A Recipe for Vegan Guatita
Ecuadorian comfort food in Japan
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Happy Friday, all! This past Wednesday I chatted with food writer and recipe developer Kiera Wright-Ruiz on her new cookbook, “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen,” which is a beautiful exploration of her multicultural journey and identity through food being half Ecuadorian, half Korean —half Latinx and half Asian. We also chatted about what three years of living, cooking, and eating in Tokyo has been like. (You can check that out here if you missed it).
Today, paid subscribers are getting Kiera’s recipe for her vegan take on guatita, right from her chapter on Ecuadorian childhood favorites. Guatita is a popular Ecuadorian peanut-ty stew with potatoes and tripe—hangover food at its finest. Here, tripe is swapped out for maitakes, umami-packed mushrooms popular in Japanese cooking that lend a rich, earthy, and savory flavor. Despite their delicate appearance, maitakes have a firm, yet chewy texture that really make this meatless dish seem otherwise. Kiera says that searing the mushrooms is key to creating a ‘beef-like’ depth to the sauce, so it’s an extra but oh so necessary step. Serve over white rice.
