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

by Lukas Volger

Flavorful vegetarian versions of America's favorite one-dish ramen, pho, bibimbap, dumplings, and burrito bowls

A restorative bowl of vegetarian ramen sent Lukas Volger on a quest to capture the full flavor of all the one-bowl meals that are the rage today—but in vegetarian form. With the bowl as organizer, the possibilities for improvisational meals full of seasonal produce and herbs are nearly endless.

Volger’s ramen explorations led him from a simple bowl of miso ramen to a glorious summer ramen with corn broth, tomatoes, and basil. From there, he went on to the Vietnamese noodle soup pho, with combinations like caramelized spring onions, peas, and baby bok choy. His edamame dumplings with mint are served in soup or over salad, while spicy carrot dumplings appear over toasted quinoa and kale for a rounded dinner. Imaginative grain bowls range from ratatouille polenta to black rice burrito with avocado. And unlike their meatier counterparts, these dishes can be made in little time and without great expense.

Volger also includes many tips, techniques, and indispensable base recipes perfected over years of cooking, including broths, handmade noodles, sauces, and garnishes.

Photographs by Michael Harlan Turkell

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, Vegan, Vegetarian

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2016

About the author

Lukas Volger is the author of four cookbooks, including Bowl, Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, and the forthcoming Start Simple. He co-founded and serves as the Editorial Director of the award-winning queer food journal Jarry, and previously founded the small-batch, premium veggie burger line Made by Lukas. His accessible, whole foods–based approach to vegetarian cooking has been featured in the New York Times, Time, The Splendid Table, among other national print, radio, television, and online, and his writing occasionally appears on Taste and Epirious. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. For more information, follow @lukasvolger on Instagram or visit LukasVolger.com.

Reviews

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about making vegetarian meals gathered together in one eating bowl. Bowls are basically: grain + veg + protein + condiment(s). This book mainly focuses on Asian-end recipes, so it's probably good to have another bowl-meals book to have more variety. Eggs are featured in many dishes, but I feel you could replace it sometimes with soft or firm tofu (if tofu is not already included), or just leave it out.

There are photographs for many of the recipes, and tips and smaller recipes scattered among them. Bowl include ramen, pho, bibimbap and dumplings-including... there's even one rutabaga dish (odd to me because in my country rutabaga is commonly encountered mostly in dessert soups, with strawberries). Each recipe has some of the main ingredients listed under the title, which is useful.

First comes a chapter on tools and ingredients (some food brands mentioned, and the author recommends using farmers' markets, if possible). Then come bowls by type: wheat noodles, rice noodles/rice, grain, dumpling. This is followed closely by recipes for certain basics and components (like stock, rice, eggs, kimchi, noodles from scratch, sauces) - I feel these could be useful in recipes outside the book, if you're looking for vegetarian versions of some esspecially - and finally there some online sources for bowls and ingredients.

Some of my favorite recipes were:
Spring ramen, Vegetarian kimchi ramen, Summer ramen, Mushroom soba noodles, Vegetarian curry laksa, Cold kimchi noodes, Cold ramen, Zucchini soba noodles, Spring pho, Cold rice noodle salad, Spicy tofu bibimbap, Kimchi fried rice bowl, Ratatouille polenta bowl, Veggie burger bowl, Cauliflower 'couscous' bowl, Toasted bulgur bowl, Edamame dumplings, Leek shumai, Spicy carrot dumplings, Napa cabbage and peanut shumai, Kimchi dumplings, Rich lentil dumplings.
(I actually feel a cookbook gets more worth it the more recipes you really want to do there are :) )

This book of vegetarian bowls is very much worth it, even if you might feel like needing another one on this type of eating. The pictures are beautiful and mouthwatering, and the tone is easy; you really feel like you could do these (and one can prepare some meal parts in advance). It gets hard sometimes to read a cookbook through, but this was a good one.

[PorshaJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biggest peeve....not enough pictures in a cookbook. Many times we eat with our eyes. Personally, I think cookbooks should have a photo for every single recipe. But I know that can be a bigger cost. There are pictures in this book, but not enough. Sometimes a recipe sounds quite good, but reading the details it seems so overwhelming and I see myself in the kitchen for many hours. I decide against it. But if there was a picture....I would stick with for many hours because it LOOKS so mouthwatering.

Next, I think this is a unique cookbook. I love this type of food but I'm quite intimidated to try these at home and would rather just go out for it. Yes, some of the recipes are quite involved and require multiple components. But I like the fact the ramen, pho, bibimbap and dumplings are all in one book. I look forward to using this one more in the future and making my own fresh ramen noodles.

[Yodamom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vegan
Beautiful photographs of delicious looking meals. The recipes are clear and easy to follow, all vegan.
I made 6 different recipes, all were good but not great. They all lacked flavor for my family's palate. I double and tripled the spices in a couple and it was perfect. I'd recommend it as a basic book as long as you know it is under spiced.

[Ambur Taft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome cookbook. Great motivation for easy and delicious breakfasts, lunches, and dinners - all year round.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this and was somewhat disappointed. Each recipe really deserves a photo. Some photos of technique would be nice for less experienced cooks. I am excited to make the veggie bowl for a vegan friend (using vegan yogurt).

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Itadakimasu!

Ever since I was little, I've been obsessed with Asian food. It started out with a love of Americanized Chinese cuisine, but my tastes have grown to encompass Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, Filipino, and Japanese foods and more.

I love the variety of rice, noodle, and protein-centric dishes available throughout these cuisines, but soups also have a special place in my heart. Ramen... Pho... Tom Yum... Khao Soi... Egg Drop... Miso... *sluuuurp*

So when I had the chance to pick up Bowl, a cookbook devoted to Asian meals that come in a — you guess it... bowl! — I jumped. Not only did I want to learn new techniques for my at-home cooking, I wanted to learn more about the food cultures that I love so much.

Bowl gave me so much inspiration and knowledge! Now unfortunately, there were a lot of basic tools that I don't have that I needed to act out the recipes (I'm just starting to build up my kitchen), but I did handle a few. I learned how to cook the perfect soft-boiled egg for ramen and how to make an excellent, basic, Asian stock broth (using just vegetables, herbs, and mushrooms! No messy bird carcasses!) I read about ingredients that were totally new to me — various plants, pastes, and sauces. I also handled lemongrass for the first time. (I thought it would be bendy, like ribbons... it's definitely not!)

Any cookbook that teaches me so much is A-plus, "O" for "Outstanding", and 5 stars in my opinion!

One thing that disappointed me slightly was that the cookbook was vegetarian. I would have liked to learn how to incorporate more protein into these dishes. But ultimately, that's a quibble.

(Update: I have been vegan for a year now. And now, using the word "protein" instead of "meat" is my pet peeve. Funny how things change!!)

I've read and reviewed a number of cookbooks in the past two years, and Bowl is hands-down my favorite yet. It has great organization, beautiful images, unique focus, wonderful tips, and solid recipes.

I'll be pulling out Bowl for reference and reading for many years to come.

Here's to the best soups in the world! *raises bowl*

[Betsy Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It makes me so sad to have to give this book such a low rating, it really does.

Bowl is a beautiful cookbook with unique and inventive recipes and photos, that entice the eater from the get-go. Thumbing through its pictures the author makes eating vegetarian look so tantalizing that you find yourself thinking, "Yeah, I could totally go veg."

Unfortunately, for me, that was where the book's appeal ended. I wanted to love this book so much. I love meals in bowls, I love Asian cuisine (which is most, but not all of the book,) and the images alone leave you drooling over the umami that is sure to await you within these recipes. But every recipe I tested fell short, and it makes me so very sad to say that.

Despite the variety of ingredients and the uniqueness of their compilation, every recipe I tested came away bland. Perhaps it was the quality of my ingredients--maybe they have better ingredients in New York. Perhaps it is the nature of vegetarian cuisine (although I have been eating mostly vegetarian for 4 months now and I haven't found that to be the case.) I'm not sure what "it" is really, because vegetables and ingredients that on their own are delicious somehow seem to downgrade in flavor with each of these recipes which such a weird thing to have happened.

I gave this book 3 stars because I did not make every single recipe, maybe I chose only the less than stellar ones, and as I said it is beautiful and drool-inspiring and Volger clearly knows what he is doing when it comes to writing a recipe. I just found myself underwhelmed, and that sucks, because this book looks so pretty on my shelves.

[nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

i totally got suckered into this cookbook by the photography, which is stunning.

the recipes in this book just have too many ingredients and steps for me to realistically achieve. just flipping through this book overwhelmed me. i would definitely order a lot of these in a restaurant - they look very good - but my personal cooking skill level is just not up to par with the recipes in this book. (but then, bizarrely, conflictingly, there are tiny recipes for poaching and frying eggs? what?)

i copied down the mujadara bowl (p154), the pesto (p163), and the the stir-fried bok choy and rice (p208) recipes to try out in the future (i did not realise until now that i would love to learn to make my own pesto), but everything else was just a bit too high-maintenance for me.

if my cooking skill level was higher than novice, i'm sure i'd have found this more useful!

[Tish · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's beautiful--love the pictures. I was looking for ways to get healthier meals on the table, with less reliance on processed and prepackaged foods. And this book sounded perfect for my half-Asian family. However, too many of the recipes called for 20+ ingredients, several of which had their own recipes elsewhere in the book. I need something a lot quicker and easier than that. And hydroponic lettuce? I've never even seen that in any of my local grocery stores and I doubt that it would be in my price range anyway.

I only made one of the recipes here, for a spicy tofu bibimbap. I hardly need a recipe to make bibimbap, but now I've learned how to make a yummy spicy tofu, so at least I got something out of it!

[Nana Ogg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting recipes for a bored cook. A great introduction to 'bowl' eating with authentic tasting recipes and fresh ideas. We use it frequently now, especially in the summer when we are overflowing with fresh veg. It isn't just 'soup', it's much more. I really like having it all in one large bowl, easier to eat, easier to create, easier to clean up and it melds the flavors together in a way that you cannot get with a '3 squares' on a plate.
The Summer Ramen broth recipe has become my go to broth. I make it in large batches and use it everywhere a recipe calls for broth or even water (as in making rice or other grains). When used in place of water for grains it really punches up the flavor and nutrition profile.
Great into to how to for dumplings. We've loved them eating out and now can love them eating in.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The aesthetic or arranging food into a beautiful, warming bowlful was very appealing this winter. This book taught me a lot about how pull together some of the Asian flavors of the best (in my opinion) types of bowls - ramen, pho, bibimbap. After working through several recipes, I was able to go off-script and synthesize my own. This is another book that I have to return to the library, but may want to buy. I never even made it to the tempting dumpling section at the back!
What we made, and any comments:
*Vegetarian kimchi ramen
*Ginger-miso ramen
*Vegetarian curry laksa - great!
*Very simple pho - a good template.
*Spring pho - yummy herbs.
*Basic bibimbap - good flavors. Gochujang a bit too spicy for me.
*Kimchi fried rice bowl - surprisingly unanimous on liking this one. Filling.
*Vegetarian dashi (for ramen broth)
*Frizzled shallots or scallions - delicious topping!

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an array of flavours

Whilst the dumpling folding is a bit tricky if you want more than a half moon or triangle, the flavours of the finished dumplings are divine. I bought the book after noticing the beetroot and tahini dumplings and have also tried the pumpkin with fennel and ginger. I'm looking forward to trying the kimchi ones next... The dumplings freeze perfectly and steam from frozen in 5 minutes so are perfect for quick fix dinners.

[Magila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this book leans toward Asian flavor and influence (unsurprising given the cover artwork). There are a few interesting and creative recipes and quite a few foundational elements of cooking various cuisines.

It didn’t get the last star from me because I didn’t feel like anything in it was groundbreaking. This said, if I were a vegetarian I’d probably rank it with 5 stars and say it’s rather indispensable.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos.
Intriguing lists of exotic ingredients.

I want to have someone cook these dishes for me, like in the restaurants we used to go to in the pre-pandemic times.

However, I do not want to venture out to purchase these ingredients.

Even if the ingredients magically appeared in my home, I don't want to create these dishes in my own kitchen.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mouthwatering

I just finished eating dinner and these recipes look delicious. This is an excellent cookbook for anyone who loves the classic Asian dishes in here but vegetarian based.
Even though I love the meat counterparts these looked absolutely appetizing and mouthwatering. I got to buy the physical copy for my cookbook collection.

[OneDayI'll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent ideas for kicking up your ramen game. Eggs are used in some recipes but can be left out for those that don't include them in their vegetarian meals. Some of these recipes are incredibly simple and can be put together in minutes. Some of these... they're pretty complex but I bet they taste amazing.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not have picture for each recipe but a lot of recipes were different varieties of same recipe so that’s okay.

Entire section on how to do basics (like boil an egg lol).

Pairs each meal with the perfect type of beer/wine.

[Marlee Baldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plus: Relatively few ingredients that are easy to find. Cons: Recipes are fairly bland. I made the wonton soup, edamame dumplings, the polenta ratatouille thing, and the buckwheat bowl. I found myself doubling whatever was called for plus some spice.

[Simonew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving this cookbook - has inspired me to make a few Bowl meals lately.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

great inspiration for veggie noodle dishes

[Assh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really awesome and most recipes can be veganized! A great book on just fun foods.

[Maria Taggart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for techniques and basics of ramen, especially for vegan soup base.

[Clivemichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creative lesson with excellent illustration. Wonderful.

[Susan Bryson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've made lots of these bowls, and used his ideas to create many of my own.

[Reagen Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one of the better ones I've tried recently. I'll be buying the paper version (I read this via Kindle Unlimited).

[Aja Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of fun recipes in here! will pick back up from the library this winter.

[K.N. Timofeev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm probably going to get this book for my own. I found it in the library and loved every recipe I found. Unfortunately, two weeks is not enough time to try everything!

[Rosey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prolly better if your not a meat eater

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

These recipes look delicious!

[Sawanna Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good recipe book.