 medium carrot, finely sliced
1 tbsp of ground cumin
1 tbsp of ground coriander
2 tbsp of fresh grated ginger
5 cups of vegie chicken stock
2 cups of frozen green peas
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp of fresh chopped mint

method
1. Soak split peas in cold water for 2 hours then drain.

2. In a stock pot sweat onion, celery and carrot until onion goes translucent. Stir in cumin, coriander and ginger. fry up for a minute.

3. Add split peas and stock to pot, simmer for 1 and a 1/2 hours, stiring occasionally, keep the lid on. Add the frozen peas and let sit off heat until the peas are cooked.

4. Blend the soup then add mint, serve with a dollop of tofu sour cream. Yumm!

white bean dip - bigilla

I cant believe I've been doing this blog for over a year and I haven't brought a Maltese dish to the table yet. I cant eat chickpeas on the blood type diet so I've been looking for a hummous substitute and eventually thought of Bigilla! Maltese white bean dip, full of protein, low in fat and so delicious. I can eat this at any time of the day (I had it on buckwheat crispbreads this morning for breakfast) and its really quick and simple to make.

ingredients
2 cans of white beans (drained and rinsed)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped
salt
juice of one lemon (or 1-2 tbsp depends on how lemony your lemons are)
fresh chilli or chilli flakes (I used chilli oil)
A glug of olive oil to loosen it up

method
1. Mash with a fork or masher.

notes: I like tonnes of garlic, if this is not your thing of course use less! I usually use cannelini beans, but butter are also good, broad beans are traditional)

guacamole

Fresh. Divine.

ingredients
2 ripe avocados
1/4 cup of diced tomato
1/4 cup of diced spanish onion
Juice of one lime
Salt, pepper
Tabasco for serving
a handful of chopped coriander if you're into it

method
1. Mash the avocado and stir in the other ingredients. Add salt to taste.

chickpea noodle soup

This is vegan comfort food at its best. Slurpy noodles, soup, chickpeas, herbs. It really hits that 'ahh' spot. Sorry for the terrible photo. Another winner from Veganomicon.

ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 cup of peeled, thinly slice carrots (really thin)
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups of mushrooms thinly sliced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp of celery seeds (I didnt have these)
1 tsp of thyme
1/4 tsp of dried rosemary
2 tbsp of mirin (optional)
1/3 cup of brown rice miso (I used vegie stock instead)
6 cups of water (or vegie stock)
2 cups of drained, cooked chickpeas
1 packet of cooked thick asian noodles (I used soba)

method
1. Saute the onions and carrot in the oil for about 10 minutes (I always find mine are cooked quicker).

2. Add the garlic and mushrooms, herbs and saute for another 5 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the mirin (or just a splash of water).

3. Add the 6 cups of water and the chickpeas, cover and bring to the boil. Once add the boil, leave to simmer until all vegies are cooked, chuck in the noodles for the amount of time they need to cook. Add the miso and stir until its incorporated. I then threw in a couple of thinly sliced spring onions. Mmmm vegan comfort food.

pumpkin soup

My spin on such things, I go by taste a lot and rarely measure, I just throw it all in so I'm sorry if the measurements are vague, but you all seem to be established cooks so you generally get what I mean.

ingredients
1/2 a pumpkin (I used Kent, but prefer butternut or Japanese blue), sliced thinly
1 tbsp of red curry paste
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 brown onion, diced small
1 carrot, diced or sliced
1 potato sliced thinly
6 cups of vegie stock
1/4 cup of coconut milk (you may need more to mellow out the heat of the curry paste)

method
1. Fry the onion and garlic in a little bit of olive oil until translucent. Stir in the red curry paste, until heated through, then add stock. Stir until combined, taste. See if the curry paste is too spicy or not enough, add what you think it needs.

2. Then add the pumpkin, carrot and potato. Add more stock if the water does not cover the vegetables. Cook until the pumpkin is tender. I drain off most of the liquid (if you whizz it up as it is it would be too watery) then whizz it. With the soup stock, I freeze it to be used again in another soup, its full of flavour.

3. Stir through the coconut milk, serve with a bit of cracked pepper. The yummiest pumpkin soup you will ever eat.

borscht with dill sour cream

Adapted from The Voluptuous Vegan

ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
2 cups of shredded cabbage
1 bay leaf
3 medium beets, peeled and cubed
1 medium carrot, cut thin into half moons
1 medium potato, cubed slightly larger than the beets
1 can of butter beans or cannelini beans
8 cups of stock
2 tbsp of mirin
2 cups of chopped beet greens or swiss chard or spinach
salt to taste
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

method
1. Cook the onions in the oil until they start to turn brown, add the cabbage and a cup of stock and cook until the cabbage starts to wilt.

2. Add the bay leaf, beets, carrot, potatoes, beans and stock and bring to the boil and simmer on medium heat until the beets/potatoes are tender and cooked (about 20 minutes but test every once in a while).

3. Add the mirin and greens and cook for another 5 minutes. Then put the soup in the blender, I like a chunky, thick borsch so I take out most of the fluid then whizz. I then reserve the beet stock/juice in the freezer for the next time I make borscht.

4. Plate, and sprinkle with some lemon juice and black pepper and a huge dollop of dill sour cream.

sweet potato latkes with dill sour cream

Again apologies for the crap pic, I really need to sort out lighting in my flat. Ok this recipe is really super easy.

ingredients
1x large sweet potato
1x tbsp olive oil
1 x tbsp flour
salt and pepper
0live oil for shallow frying

If you don’t have a food processor get one. I got mine for $50 on ebay and its changed my entire existence in the kitchen. I shredded the sweet potato finely, added the flour/oil/salt and pepper and mix well. The mixture should be wet enough to mould into patties and press down firmly into a heavy bottom pan with a thin layer of hot olive oil (make sure the oil is HOT!). Don’t flip until very very brown! They are hard to keep together, but add a bit more flour if you think you need it to the mixture. Drain on paper towel.

Sprinkle sea salt and pepper on them and serve with a dollop of dill tofu sour cream.

lentil stew

ahh lentil stew. An oldy but a goodie. Total TOTAL pov food, cause I always have a can of tomatoes and some dried lentils in the cupboard.

ingredients
1/2 cup of lentils (I used green lentils, if you use red lentils cook them for half the amount of time)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic sliced/diced/minced whatever
1 carrot, diced
1 small glug/splash of balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
6 cups of vegie stock (maybe more see how it goes)
1/2 cup of short pasta (gluten free pasta is great in this)
I chuck in a bit of dried oregano but any fresh/dried italian herb would do
some Sriracha because I'm a chili nut

method
1. Fry up the onion and garlic in some olive oil until translucent.

2. Chuck everything except the pasta into the pot and cook for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are just about tender.

3. Add the pasta and cook for another 10 minutes or until it is tender. Yum yum.

4. Serve with a bit of toasted sourdough drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt.

minestrone with basil pesto

With minestrone, you can pretty much whack anything in there, any seasonal vegetable, or frozen vegies you have lying around. Recipe from the Voluptous Vegan.

ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced or diced
1 tsp of dried thyme
1 tsp of dried rosemary
1 tsp of fresh (or dried) chilli finely sliced (or to your taste)
1 tin of diced tomatoes
1 tin of butter beans (or borlotti/butter beans or chickpeas, whatever)
5 cups of vegetarian stock (any flavour)
1/2 cup of red wine (optional)
2 potatoes, peeled and diced small
1/4 cup of short pasta (optional)
1 large carrot, diced
2 zucchinis, diced large
1 tsp of salt
Cracked pepper to taste

method
1.Saute the onions, carrots and garlic over medium heat until soft and the onion is translucent. Add thyme, rosemary and chilli and stir.

2. Add all the ingredients to the pot minus the pasta and the spinach/greens and cook until then vegetables are 'al dente', not soft, then add the pasta and cook another 10 minutes until the pasta is done.

3. Add the spinach/greens for 2 minutes until wilted into the soup. Serve with a big dollop of pesto. Add more water if you need to during the pasta cooking session.

basil pesto
yields 3/4 cup

1 cup of pine nuts, toasted
2 packed cups of basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of light miso paste (yellow/white/barley)
1/4 cup of nooch* (optional)
1/4 to 1/3 a cup of olive oil

1. Start with the 1/4 cup of olive oil and whizz all the pesto ingredients together in a food processor. If pesto is not thin enough add more olive oil until desired consistency. Serve on everything!

The pesto keeps in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

notes: Nooch = nutritional yeast or 'savoury yeast flakes' as it is sometimes called. You can buy at any health food store it adds a cheesy flavour. Fresh miso paste can be found at asian supermarkets (and sometimes regular).

lentil walnut pate with tofu sour cream

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of posting, I've been at wedding-arama in Sydney since Wednesday. I was so hungover yesterday I felt like I had bone cancer. The good news however is, I have a BACKLOG of posts to share with you. It also means I've missed out on the first 2 days of Vegan Mofo, but I'll make it up with posts this weekend!

Now onto food goodness! (Sorry for the crap photo too, I need to figure out night lighting in my house).

lentil walnut pate (from the Real Food Daily book)

This pate takes a bit of time but its SO worth it and SO impressive to your dinner guests. I figure the best way to make people consider veganism is to woo them with outstanding food!

ingredients
3/4 dried lentils (or a can of cooked lentils, rinsed)
3 cups of water
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 small onion diced
1 tbsp of mirin
1 1/4 cup of walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup of fresh basil
3 tbsp of yellow miso
1 1/2 tbsp of umeboshi paste
1 tbsp of fresh thyme
3/4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

Serve with tofu sour cream (recipe to come)

method
Firstly a word about the ingredients, you will find umeboshi paste or plums (umeboshi are brined Japanese plums about the size of a giant grape) at any asian supermaket with a decent Japanese food section (the one near Queen Vic markets is rad, but the one in Barkley is cheaper), if you cant find the paste I just measure out as many plums into a tbsp (remember to pit them first!), as for the miso I have used all kinds of different misos in this and its always turned out well, from barley miso to white miso, you just need a light coloured miso. Ive also made it with dry herbs instead of fresh, use 1 tsp of dried to 1bsp of fresh.

1. (Skip this step if you are using canned lentils) Cook the lentils with the bay leaf and water until tender, drain then rinse and remove bay leaf.

2. In a fry pan, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until golden brown, stir in the mirin then take off the heat and cool.

3. Chop the walnuts in a food processor until it forms a paste and blend in the lentils and onion mixture. Then combine the remaining ingredients - umeboshi paste, basil, miso, lentils, and thyme, whizz until completely combined.

dill tofu sour cream
1 packet of Japanese silken tofu*
1 tsp of sushi seasoning
1 tsp of mirin
1/3 tsp of dry mustard or dijon
1/4 clove of garlic, minced
2 tsp of olive oil
1 tsp of dill (optional)

method
1. Gently remove tofu from its package and place into a container of fresh water. Run the tap over it slowly until the water runs clear (about 3 minutes).
2. Drain the tofu and whizz all the ingredients in a food processor (I've also used a stick blender with success) until smooth. Season to taste.

notes: The sour cream keeps up to a week, just stir through any released water before serving. You can flavour it to suit any dish just add some hot sauce, lemon juice, thyme – any herb. Japanese silken tofu can sometimes be found in the fresh tofu section but Morinaga (brand) tofu is the best. You can find Morinaga in the Asian food section in a juice box type container. Firm or soft I can’t tell the difference, both make great sour cream.